I was part of a web-ex this morning and the conversation turned to simple things that make radio stations successful in reaching their audience. We hit on four major points of connection. I'm sure there are many more. In any case, here are the first two we talked about. Two more to come tomorrow.

Stationality

Much of our on-air pop and sizzle will come from how passionate we are about our station. We need to spend time giving our audience as many reasons to listen as possible. We can best do this by talking in compelling and exciting ways about all the great things that are happening on the radio.

-Deliver stationality with passion and conviction. Be creative.
-Do at least 3 bits of station related material per hour. If you understand the laws of time spent listening you know it's not too much. Do it quickly and creatively.
-Do the big stuff every hour. Radio is the science of frequency. The more we mention something the better it will resonate with our audience.

Connection to the music

Most music fans have a passion for the artists and the songs they love. We need to reflect that passion by showing it ourselves on the air. This means sharing information about the artists, being in touch with what the songs are about, and in general, just sounding like we “get” the music.

-Do artist info at least twice times per hour. Make it quick and current. In and out will be best.
-Feel the love in a song. Feel the energy in a song.
-Keep the music moving. In sweep positions don’t let the music stop. Edit your content to fit over intros. Keep the station moving forward.