Ratings ... Politics ... Opportunity ...

Political elections come at regular intervals except for special elections. Rating are a constant for radio. Nielsen services both: polling for politics and ratings for radio (different reference for polling).

Hopefully, your station gets its share of political advertising; meanwhile there are promotional opportunities to potentially take advantage ratings-wise. Politicians and radio stations are always trying to connect with people. The difference being that music radio does it in a non-partisan way; you don't want to turn off any PPM (Portable People Meter) panelists or Diary keepers.

A Fish Fry ...

Several years ago, I moderated an air talent panel and one of the personalities talked about an annual fish fry his station held. The air talent gave me his PD's direct line and I called him. The PD talked about how TV and newspapers covered the Fish Fry and he invited me to come down to his market and check it out. I couldn't make the trip but made him promise to send me written and recorded local TV coverage of it. He followed through and I filed it away. Eight years later when I was looking for a way to get a leg up on a competitor, I was going through my files and I came across the Fish Fry promotion. After reviewing what I had written, a lightbulb went on in my head.

Music ... Politics ... Ratings ...

It was a presidential election year and I realized I could tie some things together and maybe increase the ratings. I had causal conversations throughout the station and the community. I was gathering information and opinions to maximize my idea on layered levels. My intuition told me this was going to be something my music station would benefit from. A way to touch the hearts of the listeners, make the station some money, grab publicity, create a repeatable plugged-in event, involve community and business sectors, and maybe jump ahead of the competition.

Hmmmm ...

So as the idea took shape, I thought, what if I could get a series of community picnics sponsored and held in our hot zip code areas? Make something convenient so listeners would not have to travel outside of their neighborhood -- do it in their own backyards. I eventually told the promotions director about my idea and he gave me all the "what ifs" -- liability, cooking, organizing, cleanup, security, etc. Between the two of us we came up with a working plan that even brought the skeptics on board.

Advising & Persuading ...

We persuaded the neighborhoods to do the organizing and sat in on all meetings to advise. The idea evolved and the time came to go to sales and get clients involved: banks, car dealers, finance companies, relators, and any company looking for ways to market to our target audience. We were able to get our clients to donate the food and several businesses used the opportunity to come out and set up displays and market to the neighborhoods.

All We Had To Do Was Show Up ...

Residents put together programs to honor students and people of note in the neighborhood. The Fire & Police departments agreed to do safety demonstrations. It was great: The community did all the cooking, cleanup, got DJs to spin for the occasion, hired off-duty police and sheriff department personnel to provide security, and politicians and business leaders came by to glad-hand. That first neighborhood event became our template and we went on to do 12 more like it during the summer. My station merely showed up with the van, took part in the program, ate, and the air personalities made friends with the listeners. Audience-wise, it was the whole family and a lot of press coverage. That summer we beat the direct competitor and never lost to them again.

Any Music Format Can Do It ...

I suggest you align your station with the League of Women Voters, organize voter registration drives with known non-partisan groups, and think about planning some neighborhood picnics. Do not reveal your personal political beliefs at these events because you want every listener to lock you in on Alexa, smart phone apps, digital platforms, and the vehicle radios. It's a great way to promote community, get advertising dollars on the books, and potentially increase ratings. It's all about marketing and connecting the dots.