Did it bring in business? Please let me know your experience. I have a client thinking about running a radio campaign for his physician laser center and I am leary that he will just be wasting his money.

The overall goal is to bring in clients, NOT brand the business.

Feedback please.

I have done a little. It didn't work out. Two problems - I didn't give it much time (my own fault) and it's not a visual medium. We are in the visual business so I think there are other forms of advertising that are more beneficial.

That being said, I do know other spas that have had good success with it. But it didn't work for me.

Do you know what they did that made them successful? Were they already really known? Did they have some dirt cheap offer to get the phones ringing? Did they truly track it to say with 100% certainity that it was radio that moved people into their offices?

Alan: In 2004 and 2004 my partner and I did a TON of radio advertising in the Twin Cities. We tried to track our leads carefully and did a comprehensive cost per lead and cost per sale analysis each month. I don't think the ads EVER cost justified. My theory about this is that with radio advertising -- at any given point during the day (or evening) -- you are marketing your services to a small "slice" of the overall pie (since every major city has MANY radio stations.. and at any given point only a small percentage of their audience will be listening). And only a small slice of that slice will be interested in your offer. Unless you find someone to give you an incredible "deal" on the cost of the ads I think it will rarely cost justify.

I am a big advocate of "internal" marketing to a doctor's existing patient population largely for this reason. These people already know the doctor and trust him (or her), etc.