Seven Ways to Surprise Your Audience

The lesson for radio is to be proactive in creating excitement and surprise your audience. That goes for programmers as much (or more) than personalities. Here are 7 ways to do it

Promos

Promos are basically commercials for your radio station. Now there are good commercials and bad ones.

Brands spend millions creating great commercials to run in the Super Bowl, and viewers spend hours of their own time watching them.

You're in the entertainment business. Craft the commercials for your station to entertain, inspire curiosity and provoke a specific call to action. They shouldn't be just a collection of facts and information. A good promo is a story that leads to response.

When each promo sounds just like all the other promos, you're missing an important opportunity.

Stunts

Stunts are hard to pull off. If you do them, you have to have a strategy to surprise your audience. You can't just keep doing the same old thing that worked in the 90s.

How are your stunts new, different and unique? You're not just competing with other radio brands for attention. When you launch a stunt, you're in battle with every YouTube sensation.

That takes creativity. When is the last time you captured the public's imagination with a Purple Cow stunt that surprises and delights?

Music

Man, I know how important it is to play the right songs. And that well-researched library is a critical foundation for your brand. But when the music on your station becomes routine and there are no surprises, listeners take you for granted.

Examine your music strategy to insure that it delivers audience expectations and offers unexpected surprises. What was unique and progressive when the Variety Hits format debuted is now common. And it's not just about playing songs that listeners don't expect. How can you package those songs in new, inspiring ways?

Promotions

* What can you change in your next promotion to raise the bar by telling a story? Learn from Z90/San Diego's 'Epic 48' campaign. It delivers a larger-than-life, "couldn't turn it off" listening experience that extends beyond winners and prize pigs. It captures listener imagination.

Try to build each promotion campaign to be simple, clear and easy to play, but fill it with twists and turns that surprise your audience. Those moments matter.

Presentation

Every station and every personality falls into patterns and routines that become invisible to the listener.

We repeat the execution so many times they don't even hear it anymore.

We can be so much better. Work on your skills to build suspense into your presentation.

Are you making listeners feel like they have to listen or they will miss out? Learn to add drama to create moments of anticipation in content, promos and teases.

Did'ja Hear Moments

Every day is an opportunity to create listener talk about something you did on the radio. This should be a part of your daily show prep.

Identify one thing each day that can be developed in more depth so it has the potential to cause listeners to say, "Didja hear what (show) did today?" Making that commitment forces you to take time in preparation to surprise your audience.

New Features

Every station should constantly innovate, developing new ideas and features to introduce.

It could be specialty weekend programming. Or a different way to give away prizes. Maybe you can package an existing station or show feature in a new way.

Surprises don't have to be big, over-the-top moments ... just interesting ways to get attention. Incubate new ideas, test them and when they're ready, launch them as your next big thing.

To Wrap Things Up

Boredom and indifference are deadly poisons. "Just go with the flow," "Don't make waves," and "Whatever..." are the mantras of the walking dead.

Make a commitment to standing out. How will your content be truly unique? Challenge yourself to get out of the rut. Be outspoken and bold. Commit to making your radio station and show come alive on the air!

Turn up the volume on suspense and make a bold commitment to surprise your audience. It works, and it's what you need to win.