Monday Memo: Improving Approval Point Results
By Holland Cooke
Consultant
BLOCK ISLAND, RI – The news/talk stations I work with make big bucks doing what talk radio does best: cut through the mental clutter, with live promo spots aired by personalities familiar locals on the air.
WHOOPS. Are your commercials saying “I haven’t sold you yet?”
These are often long-standing relationships with advertisers. Two caveats:
- If you’ve been bragging about an advertiser for years, DON’T SAY IT. “For years I have been talking to you about [name of business]” = “…and I haven’t sold you yet, have I?” Instead of…
- Keep the pitch cool and CLIENT-centric; rather than talking about a store. At one location, I heard, for a sewing supplies retailer, the well-meaning host seemed amazed as he recited the store’s inventory (“over fifteen hundred rolls of fabric!”). This is the store’s problem. Instead, solve the listener’s problem: “Imagine the money you could save if you made all your kids’ back-to-school clothes this year?” [advertiser] will give you free lessons!”
Avoid saying…
- “MY GOOD FRIENDS OF [name of business]”, which seems really wrong.
- “Brand new” Say “new” if it IS new, AND if the novelty is a benefit to the listener (and why).
- “…AND MANY MORE” means nothing. Eliminate things like this and you’ll give the copy more time to breathe.
- “Needs”, as in: “FOR ALL YOUR [product category] NEEDS” (the ultimate “BLAH, BLAH, BLAH”). Instead of? That is:
- Say something more specific, a benefit statement. Or… say nothing!
- Too many spots are overwritten, forcing the advertiser to rush. Let the copy breathe.
For more, including copy points that get results, see my video”Earn money with endorsement spots“, when you click”For sale” on HollandCooke.com
Holland Cooke is the author of the e-book “Spot-On: Commercial Copy Points That Earned The Benjamins,” a FREE download here; and “Multiply Your Podcast Subscribers, Without Buying Clicks”, available at Talkative books (click on the banner on this page), and. HC is a consultant working at the intersection of broadcasting and the Internet. And it hosts”The big picture“TV show Friday nights at 7 ET on RT America. Follow him on Twitter @HollandCooke
Category: Advice