Last week I wrote about “relevancy.”
For any business, but especially the radio industry, making sure every element that goes on-the-air is relevant for the listener your station targets is critical.
Unfortunately, the way things get on the air these days makes it nearly impossible for any program director overseeing multiple properties at the same time to be so diligent. Worse, the commercials often come to each hour from a variety of sources (network, syndication, barter, distressed insertion, ca$h, etc). Sometimes different entities sell the same customer and the very same ad might air more than once in a single break.
TV also has this problem, and as Bernie Sanders might say, it’s YUGE!
Make it about the listener
Simon Sinek tells the story of a homeless lady.
Like many homeless people she sits on a street corner looking for money and holds a sign.
Simon says that most signs all say basically the same things:
- I’m homeless
- I’m hungry
- I’m a veteran
- I’m a God-fearing person
What does each of these types of signs have in common?
They are all saying versions of me, me, me, me.
It’s not about you
Using the approach above in signage a homeless person might expect to earn up to $30 a day.
Could they do better than that with a different sign?
A marketing person wanted to test this theory and asked a homeless person if they could change the words on their sign. The person agreed to give it a go.
A day’s pay in just two hours
Using the new sign, the homeless person made $40 in just two hours.
In the same 8-hour day that brought in $30 total – if they were lucky – using this new sign they were on pace to earn $160 in that same 8-hours.
The words you use make all the difference
So by now I’m sure you’re dying to know what the new sign said that produced such amazing results.
It said this: “If you only give once a month, please think of me next time.”
Why was this sign so effective in increasing donations?
The change was in making the donation not about the receiver but about the giver.
Leaders Eat Last
In his book, “Leaders Eat Last” Simon Sinek explains why leaders make it all about their people and not about them.
Successful radio stations do the same thing.
If you are constantly telling people why your station is so wonderful, you’re like the homeless person I started off talking about. You’re talking about you.
But when you make your listeners feel wonderful, when you make it about them, it’s you that will reap the rewards.
Is this relevant to you?
DickTaylorBlog 
SPOT ON! Professor DT says it best. Share what you’ve got; they’ll like it a lot! First Qtr coming to conclusion; Super Spring Refresh gets Radio Preparin’ for the Green. Clark in Boston. http://www.broadcastideas.com
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Thank You Clark. And you could not be more right. It IS time to think about every aspect of your radio station and start the spring cleaning. -DT
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Well said! Thanks! I needed that this week as I head back out on the road for spring sponsorship sign ups!
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Thank You for stopping by the blog Mike. -DT
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Reblogged this on artversnick.
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Dick:
Great observation. You’ve described A/B Testing, something that after a decade of use is still not offered by the radio industry.
As a note: A/B Testing can be done with audio ads, TV ads, print, any form of advertising IF the media desires to go through the work of learning its process.
From an article I wrote in 2010: “Do you suppose that any radio industry executive has devoted substantial time to understanding all [the educational opportunities] that are available to them for free, online?
Multiple ways exist of using over-the-air programming in conjunction with online content. NPR does nicely. Now it’s commercial radio’s turn to initiate a move. The longer it waits, the more costly it becomes with even more to learn. Learning takes time. It is the hidden cost of “free.” – http://www.audiographics.com/agd/021910-1.htm
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Thank you Ken for adding to the discussion. The Audiographics website and articles have provided me with a wealth of learning over the years.
You were deep in the weeds on the Internet of Things before most of even understood the power of radio yet.
Thanks for stopping by the blog. -DT
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Yet another excellent article. Radio tends to forget that it’s the listeners that matter most, not the station.
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Thank you Curt for stopping by blog. -DT
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I thought it was Trump that everyone makes fun of with the YUGE thing =D
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They both did. -DT
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oh yeah, good follow up article to the first part.
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Thank You Robin. -DT
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On NPR (as well as PBS), I would only say, I have heard many an “underwriting message” that sounds awfully close to a commercial.
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The difference is no call to action. -DT
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The “Me” (stations) instead of “You” (advertiser) focus is prevalent in radio advertising sales. Still selling like it’s 1985, too many radio sellers spend as much time – or more – on their stations in a presentation than they do about our advertisers’ stated and restated needs for over-arching marketing strategies, and not station-centric schedules and promotions.
Make it about solving our advertisers’ problems with a range of not-limited-to-our-stations solutions. That not only boosts our credibility, but the reciprocal response of our advertisers committing more dollars to us, as the catalysts.
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Completely agree Andy. -DT
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