Is a Radio Infomercial Right For Your Business?

Let's look at several ways to evaluate if an infomercial would be an effective means of advertising for you.

First:  Is your product something people will buy?  If you feel it is market worthy then who will be buying it and why?  What problem or necessity will your product be filling?  Will the purpose of this product appeal to a large segment of the population or will it only appeal to a small percentage of your listeners?  If you can answers these questions and you still feel positive about your products appeal to a mass audience then we need to proceed to the next step.

Second: People will want to know what your product will do for them.  You will have to tell them what the product is and what it will do for them.  As a result, it would be beneficial for you to have a good story about the product and why it was developed.  The idea behind the program is to educate your listeners about the product and why they can't live without it.  The more relatable you can make the product, the more likely you will be able to create a demand.     

Third:  Do you have an expert on the product that is both knowledgeable and passionate?  You can have the best announcers available, but they will not be able to create the passion your expert will have.

Fourth: It would also be advantageous to have stories from current product users relating what it did for them.  If your listeners realizes that your product helped solve a problem that they may be experiencing, it will go a long way to establishing demand for it.

Fifth: What incentive do you have to offer your listeners?  When you invite them to call and buy, what you are including as an "added value" may do as much in selling the product as the product itself.  Why should your listeners call now?  Are you offering FREE shipping if they call now or maybe a FREE book on the product and technology behind the product?  All advertising performs at a higher level when there is a sense of urgency!  Your potential customers is getting all this product information about your product and how it will help them, now what is it that will motivate them to buy now?  We have already mentioned how important it is  to create a sense of urgency (ie: Pick Up The Phone and Buy Now)!  You may find it helpful for your listeners to know that they can only get the "FREE Shipping Offer" if they are among the first 100 callers.  Of course, everyone that calls will receive the "Added Value" but the urgency is established when they feel they may lose it if they don't call immediately. 

Sixth: The price for your product needs to be affordable and in line with what your listeners perceived value.  You will find that products selling for less than $50.00 will sell two to three times what you would be able to sell for more.  Therefore, you need to make sure that your pricing structure will generate enough profit for you to pay for your product, media, support and shipping and still pay you too!

Seventh:  You need to be ready to continue your advertising for the long term.  For instance, in network  marketing, infomercials can drive the sales in your business from the kitchen to a million dollars or more.  It is said that radio infomercials took one company from $10,000,000 to over $200,000,000 in just 18months!  It worked because the profit margin was great enough to allow distributors to cover their expenses and make a profit as well.  The expectation for this company was that for every $100.00 spent in advertising,the distributor would receive 40 to 60% in return (3 to 5 orders).  It's obvious that you are losing money.  If you lose interest at this point, you may be missing out on a huge factor that makes this method of advertising successful.  The key to success is long term repeat sales.  With the proper follow-up, you can receive repeat orders on up to 80%  of those who initially buy the product!  Can you see how your business will mulitply from month to month?  Therefore, an initial sale of $39.95 can become a sale of $79.90 or $239.70 over six months or more.

Eighth:  You can duplicate this process from day to day, station to station, market to market and state to state and the formula is the same each time the program airs.  The more people who hear about your product the more you will sell! 

Nineth:  Do you have a company that will be capable to keep up with the demand created from the volume of new sales that an infomercial can create?  Customer satisfaction is probably the most important issue you have to deal with once you start your programs.  If product is back-ordered so that orders will not be filled immdeiately upon receipt of the order, be prepared for negative reaction.  Shipping is a necessary part of the project.  Be sure you have good dependable delivery lined up before you begin your ad strategy.  In addition, if your cusotmer service does not get along well with your potential clients, you have a major problem.  You need to be sure and have your infrastructure in place before you begin the show.

Tenth:  Once your program content has enough interest to generate a sale, are you finished?  Well, we hope not.  This should be just the beginning.  The return on investment will not be determined until you have the second or third order from an individual.  Radio is a tool for driving initial sales .  You should find that the continued repitition of your infomercial will keep the product at the front of the mind encouraging people to buy again and again. 

Eleventh:  Finally, you must make a decision about whether the results you may receive from an infomerical is what you were expecting.  For this to be successful for you, you must have realistic expectations.  We can point to a number of clients that we have worked with over the years and share the success they have had, but if you haven't defined what you would consider your ad campaign to be  successful, you  are doing yourself a disservice.  You also need to realize that not all campaigns are successful.  There is always the risk of failure, but fortunately our successes outnumber our failures.  When you have proper expectations we feel confident that you will be happy with the results you receive most of the time.

Having gone over these important items that go a long way to insuring your success, it's time for you to decide if this is one of the ways you want to build your business.

For information on who may be able to help you develop an infomercial for your business email: info@myfreenewsletter.com