Radio commercial production is a competitive business. In radio ad production, ideas for marketing products and services need reach their target audience and also grab the attention of listeners without any visuals. Those who work in radio advertising production need marketing, advertising and creative skills to produce a successful radio ad campaign.

Training in advertising and radio production is essential if you want to begin a career working with radio ads. Training for radio advertisement production can come from many different sources. Some of the best sources for radio advertising production education and training are:

1. A college that offers a degree program in TV and radio production or advertising.

2. Industry organizations that offer continuing education.

3. Internships with advertising agencies.

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Learn about the production of radio advertisements through a degree program

Those who want to learn how to create radio ad campaigns have a couple of choices when it comes to degree programs. People who are more interested in the branding and marketing side of radio ads can complete a degree program in advertising. Those who want to work on a radio ad production team can get a degree in TV and radio production. A combination of both would provide the most marketable skills for radio ad production.

I recommend: Ferris State University offers a degree program in advertising that includes training in branding, marketing and how effect advertising works. Delaware State University offers a degree program in radio/audio production that focuses on technology and practical experience.

Find additional education and radio advertising information through organizations

Industry organizations for radio advertising professionals provide members with many benefits. These benefits can include information resources, networking opportunities, and continuing education.

I recommend: Strategic Media is an industry resource for radio advertising production issues. The website includes many useful articles for those assigned to create radio advertisements. The San Diego Radio Broadcasters Association offers many resources for local market research and radio advertising tools.

Explore internships with radio advertising production companies

Most entry level jobs in advertising are internships. Internships allow people who are studying radio production and advertising to get the real world experience they need and learn how the industry works. Those still in school will benefit from internships because they can apply their experience to media projects and other graduation requirements.

I recommend: Bryan Farrish Radio Production has internship positions for those who want to learn about radio promotion techniques acquire skills through on-the-job training. WGN Radio offers many internships, including radio promotions and sales.

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Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Training for producing radio advertisements can also be useful for companies venturing into to new media, which includes all types of advertisements on the internet.

Radio commercials provide a great venue to broaden your market, promote your product and increase your revenues - when done right. You can hire an agency to produce your ads or go the cheaper route and let a local station produce them in-house. Either way, your radio ad production rates are determined by such factors as length, run time and run frequency. You also need to know the demographics of your targeted audience so that you choose the right stations to run your commercials.

Radio stations sell ad spots in 15-second increments (15s; 30s; 60s), and run times offer different exposure and rates, with morning runs usually costing more and evening runs less. Another cost saver is to simply write and record your own radio commercials, but make sure the end product doesn't too sound cheesy, otherwise you may turn off your targeted audience.

If you decide to invest in radio advertising production, here are things to consider:

1. Let a professional agency produce your radio commercials.

2. Do the radio commercial production yourself.

3. Find a radio station with the right target audience for your business and products.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Find an agency that specializes in radio advertisement production

Look for an agency that writes good copy and does professional voiceovers. Also, check the agency's website for past clients - especially those in your industry - portfolios of radio spots and testimonials. Some agencies can even write jingles for you.

I recommend: Cashman Commercials writes original copy and produces original music for its radio commercial ads. They categorize client radio spots by industry and provide on-site testimonials. Push Button Productions offers jingle-writing as part of its radio advertisement production.

Do your own radio advertising production

The right message, the right pitch, the right voice and the right music are the main ingredients to producing a great radio ad. Find companies that provide services you need to do your own radio ad production, including voiceovers and music - and for a lot less than you'd have to pay a full-service agency. Then put together your own radio commercial.

I recommend: JeffSounds provides radio commercial voiceovers as well as free scripts. Voice Over Guy also offers dub services for your script. Get award-winning music for your radio ads from First Take Music Library, which offers a variety of music genres to meet your needs.

Find the right radio stations to air your radio commercials

Reaching the right audience is the goal to your radio commercial production, otherwise it's just a waste of your time and money. It's important to find the radio station that reaches your targeted market. Search local and national radio stations by format and market data to find the radio stations to broadcast to your audience.

I recommend: Radio-Locator lets you search by location, station call letters and frequency, while Arbitron provides ratings data on radio stations by markets.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Consider online radio as another great venue to promote your company with radio advertising commercials. You can find agencies that produce spots specifically for Internet radio.

If you're considering a career in radio advertising production, you'll find there are many radio advertising production key terms used in this field. From words and phrases, including spot sets, jingles, live tag and donut, to acronyms such as BTA (Best Time Available) and ROS (Run of Schedule), radio advertising production has its own language. To adequately prepare for a career in radio advertising production you'll need to talk the talk.

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Target audience

Most radio advertising campaigns are directed toward a specific group or groups of people. This is known as a target audience. Age group, marital status and gender are all part of what make up a target audience.

I recommend: Bay Area Radio Advertising gives a brief definition of target audience as well as target market, which is closely related to target audience.

Donut

In radio advertising, a donut, or donut spot, is copy that is read in a voiceover between music segments. These types of ads generally run for 30 or 40 seconds. The term donut refers to the 'hole' in the middle of singing or music segments.

I recommend: Find a brief description of donut provided at Radio Spots Plus.

Jingle

A jingle is a song attached to a commercial spot. Jingles strive to be catchy tunes that in some way describe the product or service being advertised.

I recommend: Get a detailed overview of commercial jingles, how and why they are created and even listen to demos at Platinum Drive.

Live tag

A live tag, sometimes called a live announcer tag, is when a disc jockey or announcer adds a line or two at the end of a produced radio commercial. In some cases, different live tags, called rotating tags, are used for the same commercial played over and over.

I recommend: Lundgren Enterprises provides a detailed explanation of what a live tag is and includes an example.

BTA and ROS

BTA and ROS are acronyms used in radio advertising production. BTA is Best Time Available, referring to the best time slots for certain commercials. ROS is Run of Schedule and refers to commercials that are to be aired during different times of the day for more than one day.

I recommend: Dubois Radio Advertising defines many radio advertising production terms, including brief descriptions of BTA and ROS.

Equal rotation

When radio commercials are evenly distributed or aired during a radio station's day and evening, it is called equal rotation. Radio advertising producers strive to air commercials evenly across established time periods.

I recommend: Relevant Radio offers an explanation of equal rotation as used in radio advertising production.