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What do listeners
experience when they listen to your radio station? Your success is
determined by the positive experience/feeling you can create for
your listeners. One of the goals you have as a program director or
on air talent is to get your listeners to become emotionally
attached to your product. The more attached they become, the higher
your ratings will be and the bigger impact you will have. In theory,
it's that simple, the practical application to this can be more
complicated, but still not that difficult. Here are some steps you
can take to develop the desired emotional attachment.
1. Talk and write in
a down to earth manner. Skepticism runs high in today’s
society, so promos that are too slick and over-produced may
be seen as pure hype and no substance. There are some radio-speak
terms that are completely lost on the average listener....Stay away
from them. Send a clear, fun message that is unmistakable and make
them all about the listener and very little about you.
2. Stress your
listener benefits and the emotion behind them. The listener must
feel (know) that you are constantly in touch with their wants and
needs. Many times it is important to actually tell people how
they'll feel when they listen to a particular feature or segment of
your station. Also, tell them how others feel about those features
and segments. Make sure you stay focused on the listener’s emotion
and not simply your station’s emotion. If you are going to send
listeners to a show or an event, tell the listener how it will
benefit them to the point where even they are imagining all of the
possibilities.
3. Understand what
emotions people already perceive in relation to your station.
Listen carefully for the emotions behind what they tell you
about your music and other station activities. Once you start
gathering this information, you need to feed it back to them in the
form of promos, enhancers and testimonials. At this point you really
begin your listener harvest. There are some
"ready-made" emotional links to various formats that seem to hold
true from market to market. Country is tied to patriotic, family
oriented thoughts. Hot AC, is escapist by nature and makes people
feel young. Rock is often outrageous, shocking and sometimes
rebellious. Christian is all about the God, family and spreading The
Good News. Find your “fit” and go after it with focus.
4. Keep your emotional link consistent and realistic.
If you try to go against any emotional predisposition you will most
likely fail or disconnect with your constituency, (We’ve heard a lot
about this in the political arena lately haven't we). In other
words, if there is a mainstream Country or Hot AC station and they
rely heavily on shocking their listeners, they will most likely
shock them right into the waiting arms of another radio station,
poised to make a real emotional connection with them.
Brian is a 30 year radio veteran
who has successfully served many companies over the years as Program
Director, Operations Manger and VP of programming. After many years
of success working for individual radio stations and clusters, Brian
Joined one of the most trusted consulting firms in the country,
Audience Development Group. For the last 15 years Wright has enjoyed
building alliances with scores of stations in the US & Canada
helping them grow in ratings and revenue. Contact Brian at
brian@audiencedevelopmentgroup.com
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