When a caveman heard a twig snap in the night, he held his breath, concentrated to hear a second sound. His muscles tightened as he reached for a weapon...

Modern researchers were surprised to discovered that more of the brain is engaged when listening to a message, than when watching the same message on television. People think more when only listening, than when listening and watching. This should not have been surprise. There is a bit of that caveman ancestor in each of us that says "unexplained sound is important". In the bright light of day, our ancestor could use sight to help him determine if a strange noise was dangerous, he did not have to think as hard.

The best radio ads take advantage of our physiological heritage. They awaken our senses, make us NEED to listen. This does not mean that all good radio ads are scary stories about things that go bump in the night. Even for a caveman, important didn't always mean dangerous. Night noises could include a child's whimper, a lover's whisper and the sound of a campfire needing fuel.

The first question to ask yourself: What type of "bump in the night" type noise best goes with the story I want my ad to tell?

Are you trying to rescue your customer from something? Do you want to stress the danger, or the act of being rescued?

Do you want your customer to desire, be hungry for something? Or imagine being blissfully satiated?

Most ads are going to appeal to either an unmet need, or to the sensation of having that need wonderfully met (There are effective soda pop ads that do one or the other very well.)

Is there a sound specific to either action? Pick one. Very rarely should you pick both.

Why?

Radio does not allow listeners to say "Can you repeat that?" If you say something that gets the listener's attention, but he has only heard half of it, he will be confused by the different message. A one note medium should have a one note message.

Avoid "All's well" words and phrases. If our caveman became alert to a rustle in the dark bushes, and kittens tumbled out of them, he relaxed, told himself "All's well" and ignored further noises from that particular bush. Dull clichs are like kittens, they relax us.

A relaxed listener is a tuned-out listener.

Numbers do the same thing. Many people avoid numbers. Most of us have trouble remembering them. Ever have to memorize dates in school? Same problem. Worse, what if someone wants to right down a model number, price, and phone or address number just heard on the radio. Is the announcer going to wait for your listener to find a pen and paper? Worse still, most radio listening is done in cars.

You could be advertising the most wonderful product in the world, but I am not going to loose my place in traffic to pull over and write down the number. Would you? The implication is that the advertiser thinks I will memorize that number. I can't. He has just me feel incompetent. The first rule in effective selling: make your customer feel good about himself.

An ad filled with model numbers and terms confuses most of us. Confusion makes us feel stupid. Unless you have lots of time to repeat and stress the model-which is less time to repeat and stress your name-don't bother.

Be like that twig, snapped in the dark. A clear, brief sound. Demanding attention.
Simple descriptions of what your location, service or product are like. Anything rushed will sound as though the speaker believes it unimportant. Anything said slowly, with emphasis, will sound important.

Appeal to the inner caveman, and your ad will be listened to. And heard.

Learn more about this author, Fran Tabor.
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