Ideas and Information
Promotions
Promotions Planning Checklist
Here are some specific things to consider before the promotion will be ready to begin airing:
• Is the promotion supported in outside media?
• Is the promotion interesting enough to create talk, curiosity and new sampling?
• Does the promotion send the right message about the nature of the station, so that it won't attract the wrong people, irritate your core audience or cause people to be ultimately disappointed?
• Is this promotion consistent with the role of your station, the tastes of your target audience, and how they use your station?
• If there is participation by a sponsor, will you be “whoring out” the station, or will you acknowledge their participation is a supportive way, but keep ownership of the promotion?
• Is the prize compelling enough to be interesting to most of the listeners, and not just to the sponsor?
• Is the on-air execution interesting to listen to? Taking the 5th . Caller to qualify is not interesting. Trying to identify three songs from short hooks, or guessing a secret sound could be.
• Have you laid out the timing: the tease, execution, building to a climax, post-contest promos and the tease for whatever will be next?
Promotions Planning Checklist continued...
• Have you got at least a rough idea of the next promotion? Don't wait.
• Are you looking for ways to take advantage of the calendar? Specific sponsors are interested in radio at particular times of the year. Many promotions are linked to the weather or holidays. After one year on-air, the station should be able to start identifying the best promotions. Those should be repeated (and improved of course) at the same time the next year. That gives the sales department lots of time to work with the clients' planning, and you don't have to reinvent the wheel every month.
• Are liners written, and all important and all interesting information included? Are they done in such a way that the air talent can easily ad lib and make the liners more individual?
• Have you reviewed the promotion with the air talent? Explain the goals, the listener benefits, what copy points are most critical, and the “attitude” of the station regarding the execution of the promotion and towards any prizes to be given away. Touch upon any issues that might be important to promotion sponsors.
• For daypart promotions, an entire staff meeting isn't necessary. But have you met with the air talent whose show will feature the promotion?
• Have you set up a variety of liners, and enough liners, so that the promotion will have an ongoing presence on-air?
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