After a brutal year, 2020 has finally come to halt with the much-awaited festive season. That means things can finally change pace in your day, you and your loved ones can bank some quality time, and you can turn up the volume on your festive favorites.
But. Radio presenters are still at work. We love to be. That companion that walks and talks with you, through all ups and downs this holiday season brings.
When we talk about seasonal content, we drop the complexity in its on-air nature and sit back, and metaphorically have a cup of coco with our listener.
This year. It’s quite easy. Here are some ideas.
- Focus on the year in retrospect. Dedications to lost ones and celebrations of hardships that your audience have banked. Let the stories enrich empathy and count their blessings. If there is one year to speak as a global community, it’s this one.
- Get listeners excited about the new year. After 2020, we’ll take all the help we can get. Get in some expert professionals to assist listeners in recovering from the year, and to guide them in the new kind of normal that awaits us in 2021.
- Have some fun. Everyone can use the boost in morale, and of course, it’s Christmas time. If you can’t be happy during “The most wonderful time of the year”, when can you? Play some festive games, let listeners reminisce about their favorite festive story growing up, get some big names to play some acoustic Christmas songs live in the studio. Perhaps encourage a streaming free concert with a list of popular artists and punt it on all social mediums. It’s so easy to bypass seasonal content without sounding stale.
- Find small but many ways to reward your listeners this year. Put prizes on every show. Display a wholeness of camaraderie in the station by also pushing community giveback. Volunteer at orphanages, the cliche soup kitchens, offer up a day at a community senior citizen center. You get the idea.
- This is one that no one will listen to, but it’s my personal Christmas wish. And that is to see a commercial station partner with its sister community station for activations in their respective areas. Toss the old hat notion of competitive advantage to the side. These community stations always need help, And it’s a really strong marketing opportunity for cross-pollination. If you play your cards right, this can be extremely lucrative for you both literally and figuratively.
Here are some on-air and social platform media ideas:
- Compose and program a special Christmas music box
Whatever the musical style of your radio, you will be able to find tracks (about ten will be enough) that are related to Christmas. Rock, pop, jazz,… most genres offer some tracks related to the Christmas holidays. Simply type on Google the names of the artists you broadcast the most along with the word Christmas, you will see that you will get results quickly. All you have to do is put them in a music box and schedule it for December 24 and 25.
2. Make at least one special Christmas jingle
“Happiness Radio wishes you happy holidays” If you only have one jingle (and that may be enough) to do for the holidays, use a simple and effective sentence to get the message across. The important thing is that your listeners understand that you are accompanying them at this time.
3. Use social networks
To communicate directly with your listeners, social networks are essential at the end of the year, especially Facebook and Instagram. Revamp your radio’s logo in Christmas mode, with garlands and a tree and post this visual! You will see that this will generate a lot of commitment from your fans. It is effective and it keeps you in touch with your listeners even if they tend to listen less at this time of year.
Here’s my gift to you. A super awesome Christmas playlist you can enjoy while opening presents and having an epic Christmas day.
#LetThereBeSnowChristmas2020
