We’ve all had that moment as a child (and even as adults) where we were listening to the radio and suddenly heard that there was a competition being announced. If we called in at the right time, or if we entered our details online we would have the chance to win something.
For a second you got a quick rush. A surge of excitement raced through you at the thought of winning something for nothing. The excitement that you felt during those moments is exactly the reason why radio promotions are so powerful. They link positive emotions to your brand and it comes down to the fact that people simply like winning free stuff.
If you’ve been thinking about doing a radio promotion for your brand, then you’ve come to the right place. Here is our guide to radio promotions.
How Does It Work?
When you first start thinking of radio promotion ideas, it is important to look at your target audience and ask yourself who are you trying to sell to?
The answer to this question will give you more direction when it comes to choosing the correct radio station(s) to promote on. Depending on your audience, you will choose the radio station that best fits that demographic.
Now you need to decide what your promotion is going to be. Are you going to give away tickets to an artist’s concert and then have your branding all over the competition? Are you going to give away free products to 10 lucky winners? Choose a promotion that will best engage your target audience and make them most likely to sign up.
Next you need to contact the radio station, or an advertising company to organise the media bookings for the radio spots and live reads.
Why Do it?
Beyond the branding element of radio promotions that we mentioned earlier, there is another, and potentially more important benefit to creating a radio promotion – it allows you to build a database for future advertising.
If you visit the website of any major radio station in Perth and explore the promotional section, you will notice that every promotion (or competition) has a form. In order to enter into the competition, you will need to fill out the form.
This form serves two purposes. Firstly, it gives the radio station and promoter the information to contact the person if they happen to be the winner of the promotion. Secondly, it collects their details to use for future advertising efforts. Email addresses; phone numbers and home addresses can all be used for retargeting.
The benefit of this approach is that you know that the people are interested in your product. If you are giving away free vacuum cleaners, it is very unlikely that someone who doesn’t need a new vacuum cleaner would be entering into the promotion. By creating the promotion, you are letting your potential customers come to you.
Radio Promotion Ideas
If you’re stuck on what kind of promotion you want to run, we’ve compiled some ideas for you:
- Quiz – Contestants need to answer a set number of questions within a time limit in order to win the prize. The quiz is promoted on the radio station in the weeks leading up to it, and listeners are encouraged to sign up online to be one of the lucky ones who are called and allowed to participate.
- Prize Draw – Listeners enter their details online to be part of a prize draw. A prize, usually a product of the sponsor, is promoted beforehand to build hype.
- Ear Test – A mystery sound is played, clues are given, and listeners win a prize if they identify the sound correctly. Many promoters often try to make the sound related to their giveaway in some way. For example, if they are giving away a fridge, they might make the noise the sound of ice being removed from the ice tray as the ‘sound.’
A radio promotion can be a great way to inject some life back into your marketing strategy if you feel like there has been little to no life in it. It is and easy, fun and exciting way to promote!
Check out our other blog posts on radio:
How To Create Retail Ads For Radio
Radio Marketing Tips For Small Business Success
How To Generate Leads With Radio Advertising
Factors Affecting Radio Advertising Rates
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