Radio Ad Script Examples + Tips for Writing Ad Copy

Before we get to my radio ad script examples and tips for writing copy, let me give you some context about my background in radio. I’m not a random copywriter giving random advice. I have real-life experience.

I started working at a Boston radio station (WMJX, Magic 106.7) during my junior year of college in 1994. I’d just returned from a semester abroad where I interned at a radio station (2RPH in Syndey, Australia). I’d also done some work for my college radio station (WSHL, Stonehill College). Based on those experiences, I thought radio might be something to pursue, even though I was still very much interested in writing.

I was extremely lucky to start in Boston. (I didn’t understand how incredibly lucky I was at the time, but I certainly see it now.) image of the actor Tony Randall standing next to a short woman in her thirties, a man in his 40s with glasses, and a woman in her 20s. They are in a radio station studio with a microphone in the foreground First, I worked as a programming assistant, then as a morning show producer. I also did some on-air work (mostly weekends, holidays, and the middle of the night).

But I also wrote a lot for radio promos and radio “spots,” which is the industry term for radio commercials. This is where I developed my conversational copywriting style, which tends to be extremely effective.

Here’s a picture from circa 1995 or so. From left to right: the late actor Tony Randall, morning show co-host Moneen Daley, morning show co-host Gary Dickson, and me in a very green dress.

I left my full-time radio gig in 2002 to start my copywriting business (and to work on my Great American Novel). And the rest, as they say, is history.

So, do you want to learn how to write radio ad copy? Or are you looking for someone to write a radio spot for you?

If you landed on this page, you’re probably here for one of two reasons:

1. You want to learn how to write radio ad copy because you’re a copywriter or a student. Specifically, you might be looking for radio ad copy examples, how many words are in a 30-second radio spot (short answer: 75-85 words), how many words in a 60-second radio spot (short answer: 150-170 words), and tips for writing good radio ad copy.

Below, I provide tips and resources. I also include sample radio ad scripts (that I wrote for real clients) that you can study.

2. You’re looking for someone to write radio ad copy for your business. You can browse examples of my work below. If you like what you see, contact me and provide the following details about your radio spot:

The business/service you’re promoting. Include a website link.
Your target audience
Where the spot will air
Spot length (30- vs 60-second spot)
The call to action
Copy points you want to hit
Your vision for the spot (dialogue, vanity spot, etc.)
Who’s voicing the spot?
Timeline: when do you need the radio ad copy?

I’ll respond, letting you know if I have the bandwidth and whether I think I’m the right person, and we can go from there.

How to write radio ad copy that gets people to take action

First, let’s back up a second and talk about radio advertising.

Companies “buy time” on the radio to promote their products or services. (Or, in the case of political candidates or non-profits, to promote a person or a cause.) Before companies can get into the nitty-gritty of what to say in their radio ad, they must first understand who their ideal customer is. (We call this “buyer persona research.”)

Who are they?
What are their pain points?
How does the product or service solve those pain points? (How does it benefit them?)

And so forth.

Radio advertising is still very much an outbound marketing effort, meaning you’re casting a wide net.

When you advertise to radio listeners, many will have ZERO interest in (or need for) whatever you’re trying to sell them. That’s simply reality. Radio is a wide-net, outbound marketing strategy.

So why do companies still run radio ads when there are so many other ways to reach their ideal customers, such as pay-per-click ads, organic search, social media, and the like?

Radio ads can provide other benefits besides sales. Ads can increase brand awareness. For example, for years, Emma the Awesome Listener has heard ads for a local drain cleaning company. The ad has as catchy jingle. But she’s never needed a drain cleaning company. That is until the day she does. Now, it’s quite possible Emma might be lucky to go through life without ever needing to make that call to a drain company. But in the event she does, there’s a good chance that all that brand awareness will pay off, and she’ll remember the drain company with the catchy jingle and start there . . . or at least investigate further by visiting the company’s website and checking out reviews.

Radio ads can motivate people to take action. Some ads are urgent or time-sensitive. Car dealerships run lots of ads leading up to President’s Day every year. Most people hearing those ads probably aren’t on the market for a new car, but those who are might hear something that piques their interest. Those who aren’t on the hunt for a new vehicle still hear the brand name, which goes toward building brand awareness.

Radio ads on local stations can be great for local businesses. Local listeners are much more likely to remember the local business names. And some people prefer buying local.

