I used to tell air talent that they should have an answer to this question at the end of their shift. “What did I do to delight and surprise the listener today?”
One simple way was to give away a random prize or gift. Ensure that your shows have a stash of prizes they can give away at their discretion.
Let them award one of the prizes when they get a good on-air caller, traffic contributor, or whatever makes the talent happy.
The key is to have a wide range of prizes so that people never know what they might get. There is everything from “Be Our Guest” free restaurant meals to a coveted pair of concert tickets. It’s a good way to handle client giveaways that might not stand alone for a promotional campaign.
Extend it to social media, where you award a poster a prize for a good interaction.
Newsletter Surprise
If your station still does an email blast, surprise people who read to the end. It’s a good way to drive web traffic and see who is paying attention.
Make the last paragraph read: “Thanks for being a club member. Since you read to the end, enter here for a chance to win a pair of Taylor Swift tickets.”
If the prize is right, this also takes on a viral element. People will work for you and spread the word to their peers.
Rummage Sale
Some readers in the South might toss a challenge flag, but summer is around the corner.
Here is one where I made a huge major mistake executing. How I didn’t see it coming, I will never know. The station set out to host a rummage sale to raise money for a local charity.
We asked listeners to donate items that they no longer wanted that we would sell at your sale.
We set up an area in the station parking lot where people could drop off donations. While some people made nice donations, others used it as a dump for a bunch of crap they no longer wanted.
Then, we had to haul it, price it, and drag away van after van load of things that didn’t sell.
One of my major, no cause-and-effect promotion blunders.
But Rummage Sales are still incredibly popular in some parts of the country. People like my wife plot out a day’s worth of spots she wants to hit.
Let listeners list their sales on a special website page. Ask them to donate to your station’s charity for the fee. Make a free-will offering instead of a fixed price. Free will generally makes people more generous.
Class Reunion
As class reunion season approaches, create a special page on the website where classes can post details of their events. This is a great sponsorship idea for a caterer or event center.
Let Barrett Media showcase you best. Email me here, jeff@barrettmedia.com
Barrett Media produces daily content on the music, news, and sports media industries. To stay updated, sign up for our newsletters and get the latest information delivered straight to your inbox.
Jeff Lynn serves as Editor of Barrett Media’s Music Radio coverage. Prior to joining Barrett Media, Jeff spent time programming in Milwaukee, Omaha, Cleveland, Des Moines, and Madison for multiple radio groups, including iHeartMedia, Townsquare Media, NRG Media, and Entercom (now Audacy). He also worked as a Country Format Editor for All Access until the outlet shut down in August 2023.
To get in touch with Jeff by email, reach him at Jeff@BarrettMedia.com.
