Cleanup On Aisle Four (Part 1)

The BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front):  The new year brings an appropriate moment to re-affirm your content strategy and clean up your show for a better listener experience that results in higher ratings.

Why It Matters:  We are not in the radio business anymore.  We are in the experience business.  Years ago, Best Buy was awful to enter.  Salespeople hovered because they were on commission.  The stores were dingy and old.  They were on the road to becoming the next Circuit City.  Then, they got smart.  They redesigned the stores to be brighter, installed interactive areas, and took the salespeople (who all knew we’d just go to Amazon to buy whatever we were looking for) off commission so they were there to genuinely help.  They improved their in-store experience so we enjoyed going there.  We need to do the same.

Ever open that catch-all drawer in your kitchen looking for the menu to the Chinese restaurant only to wade through zillions of paperclips, pens and rubber bands, scissors and coupons, and 14 other menus?  The start of a new year is a great time to clean it out, so things are streamlined and what’s left matters and stands out.

If you are a Brand Manager or leader of a show, here’s Part 1 of things to work on.  I’ll do half now and the balance in the next Planet Reynolds.

What You’re All About:

  • Everyone might have a different sense of your content strategy. With time we lose focus of things like this.  Affirm it so everyone is on the same page.
  • Do a short listener profile so you know your target audience, discussing, too, how their values match yours.
  • Understand why the audience comes to you. What are they looking for when they turn you on?  How are you at delivering that?

Review Character Development:

  • What are the attributes of each person on the show – the major connection points they offer to develop loyalty with a like-minded group of listeners?
  • How are the cast members different from one another? Especially if you have two people of the same gender, how do you help them create separate personas?
  • How do you generate story-based personal content to drive who you are? How can that be elevated to get more so you become a personality-driven show?

Playing the Hits:

Content must be strategically chosen. Where will you find that?  Planet Reynolds readers know I believe four areas are best:

    • Pop Culture (because pop = popular = familiar).
    • What’s up locally if you are a live and local show?
    • The appropriate parts of your life so the audience can connect with you.
    • Music-based content so you are part of the larger station brand and not siloed.

Benchmarks and Icons:

  • Review your benchmarks and features. If your benchmarks have been on for a while, should you update their presentation, so they have a fresh coat of paint?
  • What new features can you add to the show in 2025, so your fans are always getting a fresh, innovative product?
  • What’s iconic about your brand? If a focus group were done on your show, what 1-2 items would come up unaided by typical listeners in the room?  How do you help make that happen?
  • How do you make your show’s signature feature even bigger? That’s not about the prize you attach to it (if a game) but how do you increase its exposure so more people know about it?

The 15-Second Game:

Let’s play a fun game to wrap up Part 1.  Grab ten random breaks from last week’s shows and listen to only the first 15-seconds of each, then stop the audio.  Is enough done in those 15 seconds that would compel listeners to stay for another fifteen seconds?  In other words, are you doing content by then or forcing the audience to wade through paperclips, pens, and tons of menus?  If the morass of up-front promotion and process chatter stands in the way of getting to actual content (the reason the listeners come), clean it up.

That’s enough for now.

Part 2 comes next where we’ll cover promotion of your show, its imaging, show prep, your digital efforts, and a street campaign.

I do this because I want radio to be an epic, unique choice for listeners.  If you have questions on the above, feel free to reach out here.  Doesn’t matter to me if I work with you or not because I believe in radio.