By Steve Lapa
Lapcom Communications Corp
President

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — Does size matter, when it comes to results?

Ever sell a big audience number with disappointing results for the advertiser? The performance your advertiser expected never materialized. Now what? How do you re-connect with an advertiser who trusted your numbers, paid for the campaign, stood by the phone and the only calls were your competitors explaining the mistake that was made advertising with you. Can I get a head nod?

When it comes to selling a personality live read, audience size often takes a back seat. The power of personality reads is based on the trust the audience has in your on-air talent. The trust between them is real because your on-air talent earns that trust with every show. Until you see it at work for your advertisers, you will never truly understand the sell. Except for the right podcast, there is nothing else like the bond between an on-air talent and the audience. They share one universal value that is at the very foundation of every relationship — trust — no matter how big the audience.

When you sell a personality read, do you ask your on-air talent to give you the creative feedback to help make the campaign a success? Do you have the confidence to relay the feedback to your advertiser? How many times have you sat with your on-air talent to get a better understanding of their insights into their listeners… as opposed to how many listen.

Many years ago, I was involved in an extensive research project that was an eye-opener. A talk radio personality had an incredibly high trust factor with his audience. His audience trusted what he said more than what they saw and heard on other media. Yet, we noticed the live read scripts were the same as the music stations. His audience was just not responding to the universal ad copy. I did what I hope you would do. We asked the advertiser for talking points and the flexibility to phrase the spot the same way you would tell a friend. It worked and the renewals lasted for a long time.

Take away one point from all this: creative matters. Talk radio personalities need the right creative to deliver the results you want.

Are the reads fresh? Is the call to action clear? Are the sell words in the creative simple and easy? Trust your on-air talent the same way the audience does.

Steve Lapa is the president of Lapcom Communications Corp. based in Palm Beach Gardens, FL.  Lapcom is a media sales, marketing, and development consultancy.  Contact Steve Lapa via email at: Steve@Lapcomventures.com 

Tags: ad copy, advertiser, audience, Lapcom Communications Corp, live read, music stations, on-air talent, personality, Steve Lapa, talk radio personality

Category: Sales