{"id":2235,"date":"2023-05-04T14:48:56","date_gmt":"2023-05-04T14:48:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ensmediausa.com\/ens-on-sales\/?p=2235"},"modified":"2023-05-04T14:48:56","modified_gmt":"2023-05-04T14:48:56","slug":"still-wasting-words","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ensmediausa.com\/ens-on-sales\/uncategorized\/still-wasting-words\/","title":{"rendered":"Still Wasting Words"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I wrote on this topic nearly 4 years ago, and believe this or not, not everyone in the radio world read it, and if they did, they didn\u2019t heed the message. Shame on us!<\/p>\n

Therefore, allow me to stand on my soapbox for a minute and speak once again to something I am very passionate about, or should I say, very passionate\u00a0against!<\/p>\n

I\u2019m referring to using phone numbers in radio ads. Regardless of what size market we drive through, while listening to the radio we still hear the dreaded seven-digit, or worse yet, ten-digit phone numbers.\u00a0Yes, it\u2019s still happening!\u00a0<\/p>\n

Is it happening on your stations?<\/p>\n

The ONLY thing that could possibly be an even bigger waste of breath is when we do the unthinkable and\u00a0repeat\u00a0the ten-digit phone number.<\/p>\n

In recent weeks while driving to see clients, I went through small, medium, and even two major markets. I would guess that approximately 25-30% of the ads I heard included unmemorable seven and ten-digit phone numbers.\u00a0Why?\u00a0<\/p>\n

I realize that the business owner is usually the one that says, \u201cI need my phone number in the ad; that\u2019s how people reach out to me\u201d.\u00a0As media reps, it\u2019s our job to explain to them how our medium is used and instead show them a better way to use those seven, ten, or twenty words.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The listeners of your stations do not stand by with a pen in hand, waiting to write down a phone number from an ad they previously heard that may or may not air again in the next commercial break.\u00a0It\u2019s simply NOT how people listen to the radio.\u00a0It\u2019s not how people watch TV either. Do you have a pen and paper handy while watching TV?<\/p>\n

If the message is strong enough and creates enough desire, the interested consumer will find them.\u00a0Nine times out of ten they will google the business name or speak into their phone and simply say, \u201cCall Joe\u2019s Pizza\u201d, \u201cCentral HVAC\u201d, or \u201cSioux Auto Sales\u201d.<\/p>\n

There are only 5 scenarios when we should use phone numbers in radio or TV ads:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \u00a0When the number is very easy to recall \u2013 For example\u00a0(prefix) \u2013 1-2-3-4\u00a0or\u00a0(prefix) \u2013 20-20\u00a0(I\u2019m still skeptical)<\/li>\n
  2. It\u2019s said in a unique way that makes it very easy to recall \u2013 For example \u201c541-\u00a0twoooo – sixxxx\u2026.seven \u2013 eight\u201d!\u00a0(Still skeptical!!)<\/li>\n
  3. A vanity number \u2013 For example\u00a0541\u2013BEDS, or\u00a01-800 \u2013 GOT JUNK<\/li>\n
  4. Direct Response ads – The rule of thumb is to repeat the number 4-6 times.<\/li>\n
  5. When a business doesn\u2019t have a website or social page.\u00a0(Shame on them)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Let\u2019s make the world a better place and eliminate phone numbers in radio ads!<\/p>\n

    O.K., I am now off my soapbox!\u00a0Thank you for allowing me to vent!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    I wrote on this topic nearly 4 years ago, and believe this or not, not everyone in the radio world read it, and if they did, they didn\u2019t heed the message. Shame on us! Therefore, allow me to stand on my soapbox for a minute and speak once again to something I am very passionate […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ensmediausa.com\/ens-on-sales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2235","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ensmediausa.com\/ens-on-sales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ensmediausa.com\/ens-on-sales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ensmediausa.com\/ens-on-sales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ensmediausa.com\/ens-on-sales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2235"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.ensmediausa.com\/ens-on-sales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2235\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2247,"href":"https:\/\/www.ensmediausa.com\/ens-on-sales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2235\/revisions\/2247"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ensmediausa.com\/ens-on-sales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ensmediausa.com\/ens-on-sales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ensmediausa.com\/ens-on-sales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}