RELENTLESS RADIO

 

Author:	Jerry Williams
Published:	June, 2000

 

It's the third phase of the Internet (or maybe it's the fourth, who can keep track?). Satellite delivered radio will launch before the end of the year. And LPFM refuses to die. The average person today is bombarded with more information, more marketing messages in a single day than the average person at the turn of the last century was in a lifetime. How does local radio cut through the competition and clutter to not only be heard but to maintain and grow audience and revenue? The answer is marketing. Yes, traditional big money marketing tactics like billboards, direct mail and TV are vital. But for local radio to survive the current and impending onslaught of competition, marketing must be viewed as, and implemented at a much more fundamental level. Too often the marketing of local radio is left to an already overburdened under budgeted Programming and Promotions department. In his best selling book, "Selling The Invisible", Harry Beckwith says, "Marketing is not a department. It is your business." Every staff member of your station must be actively involved in marketing your station. The truth is, they already are, whether they realize it or not. Ignorance of that fact is costing radio stations listenership and revenue every day. Every interaction with a potential advertiser, donor, or listener is a marketing opportunity. That may be too optimistic; actually, every interaction is a marketing event, driving that potential client or listener closer to or further from your radio station. Beckwith calls them "points of contact", and suggests that we study each one, and improve it significantly. These points of contact can be as simple as your business card or invoice, or as complex as a million dollar TV campaign. There are paramount to our success, embodying "the moments that decide whether or not we get the business." There are a finite number of these points of contacts, and each much must treated as valuable and irreplaceable. And while there may be a limited amount of the types of points of contact, we can, and should increase the occasions of contact. Staff Wide Contacts We've already mentioned some inanimate points of contacts, business cards and invoices. Anything that leaves your office must be consistent with your overall station image. From colors and logo to overall feel. Take advantage of every point of contact. How many emails leave your office each day? Are you taking advantage of those points of contact? Establish a consistent station email signature. At J93.3 we use the individual's name and position, followed by the calls and positioning statement. Below that we add a short promotional line, so email you receive from J93.3 should be signed like this: Jerry Williams, Program Director Atlanta's J93.3  You could win $1 million from Papa Johns & J93.3  Listen for details. Programming Contacts The most obvious points of contact for radio come on the air. Every element must be phenomenal. It could be the only opportunity you have to win over a listener. Every mic open, every liner, jingle, production element, every spot, must be viewed as the potential first impression you make on a new listener. And that impression will determine whether or not you get another chance to make contact with that listener. When your air staff is out on remote or making appearances they are making those points of contact. Every appearance must be prepared for for what it is, another opportunity to make contact with potential listeners. Your air staff must conduct themselves, from direct interaction with potential listeners to the way they dress, in a manner that reinforces your station's image. Is your station personality that of an outgoing, caring friend? Make sure your jocks echo that personality when they're out representing the station. A jock who shows up for a remote in wrinkled jeans and holey tennis shoes, never comes out from behind the remote booth to greet and talk with listeners is giving a negative impression of your station and squandering those invaluable points of contact with potential listeners. Office Contacts After the air staff the person at your station who makes the most points of contact is your receptionist. She talks to prospective listeners and clients before anyone else has an opportunity to reinforce or sabotage your position. It's crucial that your receptionist fully understands and strengthens your position by the way she treats people on the phone and in person. Does the phone ring more than three times before it's answered? Is a client left standing in the lobby without being offered a seat or cup of coffee while she opens one last piece of mail? Every contact your receptionist makes alters your potential listeners and clients perception of your station. Make sure she's altering it positively. Sales Contacts Many businesses are first introduced to your station by the sales staff. In many instances it's the sales staff who is providing the initial description of your station to a potential client who has never heard of you. Is the sales staff presenting an image that's consistent with your on air sound, your direct mail, your outdoor, and TV? Every potential client is also a potential listener. And every prospect your sales team calls on will form an initial (and often lasting) perception of your station based on that contact. And they'll tell others about your station based on that perception. Is the message your sales team is presenting the message you want prospects repeating about your station? The GM Contact He doesn't make as many points of contact as the air staff or receptionist or sales team. But the points of contact your General Manager makes may be the most important. Yes, he should be making those points of contact with key clients, civic and business groups. But the most important contacts the General Manager can make are with the rest of the station staff. The Program Director crafts and shapes the image, the sales staff funds it and reinforces it, but it is the GM who champions it to the audience who must know it most intimately, the staff. The tone of the points of contact the GM makes with staff members will be repeated again and again, day after day by each and every member of the staff. If the GM fails to positively affect the staff and pass on the heart of the station's mission, the station will fail. Every staff member must be made aware that every point of contact is a marketing event. It only takes one negative point of contact to lose a potential client or listener. Study each point of contact, work to increase their frequency, and to improve them significantly. Make your entire staff your marketing department.

 

copyright 1998-2004 RELENTLESS COMMUNICATIONS

Recommend RELENTLESS RADIO