Tips 16-20 (Continued from Page 3 )
Shared at Norsk Lokalradioforbund 2025 in Bergen, these no-cost strategies draw from my four decades in radio to help your station thrive.
Continuing with the Tips 16-20!
In a small market, you’ll cold call every business within a year, leaving fewer options for the next round. Skip cold calls and invite potential clients on-air to share their expertise, avoiding any ad mentions unless they ask. This builds trust, making it easier to tailor the right sales approach later. And it also contributes to your Value Added Radio!
Next tip: Be Easy To Do Business With
A local spa hotel only advertises through bartering? Here's an idea to monetize it.
Listeners pick up free bumper stickers at a mall (Sponsor #1). Then a reporter notes cars with your sticker during a city ride. You randomly select and announce ten plate numbers, and drivers have one hour to reach a gas station (Sponsor #2). The first to arrive wins a spa weekend for two. If no one arrives, the game restarts in the next hour. The spa hotel gets regular ad spots and is not mentioned in the promotion, while the promotion itself, based on bartered prizes, drives listener action and earns the income from two sponsors.
Encourage local businesses to ‘stick around’ with a win-win promotion: Retail stores or public offices display your station’s sticker on their front door and play your station in-store. In return, they get limited advertising, like one daily spot play or shared slots with other participating businesses, boosting their visibility while keeping your station top of mind. Only offer a very small number of spot plays in return, or you'll quickly run out of paid campaigns.
AdMaster can routinely manage such promotions by scheduling the spots precisely.
Next tip: Small Business Of The Month
Support newly founded small businesses by granting them a free month of advertising as your ‘Small Business of the Month.’ Highlighting them on-air builds goodwill, strengthens your station’s community ties, and showcases the benefits of radio advertising to others.
Last But Not Least: Music Drives Your Listeners
After decades of accessing radio research, I’ve found that 64% to 91% of people choose a station for its music - a peak range spanning the lowest score of 64% to the highest at 91% across various countries and markets (these are all the results that I've been in touch personally).
Unless you’re a talk radio station, this means at least 2 out of 3 (green people), likely 3 out of 4 (green plus some blue), and sometimes even 9 out of 10 listeners (green plus all blue) tune in for the music.
If your playlist isn’t great, the other tips won’t matter. Music drives your audience, and almost nothing else does.
(Vladimir, Founder of IT4RADIO, in radio since 1986)
AdMaster can routinely manage such promotions by scheduling the spots precisely.
Bonus Playlist Analysis Content
