So What Makes a Good Radio Promotion

After our February lunch, Tammy Lemley, Vice President, North American Network was kind enough to provide 8 tips for running a successful radio promotion. Read below and let us know what you think about her advice ... or add tips from your own experience with radio promotions.

1. Be creative!
2. Choose prizes that you’d want to win! Gas cards, gift certificates, electronics, a behind-the-scenes tour, early release of a new product, cash, trips & tours. Remember, you can partner with another organization to secure prizes. Or combine smaller prizes to create a “prize package” where the sum is greater than the parts!
3. Provide enough prizes so that stations can do a week-long giveaway. They typically like to give away one prize per day, Mon – Fri. If you have prizes of varying value you can give away the smaller prizes earlier in the week & build excitement for a “Grand Prize” giveaway at the end of the week.
4. Think about your timing… do you want to tie in to a certain event or holiday? Holidays can be a very competitive time to get on the air, but they can also be a great time to do a giveaway, if you plan ahead. Pitch stations 8-10 weeks in advance & get prizes that will be especially hot items during the holidays. For ex: a Wii or Playstation 3 game system.
5. Give stations contest ideas, but also give them some flexibility to adapt your giveaway to their station.
6. Give stations the tools to post your contest online! Radio stations are using their websites! They’ll often promote your contest on-air and online. Be prepared to provide a logo & link for their website, as well as web copy & images of the prizes.
7. Consider market-exclusive promotions – stations prefer exclusivity!
8. Get it in writing! Station agrees to provide a recap with number of on-air mentions, estimated ad value and an aircheck!