{"id":2298,"date":"2026-08-18T22:30:39","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T22:30:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ensmediausa.com\/ens-on-sales\/?p=2298"},"modified":"2026-08-18T22:51:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T22:51:14","slug":"one-ad-one-job","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ensmediausa.com\/ens-on-sales\/copywriting\/one-ad-one-job\/","title":{"rendered":"One Ad. One Job."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

One of the hardest parts of writing a great radio ad isn\u2019t deciding what to put in<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s having the guts to decide what to leave out<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Especially when you\u2019re writing a branding ad \u2013 one designed to make a business known, liked, trusted, and remembered over time.<\/p>\n

Too many radio ads try to accomplish six things in 30 or 60 seconds. And when an ad tries to do everything, it usually does nothing particularly well.<\/p>\n

I recently read an article by storytelling coach Phillip Humm that offered a wonderfully simple formula for telling a short story: one character, one challenge, one specific moment, and one clear takeaway.<\/p>\n

That translates beautifully to writing radio ads.<\/p>\n

One Character.<\/strong>
Give listeners someone to identify with. Your customer. The business owner. The frustrated homeowner standing ankle-deep in something they really don\u2019t want to be standing in.<\/p>\n

One Problem.<\/strong>
Don\u2019t try to solve everything the business does in one commercial. Pick a problem people actually care about (or can relate to) and build the ad around it.<\/p>\n

One Specific Moment.<\/strong>
Don\u2019t say, \u201cWe offer emergency plumbing service.\u201d<\/p>\n

Say, \u201cIt\u2019s 2:13 in the morning and water is coming up through the basement drain.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now I can see<\/em> it. That’s powerful.<\/p>\n

Specifics are sticky. Generalities slide right through our brains like a greased watermelon through our hands.<\/p>\n

One Big Idea.<\/strong>
When the ad ends, what ONE thing do you want the listener to remember?<\/p>\n

Not six things. One.<\/p>\n

That doesn\u2019t mean your client only gets to talk about one thing forever. Write another ad. Then another. Over several commercials, you can tell a much bigger story about the business.<\/p>\n

But each individual ad should have a job.<\/p>\n

And if you give one radio ad twelve jobs, don\u2019t be surprised when it doesn\u2019t do any of them very well.<\/p>\n

Before you send your next script to production, ask yourself:<\/p>\n

What is this ad\u2019s ONE job?<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you can\u2019t answer that, your ad probably isn\u2019t finished yet.<\/p>\n

Better ad writing makes your clients\u2019 money go further and work harder. Don\u2019t they deserve a little more of your time \u2013 and an ad that does its ONE job really well?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Duane Christensen
Ens Media<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019d like to learn how our\u00a0SoundADvice<\/strong><\/span> program can help your entire Radio sales team open more doors, protect more clients, and create more revenue, email me at duane@ensmediausa.com to request more info. We’ll send you the important details ASAP. And it costs less than 3 lattes a week.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"increase<\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the hardest parts of writing a great radio ad isn\u2019t deciding what to put in. It\u2019s having the guts to decide what to leave out. Especially when you\u2019re writing a branding ad \u2013 one designed to make a business known, liked, trusted, and remembered over time. Too many radio ads try to accomplish […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[565],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2298","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-copywriting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ensmediausa.com\/ens-on-sales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2298","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=2298"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.ensmediausa.com\/ens-on-sales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2298\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2313,"href":"https:\/\/www.ensmediausa.com\/ens-on-sales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2298\/revisions\/2313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ensmediausa.com\/ens-on-sales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ensmediausa.com\/ens-on-sales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ensmediausa.com\/ens-on-sales\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}