Question About Radio Advertising

[newattorney82]

We are considering using radio for our advertising.  Any recommendations?  Do you avoid or recommend radio?  Have you tried it?  Has it worked or failed?  Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

[PhilEsq]

I haven't tried radio, but I am considering it.  After listening to lawyers advertising on radio for 20 years, I have noticed that lawyers without a vanity phone number don't last very long and the lawyers with vanity phone numbers are still advertising on radio.  

That's not surprising because simple common sense will let you understand that it is easier to remember a vanity phone number than a numeric phone number, especially when the only the message is not visible as it is with TV or print.  

While a vanity phone number used in TV advertising will result in a lower cost per call and therefore a lower cost per case, it is not necessary with a larger budget.  With a large budget, a lawyer can still be successful on TV.  It just makes sense to increase the number of calls and cases with a vanity phone number.  With a smaller TV budget, a vanity phone number becomes much more important and can make the difference between success or failure.

On radio, a vanity phone number becomes even more important.  The only study I have seen about advertising with vanity phone numbers was conducted with radio commercials.  Understandably, the difference was dramatic.  What might not have been realized was how dramatic.  In the study, the vanity phone number received 93% of the telephone calls, while the numeric number received only 7% of the phone calls.

Radio commercials can be produced easily, quickly and inexpensively.  As with TV commercials and everything else in life, quality is important.  Quality includes the recording, background sounds, voiceovers and of course the script.

[PhilEsq]

Several months ago, I produced radio commercials for 1-888-DRUG-CRIMES, see http://www.1888drugcrimes.com/listing_how_to_improve.php.  While calls are generated daily from the www.1888DRUGCRIMES.com website, they come from all over the country and are often not in the territory of a lawyer who is paying for an exclusive territory.  The lawyers who are advertising 1-888-DRUG-CRIMES on the radio, are receiving calls every day. 

Since advertising on the radio is much less expensive than TV, I just produced radio commercials for 1-800-HURT-911, see http://www.hurt911.org/getclient.php.  I believe these radio spots will work very well and will find out soon.

[ross51]

It's like any other form of advertising and can be effective with the right placement.  FYI ... my company, Music as Message, has created a "Don't Text & Drive" PSA that we are licensing to one attorney/firm in each Designated Market Area (DMA).  Let me know if you are interested and I will get you some additional information.  Depending on what state you are in, you might consider original music for your advertising to help brand your firm.  My email address is ross@musicasmessage.com