Radio Spots & Snail Mail

Radio isn’t dead yet — and we all know snail mail isn’t either. Getting the news out into the world about your upcoming deals, promotions, new locations, etc. via radio and mail is a simple, cost-effective way of marketing your brand to new and existing customers.

Peruse these tips on creating your very own radio and mail campaigns.

Radio is still relevant Marketing your store can benefit from a 30- or 60-second radio spot because you know you’re getting to local customers — and a return on your investment. A Nielsen Catalina Solutions radio effectiveness study found that each dollar of ad spend generated an average sales return of $6 from the listeners in the 28 days after they heard the ads.

Fortunately, there’s not much work that goes into even a great radio spot from your end as long as you hire the right writers and voiceover actors to create a fantastic-sounding spot. First, reach out to your local radio stations and talk pricing on their radio spots at different times of the day. You’ll want your commercial heard at different times of the day and on both weekends and weekdays.

Then, hire a writer (we recommend Upwork if you don’t have an in-house creative team) and communicate your vision with them to inspire a professional but approachable script. After working toward the final draft of your script, put out feelers online (we recommend Voice123) for voice talent to record your commercial. Send it to your radio stations and voila — your spot is ready to be blasted in cars during afternoon commutes.

Created, sealed, delivered — snail mail is still impactful Before you get into designing any piece of mail you want to send to potential customers or frequent patrons in your store, you’ll need to decide on the goal of your campaign. Who is this for? What am I promoting? Why should readers want to shop with us? If you are mailing a letter to repeat customers who haven’t been in the store for a few months, offer them a 30% discount on their entire purchase. Remind them your summer inventory is in and that they can save on trend-driven swimwear.

With mail promotions, simpler is always better. You don’t want a huge block of text or too-bright graphics to distract from your central message. What are you offering? Why should customers stop into your store or type your URL into their browser? Tell them succinctly and beautifully — and accompany the copy with relevant images or illustrations.

Most businesses opt for a postcard approach because they’re small, affordable and very customizable. If you’ve never made a postcard before or don’t have an in-house creative team, we recommend starting with websites like Vistaprint or PostcardMania. These easy-to-use tools will help you design, customize, print and send your postcards. How easy is that?

Have you ever launched a mail or radio promo for your boutique? Tell us about it in the comments below.