There’s a new song out called Right Round by Flo Rida which “samples” a song you might know called You Spin Me by Dead or Alive. Sampling is hip-hops way of recycling old material and making it fresh. It’s a great concept if you think about it, take a hit record, freshen it up to match the “new” sound of today and how could it NOT be a hit. Calling it sampling makes it sound “sexy” not OLD. So, let’s “sample” promotions that we used to do all the time and make them “sexier” for online.
1.) Listen to Win: It’s the oldest promotion in the book…listen at 7:20a for the “cue to call” and win!! This one is simple to “sample.” You still want people to listen and they’ll listen if you give them something to win, here’s the new twist, your listeners must be a part of your database. Sign them up and at 7:20a announce a VIP’s name and give them X number of minutes to call back and win. Quick and easy sample.
2.) Remote: You’ve been there before, broadcasting live at a car dealership waiting for one person to show up and they NEVER do. Dealership remotes have long been the bain of your existence, but with digital you can make them sexy and you don’t even have to stand in the cold for three hours waiting for someone to come to see you. Do a virtual test drive. Take a video camera with you to a dealership, have your talent drive and talk about his/her experience. Post the video in your OnDemand section and have it as the pre-roll on your live streaming player. The impact for the client will be much greater and you won’t kill your Saturday at a remote that no one is showing up to.
3.)Requests: You undoubtedly don’t have live air staff anymore, but you can make it seem that way when you “sample” the request. Take requests on Twitter, on Facebook and on e-mail. Here’s the trick though, ACTUALLY play them. You’ll be held to it, because your audience can see everything that is being requested. You can even take video requests and run the audio online and direct people to your OnDemand section to see video of other listeners requesting their favorite songs. You might have to “doctor” some up at first to get people in the habit of doing this, but once their in the habit, it’ll transform how you do business.
Don’t look at the internet as something more to do, look at it as something to enhance what you already do…just like a rapper “enhances” what’s already been done, by sampling the song.
