(By Steve Allan) I always look forward to each Wednesday’s Radio Ink headlines. Paige Nienaber’s weekly dumpage is not only snarkily funny, but it contains some great ideas for local promotions. If you are fortunate enough to do local contesting, I urge you to read his column every week.
Join Paige at Radio Ink‘s 3rd annual Radio Masters Sales Summit, September 10-11 at the Cincinnati Airport Marriott. Walk in with questions and challenges — leave with answers and ideas. REGISTER NOW!
I will also offer a way to possibly make your contesting more meaningful and/or interesting to your audience:
If your station subscribes to Scarborough you have a wealth of information about your audience that is only a few clicks away. This data is heavily used on the sales side to tailor proposals for specific client needs. Most programming types rarely access this information, which is updated twice a year. However, it can really help you focus on the things your listeners care about the most.
To begin with, you can see how your audience breaks down by annual household income levels. While we all know cash is king, perhaps your audience might be affluent enough to prefer unique experiences. Or, maybe they would find a version of “pay your bills” more enticing.
There is a section called Leisure that can tell you if your fans are more likely to attend an NHRA drag race or buy a Powerball ticket. How does your audience index for pet ownership? The Lifestyle section can answer that question. In the Activities/Travel section are they more into bowling or hiking? Do they plan on attending a concert or music festival?
There are dozens of headings and hundreds of categories to choose from. You can also use this information to develop podcasts and on-air content. This can be especially powerful if one of your personalities is passionate about one of the hot categories. The flip on this is that you may be focusing on a topic that is of little interest to your cume.
Keep in mind that the participants in a Scarborough study are not the same people as are contained in your local PPM panel or diary sample. These are separate databases. However, they are “survey friendly” and members of your audience are represented.
In today’s combative media environment, every piece of data can give you an edge over the competition. If you’re not familiar with using the Scarborough data as part of your programming strategy, ask someone from the sales department to walk you through the program. You’ll be amazed by what you learn.
This essay is part of a series titled “The Power of Radio.” To view past articles, visit The Ratings Experts at Research Director, Inc. online here.
Steve Allan is the Programming Research Consultant at Research Director, Inc. He can be reached at 410-295-6619 x25 or by e-mail at [email protected]. Read Research Director, Inc.’s Radio Ink archives here.
