{"id":19742,"date":"2017-06-19T00:00:54","date_gmt":"2017-06-19T07:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/danoday.com\/blog\/?p=19742"},"modified":"2017-06-19T00:24:24","modified_gmt":"2017-06-19T07:24:24","slug":"radio-cross-promoting-country","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/danoday.com\/blog\/2017\/06\/radio-cross-promoting-country\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cShould Our Country Music Radio Station Cross-Promote on Classic Hits, Too?\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"promotions<\/a>A Loyal Reader writes:<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

“I work at small market group of radio stations, doing afternoon drive on the country station. <\/span><\/p>\n

“We (the country station) organized a party bus to a country music festival. We had moderate success, but our bus could of been fuller. <\/span><\/p>\n

“Our sales guy who helped us organize this now wants to promo this event next year on our classic hits station, thinking we’ll get more people. <\/span><\/p>\n

“I have the belief that we should only run it on the country station because it gives listeners a reason to listen to the station, and that if a person likes country music they will listen to the county station. I’m just not a big fan of cross promotion… Any thoughts on this? Who’s right or wrong?”<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Dan Replies:<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

It’s natural for a salesperson to assume that “casting a wider net” will attract more prospects.<\/span><\/p>\n

It may reach more people, but you want to reach qualified<\/strong><\/span> prospects.<\/span><\/p>\n

In this case, qualified prospects are people who are more likely than most to want to get on a bus filled with country music fans and ride for hours to see a country music concert.<\/span><\/p>\n

Why would you search among a bunch of classic hits fans for qualified prospects when you haven’t fully mined those with whom you have daily contact?<\/span><\/p>\n

You’re not simply trying to fill a bus.<\/span><\/p>\n

Your goal is to fill the bus with individuals who already have a relationship with your radio station.<\/span><\/p>\n

For the sales department, this is a sales promotion.<\/span><\/p>\n

For the station, it’s an opportunity to build and strengthen a sense of community among your listeners.<\/span><\/p>\n

For those listeners, it’s not “a bus that will take a bunch of people to the country music concert.”<\/span><\/p>\n

For those listeners, it’s “a bus filled with people who share my enjoyment of country music. People with whom I have at least two things in common:<\/span><\/p>\n

“1) We all love country music.<\/span><\/p>\n

“2) We’re all part of the Radio X family.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Those are the two things everyone on that bus should have in common: <\/span><\/p>\n

They love country music, and they listen to Radio X.<\/span><\/p>\n

What happens if you defy the odds and manage to lure a few classic hits listeners onto that bus?<\/span><\/p>\n

You dilute the community. You weaken it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now it’s a bunch of people who love country music and listen to Radio X\u2026plus some “outsiders” who are along for the ride.<\/span><\/p>\n

You’re also diluting your sister station’s brand. <\/span><\/p>\n

“The classic hits station that country music fans love, too”?<\/em> <\/span><\/p>\n

I don’t think so.<\/span><\/p>\n

I’ll take a wild guess: Your account exec wants to attract more people in order to make the advertising client feel he’s getting his money’s worth.<\/span><\/p>\n

If your station has 40,000 more listeners than the bus has seats, take a look at each element that had any impact on last year’s attendance and ask, “Why didn’t more of those 40,000 listeners join the party?”<\/span><\/p>\n

Those elements include:<\/span><\/p>\n