The average consumer is hit with thousands of advertisements each day. In fact, Forbes estimates that, on the low end, Americans see 4,000 ads every day. How can your restaurant stand out amid all that noise? Radio may be the answer. In this article we discuss why radio may be the right platform for you and how to make a radio ad for your restaurant.
Why Radio?
Radio may be the perfect platform to advertise your restaurant. Before we talk about how to make a radio ad, let’s talk about why we love this platform. Here are three reasons:
There’s a wide reach.
While some platforms have relatively narrow audiences, radio is quite versatile. Whether your target audience is business professionals or families, men or women, young parents or senior citizens you can reach them on radio. According to Pew Research, in 2020, 83% of Americans over the age of 11 listened to radio every week.
There tends to be a high return on investment.
Radio isn’t a new platform, and the return on investment is well documented. In terms of ROI, it’s actually a pretty hard platform to beat. In fact, Nielsen found that “radio ads returned on average more than $6 for every $1 of investment.”
There are options.
When we say “radio,” what comes to mind? Probably listening to tunes in your car, right? And while many people are consuming music, news, and entertainment that way, that isn’t the only option.
With the rise of high-speed Internet, many people are listening to audio on their computer through apps like Spotify and Pandora. They’re also consuming podcasts. All of which can be great additional options for you to advertise, especially if your restaurant does business with delivery services like GrubHub or DoorDash.
Pew Research reports that as of 2021, 41% of Americans over 11 have listened to a podcast in the last month … and the number of listeners is growing year-over-year.
Ready to take advantage of all that radio has to offer? Great, let’s talk about how to make a radio ad for your restaurant … one that won’t have people flipping to the next station.
How to Make a Radio Ad
Follow these 5 tips to make a radio ad that’ll cut through the noise and have people lining up outside your restaurant.
Know your target audience.
Okay, this tip applies to all forms of advertising, so maybe just write it down somewhere in permanent marker. Understanding who you want to reach, who is making the decision to come to your restaurant, is vital to:
- Writing your radio ad script. Your audience will help you determine which benefits to emphasize and what language to use.
- Choosing which stations to run on.
- Picking the best time slots for your ad.
Tip: If your restaurant uses online ordering or online reservations, you may be able to harvest important demographic information from your website using a tool such as Google Analytics.
Understand the problem.
Part of knowing your target audience is understanding what their pain points are. Knowing the problem will allow you to offer up a solution in your radio ad. Really dig in here when thinking about how to make a radio ad for your restaurant.
Yes, hunger is a pain point, but how does your restaurant uniquely solve that? If hunger is the sole problem, it’s hard to stand out, right? Instead think about how your audience’s hunger is unique. For example, perhaps they need a quick meal that can fit in their lunch hour or gluten-free or vegetarian-friendly options.
And maybe hunger isn’t the biggest pain point your audience is facing. If your target audience is families with young children, a bigger concern might be reconnecting around the dinner table, even if that table is at your restaurant instead of at home, or how to get everyone fed on a budget.
Start with your CTA.
When thinking about how to make a radio ad, keep in mind that your entire ad will only be 30 seconds long. That means you have approximately 75 words to sell your restaurant. One thing your radio ad must include is a call to action. What do you want the listener to do? Start there and build the rest of your script around that.
Tip: The CTA might be “visit our restaurant,” but it should probably be something more specific. “Visit our restaurant” doesn’t create a sense of urgency. It also may not address your audience’s pain point.
Keep it simple.
Again, you only have 30 seconds and your audience may be engaged in another activity, such as driving, when they hear your radio ad. That means it’s imperative that you keep the message simple and clear. Avoid trying to cram too much information into your ad, and instead focus on one CTA.
Invoke other senses, and make their mouths water.
Remember, we’re talking about how to make a radio ad for restaurants. While food can make sounds, that probably isn’t the first sense you think of using when it comes to experiencing food, right? Take some time in your radio ad to play on those other senses like taste, smell, and sight.
For example, use adjectives to paint a picture for your audience. If your audience’s biggest problem is that they want healthy food options, you may use adjectives like fresh, organic, local, hearty, and nourishing to describe your offerings.
How to make a radio ad for a restaurant is both an art and a science. At St. Gregory, we have decades of experience strategizing, writing, and placing radio ads for restaurants, and we’d love to help you with your next advertising campaign. Contact us today for a free consultation.