RELENTLESS RADIO

 

Author:	Jim Galipeau
Published:	January, 1999

 

"You're a DJ?! What station?" The interested person asked. "93.9 WXYZ-FM!" comes the proud answer. "I've NEVER heard of it," comes the less than enthusiastic reply. If you work in Christian radio that response "I've never heard of it" rings in your ears. How do you attract new listeners when many people in your own city of license don't even know you exist!! We started asking ourselves the same question at WJIE and then sought to answer it by marketing ourselves more aggressively. Look at our mainstream counterparts, they normally advertise themselves aggressively to convey their message. The ads are on billboards, cable, newspaper, busses, TV and even on grocery carts! Radio stations seem to attach themselves to every event and get endless free promotion on other media outlets. Christian radio loves to take programming ideas from mainstream radio, but we don't want to spend the money to market ourselves to those when need it most. How do we get our name in the vision of those potential listeners who don't know we exist? Make a list of all the places you would like to see your logo, even if you think you can't afford it. A list is free and may generate some ideas. Recently at WJIE in Louisville, we sat down to make that list knowing there are people that know we don't exist. Of course, I had visions of billboards all over the city and slick TV ads. Our marketing and promotions director Tom Kennedy took those lofty ideas and presented some that were within the budget. First, we went to the movies! Yes, many Christians and non-Christians go to see the latest on the silver screen. We developed a full screen slide that runs before every movie, every day at the brand new 19 screen Tinseltown USA in Louisville. The slide featured a cloud background with the station logo, web address and the statement, "Have you heard Him lately?". The slide had the potential of being seen by 28,500 people per week! How do you pay for it? Find other businesses to co-op with you. The cinema deal allows three slides, find two others to take two-thirds of the financial cost off you. Second, we got on the bus! Think of the potential of a giant bumper sticker with your logo on it stuck to the back of a city bus. August first, we entered into a trade agreement with Transit Authority of River City, TARC, to run 35 bus tails for a full year! We underwrote something we never underwrote before...traffic. TARC loved it and so do we with the potential of 7,000 impressions on drivers per day. Finally, we've been running an ad in the Southeast Outlook, the local mega church's weekly newspaper that has a circulation of over 15,000. We've also met with a representative of the cable system and we're even looking into grocery carts, hey everybody's got to eat! Now we are starting to see the results. "I just started to listen to your station and really love it!" "I love that song 'Saddle Up Your Horses', is it new? Who sings it?" People are saying they've seen the bus ads or movie ads and now are listening and like it! Take a chance and market yourself, it's worth every penny. About The Author JIm Galipeau is the PD at WJIE, Louisville, KY.