1. Figure out what you’re advertising
2. Summarise the goals for your advert in brief
3. Define a target audience (be specific)
4. Include a budget timeline
5. Which radio station will it be on?
6. Use ideas that can help achieve your goals
7. Avoid cost overruns by planning for the future
8. Check your advertisement sounds how you want it to
9. Consider running the advertisement again if it went well.
10. (Final advertisement must contain contact information & pricing/any special offers)
Equipment list
| Description | Where you get it from. | How much to rent or buy? | |
| Microphone: this equipment is very important for radio advertising, as without it you won’t be able to have voice overs, presenters, special guests or any recordings of voices in the radio studio you want. A microphone helps the listeners hear a clearer voice and allows you to be heard over fading or low-volume music. | You can buy a microphone from amazon, you can also buy one from http://www.dv247.com/microphones/ , eBay, Dolphin Music, Argos, Shure, and you can find more stores when you search for microphones on google. Where as you can hire a microphone from microphone-hire.co.uk which depends on the type and how long you want to hire it for, but a Sony DWZ-M50 Digital Radio Mic costs £24.00 per day. You can also hire a microphone from http://www.erento.co.uk/hire/parties-tradefairs-events/sound-audio/microphone/ . | To buy: Amazon: £6.27+ http://www.dv247.com/microphones/ : £22+ Dolphin Music (http://www.dolphinmusic.co.uk/category/recording/microphones/ ): £20+ Shure (http://www.shure.co.uk/products/microphones/vocal_microphones ): £56.40+ To hire: microphone-hire.co.uk for a Sony DWZ-M50 Digital Radio Mic: £24 per day (including vat) http://www.erento.co.uk/hire/parties-tradefairs-events/sound-audio/microphone/ : £10 per day or more. | |
| Zoom H4 recorder: a zoom H4 recorder is used to store recordings of audio and the audio can be transferred onto a computer by a SD card, so this can help for any narrations and parts of the radio advertisement that is pre-recorded. | Buy: Amazon, eBay, nextag (http://www.nextag.co.uk/zoom-h4-recorder/compare-html#!), solid states sound (http://www.solidstatesound.co.uk/zoomh4n.htm), calibex (http://www.calibex.co.uk/zoom-h4-recorder/search-html ), dolphin music (http://explore.dolphinmusic.co.uk/search?p=Q&w=zom+h4+recorder ), CVP (http://cvp.com/index.php?t=product/zoom_h4n ) and more. Hire: hire a camera (http://www.hireacamera.com/cameras/detail.asp?model=606 ), tfsuk (http://www.tfsuk.com/zoom-h4-portable-sd-4-track-recorder-zoom-h4-c-5-p-118.html ), richmondfilmservices (http://www.richmondfilmservices.co.uk/equipment/digital-recorders/PDR081.html ), pec (http://www.pec.co.uk/pecvnew/hire-zoom-h4n-handheld-mobile-4-track-recorder.html ), aeonhire (http://www.aeonhire.com/equipment-hire/sound/zoom-recorder ) and more | To buy: Amazon: £200+ nextag: £162.05+ (including delivery) solid states sound: £219+ (including VAT) calibex: £162.05+ dolphin music: £219+ (RRP: £337.01) CVP: £210+ To hire: hire a camera: daily hire: £12, weekend hire: £18, weekly hire: £45, etc. tfsuk: £9 per day (not including VAT) or £27 per week (not including VAT) richmondfilmservices: daily: £5 and weekly: £20 pec: £30 per day aeonhire: £10 per day | |
| Audio edit suite: this is where all the audio for the shows/advertisement are edited and without this, the editors won’t be able to add in music/sound effects after or put the whole advert together. You can enhance the audio with effects and make sure the audio is clear. | If you would like to buy an audio edit suite, it’s sold here: http://www.videomaker.com/article/3167-edit-suite-the-heart-of-your-edit-suite-editing-decks or you can buy all the equipment and room separately or know someone in the business that has retired which is unlikely but you can hire one from these sites: http://www.lafcpug.org/phorum/read.php?2,131144,131144 , http://www.videomaker.com/article/3167-edit-suite-the-heart-of-your-edit-suite-editing-decks , http://www.quarantinerental.co.uk/home/edit-suite/ and more if you search “hire an audio edit suite” on any search engine. | To hire: lacpug: 750$ per month (£469.73) videomaker: 200$ (£125.22) Quarantine Production Rentals: £500 per day | |
| Adobe Audition: helps to edit the audio you want to use to suit the advert you’re making. | Buy from: amazon, softpedia or creative.adobe.com
You can hire adobe audition from: https://creative.adobe.com/products/audition/ , www.softpedia.com/get/Multimedia/Audio/Audio-Mixers-Synthesizers/Adobe-Audition.shtml |
To buy: amazon: £21.89+ or on creative.adobe.com softpedia: £19.99 To hire: Creative.adobe.com : free trial softpedia: free trial | |
| Radio Ad Script: all the people involved in the radio advertisement would have to have a copy so that they know the storyline and who is saying what for when it’s time to record. | You would have to type one up yourself which is free if you already have a program to type it up on. | Free – You can download copies of scripts that have been used before by the BBC here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/scripts/ for inspiration | |
| Radio Ad Production Studio: this room will help produce the advert, put the whole advert together and make sure all the parts fit, all of the audio/picture/sound effects and more are working before sending the advert in. | Buy: http://www.bmamusic.co.uk/production-studio/radio-tv/ , or like an audio edit suit; you can buy all the equipment and room separately. Hire: http://www.spectrumradio.net/hire-our-studios , http://radiostudiohire.com/ , http://www.radiofacilities.com/radio-isdn/4581477868 , find more on any search engines. | Buy: BMA Music: £525 (including a one year radio license) Hire: spectrum radio: on weekdays at 9am – 6pm (including a twenty minute studio tour): £60 per hour + VAT or £80 per hour + VAT (including an engineer) Evenings & weekends: £100 per hour + VAT (including engineer) radio studio hire: £75 per hour (free 15 minutes set up) or £37 per 30 minutes. radio facilities: £50+ per hour | |
| Sound Effects: these are clips of audio that can make the listeners react in a certain way and listen to the radio advert. Sounds such as explosions (however these aren’t allowed to be used on radio advertisements), echo, alerts, air movements and more. | You can find these online and download a few for free, depending what quality you want the sound in and the kind. You can find sound effects for free here: http://www.stonewashed.net/sfx.html , http://www.freesound.org/browse/tags/sound-effects/ , http://www.grsites.com/archive/sounds/ and you can find more on any search engines. You can buy professional sound effects from pond5.com | You can rent/buy some sound effects within an audio editing software. You can’t rent sound effects, unless they’re included in an editing program trial. Most sounds can be found online for free. pond5: $2-$5 (£1.25 – £3.13) | |
| Voice Overs: these are the people that speak over the audio or silence in the advertisement and they describe the product/place being advertised to the listeners whilst intriguing the listeners with special offers or USPs (unique selling points) to buying the product, or visiting a place. | It can be hard to buy or find voice overs unless your advertising company is well known. You can buy voice overs from: http://www.buyvo.com/ Rent voice overs from: http://www.januarybrown.co.uk/ , and you can find more online or from other companies recommendations. | Buy: buyvo: 150 euros (£117.78) | |
| Copyright Clearance: these are the companies that clear the copyright on a certain audio clip so that you are able to use it in your advertisement, without being fined. | https://www.copyright.com/ | Depending on how popular the audio clip is and the rights. |
Rachael Cook 