You have dozens of options when it comes to marketing your tax practice. Digital advertising is exciting and cool, but there is still a strong argument to be made for going old school and running a radio ad: more than 90% of Americans listen to the radio each week. That’s a huge potential audience to advertise your services to. Here’s how to get started:

Target the Right Audience

Is there a demographic or two that your clients usually fit into? Is there a group you’ve been wanting to gain more business from? The first step to running a successful radio ad is establishing which audience it will target. Some factors to consider can include age, gender, and location. Learn more about segmenting your client base and identifying a target audience here.

Once you’ve identified your audience, you can determine which radio stations they will most likely be tuning in to. For example, according to Strategic Media, if you’re gearing the ad toward adults between the ages of 25 and 34, they will most likely be listening to alternative and rock stations, so those would be the kinds of stations where you’d want to run your ad. Stations usually have a breakdown of their listeners that you can reference for more specific information. If you're not sure how to contact a station, check their website. Most stations have easy-to-find contact information there.

Reach out to the Station

After you decide which audience you want to target, reach out to a station that will fit that audience. You can find advertisement information for almost any radio station by simply googling them. Most will have either an advertisement request you can fill out online or a phone number you can call.

Pick a Good Time

Not all radio time slots are created equal. The slots that are the most desirable, and also will cost you the most, are 6am-10am and 3pm-7pm. This is because these are the times that most listeners are making their commute to and from work.

You can also spread your ad across different time slots to keep your costs down and potentially reach a greater range of listeners. You’ll have to decide what works for you and your marketing budget as far as time vs. cost.

Write a Winning Script

Most radio ads run for thirty seconds. That’s not a lot of time for you to engage your audience and make the sale. The best way to both engage and sell is to have a winning script.

There are a variety of ways that you can create an ad with a great script – and each of these options have pros and cons. These ways include:

• Have the station create it for you
  • This can be a good route to go if the station has a talented employee write and create the ad for you, but if they don’t, you’re stuck with whatever they come up with.
• Hire a professional ad agency
  • This option is pretty much guaranteed to produce an ad of great quality, but it can get pricey.
• Hire a freelancer to write the ad
  • Freelancers range in quality and price, but you’ll have the freedom to hire the exact person you want.
• Do it yourself
  • This is the least costly option, but it also may not lead to the best quality if you don’t know how to write radio ads—which is why we’ve provided some downloadable scripts you can mix and match to create your winning ad.

The 5 Elements of a Strong Script

If you choose to write the script yourself, you should be sure to include the following elements:

Hook. The hook is the first thing the listener will hear. It should be attention-grabbing and interesting enough that they don’t change the station as soon as your ad begins. Relevant facts or questions can serve as good hooks.

Practice Mention. Introduce your tax practice immediately after the hook. Listeners should know from the get-go which company’s ad they’re listening to.

Practice Credentials. Provide a brief look into what makes you credible and why a client should trust you to do the job you're advertising.

Summary Statement. Summarize again the solution you're offering. This line should be creative rather than repetitive.

Call to Action + Contact Information. Give interested listeners a simple task to complete after they hear your ad, whether that's scheduling an appointment or emailing your practice. Websites are generally better to mention than phone numbers unless your phone number is easy to remember.

Here’s an example of a good radio ad script:

[Hook] So you owe the IRS back taxes, and tax season has you feeling stressed out.

[Practice Mention] Fortunately for you, Terry’s Tax specializes in Tax Resolution!

[Practice Credentials] We can help you smoothly resolve your back taxes and also represent you to the IRS so you don’t have to face them alone. Last year we helped save 25 clients from drowning in tax debt.

[Summary Statement] Now is the time to be free of your tax debt. Let us help.

[Call to Action + Contact Information] Visit TerryTax.com or call us at 1-800-644-4448 to schedule your consultation appointment ASAP.

Download this free template package with 3 scripts you can edit to create your perfect ad!