Wednesday, April 3, 2019

Lund Letter

Wednesday, April 3, 2019

This Week in The Lund Letter:  
>   Turning trivia into teases
>   Fajitas marketing sizzle
>   Capitalize on HBO’s #1 show
>   
Amazon Music’s #1 and other media trends

Lund Programming Clinic: The Art of the Tease

umbrellas.gifThe two driving forces in generating higher ratings is increasing cume and building time spent listening.  An air talent has little control to increase cume; that’s driven by advertising, a tremendous social media presence, and an aggressive street campaign of meeting listeners face to face.  You can improve your ratings by focusing your efforts on increasing time spent listening through teasing.

What’s the difference between promoting ahead and effective teasing?

Teasing is not merely promoting ahead, which does not engage listeners or build curiosity as it provides the resolution. Here are typical examples of promoting ahead:

+   “Up next are Cardi B., Ariana Grande and Marshmello.”cardib.jpg
+   “Coming up another ten in a row.”
+   “On the way we’ve got Imagine Dragons tickets to give away.”

These phrases are merely announcements and do not require a resolution or pique curiosity.  It brings reactions like:

>   “Yeah, they play those artists all the time.”
>   “I don’t want to count the number of songs.”
>   “I’ll never win; big deal.”

Teasing, on the other hand, can really make a difference to improve ratings.  If you can motivate your P-1 listener to listen another ten minutes it may mean another share point.  Here are the principles of teasing:

1.   Tease only one element in the next segment.  Imagine building a campfire.  The more logs you pile up, the better the chance the fire will go out from being smothered.

2.   Show prep your teases and write them beforehand.  You only need a couple of short sentences.

you.jpg3.   Use the power of the word “you” to engage the audience in the first sentence of your tease.

4.   Deliver your tease after your content and before your commercial stopset.  Teases before content or after commercial stopsets are not effective points to deliver a compelling message.

5.   Avoid saying the name of the artist or guest in your tease.  For artist trivia, use websites like SongFacts.com to craft a tease without mentioning the artist name.  For news-talk guests, use a topic they will be addressing that has conflict.

6.   Powerful teases have “hooks.”  They require a resolution.  You want to make the audience ask themselves, “What’s the answer?”  Avoid vague teases as you need to give the audience enough to want to hear the payoff.

“Blake Shelton is next” is a less effective promote-ahead.  “Originally only known to Country fans, this artist became a household name nationwide thanks to the TV show, The Voice.”  Instead of “weather is next”, tease the benefit: “Don’t put your umbrella away.”

By focusing your show prep on writing compelling teases for every break in your show, you will have a powerful tool in driving longer listening spans – and you’ll make your show more interesting.

Is Your Music Perfect?

musicscheduling18.jpgIt’s the #1 reason people listen to FM music stations.   Playing the right songs and managing your software controls are vital to a station’s success.  Lund Media can assist you with a comprehensive music review and software tune-up.  What will we do?  We’ll conduct a complete analysis of your active playlist along with every aspect of your music software – rules, clocks, and rotations.   We also provide a quick turn-around.

We’ll list songs that don’t research well as well as ones that should be played but aren’t, along with rotation levels.  All recommended changes are detailed via email and the phone.

Capitalize on the very thing listeners want most – the best researched music played in the best rotation for your target demo.  For a complete music software analysis and tune-up, contact John Lund.


Lund Marketing:  Fajita Sizzle

fajitas.gifHave you noticed how people in restaurants turn their heads when fajitas come sizzling to a table near them?  It’s more marketing magic than actual taste.  Great marketing is all about creating excitement and capturing attention.  It should be the driving force behind station events, contests, community involvement, and remote broadcasts.  Here’s a quick preview checklist to double-check your next event:

+   What’s the excitement builder that will make the event worthwhile or memorable?
+   How do you reward participation?
+   How does this reinforce your station brand?
+   How do you tell people about it – before, during, and after?
+   How do you convert event participants into listeners?

Practice 2×4 marketing and hit them over the head to make your brand memorable and unbeatable!

People know and trust brand names.  Making the station a strong brand keeps it top-of-mind and on the brain’s “most liked, most respected, most listened to” list.

Be The Brand

goldbrand.jpgDo your listeners and advertisers have a clear image of your stations? Part of Lund Media’s job as consultants is to clarify the message and the programming that supports it. Brand your station and its key benefits to listeners.  Our Branding & Marketing Guide can help.  And right now it’s 50% off!  Order your copy here.


The Big Event:  Game of Thrones

GOTlogo.jpgThe premiere of HBO’s mature fantasy drama begins its final season …the show’s 8th… on April 14.  We expect it to rack up the most viewers of any TV series this spring.  Last year’s season premier was watched by so many people on the HBO Go app that it crashed the server.  HBO’s “Game of Thrones” is marketing its final season with a global scavenger hunt for six iron thrones hidden at six locations around the world.

But Game of Thrones’ power isn’t just in the number of viewers it attracts.  It is also one of the most talked about pieces of entertainment on the Internet.  Fans share theories, scrutinize each episode for book vs. series details, and even watch other people watching the show for their reactions!   You want your listeners to talk about your station with such emotion.

