Although insurance is an essential product, selling it is hard. Whether you are selling auto insurance, life coverage, travel, or health insurance, you’ll always encounter unresponsive customers. This is one of the many reasons insurance providers struggle to maintain a great bottom-line. Hence, increasing the demand for insurance advertisements.
However, with the right advertising, you can repackage your insurance products to make them appealing. Radio advertisements remain a powerful tool to reach a wide audience. A 2019 Nielsen’s 2019 Audio Today Report showed 272 million Americans listen to traditional radio every week. This gives you access to an attentive audience.
Insurance radio ads can revive your failing insurance marketing campaign. Whether you have new insurance products or you want to promote existing products, it’s possible to generate interest through a well-designed insurance advertisement.
This post delves into radio ads and suggests how you can leverage this powerful tool for your insurance marketing campaign.
Why Radio Advertising?
In the 70s, The Buggles said “video killed the radio star.” But is radio dead? Many advertisers have shifted to television and other digital marketing platforms. There are claims that radio is no longer effective if you want to reach a broad audience but is this true?
Many people still start their day with the radio and tune in during the commute. Radio is the first source of information for most Americans and it remains a crucial communication tool. While digital advertising and TV commercials are on the rise, this doesn’t mean radio advertising is dead.
Here are some practical reasons to leverage an insurance advertisement for your marketing campaign:
- The unsurpassed reach of radio
- Ability to target your audience: You can choose a radio station that caters to a certain age group for the best ROI. It’s also possible to advertise on a local radio station to market your insurance products to a target region.
- Listeners are all ears: Radio listeners are more attentive compared to TV viewers and internet users.
- Frequency sells: You can air frequent radio advertisements for the best results.
- Stir emotions with your insurance ads: You can instill a sense of urgency in your ads to drive customers to call or visit your local insurance offices.
- Digital radio is now a reality: Online radio stations target an even broader audience. Internet users now enjoy the convenience of streaming personalized radio stations from services like Pandora, Spotify, and iHeartRadio.
Smart advertisers still keep their money on radio ads. This is an active medium that still boasts a wide reach and it’s easy to customize your insurance advertisement to reach a pre-selected audience.
Getting Started With Your Radio Insurance Advisement
While radio advertising is highly effective, it only works if you air a well-designed advertisement. For your insurance company, you have to consider the following:
- Your brand’s goals
- The target audience
- How to keep engaging with listeners after the radio ad
- Choose the right radio station
- Choose the right kind of radio advertisement
- Brainstorm for ideas within your team
- Carry out competitor analysis to see how they engage target customers through radio
A lot of planning has to go into the initial stages of your insurance advertisement. While you might be in a rush to take your ad on-air, remember your audience will notice any errors and this could lead to loss of trust.
Partnering with radio production professionals is the best way to run this project. From scriptwriters, narrators, voice acting professionals to audio technicians, you can hire a talented team to guide your radio ad.
To get the best out of your insurance radio advertisement, consider the following:
- Quickly defining what you want to say
- Establish a connection with your audience
- Get straight to the point and highlight the benefits of your insurance products
- Build a story that flows in those 15 or 30 seconds
- Create a simple and strong call to action
The Critical Role of Radio Ad Script
Your radio ad script is the road map that guides the entire advertisement. A good radio ad script should answer the following questions:
- What would you like to achieve with the radio ad? (What’s the purpose of the ad?)
- What’s the value proposition? Show how your insurance products benefit the listener.
- Who are you targeting?
- What do you want the listener to do after listening? (call to action)
- What are the required resources for the radio ad? Do you need a voiceover actor or multiple voiceovers? Do you want music or other props for the ad?
- What’s the length of your ad? (15-second ad or a 30-second ad)
- What type of ad is this?
Below are some simple radio ad tips to follow for your insurance radio advertisement script:
- Use a powerful starting statement to narrow down your focus
- Be simple; deliver the message and make the audience believe your insurance products. You need to make sure your message is clearly defined. What problem are you solving with these insurance products?
- Use your creativity to show and tell. Engage all your listener’s senses for the best response using music and sound effects.
- Tailor the radio ad script of your radio ad format
- Go for an emotional response to make a connection early
- Close on a high with a powerful call to action (CTA) which clearly tells listeners what to do and why. Do you want the listeners to call, order online, or visit your insurance agency?
- Recruit the best voice acting talent to bring to life your insurance advertisement script
What’s The Best Radio Ad for your Campaign?
With the insight on the power of radio advertising, it’s time to start designing your insurance ad. For a start, you need to choose the right radio ad format. Here are the radio ad types for you:
Live Read vs. Radio Spot
A live read is a type of advertisement where a radio personality voices your commercial live on- air. For most radio stations,’ on-air talent are well-known individuals who have built a reputation within the listening community.
These professionals lend their voice acting expertise to the community and this includes voicing advertisements. When you use a familiar or popular voice for your insurance radio ad, there’s a better chance of engagement.
A radio spot, on the other hand, is a recorded ad segment between 30 and 60 seconds. They as the advertiser, you’ll produce this advertisement and present it to the station for airing at the agreed time.
Jingle Ad
This is another common type of radio ad and it perfectly suits your insurance advertisement. If you choose good music for your advertisement, people will remember it and associate it with your brand. If you invest in professional radio jingle production, the results are impressive. You easily connect with your audience and create a memorable insurance ad.
Ad Libs
An Ad-lib is a type of advertisement involving an endorsement deal with a radio personality. The radio presenter can push your insurance products overtly or covertly to their listeners. It’s a powerful way to get the best out of your insurance advertisement.
The Personified Ad
You need creativity to make your radio ad memorable now that there are no visuals. Using characters is a simple way to add personality to your ad and make your ad more effective. These characters dramatize the message and this makes it memorable.
Create a story that relates to your brand and show how your insurance products can improve the life of the listener. Pick a relatable character for your insurance advertisement and make the storyline unique.
Testimonials
User-generated content (UGC) is highly effective as a marketing tool. It’s more believable to use a testimonial by one of your clients. Listeners relate to this kind of advert and you’ll see more engagement levels. Let your insurance policyholders speak about your products as this connects with the audience.
Sponsorship Ads
How about sponsoring a weather report, traffic news or other important radio announcements? This is a subtle way to market your insurance company in the community. Sponsored ads always air first in the commercial breaks and you can reach listeners before they think of switching stations or tune out.
Wrapping Up on Insurance Advertisement
Have you tried using radio commercials before without any success? It’s time to rejuvenate your insurance advertisements. Radio is a powerful communication medium. With some creativity, you can use it to reach a wider audience with a radio insurance advertisement.
Start by identifying your advertising goals, design the story idea, and write a good ad script. Try to achieve an emotional response and focus on the benefits your insurance product offers. You should close your radio ad with a clear call to action.
