Recently Fidelis Mortgage signed an agreement with Radio Advantage in Dallas to have Pat Summerall record a new 60 second radio advertisement.  This got me thinking, how can a reverse mortgage company without the budget for someone like Pat Summerall advertise on the radio?

Google Adwords.  Google AdWords allows anyone create and launch high-quality radio ad campaigns, in just a few quick and easy steps.  So instead of having to go to an ad agency or radio station you can skip the middle man by using Google Adwords.  For advertisers familiar with the traditional AdWords auction, fear not - one of the two options for booking a Google Audio Ads campaign uses an auction system very similar to that currently used in your AdWords campaigns. Additionally, for advertisers interested in securing ad space in advance, campaigns can also be booked using a Reserve Buy. This option allows advertisers to make advanced bookings of specific inventory so they can ensure their ads will play when and where they want them to.

Create Your Ad

 If you have a great “radio voice” then maybe your voice will work for your ad but for the rest of us Google offers an Ad Creation Marketplace(ACM).  By using the ACM you gain access to industry professionals who can provide script writing, editing, production, and voice-over talent at an affordable package cost. The specialists in the marketplace are radio industry professionals who’ve been individually selected to work with advertisers who are new to radio, so don’t worry if you have lots of questions for them.  It’s free to search for and send project bids to specialists, and you aren’t under any obligation to work with them until you accept a bid.

Targeting Your Ad

 Once you have created your ad it’s time to choose where and when you want it played.  Google allows you to target location, different station formats, days of the week, and time of day.  They offer all types of station formats, from country music to talk radio, so you should have an idea of what segment you are targeting.  Unfortunately, right now Google doesn’t allow you to target individual radio stations.  However, each station in their network is rated by Arbitron, a third-party company that measures the number of listeners likely to tune in to a station at any given time so you get the greatest value out of your advertising dollars. Keep in mind that the call signs for many of the stations in the network will be visible in your reports once your ads air on the radio.

Track The Advertisements Performance

 In order to evaluate your return on investment from advertising you need to have a way to track the people that contact you after hearing the ad.  Google takes care of this by offering call reports.  Call reporting is an easy and free way to track customer responses to your audio ads campaigns.  With call reporting, Google will assign you a tracking phone number and redirect all calls it receives to the phone number of your choosing (they recommend your main business line). Call reporting lets you track the total number of calls, the cities of origin, and the date and time, of calls that are made to your assigned call reporting number.  Google gives you the choice of an 800 number or local number for your call tracking at no charge.

If radio advertising is something that you have considered but found it was to costly of a process, I encourage you to check out Google Adwords.  While using this method may require a little extra work on your end, it’s a great alternative for all small businesses out there.

Technorati tags: Reverse Mortgage, Reverse Mortgage News, HECM, FHA, Reverse Mortgage Radio, Mortgage Marketing, Radio Advertising

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