What Would It Take For Your Local Radio Assets To Grow In 24?

We see it more than we would like. You do, too.

Radio stations in a box. The music is a format, but it may not be focused enough to gain attention by a large enough tribe to be really meaningful in a local radio market.

A morning show and image liners all day long. You can even hear liners saying, "Live and local" but there is no relationship between the station and the listeners.

In many corners of our business, operators may feel it is too expensive to create a meaningful radio station filled with on-air personalities to connect a local audience to a local radio brand, but it isn't.

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One of the reasons we opened our consulting practice to a larger set of over the air radio was that we felt there was a need for local operators to be able to affordably create robust sounding local radio stations again at a fractional cost. This isn't about being cheap; it is about providing more cost certainty and delivering local radio in a way that allows local operators to create valuable brands they can leverage fully to create higher revenue and profit margins.

We couldn't be more timely either. Many of today's local radio operators are suffering from revenue displacement. Most are not thinking about improving the product; they are working on survival.

None of this changes the facts that Americans are more distracted than ever, they have more choices than ever and they may take old fashioned radio for granted.

Radio in a box is not going to get anyone to radio revenue growth. Yet the challenge for most operators is how to avoid being overwhelmed with the costs associated with equipping a local radio station to create attention, build strategy that results in more engagement and to then draw down on a process that really leverages the value of local radio in a way that may have not been seen in their local market for several decades.

Where you want to be in 2024 is a choice. Operators can continue on the path they are on right now. We all know the saying, "If you do the same thing you've always done and expect a different result...."

The truth is that it isn't only advertisers and buyers that are looking for a change. Listeners and the pros inside your own building want opportunity for something better and you can give it to them.

We bring to our clients:

• An objective outside view of what is happening between them and their competitors
• A review of market data and a closer look at how their local station (or stations) is put together and focused on important audience they most want to attract
• When necessary, we offer fresh station architecture, music selection, personality coaching and a unique value proposition unique to the market and compelling to elevate the local radio brand or brands of the client
• Fresh ideas to help electrify the on-air sound of their station or stations and fresh ideas to help the sales effort by offering a consistent boost of creativity that can be used by your sales team to create FOMO and energize your sales results
• Help encourage sales management that grows opportunity and culture so purpose and energy comes to your selling
• Steady encouragement designed to elevate the momentum and purpose of your local effort

Fall has essentially begun, but we are keeping our attention on your future revenue opportunity. Even our open-to-everyone quarterly sales event coming up October 12, 2023 will focus on salesperson momentum. While many are thinking of engineering a soft landing for 2023, we are focused on the expected need for a faster start to 2024.

You hear it all the time. Good help is hard to find. It's not that hard if you know where to look.

Each Monday I share a sales article in RadioInk.com because it is important to encourage our local radio sellers today. And our website has almost 1,000 articles of encouragement designed to help encourage everyone on your team today. We even have a weekly podcast called The Encouragers? The Radio Rally? podcast (Apple, Audible, Spotify) you can get right on your own smartphone. Every week we share encouragement from a radio pro working in North America. They share their story and their thoughts on radio now and in the future.

There's always room for the unexpected in our business. Consider giving yourself a free look at what it might be like for you to have some help creating great local radio and leveraging those efforts to create higher revenue and profit. Our first consultation is free. 864.448.4169 or [email protected].

At RPC, we say this all the time, "Once you have a radio station, you can get anything else you want." Here's a question: What do you want?

Find affordable strategic help right now that can change the value of your assets and help you create the growth you will surely need in 2024.

Loyd Ford is president and chief strategic officer at Rainmaker Pathway Consulting Works (RPC). They help local radio with ratings and revenue. Reach him anytime at 864.448.4169 or [email protected].