You have a mission! The ratings are on, so becoming #1 (or staying there) is Job One. Consider these ten essential elements:
- The Music is Perfect! Music is the primary reason people listen to FM. Play your target audience’s favorite songs by artists they know and love. Own the music imagery position with core listeners. Set your station’s brand apart from your competitors by selling your uniqueness. Carefully program the music software. Direct your talents to talk about the artists and illustrate a shared passion for the music with your audience.
- Mornings Sound Big. Make your morning show your market’s #1 attraction. It should be unpredictable, fun, and funny, with time-marked benchmarks for listeners to measure their morning routine and progress. Give listeners a reason to smile with compelling content in every break. Sound local, relevant, and relatable. Your high-profile morning personality stimulates listener talk, which gains P-1 endorsement and builds multiple-day listening occasions, increasing your TSL.
- You’re a Marketing Monster! On- and off-air, work to attract attention, garner new listeners, and recycle current ones to other dayparts (by making appointments). Identify social media influencers of your target audience and develop a campaign to drive listening occasions. Be a promotional guru with superbly executed contests and promotions. As a result, your station is an established brand, and frequent users make an emotional connection every time they tune in.
- Be a Formatic Perfectionist. Maintain contemporary formatics in all shifts. The station is built on a strong foundation of programming elements like frequent station name mentions, positioning, talent presentation, daypart imaging, promoting ahead, and recycling. As a result, Stationality sets it apart from competitors.
- Achieve Set Goals. Research discovers what listeners really want from the station. Once the course is set, enact strategies to attain a larger listening audience that racks up extended TSL. Be totally in touch with listener needs and perceptions. Good competition raises the ratings bar. Staffers know the mission and tactics, possess consensus and commitment to station goals, and are challenged to carry out the battle plan. Finally, rally the staff so everyone’s energy is focused on winning more listeners.
- One-to-One Contact. Increase market involvement; enhance the station brand. Talents sound personable, real, fun, and relatable. Yours is the most promotionally active station in the area. You know what gets attention and do everything possible to be part of the audience’s lives and families. Encourage talents to interact with the audience on social media and at event appearances. It’s like a political campaign; you want their votes.
- Concentrate Your Attack. Focus programming on those most passionate about the station: your core listeners. Your P-1 listener delivers 75% of your TSL. Use social media networking and database marketing techniques to lengthen TSL. The Lund Consultants help you focus and target listeners.
- Innovative & Meaningful. Push the creative envelope and achieve tactical success. Search for new ways to update and fine-tune the on-air sound and meld your marketing skills with constructive self-criticism and programming moxie. Find new ways to increase the station’s value for listeners and clients alike and improve the station’s tangibility and perceived value.
- Conduct Competitive Reviews. Keep competitors from gaining ground on your brand or position. Watch them like a hawk. Know their music and yours and keep track of their contests and promotions. Examine their advertising spending, website, contests, and liners, then respond if necessary. Be their management’s worst nightmare and have fun driving them crazy!
- Winning is Everything! Congratulations! You have the best programmed and most focused station with high visibility, aggressive marketing, and a unique programming brand that sounds better than your competitor. Your exceptional morning show and bigger-than-life contest garner word-of-mouth and stimulate tune-in. You’re dedicated to winning. Beyond Music, Mornings, and Marketing, you know your listeners’ needs and perceptions, focus on serving frequent listeners, and work to increase the station’s value to listeners and clients.
Pic designed by Manuta for Envato Elements.
John Lund is President of the Lund Media Group, a radio programming consulting firm with specialists in all mainstream radio formats. Did you find this article useful? You can leave a comment below or email John at John@Lundradio.com.