A big thanks to Tich McWilliams for bringing us this weeks Advertiser Success Story. Tich is a streetfighter at Tuned In Broadcasting’s WRLT Lightning 100.1 in Nashville. Tich’s client Trim Healthy Mamma used radio in a very creative way to help grow their lifestyle brand in Music City.
(By Tich McWilliams)
Trim Healthy Mama is a very successful healthy lifestyle brand that grew at the beginning purely through grass roots & they grew big! Their main goal was to promote that they are a local brand. It was very important that they established themselves as being part of this vibrant community. Lightning 100 is a great place to connect with the local community.
I created an annual program purely through radio advertisements which is fairly unusual for me. Usually I work with sponsorships at our events creating a full court press with radio, website, socials to on-site activations. I’ve created & co-created a couple of Lightning 100 flagship events & I’m behind the scenes in many of our other events. So, having a company purely doing just radio was a nice change!
I created an annual plan which encompassed main drive times & broad rotators. They were in all the right spots. It was also important to create the sound & feel of their message/s. The only way to do that is to get the 2 sisters to speak for themselves. They have such an incredible energy that shows when they speak, it really couldn’t be anyone else.
Also, with so much going on within their company from cooking products, cookbooks, skin care, podcasts, memberships & more – it was also important to create different messages to highlight many of their different areas of success.
I have personally tried many of their products & they are truly amazing! From trying many of their products, to reading their books gives me an insight to keep evolving with this amazing company. I’m always in contact with THM team to keep the message fresh & always changing. I am super proud that they call Nashville home & they have joined our Lightning 100 family!
Radio Ink: Tell us about the first sales call you went on at Trim Healthy Mama!
Tich McWilliams: I had heard about THM through several close friends who had been cooking with their products & just loved them. Being a Mom, I’m always looking for the healthiest ways to cook for my family. I started to research them & found they were located right here in my town. So I got to work! I was able to set up a meeting near the end of 2017. I went into the meeting like I always do; I want to learn about you & your company. I never like approaching anyone like I’m here for the sell. I was super pumped to hear their story; also I wanted to know what they were looking for, their goals for their company – short term and long term. It came clear pretty quickly that Lightning 100 was going to be a perfect place for them to reach their goals. You see THM has an incredible reach & the one major piece missing for them is no one in Nashville knew that they were a local company.
Radio Ink: How hard were they to convince to use radio?
Tich McWilliams: Not too hard! Once I knew what they were wanting to accomplish I had every confidence that Lightning 100 was the place for them to achieve their goals.
Radio Ink: How did you educate yourself on the clients business?
Tich McWilliams: First, the good ole Google search. Went to their website, read articles & I got some of their products to try. There was so much information about them & so many facets to their business it wasn’t too hard to learn about them. My only challenge was how to communicate to our listeners all the different elements within their business.
Radio Ink: Tell us about the creative, how often it changes and how it’s working for them.
Tich McWilliams: One thing about THM is who is behind their products – 2 very dynamic women, who are Mothers of 18 children between them plus they’re sisters! I knew the only way to truly make them shine was to get them to tell their own story. I didn’t want the traditional institutional sounding spots because they’re not like that at all. I gave them some direction on what I thought would work to get them started. I requested a minimum of 3 different “spots” to get started in rotation. Each spot has a consistent feel but each one showcases a different part of their business. Once all 3 spots were up in rotation I knew we would need to change the creative to keep their message fresh. Content is king and THM is not lacking in stuff to talk about so I would change out there spots every couple months.
Radio Ink: How did you convince them to agree to an annual contract?
Tich McWilliams: Knowing all the details of THM there was no way to tell our listeners who they are & what they have to offer in a short period of time. We needed an extended amount to tell everyone about their many cooking products, cook books, memberships, Trim Healthy Naturals – which is their all-natural skin care line. So many amazing things happening with them, we had to have patience to brand them as a local company in addition to showcasing their many products.
Radio Ink: How do you know using radio is succeeding for them?
Tich McWilliams: I asked them! They told me they were having a tremendous response! Having their message going out on Lightning 100’s airwaves was getting them recognized by friends and customers. Plus, this year they opened a new store that has all their products and cook books. Their location is somewhat of a challenge, a bit out of the way but it’s not stopping people to come in and check them out. They ask how did here about the store and they say I heard it on the radio!
Radio Ink: How are you following up with the client now that they are on an annual?
Tich McWilliams: I check in with them regularly via email, phone & in person. We go out to lunch pretty much every quarter and talk about what’s happening & what’s next. Since we are coming to the end of the year I already have them signed up for one of our flagship events Lightning 100’s Chocolate Affair; it takes place in February 2019 & showcases local chocolatiers, bakers and candy makers. We’ve had a full year of getting to know them know it’s time to see them & taste some of their delicious & good for you chocolate.
Reach out to Tich to congratulate her on being a radio rock star in Nashville at [email protected]
