Are You Giving Away a Million Dollars a Year?

O’Reilly Auto Parts or Walgreens are likely spending tens of thousands of dollars running commercials on your radio station. Yet, so many stations don’t take advantage of the  free advertising  on their own station to promote a star morning or afternoon show.

In last week’s blog  Go Big On Personality Branding , Jeff McHugh cited multiple ways to brand your star talent. Now, let’s delve into specific examples of on-air branding promos.

Why morning show promos?

It’s not enough to tell listeners you have the best show, you must prove it. Hearing is believing.

Many personality shows create priceless on-air moments that play once or twice, and only a fraction of the audience hears it. By airing morning show imaging in all dayparts (including the morning show), you’ll expose these moments to a much wider audience.

The most effective imaging highlights the show’s content and the individual personalities. Here are five ways to brand your personalities:

Best of  Promos

Excerpt brief entertaining, funny, or endearing moments from the show. Here’s an example from  Danni and Country Cory  at Max 98.1 Memphis and  Heather and Wickett  at Lazer 103.3 Des Moines.

Character Clip  Imaging

The primary purpose of character imaging is to connect the name of the talent with the sound of their voice and with a sense of who they are as a character. Team shows could highlight both characters in one promo, while ensemble shows like  The Bert Show  spotlight one character at a time.

Campaigns

Campaigns work for up-and-coming morning shows to fuel their momentum. They are also effective for a ratings leader like  The KVJ Show  at WRMF to attract new cume in a fast growth market like West Palm Beach. The station is currently running an imaging campaign that demonstrates why KVJ is a  “Can’t Miss ” morning show.

Listener testimonial promos

Generic testimonials like, “They’re so funny,” or “I listen every morning on the way to work” are less effective. Specific comments about the content (“I never miss  Second Date Update ) and characters (“Chelsea could be my big sister”) brand the show.

10-Second Teasers

These promos are typically dry-voiced teasers for what’s coming up in tomorrow’s show. They are the easiest and least time-consuming to produce.

Teasers do brand the name of the show and can be effective if there is a major giveaway or a big name interview; however, they are the least effective because there is no audio connection to the show’s characters or content.

Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash