As a radio advertising expert who teaches radio copywriting to people who want to learn how to create effective radio advertising, I’d like to share with you some important facts you need to know when creating your radio commercial campaign.

If you’re reading this, you p robably are either a copywriter working for a radio station, ad agency, or production house; a producer or production director; a salesperson who writes copy; a disc jockey who does production and/or writes copy; a station owner or manager who truly cares about providing the station’s clients with the most effective advertising possible; or a business owner or manager who understands the importance of effective advertising.

When we discuss production aspects of creating commercials, however, we won’t be focusing on production room tricks or the wide variety of audio processing equipment you might have access to. That’s the technical end of production; in this article, we’re concerned with a much more important element of production: the sales end.

One of radio’s best-known production experts is a former West Coast disc jockey named Bobby Ocean. Bobby points out that a radio producer’s most valuable tool is…that thing called your imagination.

If you’re a producer, I’d like to invite you always to keep Bobby Ocean’s dictate in mind. Never use special production effects without having a specific reason for using them. Why is “reverse echo” used on this spot? Is there a reason to use lasers and whooshes?

As a friend of mine is fond of saying, “Unless you’re advertising STAR WARS, why would you use a laser sound in a commercial???”

Flashy tricks and techniques are wonderful whent hey actually add to the impact of the presentation; otherwise, they’re simply distractions; you’re just showing off for the sake of showing off.

So, let’s start at the beginning:

What is a good commercial? A good commercial does not necessarily entertain people. It’s not one with fantastic sound design. It’s usually not award winning. A good radio commercial…sells.