With the rise and rise of on demand and streaming audio, it is vital on-air talent are relevant now more than ever.
“Right now is a fantastic time for personalities. These are the good old days for radio”, says Dennis Clark at the start of day two at Radiodays Europe.
Dennis Clark is Vice President of Talent Development for iheartMedia in the USA. He has worked with some of the biggest on-air talent in the US and around the world, including Elvis Duran from New York’s Z100. He shares some techniques talent are using to ensure they connect with the audience everytime they turn on the mic.
“The humanity of (radio) personalities has never been more important than it is now”, continues Clark.
The one truth about connecting with your listeners is understanding that it’s all about them. They want to hear their favourite music. They want to be informed. They want to laugh when they listen. And they want radio that is perfect for them.
“(Being) relevant is about being in touch, entertaining and connected”, says Clark. “But be respectful of your listeners time. Realise your target actually has a life, which makes it more difficult for you to be heard”.
Everything you do, from topics to features, weather and traffic news, do it with a unique style. “Try and make it as sexy as possible”, adds Clark. “Being memorable and connecting content is important”.
Clark also mentions there is technology that you can use to help prepare and be more relevant. Topic Pulse is a program that measures all online activity – news, Facebook, Twitter etc – and ranks topic trends for your target demographic.
“If you don’t use social media effectively, you aren’t doing all you can to stay relevant to your audience”, says Clark.
Clark adds some do’s and don’t about using social media.
- Invite your listeners to your social media
- Interact with your listeners like friends
- Be mindful of how much your posting
- Live tweet/post big events (Festivals, TV shows etc)
- Make sure you tag the artist/celebrity using correct handle
Finally, here is Dennis Clark’s top rules of relevance
- Connect to your listeners
- What will make your show different, unique, remembered
- Define roles of all personalities
- Inject “real” humanity and emotion
- Know your branding statement
- Build a content filter that works for you
- Prep connects
- Master social media
- Distraction happens – don’t allow yourself to be repositioned
- Understand how your personality and brand connects to your target