(By Loyd Ford) As time rolls on, life always changes and we learn more. Radio learns more and listeners learn more.
PPM has taught us we’re not the center of listeners lives. I have news for everyone who works in radio or media in general:
We never were.
And radio has long faced a variety of new challenges. Not in the last decade. Radio has been threatened all the way back to the 1950s. Still, what do we hear today? Radio is over, radio is in decline.
Radio only reaches about 93% of the population. It ain’t over.
So What Is Happening Here?
Your job on radio hasn’t changed.
- We must be compelling. That’s how brands rise in our business.
- We must be creative. Without creativity, we are the same as a private equity business or an accounting firm.
- We must bring interesting, captivating content to radio every time your listener uses your product.
- As content professionals, we must open our minds and get out of our own way. It’s time to break out, focus on what makes our brands special and zero in on what matters to them – NOT us.
- We must use the 21st Century tools of information at our fingertips, technology and social media engagement to grab listeners and make our audio their habit.
- We must rethink and restock our recruitment of talent and focus on tribe builders, influencers.
- We must be truly interested in our audience. People can tell when you are not interested in them. They drift away looking for someone who cares about them.
- For your personalities, the focus better be on managing ‘growth of fame’ in your local market. This is especially true for your morning show.
- We must commit to relearning the world daily, especially in our local markets.
Radio gets power from being local. Facing the future by building stronger strategy, better recruiting, adjusting our sails to get our personalities (and our salespeople) active in effective social media engagement helping listeners and advertisers is the path forward.
I always say, “Once you have a radio station, you can get anything else you want.” That only really works if you understand the cold, hard truth: Listening to the radio isn’t free. It cost a listener time to find what they want. If you don’t have a firm understanding of what your target wants and if you don’t focus your product on those unique ideas, you will have a frustrating future.
If you embrace the things above, you will find your brand or brands growing, your listenership rising and your clients much more engaging to your opportunities for them to move their business ahead.
That’s radio today. Listeners want what they want. Clients want ROI on their advertising. Stop focusing on the noise and roll to the front of the bus to go on the offensive. Your opportunity is in front of you.
Loyd Ford consults radio stations, coaches personalities, and provides behavioral and strategic programming to radio with RPC. If you’re on the Clubhouse app, you can join Loyd’s radio pro encouragement group “The Encouragers.” Reach him anytime. 864.448.4169 or [email protected].
