The At-Work Payoff

Based on our review of spring ratings results, at-work listeners continue to be the difference between winners and also-rans. In the 24/7 world, at-work listening can occur at any time. Some studies show at-work listening occurring at 7a, and we know that some markets have strong second and third shift at-work listening. The person working overnight at a hospital or convenience store logs in plenty of time with radio.

It's important to know your market: Who are the largest employers, and are they 24/7? Who employs the most workers between 5p and 5a? Tracking them may tell you a lot about your audience. Doing a survey on-air, on Facebook, and on your website will yield similar important information.

Building strong at-work listening begins when the audience is at home or in the car. Start with setting up appointments to take your station to work. A serious programming flaw for many stations is to not mention at-work listening until the morning show is nearly over. There should be a consistent flow of reasons and reminders to listen at work while listeners are still outside the workplace.

Within your morning show, do you "inform" the listener to prepare them for workplace conversations? A good morning show is the listener's prep course for the hot topics at work. Make your listeners feel smarter, and they will return time after time. They are also more likely to listen throughout the day. Recent research clearly shows the relationship between strong mornings and strong at-work listening.

The importance of tune-in appointments cannot be underestimated. The goal for PPM, diaries and phone-based ratings is to increase tune-ins per day. You can do that with strong features, contesting elements, and even behavioral liners and promos. One more tune-in per day is like getting a ratings raise!

Marketing for at-work is also key. Social media is helpful, but so is direct marketing via e-mail and frequent on-air liners. This also allows for setting those listening appointments with strong contesting plans.

Need an additional three simple ways to increase ratings this fall? ... Say the Station Name, Stop Cold Segues, and Stretch TSL.