Think before you promote

Growing Audience Takes Planning

One of the public radio stations I listen to has a heavy rotation of promotions for weekend programming. Instead of focusing on one program, it's a splatter approach of a little of everything and we'll see what sticks.

I appreciate the effort. Weekend programs tend to under perform when compared to the weekday juggernauts, Morning Edition and All Things Considered. Much of this has to do with the lifestyle of the listener. On the weekend they're a lot less likely to be that captive weekday audience. Their routine is so different on the weekend.

It is also harder to draw audience to a once a week offering. Radio listening from, the perspective of the audience, is habitual. The medium is convenient. Tune in and what you expect is magically there. Weekend programming needs to meet audience expectations. Once you get the listener there, the content needs to fulfill the expectations of your audience. If not, they're gone.

It's not going to work

But is this kind of promotion effective? Obviously, you want to make your audience aware of your weekend offerings. Not really. The most effective form of promotion is forward promotion. You're trying to increase time spent listening. There I said it. I also felt the hackles of so many doubters in public radio land go up. Unfortunately, this is basic radio. Promote what is coming up in the next ten to 20 minutes and do it consistently. Your goal is to increase time spent listening. 

Next, focus on vertical promotion. Try to increase occasions by promoting to your daily talk shows or All Things Considered during Morning Edition. 

Horizontal promotion works well. Promote a series of stories on Morning Edition during Morning Edition. You could easily do the same during midday programming.

Look for opportunities to cross promote. Local stories can be expanded upon by your midday offerings and other platforms. Don't miss this opportunity to promote between platforms!

Promotion on Monday morning for The Moth Radio Hour airing on Sunday night is the least effective thing you can do. I'm simply not going to remember it.

What works for weekends?

If you want to draw an audience to a weekend program, it would be more effective to run OES scheduling for that program. Optimum Effective Scheduling (OES) is a concept created to reach the majority of a radio station's listeners 3 or more times by distributing ads evenly throughout a week. This will take planning and discipline, but it works.