We always get calls from startups that have a twist on this story: “We have a new product to launch and want to run a one-week direct response radio advertising test campaign in (insert major metropolitan market here). We have a $1,000 budget to spend on this and we expect at least 100 calls/leads from him. Can you guarantee we’ll get that many calls? Has he worked with anyone else in our industry, and if so, can we see the data from your calls?

It’s not like they’re asking for anything unreasonable, although it would take a heart of stone to take their money and give them what they say they want. A budget of a thousand dollars and a time frame of one week? Your chances of recouping that investment would be ten times better if you simply went to Las Vegas and bet everything on red. Win or lose, they just might have fun there. But running a test direct response radio advertising campaign with that budget and time frame? That’s not even gambling: that’s suicide.

If there’s one thing most companies have in common, it’s that they have competition. Few companies can truly be called unique: Every business segment is filled with companies competing for the same limited group of customers. Your weapons in this war? Advertising. You’re not the first to think of using radio or TV advertising to promote your business, and you’re certainly not the last or only. Your competitors will run their own ads in the same markets, and lackluster presentation on your part won’t do you any favors.

#1 The first thing you need to do is identify the appropriate target market for your direct response radio or direct response television advertising test campaign. You have to consider two factors: your advertising budget (first) and the demand for your product/service in a given market (second). You’re the only expert there is on your business topic – make sure your advertising partner has the information they need to help you best.

#2 Run your test campaign in your target market for 8-16 weeks. It takes time and repetition for your message (including direct response radio advertising and direct response channels) to have an effect on listeners/viewers: they need to hear your message at least five times before your campaign can generate any impulse type. Getting your ads right will help this process: it should take the average listener 4-5 days to hear your message five times, so test for at least a month; 2 or 3 months will give you better information.

#3 Get the most out of your ad budget by choosing a market where you can run your test campaign long enough and often enough to get the results you need. Running two ads a day at a single station in a single market is almost the same as setting money on fire and making smoke signals to attract customers.

This isn’t just empty talk from some advertising bigwig who thinks of everything in terms of GRP (Gross Rating Points). I’ve been a customer myself, trying to grow a business and maintain lead/acquisition costs, and you can trust me when I say the key to a successful test campaign is frequency. I’ve seen many underfunded test campaigns over the past 11 years, and I’ve never seen any of them work. As for short-term test campaigns, their prospects have been just as dire, with the rare exception now and then: test campaigns for new, never-before-seen products/services that have yet to break into the mainstream. and they had never been advertised on television or radio before. So unless you really have The Next Big Thing, you’re going to have to set aside some money for an 8-12 week campaign in an appropriate market.

If your business is located in Albany-Schenectady, NY; Honolulu, HI; Tulsa, OK; Fresno, Calif.; Grand Rapids, MI; Albuquerque, New Mexico; Allentown, Pennsylvania; Wilkes Barre-Scranton, Pennsylvania; Knoxville, Tennessee; Omaha, NE; Sarasota, Florida; Bakersfield, Calif.; Akron, Ohio; El Paso, Texas; or any of the other 305 radio markets, you can call our office with any questions you may have about television or radio advertising. Even if you are not our client, we will be happy to help your business.