Radio is the ”invisible” medium. Other media such as TV, print, outdoor, and the Internet all have visual aspects, but not radio. So, you may not have given much thought to how your show will look to the outside world. We”re talking about your marketing kit.
Now, most of the people in your audience will never get to see your face, let alone your show’’s marketing material. Lucky for them, right? However, the PD’’s and GM’’s will want to see your marketing material and a photo of you, before they put your show on the air. Since you can”t travel to every station in the country, your sales kit has to be your ambassador.
Research has shown that people gather most of their information visually. Yes, this is even true of radio managers, perhaps more so because they deal with so much non-visual material. So it’’s important to make a good visual first impression with potential affiliates. Remember what your mom used to say, you never get a second chance to make a good first impression.
To put it another way, you don”t want to look like an amateur. You want to make sure your marketing kit and everything in it looks professional. So, forget the cheesy folders from the discount office store. You might consider getting some glossy, colorful sales folders with a logo of your show. This doesn”t have to be expensive, if you use the right vendors.
You should include a high quality photo of yourself in your marketing kit. You want a picture you will be proud to use in your marketing kit, and everywhere else too.
Of course, your sales kit must include a quality demo CD of your show. In our experience, the best demos are fast-paced, full of energy, and not too long. Five minutes is a good length. Even if your show is three hours long, you need a short demo that presents your best stuff. Your best bits should go at the top, because if you don”t grab the ear right away, you”ve lost them. Some program directors will want to hear a full length show, so have copies of your best show available. But send out the short demo first.
Your marketing kit should also contain your bio, details about your show, press clippings, and so on. But be careful not to put too much in there. You don”t want to lose them or confuse them with reams of reading material.
You”ll also want to create a digital version of your demo kit, which can be emailed to stations that request it. And it’’s a good idea to have your demo kit available online, too. But we believe there’’s still no substitute for having an actual demo kit that can be sent to station executives. When that glossy demo kit lands on their desk, it will say more about you and your show than any electronic file possibly can. That’’s why our company always creates a custom, glossy color marketing kit with CD demo for every show we syndicate. If you decide to work with a syndication firm such as ours, be sure they will include a high quality, physical demo kit in their national marketing efforts, for maximum impact.
You could spend thousands on a marketing kit and demo CD, but why would you? Shop around, and you can get an awesome marketing kit and demo for less than you can imagine. If you already have a marketing kit you use in your business, you can probably change it slightly to market your show.
Finally, create a web site for your show, and submit the web address to us for a free listing in The Database.
Go to Step Four |
