Steve’s Big Five to Start 2025
The BLUF (bottom line up front): I’m not one for resolutions because I’ll break them before you finish this sentence. But the beginning of a new year is an appropriate time to reset your strategy and commit to understanding that the growth of your show lies in a game plan to evolve.
Why Does It Matter? Because everything evolves. Everything. Any brand we use has changed over time (lettuce in a bag, Windex wipes, Apple Pay, etc.). You must, too, if you wish to have higher ratings. Because if you keep doing what you’re doing, you’ll keep getting what you got.
Here are five things to consider and work on to help grow your show. The onus is on us to change lest your fans grow fickle and bored and seek out something else in the moment that provides them with connection, entertainment, and fun.
In the quest to be an Outside Thinker:
- Inventory your show and compile the list ✅ of things that listeners can only get from you. Now, go grow those points-of-differentiation so you’re even more unique. I love Frostys and can only get them from Wendy’s. Develop more Frostys. Or identify your one big feature and make it even bigger to drive more positive imagery into your program.
- Commit to making the other personalities on the station stars 🤩 on your show. Then work with them on how to make you a star on their show. All boats rise if you help one another. This isn’t just what promos they can run for your show. It’s can/how do you involve them in your content and how do they reciprocate? There are many stations where our morning show does this with the afternoon personality/team. Both show’s ratings go up when we commit to this.
- Accept that listeners really don’t hear small things – and that small things don’t really matter much to your ratings. 📈 Big things cut through so go do big things. Radio has a top-of-mind awareness problem. Do content in big, memorable ways and you’ll be top-of-mind. And remember, this isn’t about having better prizes or what you give out. It is about content. Boredom lurks around every corner in life for all of us (that’s why we pick up our phones so often). We are attention merchants and doing big things with the right topics keeps their attention.
- Always stay relevant to the moment for content. What do you do with the “now topics” that keeps your fans coming back every day out of fear of missing something? Be about today. Helping your fans stay connected to what’s going on right now in the world and your market makes them feel vibrant – especially when you share your point-of-view and then do something with the topic no one else thinks to do.
- Stop looking at social media for usable feedback on your show. 🙉 It’s great to read the positives and a bummer to hear the opposite, but don’t let any of that sway you to change the strategy. The feedback from the few people who comment (good or bad) could be right and they could be wrong. It’s just how that person reacted to it in that moment. A strategy is always adjusted dispassionately. Don’t believe the highs or lows – just keep working your content strategy. Whatever you see is from a minute amount of your audience so you have to be careful to not make a strategic content decision from it.
Michel Porter said: “Strategy is about making choices and trade-offs; it’s about deliberately choosing to be different. Leadership evolves when we have the courage to change, refine, and lead with clarity.”
Go lead and you’ll continue to be on the road to epic 🔥.