Radio advertising is more cost-effective (relatively speaking) than TV. The definition of cost-effectiveness is subjective and depends on the market. I’ve seen firsthand the costs of radio buys in the Boston market in recent years, and they’re not cheap. But stations in smaller markets (like Cape Cod, for example) are less expensive.

Radio can help reinforce other marketing. If you have a client running TV ads, print ads, billboards, as well as digital marketing efforts, radio can help round out and reinforce key messages. Marketing all comes down to goals, budgets, and what works.

If you’re writing a radio ad for a client, here are the questions to ask:

Who is the ideal customer? THAT’S the person you’re writing the ad for.
Why would they (or should they) care about the product or service? What’s in it for them?
What’s the most compelling point (or points) you must communicate in the copy? This is radio. Less is more. I’d opt for one or two compelling points that I emphasize throughout rather than eight points.
What do we want people to do? If the spot is to boost brand awareness, don’t overthink it. Promote the brand name and website URL. However, if there’s a specific action, especially if it’s tied to a time-sensitive offer, you’ll want to think through this and make sure you clearly communicate the details, like a website URL.
Where are the spots running? You want to understand the demographics of the radio listeners where the spots will be running. The radio sales department will have an advertising profile or media kit that will tell you the breakdown of age, gender, income, etc. Here’s the thing: if you’re working with a small local business, they might not always make the best decisions regarding radio ad buys. Be more than just a radio copywriter. Show your value by guiding them on their overall marketing. For example, advertising a senior living community on a radio station that skews 18-34 wouldn’t be the best fit.
When will the ads air, and how long is the flight? Running an ad a few times over the course of two weeks will likely yield disappointing results. Frequency is the not-so-secret ingredient to success in radio advertising. You want to repeat the same key messages at the same time over a period of months (usually). So if a client hires you to write an ad that will only run a handful of times, be careful. Advise them to run a longer flight or reconsider the gig. (Because it’s unlikely they’ll get the results they’re looking for on a short ad buy.) Knowing when the ads are running will help you adjust the tone. For example, morning drive tends to be high-energy compared to a bedtime show.
How will the client measure success? This is a BIG one. You want to ensure the client’s expectations are realistic. From a practical standpoint, you’ll want to understand how and if you’ll be able to attribute actions to the radio spot. For example, going back to the senior living community example . . . if you run ads for a new senior living community (on an appropriate station with the right demo), you might include a phone number in addition to a URL. (Older demos are often still responsive to phone numbers, especially if it’s easier to remember.) You can use platforms like CallRail to have a phone number tied to the client’s “real” phone number for tracking purposes. If you share a website, you can create a specific landing page on your site to direct people to. This will be easy to measure: AwesomeCompany.com/RadioStationCallLetters. On your website, you can also add an option on any form that asks, “How did you hear about us?” and radio can be one of the options. The attribution data won’t be perfect, but it will provide some insight into whether the ads are working.
What’s the client’s vision for the spot? Some clients will already have something in mind that you need to know about before you write. Others will be looking for you to lead. Are they interested in a straightforward, “just the facts, ma’am” read? Do they have customers who’d be willing to talk in a spot, so it’s more of a testimonial-based spot? Do they want a highly-produced spot with sound effects and a jingle? A story or dialogue (two people talking)?
Who’s voicing the spot? This ties into the previous point. A professional voice-over actor can make a huge difference, but that adds to the cost. Sometimes, small business owners want to voice the spot. (We call this a “vanity” spot.) There are pros and cons to this, the biggest con being that most business owners aren’t professional announcers, and it shows in the ad. But some brands have made fortunes on the backs of strong radio and TV advertising featuring the owners. (Jordan’s Furniture comes to mind.)

Most radio stations can write the copy in-house. This can work well for smaller businesses or local businesses that don’t have the time or experience to write ads or the budget to hire an outside copywriter (although it’s likely not as expensive as you think). Bigger brands will often have in-house teams or an outside advertising agency to handle the “creative.”

Writing effective radio copy is challenging. But it’s a fun challenge.

There are no visuals, no text, just the spoken word (and maybe some music or a jingle). And you have time constraints. I mentioned earlier that 30-second spots usually consist of 75 to 85 words and 60-second spots consist of 150 to 170 words. That’s not a lot of words.

