How do you get more listeners? The basic success of FM music radio today is as simple as the 3 M’s – Music, Mornings, and Marketing. The Lund Media Group created the concept of the 3 M’s, believing that virtually all top-rated FM music stations have these three things in common. When the 3 M’s are in harmony, the radio station garners a huge audience with long Time Spent Listening. Check out how the 3 M’s can impact your station.

 

Music

Music is the #1 reason to listen to FM.  Find out what songs test best for core listeners and play the hits.  Keep your list tight and focused.  Dr. Ed Cohen, inventor of PPM, stated, “People don’t tune away from their favorite songs.  The deeper you go with a library, the less often a favorite is bound to come up.”  Short playlists achieve the highest ratings.  Familiarly breeds content.

Tune your music software carefully.  Great research increases your odds of pleasing more listeners.  Hits are in the ears of the listener, so obscure personal favorites belong in a private collection…not on air.  While listeners say they want “variety,” they really want to hear “a great variety of their favorite songs.”  They no longer want to listen to songs they don’t know or care about.   Ensure your music software rules are set to provide for variety and not prevent the airplay of the listener’s favorite songs.

Music software is not human and cannot “hear” the differences in your music mix.  The log manual hand-editing process is a safety valve that lets the good music through… and removes the train crash segues.  Then, play the songs as selected and scheduled.

Mornings

Maximize performance every day and keep it interesting and entertaining.  Plan every show.  Develop your morning show to be the best in the market.  It anchors the day and dazzles listeners.

Prep every show.  Morning talents plan their show with a daily show prep planner that details what will be done and when.  Talents have frequent performance reviews with the Program Director or Consultant, who coaches them on station basics, enthusiasm, localism, flow, listener interaction, music relatability and passion, and format execution.  The objective is to build TSL by getting multiple tune-ins to the morning show (listening occasions).

The PPM taught us the 8-second rule.  Edit conversations to leave listeners wanting more, not less.  Out of a song, you have eight seconds to grab attention.  Listeners make a decision to give their attention to you in eight seconds.  Lead with a strong benefit or a good hook.  Get buy-in and pay off on anything you promise.  Be like the former Twitter and abbreviate what you say – attention spans are shorter than ever.  Avoid “stacking,” the airing of several elements in a single break.

Marketing 

Internal Marketing means moving your listeners…

+   From one segment to the next…

+   From one show to the next…

+   And from one day to the next.

How do you promote ahead most effectively – to increase TSL and listening occasions?  Teasing ahead is the best free marketing for your station.  It’s what they do in every TV newscast– just before the commercial break.  For radio, always promote ahead before starting a commercial stop set.  Also, after every feature or benchmark, tease when it will air again.

For External Marketing, put your money where your mouth is. Promote the station’s top attraction: the morning show and the music format.

To reach new Cume, advertise, and promote externally.  Mass advertising works (you’re in the business!), and so does social media.  Send push notifications to those with your station app.  Be seen everywhere in your market.

Pic designed by karandaev for Envato Elements.

John Lund is President of the Lund Media Group, a radio programming consulting firm with specialists in all mainstream radio formats. Did you find this article useful?  You can leave a comment below or email John at John@Lundradio.com.