We’re radio junkies, and we hear many contests. A few are ingenious, many are effective, and some boggle our minds! Lund Media assembled this list of what to do as you design and execute your contests:
- Require action or behavior. Great contests get listeners to buy into a new show, listen longer, get a friend to listen, visit a merchant, etc. Simply taking the fifth caller denies a chance to gain a rating advantage. Explore new ways to find a winner and it’s OK to make them work for the chance to win.
- Award prizes that people want. Cash is King, but tickets to a sold-out concert are desired by many. Many couples struggle to have a child. Consider giving away a baby! This Ottawa radio station offered couples a chance to win IVF treatments.
- Don’t keep it secret. “Failure to promote” is a marketing felony. Promote your contests on your air, website, and social media channels. Advertise externally if cume growth is a goal. Make the message easy and clear. And promote winners often – on-air, on social media, and on the website.
- Make it easy. When we hear contests that require two layers of qualifying and a drawing for a chance to win, we say, “Make it easier to play!” A contest should be explained in one sentence, and listeners should feel they could win if they enter. Hard-to-play contests only appeal to the so-called “prize pigs” and leave most vicarious and occasional players out of the game.
- Be legal. This may seem obvious but watch out for lotteries (prize, chance, consideration). Have complete written contest rules posted on your website and available at your front desk. Schedule and document daily rules in promos. Do what you promise and only change contest rules if your written rules allow it (they should). Avoid putting listeners in peril with dangerous stunts. Contest rules should specify how a prize is claimed and who is eligible.
- Be ready to handle problems, like a person winning an expensive car in a Seattle radio contest who could not afford to pay the license plate fee and did not have a driver’s license. Be mindful of tax laws that may render a prize less desirable. It’s great to win a Harley, but the taxes in some states make it a burden instead of a prize. Also, have the prizes in hand before the contest begins; “later” often arrives sooner than you think!
- Loosen winner restrictions. One winner per household in 30 days may sound fair, but in the land of PPM ratings where a person might be metered for several months, do you really want to penalize that person for playing a contest again after winning? Whether diary or PPM, rating keepers are likelier to be contest players who play every contest – so keep them happy!
- Promote your major contest often, every twenty minutes, with a combination of produced promos and live mentions. The most important contest phases are the pre-promotion and post-promotion (after the prize has been awarded).
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John Lund is President of the Lund Media Group, a radio programming, broadcast consulting, and research firm with specialists in all mainstream radio formats. You can leave a comment below or email him at John@Lundradio.com.