This week, sex and other good reasons for tanning! What does this have to do with radio ads or tanning salons? Everything!
As a tanning salon owner, you want to make the most of your radio advertising. To do that, follow this tip: Don’t create boring ad copy! It’s one of the biggest mistakes some salon owners make when they decide to run a radio campaign. Not only does this turn listeners away from your salon, it also encourages them to change the radio station. This doesn’t help you if you’ve invested in some spots on that station.
Have you ever listened to some radio ads these days? They’re entertaining and are designed to capture the listener’s attention and hold on to it. When your spots are like this, people actually want to hear them time and time again. Don’t believe me? Think about the Super Bowl. There are many people who watch the biggest football game of the year just to see the commercials. Why? Because these commercials are creative, imaginative, and reflect the times. They’re also coupled with humor. Recent research states that nearly 70 percent of popular TV and radio commercials utilize humor.
This is no surprise to me at all.
I’ve been writing radio copy for 45 years, starting with working on scripts to introduce the big rock artists of the time. (Chicago, Santana, The Doors, The Jackson Five, etc.) Humor is something that a listener looks forward to instead of the drone of local auto sales lots. (Some of them have the imagination of an iguana!)
So, what themes should you use in your salon’s radio spots? Try addressing the reasons and motivations why people tan. There are three major inspirations for augmenting your skin pigmentation:
- People want to feel better about how they look. We’re not in the business of selling tanning, we’re in the business of providing self-esteem. Any service or product that can helps people feel better about who they are is a winner.
- There are those who tan because they want that 15-20-minute vacation from the hustle and bustle of their daily lives. It’s amazing how many snores you can hear in the hallways of most tanning salons!
- Love, sex, and romance. Truth be told, many people tan because they believe it makes them more attractive. They’re single and they want to mingle, or they just want to spice things up in their relationships. Either way, ads that suggest a tan can make someone sexy and seductive are bound to be successful. (Was this last point a little risqué? Not really, if you consider the simple, undeniable fact of advertising – sex sells. If you took away all your customers who tan because they believe it makes them look and feel sexy, then your salon would be out of business!)
Use the information here to make your radio ad copy a mix of humor and the need to look good, escape, and be desired. Straight ad copy offerings that mention another lotion sale or deal on a spray tan or UV package won’t motivate many people to flock through your salon’s doors. Instead, think outside of the box and aim your ad content to how tanners really think. If you need an example of the kind of radio ad copy I’m talking about, take a listen to one of my ads embedded here. I’m sure these examples will help!
Celebrity Tan – Stripper
VideoPlus – Dear Diary
