How to write and buy great radio advertising

How many times you say it - this is the most important part of radio planning. Don't try and hit as many people with your ad. Hit as many people as you can as many times as you can. If that means that 200,000 people hear your ad five times, that's better than 400,000 people only hearing it twice. People act on repetition. Tell people a few times about something, and they're far more likely to do it.
BUT hold your horses. This is general radio wisdom. But, sadly, general radio wisdom also entails really p*ssing the listener off with the same old tired radio copy. An eminent american radio guru once said, "Repetition builds reputation". A slightly less eminent British radio guru has amended this to say, "Repetition builds... repetition". As a not-eminent-at-all radio guru, I say... work on this rule of thumb. Less than three times = not enough. More than 10 = too much. But don't forget that you need your target market to hear the ads - so if women listen to the radio twice as much as men, and you sell a men's magazine, you need to be careful what the salesperson targets your campaign on.

How much will you get charged?

Generally, radio stations charge you per thousand listeners at one time - and a good rough price for this is £2 per thousand people. So, if the breakfast show has 100,000 listeners at 7.30am, then buying a spot at 7.30am will cost you £200. The late night show's 10,000 listeners would only cost £20. And remember - it's better to get a sensible repetition on a smaller audience than a huge audience not remembering your ad at all.

Stations will work this out based on a thirty-second ad (which is actually slightly under the average length). Expect other lengths to be worked out roughly pro-rata.

You might therefore think: "Hang on, this looks like a nightmare to work out". It's not, since any radio station worth their salt will work this all out to your budget - giving you an estimated repetition figure, called "OTH" (opportunities to hear). The listening figures that the stations work on should be from RAJAR - an independent audience survey company.

So how much is it to advertise on the radio?

How much is a piece of string? It depends on the people you want to advertise to, the popularity of the station, whether the salesperson is desperate to sell you anything to hit his target or whether he wants to make a long-term prospect of you, or whether the advertising agency media buyer actually - and unusually - understands buying radio.