If you have spent any time in the last week perusing the landscape, you would note that Back To School is in full effect, as the kids like to say. (They still say that, right?)
Every radio station on the planet does teacher salutes, as they should. What if you broadened that out and saluted other people in the trenches, like cafeteria staff and bus drivers? And obviously throw some bones to the teaching staff. You could also do Unsung Heroes and honor parents who volunteer, like choir moms.
Remember: if everyone is doing something, then you need to do it differently.
This week, we continue a four-part Dumpage series of 100 No/Low Cost promotions.
- Lose A Digit – Not in a Shop Class/Skill Saw kind of way. Any time you “mess with” the way you present the brand, it will get attention. As exemplified by the stations that have had a letter or digit lost and suddenly became “02 Jamz” or “iss 106.1”.
- Follow The Bieber – You don’t need Beebs tickets to lead listeners to a hidden medallion. At appointed times, you give physical directions that start from the station. “Head west 8 miles until you find it too rough” (ie, a golf course). Then “Looking towards the left, find a building with lots of class” (ie, a school). Eventually, one of these will land the people in close proximity to the treasured prize.
- Jenga – As mastered by Promo Joe at Max Media in Norfolk as an on-site activity at concerts and other events.
- Concert Set-Ups – In 2025, when you’re at a festival or event, people will not be crushed if you don’t give them a prize. They just want a cool photo backdrop. With 90% of stations doing artist cut-outs, any kind of semi-creative alternative will win.
- Team Of The Week – Host a different high school team in-studio every Thursday night. And not just during football season.
- F Word Friday – The F stands for “free” and the morning show offers up another F Word, like “Frisbee” that will be the cue to call and get something Free whenever it’s used that day.
- Bras Across… – One of the easiest and most visual of the Breast Cancer Month events or promotions. Collect a ton of bras. Hoop them and string them across a bridge.
- Hunger Hotline – As opposed to the standard food drive, when you’re done collecting the food, you divide it up, bag it, and have the airstaff deliver it to listeners who you have been tipped off that are having a rough year, financially.
- Merrython – December ‘tis the season to beg, so if you want to stand out and be THE ‘thon that cuts through, you need something a little more exciting than a broadcast from a mall on a Saturday. Any time a DJ lives on a billboard or scaffold for days or weeks, that’s the hook that will get you noticed.
- Air Checks – Listeners alert you to where they nest and listen all day. Spot check workplaces and if their radio is on to your station, the whole office wins.
- (Talent) University – A DJ puts together a list of things or activities that they’ve never tried (like skeet shooting, gambling, bungee jumping, heroin), and once a month, they go out and cross it off their list with some listeners who are also newbies to it.
- Mobile Scavenger Hunt – Great for events like fairs and festivals, people come by your booth, get a list of things to spot and shoot a photo of, and bring their phones back to get their pics looked at. People who get all ten items win a prize.
- Live With – For 30 days, an intrepid group of listeners carries cardboard cutouts of the morning show everywhere they go.
- Mattress of Fame – Get a mattress from a client and make it an autograph wall. Every time an artist comes through, they sign it. When it’s covered, auction it off for charity or just give it away on the air.
- Walk With What You Wear – For Back To School, do a remote at a clothing store and one winner gets to take home as many clothes as they can put on in one minute. Arm through a sleeve, leg through a pants leg qualifies as “wearing”.
- Yearbook Inserts – Have every artist that comes through sign a sheet, like, “Congrats, class of 2025, Eagle Eye Cherry!” These are printed into watermarked inserts that are handed out by the thousands the week that yearbooks come out in May or June.
- Move In Day – Have the air and promo staff at the university on the Saturday in August when all the freshmen and their parents show up, and help them carry stuff in. Feed and water them, too.
- Geo Filters – Very inexpensive way to take further ownership of events and festivals.
- Friends – “The One Where The Morning Host Friends Everyone Who Follows Him/Her And Takes Ten Minutes A Day To Make Comments About Birthdays And New Jobs And Other Life Moments.”
- Lotto Pool – When jackpots get huge, buy some tickets, and anyone who likes, comments, or shares the photo is in a pool to split the winnings.
- Celebrity VM – Have artists cut voicemail messages for listeners, ie, “This is Nia Peeples and Tracy can’t come to the phone. We’re hanging out with Paige from K-Paige. I’m sure that if you leave a message, she’ll call you back.”
- Christmas Ornaments – Similar to the Mattress Of Fame, get a bunch of holiday ornaments and have artists sign them when they come through. Give them away in December or sell them for charity.
- Day Spa At The Office – Bring a spa to a workplace and give a winner the full treatment as she sits in her cube, complete with essential fragrances and cucumber sandwiches.
- Movie Screening After Parties – Sell post-premiere get-togethers at a bar or club. Bring your movie stub and get some appies, maybe a drink, and get entered for a prize.
- Movies For A Year – If the agency that places screenings in the market has a list, see if you can add a couple of names to it in January and award tickets for a year. The phones will melt.
51 – 75 coming next week. Read 1 – 25 here.
The holidays are closer than you think – and the best Q4 promos aren’t made last-minute. Join Paige and Radio Ink’s Cameron Coats on August 20 at 2p ET for Quarter 4 Your Thoughts, a free, fast-paced webinar packed with sellable holiday campaigns. RSVP here.
