Every station has imaging that plays between most songs, and that liner talent speaks more often than any DJ! But is your imaging effective and selling the right messages?
Make your imaging work harder. Evaluate and update your imaging plan. Practical imaging sells reasons to listen to your station. Consider these ways to enhance your station imaging:
#1. Imaging sells your positioning statement.
Most imaging should sell your format – music or talk. Be sure your slogan is unique, credible, and beneficial. It sets you apart from competitors. Most imaging should sell “what you’re known for” – your music quantity (songs in a row), music quality, format variety, your contest, and your superstar artists. Liners should also promote much more and can program to the -est extreme of your format: “Soft-est,” “fun-est,” “rocky-est,” “hot-est,” “safe-est,” and most important, “the local-est.”
#2. Don’t rely on produced imaging alone between songs.
Your DJs should talk more often than three breaks an hour. Replace some imaging between songs with the “live” DJ saying the station, their name, and a listener benefit as a transition. All music-related benefit mentions should be next to the music as opposed to other station elements.
#3. Your imaging voice is overworked.
Reduce how often the imaging talent plays. Consider getting your air staff to voice some imaging as they promote their show. If there are shifts with no talent (nights/overnights), rely heavily on your DJs to voice the imaging and promote a community event. Use the entire arsenal of options for voices: artist drops, listener drops, community celebrity drops (politicians, local sports team players, TV news personalities).
#4. Keep the transitions between songs free of information.
Don’t stop the music for promos or music teases. Traffic and weather reports don’t belong in the middle of music sets. Don’t stop the momentum of the music; keep the flow going. Imagine going to a concert, and the headlining band interrupts their set to give the audience directions on how to exit the show. You lose all the momentum of the music sweep, and you violate your promise of going non-stop.
#5. Promote music sweeps and commercial-free hours at the right times.
Don’t promote a music sweep going into a commercial. It’s not good imaging to say you play the most music and immediately play a spot. And never say “commercial-free” before a commercial. Only promote a music sweep as a kickoff going into music or between songs. If you have commercial-free hours, promote throughout the hour that you do them regularly.
#6. Promote Listening At-Work in imaging.
Listening on the job extends Time Spent Listening. Promote at-work listening in live sells and produced imaging. Schedule one at-work liner from 3 PM – 6 AM (and weekends), and run them twice an hour from 6 AM to 3 PM M-F.
Pic AI generated for Freepik.com.
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.
2 thoughts on “Perfecting Imaging”
A difference of opinion on #5. Don’t promote a music sweep going into a commercial. It’s my experience, music sweep billboards or teasers motivated listeners to stick around through the breaks, a song or artist to be expected. Remember the language…Stick around…Coming up…Don’t go anywhere…Up next…We’re always ‘forward promoting or forward selling’ something, like music, promotions, contest, self, etc.
Larry: You are very sharp. Teasing ahead is essential, and you found an editing error in the article. While promoting a music sweep is OK going into a stopset, I don’t condone saying the station’s “most music” slogan adjacent to a commercial. It’s a fine line, and I appreciate your correction. I’m writing an update on this article for my Lund Media newsletter; can I add you as a subscriber?