KonnexME - connect every part of your practice together
The marketing engine that couldArticle added by Joe Bayliss on September 26, 2011
Joe Bayliss

Joe Bayliss

Shell Beach, CA

Joined: February 09, 2012

My Company

Impact Partnership

KonnexME - connect every part of your practice together
You don’t have to be Wolfman Jack to have your own radio show. With a little time, research and preparation, you too can do this. And once you catch your stride, it’s not only tremendously effective and cost-efficient, it’s also a lot of fun!

You have more marketing options to promote your practice than ever before. Newspaper, magazines, radio, television, cable TV, online marketing, direct mail, database marketing, billboards and the list goes on and on.

So what is the right medium for your practice? Which one is the most cost efficient?

While there is no one silver bullet for every market, more and more financial advisors are discovering that radio is not only an effective part of their marketing plan, it’s the marketing engine that is driving their practice.

Would generating anywhere from 12 to 48 leads per week get your attention? This is the kind of results radio is generating for some advisors.

Now you might be asking yourself, “Really? Radio? But what about satellite radio? What about all of those online radio stations like Pandora?”

The answer is, yes, radio has had some increased competition over the past several years. But the fact is that radio still reaches over 90 percent of consumers each week. And if you are targeting a demographic of adults age 55 and older, old habits die hard. This demographic has listened to radio their entire lives and they still spend a great deal of time with radio to get their news, traffic reports and entertainment.

The increase in competition from satellite and online radio, the huge growth in online advertising, and the decrease in advertising spending due to the recession have led to significant reductions in the cost of radio advertising. Most markets have suffered huge losses in radio advertising revenues, driving prices down. So radio is more affordable now than its been in years.

But I’m not talking about buying 30- or 60-second commercials. The opportunity is to buy a 30- or 60-minute block on the weekend to do a financial/retirement related radio show.

Having your own talk show offers many benefits. For starters, it offers you instant credibility (after all, you have your own radio show). It also builds trust with an audience over time. And it’s the first step in building a relationship with potential new clients.

“But I don’t have a radio voice. I’ve never been on the radio before.”

I hear this time and again, but having a good radio voice went out the window long ago. What listeners are looking for today is simply good, compelling content — a real person with something to say, not just another pretty voice. And that can be as simple as a discussion about visiting with everyday clients — offering stories about real life cases; the importance of having a retirement plan; new tax strategies; new estate planning strategies; and unveiling alternative investment vehicles that offer solutions to retirees. So you see, it’s not such a daunting task after all.

One of the great things about the medium of radio is its targetability. You can use specific formats to target specific demographics. Obviously you wouldn’t want to do a radio show on your local Top 40/Contemporary Hit Radio format. The audience tends to be younger, and it wouldn’t be cost efficient or effective.

The go-to format for most financial advisors is (conservative) talk, but there are other options that do a great job of targeting adults 55 and older, such as news, news/talk, sports, adults standards (Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra), and classical. So look beyond the obvious choices to avoid becoming squeezed between all of your competitors on the same station.

But what separates the men from the boys is having your own radio show, and having your own radio show that generates tangible and identifiable leads. Here I leave you with a couple of staples that I emphasize to my clients time and again:
  • Always tell the truth. If you don’t, the audience will know.

  • This is a personal medium.Talk as if you are having a one-on-one conversation with a friend, not a city or an audience. “Good morning Denver” doesn’t work.

  • Be relatable. Always ask yourself, is this important? How does this impact my listener? Don’t just tell me there is a U.S. debt crisis. I hear that everywhere on the radio dial. Tell me what it means to me. Connect the dots.

  • And finally, be a good storyteller. Let’s face it, we’re talking about the most fascinating subjects here, so tell me a story. Be descriptive and make it interesting.
The time is ripe to make radio the marketing engine that drives your practice. Radio continues to be a tremendous marketing vehicle for adults 55 and older, and in most markets, the medium is on sale. And as you can see here, it’s not rocket science. You don’t have to be Wolfman Jack to have your own radio show. With a little time, research and preparation, you too can do this. And once you catch your stride, it’s not only tremendously effective and cost-efficient, it’s also a lot of fun.

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