RE-ENGAGE YOUR LISTENER

People use radio as an appliance. They don’t think about it much. They certainly don’t listen like we think they do. They turn it on and most likely it plays in the background as they go about their day. We need to constantly re-engage and remind them of who they are listening to.

For years Classic Rock stations have done weekly music themes. Mainly so they don’t sound like they are playing the same 400 songs over and over again. But they also do it to re-engage the listener. Do something different that the listener doesn’t expect to hear and they will do a double take and be reminded of who they are listening to.

There’s no rule that says only Classic Rock and Oldies stations can package up their music differently on the weekends. I think nearly any format can get away with it. Legendary AAA station KINK in Portland, OR does some really cool theme weekend’s and theme months. They do them to re-engage and remind the listener about KINK.

We need to always be looking for ways to re-engage the listener. I see no reason why a Country station can’t do theme weekends. People use the radio different on the weekends. They are in a different mindset. I’ve personally had HUGE success doing “Retro Weekends”, “Two-Steppin’ Weekends “(two back to back from the same artist), “Summer Song Weekends”, “Christmas in July”, “Songs that went to #2”, etc. I tried to do anything I could to get attention and separate myself from my competitors. In a competitive situation, you need to cut through the clutter of all the radio stations in the market. Especially, if you are playing a lot of the same music.

Getting listeners to sit up and take notice of your station should be a priority. There’s a lot of noise on the radio, do what you can to cut through and garner attention.