Every word matters when writing copy, but even more so when writing radio commercial scripts. Less is more. If you write enough radio ad copy, I can guarantee you will have debates with clients who want to include every last known fact about their product or service in the spot.

Focus on what’s in it for the person listening. Again, going back to the ideal customer, why should that person care? How will this product, service, political candidate, or cause benefit them? Focusing on benefits is always a winning strategy when you’re trying to sell something (or even build brand awareness).

For straight reads, use second person (“you”) in most cases. Exceptions would be if someone from the company you’re writing for voices the spot. Then, you’d have a mix of second-person and first-person. “My name is Mike Smith, and I’m the CEO of Awesome Company. I invite you to join us during the upcoming tax-free weekend for incredible savings.” (I’m riffing here, but you get the idea.) And, of course, if you’re writing a dialogue with two people, the structure would be different.

Ditch big words. Ditch any words that people won’t know. This isn’t the time to show off your vocabulary. For example, don’t say “purchase.” Say “buy.”

Read. The. Copy. Out. Loud. This might seem obvious, but you must do this throughout the drafting process. You’re writing for the ear only, so the words must flow off the tongue. You can stop worrying about “proper” punctuation. Write the spot the way people talk, and make sure the format clearly indicates how the copy should be said. Include notes up front for the voice-over artist/announcer.

Record yourself reading the copy. Oy, I know. This can be scary. But only you will hear it. Smartphones have voice recorders. Record it and listen back. Get over the cringe of hearing yourself and try to be objective about the copy. Does it flow? Is it clear? Are you trying to cram too much in? (If you’re breathy or speed-reading, pare down the copy.)

Opt for clear over clever. We all want to be the one who writes clever or funny spots. But that’s hard, even for skilled writers with experience. Also, being clever doesn’t always mean being memorable in the way you think it does. At the end of the day, your job is to write copy that builds brand awareness and/or gets people to take a specific action. Plain, “boring” copy might get the job done over copy where the only thing someone remembers is the clever, not the brand.

Consider writing two versions of the same spot. Most stations shouldn’t mind rotating between two different spots, and depending on the call-to-action (CTA), you could even A/B test which one converts better. For example, in Spot A, you might give the URL for a dedicated landing page, and in the other spot, you give another URL for a dedicated landing page (the landing pages should be the same; you’d clone the same copy and have two different URLs. These landing pages would only be accessible through the direct referral link, meaning someone needs to physically enter it into their browser).

A note about phone numbers vs. URLs. At this point, you’ll want to opt for including website URLs over phone numbers 98 percent of the time. I mentioned an exception above (older demos who are used to and/or primed for hearing telephone numbers). Keep in mind that every word in the URL counts as an actual word in the total. I recommend saying the URL two times. (Three if it’s short.)

Here are two great resources I recommend that will help you write better radio ads—and better copy in general.

Note that the links below are Amazon affiliate links. You don’t pay more if you buy something, but I’ll earn a small commission.

The Copywriter’s Handbook by Robert W. Bly (Fourth Edition). I used an earlier edition when I started my freelance copywriting business in 2002. The fourth edition, which I also own, has been updated to include how to write copy for the digital age. Chapter 10 is all about how to write for radio and TV. It includes scripts you can study. I highly recommend it.

Using Behavioral Science in Marketing: Drive customer action and loyalty by prompting instinctive responses by Nancy Harhut. The book isn’t a “how to write radio ad copy.” Rather, it explains the psychology behind decision-making and the types of strategies you can use when developing action-oriented copy. It’s a newer book (published in 2022). I originally borrowed it from the library, but it’s SO good that I decided to buy a copy. In my opinion, it has everything an advertising copywriter needs to know to write persuasive copy, which is precisely what you want in radio ads.

Radio Ad Script Examples & Brand Video Scripts

Milady

I wrote the brand video script for Milady, the leader in beauty school education, and I also voiced the video. (Funny story about that: I sent a quick recording of the copy so that the voice-over actor would know where I wanted emphasis, pauses, and things like that. The production director liked my read so much that he advised the client to keep me on the spot.)

Boston-area urology clinic

Boston Business Expo

Exhibit Space

Framingham State College (from a LONG time ago; it’s Framingham State University now!)

Magic 106.7 – fun radio promos (from my days working as the morning show producer)

I have a YouTube channel devoted to copywriting. Here’s the video I made about radio spots.