Wednesday, August 21, 2019

26 Aug Wednesday, August 21, 2019

This Week in The Lund Letter:  
>   Simoniz your programming!
>   Content, creativity and what else?
>   Listen to your competitor
>   Selling ads to car dealers… plus other Trends

Lund Fall Strategy: Refresh Your Brand, Part III

People brighten their house with a new coat of paint or they shampoo the rugs; they Simoniz their car to make it shine.  While your station may need painting and rug cleaning, and the station van needs waxing, what do you do with your programming to brighten the sound?  Here are more ideas to spike listening in the fall ratings sweep:

+   Create a new morning show benchmark or contest; develop a new character for the show which could be a serial caller.

+   Create a unique promotion around a topical event; Labor Day is around the corner.  What can you do to make the station sound special that three-day weekend?  On Monday, how about broadcasting the morning show from the baby ward of your local hospital.  Get it?  It’s Labor Day!   Talk to nurses, doctors, and moms at the hospital.

+   If you do a special event every year, come up with a new twist and reinvent the event that the station is famous for.

+   Research your station’s audience beyond music testing.  Conduct a survey to find out what your listeners want from your station – and what makes it special.  Why do listeners invest time with you? What can you do to make your station better?

+   For gold based formats, reshuffle the deck.  Re-sort your music so Secondaries may become Powers, Powers may become Secondaries, or some Secondaries may be rested and replaced by new Secondaries.

+   For current based formats, create imaging to make an on air event for the airing of new songs by hot artists.  Play imaging before the song to build excitement on its release and play the song frequently in the first week of release.

Great stations sound great every day and work to meet the high expectations of the audience and the client community.  We have many more ways to help Simoniz your programming…coming up next week.

Lund Programming Clinic: Rules of Great Programming, Part VI

The rules followed by successful top rated stations are useful when determining your own course.  In recent issues we’ve listed the rules for playing the right music and morning show rules.  Morning show rules continue… other talents should consider following many of them as well:

Mornings Rule #16: A great show practices the 4 C’s.  These are the keys to innovation – content, creativity, curiosity and consistent branding.

Mornings Rule #17: Plan the show the day and night before.  Then add late-breaking content before airtime.  Utilize a written Show Planner.

Mornings Rule #18: Research your content.  Find interesting bits, news and topics via the internet and prep services … before the show comes on the air.  Strive to include a local “touch” every hour.  If you deliver a steady diet of funny stories from other places, you’re missing the local connection.

Mornings Rule #19: Look for the “Big Event.”  The hot topic of the day.  It’s what everyone is talking about – and you should also.  Weave it throughout the show hourly and aim straight for your core target.

Mornings Rule #20: Plan every break ahead of time. This includes every element, the order of delivery, how to start, and how to get out.  Having a planned exit will keep each bit on a more direct course.

Mornings Rule #21: Have at least one benchmark or bit every half hour.  In addition to great content, it’s a key ingredient in setting listener appointments and building timing guideposts for your audience in the morning.

Mornings Rule #22: Be consistent.  Do great shows every day with identical benchmark features at the same times for regularity and reliability.  Help listeners plan their day and their on-time arrival by keeping your show (and your audience) on schedule.

Mornings Rule #23: Exhibit passion for the format. Talk up the music and occasionally provide music info into/out of songs beyond title and artist.

More Morning Programming Rules next week. 

Your Music Software needs a check-up!

Playing the right songs and managing your music software are vital to your station’s success.  Lund Media provides a comprehensive playlist review and software tune-up.  Are you playing the top researched music in the rotation?  We can help tune your station for fall.  For a comprehensive music software analysis and tune-up, email John Lund.

And if you just need a best-researched “safe list” for your format, we have that also.

Lund’s Top 3:  Competitive Morning Show Monitor
  
Mornings (one of Lund’s 3-Ms) is the key daypart that contributes to a station’s health in terms of cume and TSL. Morning ratings often drive an entire station. While you have a great morning show, how does your competitor sound? Find out with our proven exercise.

Take a morning to monitor the competition. Start at 5:30 AM and continue to about 8:30 AM.  Make notes of everything you hear. Is their morning show appealing? Why?  Log all breaks for length and content. Note songs played and listener benefits. Consider these listening points and analysis areas:

1.   Music. Specific songs played and number per hour. Create a music profile.

2.   Stop sets. Times in the hour, length, number of spots, how they get in and out.

3.   Station identity. When and how often is the station name delivered, and how consistent is delivery?

For more Top 3 lists, check out www.lundradio.com.

Fresh Imaging Liners

Don’t allow your imaging to sound stale.  Get new creative imaging liners to perk up your station sound.  Order the Lund library of liner scripts that you need …

>   200 Fun Imaging liners (for all music formats)
>   200 At-Work Listening liners (all formats)
>   200 liners for News-Talk stations

Refresh your imaging with hundreds of new liners, now on sale.  Use the links below to order and we’ll email your scripts immediately.

+   Creative Imaging Liners for music stations
+   At Work Liners
+   Fresh News-Talk Liners

These sweepers will sound great on your station!


Promotion of the Week: Dollar Bill Swap

This promotion is easy to promote and easy to play.  Listeners find a one dollar bill with the exact dial position in the serial number in the right order.  When they’re told to play, they call in to win and then exchange the bill for $100.  Tripling the money on Thursdays is just one option for customizing this promotion.  This Lund contest builds dial position awareness and TSL.

Need a Fall Promotion?

Stimulate your listeners with a fresh radio contest or promotion geared to fall.
The “Fall Promotions Guide” outlines over 100 radio programming and sales promotions, contests, sales promotions and show prep ideas.  Get topical promotions geared to 4th quarter – from Back To School to Halloween to Thanksgiving.

This Guide will help make your station sizzle through fall … and help the sales staff lock in new dollars. Click here to order your copy.

Lund Trend Watch:

Radio Sells Cars

60% of car dealers that utilize radio say it’s because it is more cost effective and valuable for promotions. Maryann Keller (pictured), an automobile analysist, heads Keller and Associates.  Their research says that the majority of dealer radio advertising occurred on traditional AM/FM frequencies.

Pinterest Users More Likely to Buy New Cars

Pinterest is influential in new car purchase decisions, according to a study from Oracle Data Cloud.  People on Pinterest are 28% more likely to buy a vehicle in the first 90 days of a release.  They are also 31% more likely to buy a new SUV in that time span and 13% more likely to buy a new truck model. Enrich your selling radio to car dealers with Pinterest.

I Heard It on Social Media

Word-of-mouth from social media has more influence than the examples set by friends in real life, according to a new study from Journal Marketing Science.  The two together are the most powerful sources of social learning.  Are you setting a good example on your station’s Facebook, Twitter, etc.?


Planning Your State Broadcast Convention?

John Lund’s positive, fast-moving presentation, “The Science of Growing Your Audience,” includes training and coaching guidelines on the basics of attaining higher ratings and more listeners.  Topics include the “basics” of radio programming, America’s top formats: who listens and why, tactics to get more listeners, talent coaching, and how to make voice tracking sound live and local.  This presentation will be customized and expanded to meet your members’ needs.  EmailJohn Lund for availability and more info.

Next week in the Lund Letter: Why it’s important to be likeable.

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About Lund Media

For over 20 years, the Lund Media Group has provided programming, music consulting, operational guidance, and research to broadcast stations throughout North America and overseas. With specialists in every format, the Lund Goal is to help stations get more listeners and keep them listening longer.

Call 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.