Looking to tie into this hit TV series?  Stage a special named promotion like…

>   Game of Thongs (at the beach),
>   Game of Throats (your American Idol auditions),
>   Game of Drones (for Amazon delivery),
>   Game of Moans (worst jokes contest), or
>   Game of Thrones (awarding free toilets).

Planning Your State Broadcast Convention?

fullconf.jpgJohn Lund’s positive, fast-moving presentation, “The Science of Radio Programming,” includes training and coaching guidelines on the basics of attaining higher ratings and more listeners.  Also, the “Dynamics of Radio News” outlines all the ways to increase local news listenership.  Lund workshops will be customized and expanded to meet your members’ needs. Email John Lund for info.


Lund’s Top 3:  How To Screen Sales Promotions
  
Top3B.jpgWhat’s “Value-Added”?

When clients want a sales promotion, consider this “system.”

1.   What’s planned?  Keep a large promotional calendar and note all station promotions, contests, and special events. Don’t over commit.

2.   Plan ahead. Create promotions three to six months ahead.

3.   How did it work?  Review every promotion; document what you did and how it worked in writing.

Next week – a new Top 3.  Visit www.lundradio.com for more Top 3’s!


Promotion of the Week: Unlock The Jock

hangercaropener.jpgLock a jock inside a car.  Challenge listeners to use a coat hanger and get the jock out.  Fastest time wins.  Good tie-in for locksmith and auto alarm dealers, too.  This is also good for a car dealer who’d like to demonstrate the sturdiness of their car or truck.

Do You Need A Great Promotion?

springwildflwrs.jpgOur “Spring & Summer Promotions” Guide outlines every programming and sales promotion you’ll need … for Easter, Mother’s Day, Indy 500, Father’s Day, the Dog Days of Summer, 4th of July, and more.  Over 100 audience-building promotions, contests, sales promotions and show prep ideas will make your stations sizzle right now and through to summer … and help the sales staff lock in new dollars.

Order now and receive this free bonus:  Our new “Promotion & Contest Strategies” with detailed execution guidelines for all of your promotions and contests.   Order here to get both guides.


Lund Trend Watch:


Getting More Subscribers

subscribe.pngAmazon Music is the fastest-growing music streaming service in the US this year (Apple Music is #2).  Both are subscription-only services and do not air ads.  eMarketer forecasts that Amazon Music will reach 35 million monthly listeners this year, an 18% increase over 2018.  For comparison, Spotify will gain 14% and Pandora will lose subscribers.

YouTube Mobile Content King

youtubelogo.pngMore content (per megabyte) is consumed on YouTube than any other mobile app.  YouTube 37% is way ahead of Facebook 8.4% and Snapchat 8.3%.  Short form content is viewed regularly on mobile, but movies and shows are still more likely to be watched on larger screens (computers and TVs).

Apple News+ Woes

applenewsplus.jpgThe new Apple News+ service costs $9.99 a month and includes access to 300 magazines.  Apple gets 50% of revenue while the rest is split between publishers based on the time readers spend with that publication.

Amazon Moving Against Google & Facebook

amazonvsgooface.jpgWhile Google and Facebook dominate digital advertising, Amazon will be competing for a share of mobile advertising by running video ads on their mobile shopping app.  Amazon’s biggest concern is whether the ads will be disruptive to the shopping experience.



Programmer’s Planner:


Apr 6-11: NAB Show in Las VegasNABShow2019.jpg
Apr 14: Final season of Game of Thrones premieres
Apr 15: Income Tax Day
Apr 21: Easter
Apr 22: Earth Day
May 5: Cinco De Mayo
May 12: Mother’s Day



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About Lund Media

The Lund Letter is our way of keeping in touch with professionals in the broadcast community we serve. In it you will find our thinking on a broad range of topics that are as varied as the many services and benefits we provide broadcasters as professional consultants and speakers.

Core Values.  The Lund Letter demonstrates our values.   The basics are the foundation of great radio stations, but we are also experts at digital technology, social media and its benefit to broadcasters, and the science of radio. Producing great radio requires 90% passion and 10% genius; developing superior programming on our clients’ stations (and more audience, ratings, and revenue) is testament to our core beliefs.

The two most important assets of a strategic programming consultant are vision and courage… the vision to see the future and anticipate what must be done, and the courage to stay on course.  We tend to be optimistic because our years of experience consulting and researching media have shown us that what really needs to occur can almost always be done.

Fresh Ideas.  Our mission for each Lund Letter is to share articles that are both interesting and useful to you with the humble hope that you’ll remember us when you have the need for objective and productive assistance.

jclforLL.pngTo oversimplify, we help our clients solve problems. Our clients tell us that we are a valuable and profitable resource. We bring an objective viewpoint, hands-on guidance, and the conviction – born of experience – that great radio can be achieved.

C
all John Lund for more information about how the Lund Media Group can help your stations achieve more listeners, higher ratings, and more revenue.
Phone: 650-692-7777.
Email john@lundradio.com.