The Power Of Your Local On-Air Talent

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(By Ansel Olson) When thinking of influential marketing campaigns, it is easy to mention commercials like Alaska Airlines’ Chief Football Officer featuring Russell Wilson or Kia Nero’s Hero’s Journey starring Melissa McCarthy. When brands and influencers do it right, they create unforgettable, hilarious, or heartwarming recall that provides optimal brand lift. By associating itself with an influencer’s brand, advertisers can successfully create a halo effect around their company. This halo effect serves as a warm introduction to that influencer’s network of followers, friends, and fans. The special moment when word of mouth organically forms around the watercooler or on social media and sales take flight, as a result of your influencer campaign, is marketing gold.

Brands see the benefit of influencer marketing and “nearly half of practitioners said they plan to ramp up budget for influencer-focused campaigns in 2017” (eMarketer, 2016). Getting nationally known talents can mean extremely large marketing expenditures, and some brands, frankly, cannot make that work within their budgets. This causes some advertisers to totally shy away from influencer marketing initiatives, which is a gross misstep. The cost-effective solution could be around the corner, literally. They could be overlooking the original social influencers – local on-air personalities.

Every week, millions of consumers turn on their TVs to watch the anchor deliver local news or tune into their favorite radio station while driving to work. The audience welcomes on-air personalities into their “homes” or “space.” “Radio audiences have a unique, virtual one-on-one relationship with live-and-local social influencers on a daily basis. When product recommendations are delivered correctly, they undoubtedly move the needle for advertisers” states Michael Fashana, Strategic Sales Director at CBS Seattle.

Think about it. When attempting to market to consumers, particularly Millennials, the importance of local is a major focus. Millennial consumers have a strong sense of community and often opt towards products/services that are locally-sourced as opposed to dealing with large corporations. In a sense, Millennials desire to do business with people they know, trust, and believe in. Per the Millennial Research Project, conducted by Jacobs Media in 2017, they found that Millennials desired more information about local events and businesses, ranging from concerts, the arts, and restaurants. If brands want to appeal to the country’s largest generation, they need to tap into reliable local talents to convey that message.

Millennials care about local, so when creating a strategy to engage with them, brands do not have to look very far. The ideal social influencer could be speaking to your audience about an upcoming event or concert at this very moment.  Research the local talent pool in your target markets for the right influencer to promote your brand/product. The halo effect created by a beloved radio disc jockey or affable weatherperson could be the watershed moment an advertiser needs to locally activate their brand.

Ansel Olson is the Director of Digital Sales at CBS Local, Strategic Advisor to Resolut Partners, an e-Commerce Digital Marketing firm, and Advisory Board Member of Park Consulting, a Southern California-consulting firm. He can be reached at [email protected]

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