What is a Radio Day?
Radio is far from dead, as some would have you believe: a huge 49.5 million adults listen to the radio at some point each week, making it the prime target for getting your brand out there and into the minds of the British public. But how do you achieve this, both quickly and on a national level? This is where the radio day (sometimes known as a radio tour, radio session, or broadcast days) comes in.
What is a radio day?
In its simplest form, a radio day is a day (or morning, depending on the story’s size) devoted to getting your company, item, or news as much exposure on the radio as possible. This is achieved in a studio by a series of back-to-back interviews with a company spokesperson or brand representative. The interviews can be both live and pre-recorded and involve various radio stations: BBC or commercial, national or regional.
This can allow you to expose your brand to specific audiences, maybe ones that ordinarily wouldn’t have heard of you. However, it is not quite that simple: to do it right and successfully takes a lot of planning and consideration. This is where we come in. You don’t want any old radio station in a location not relevant to your topic, and prominent radio stations don’t want blandly reported facts that will not interest their listeners.
What is needed is a careful assessment of each topic and how to make it interesting to each station – all while using industry know-how, radio relations and connections to ensure that your brand is exposed to and accepted by top-tier broadcasters.
On radio days, a spokesperson is chosen to speak on behalf of your brand, either a brand representative or non-employee with relevant experience or vested interest. These sometimes include celebrities, giving you and them extra exposure. It can also help sell the campaign to radio stations, much of whose programming is dedicated to guest interviews.
As well as their expertise, it is crucial for the spokesperson to know the correct tone required for the topic, the best way to handle answers, and to communicate the particular information you want to get across. The concise, pre-planned nature of a radio day can do this better than spaced-out, random interviews, with the very repetition of them helping to drive home what it is you are trying to convey.
The benefits of holding radio days
There are currently over 500 radio stations in the UK, most of which also have some form of on-demand platform, allowing listeners to tune in even after shows go live. Radio exposure is unique in that it allows you to reach a huge audience who are unusually active in their attention. They are usually too busy to switch over while driving or working. Yet they are relatively responsive in their listening: one in every three listeners has taken action on something after hearing about it on the radio.
A simple listen-in to a local radio station will show you just how much interaction the most basic subjects can get! A recent study titled Beyond the Bubble shed light on a group they termed ‘outsiders’, who only get their news and cultural updates via the radio. Logically, this means that a radio day could give you access to a subsection of the population who may not otherwise know that you exist.
With radio days – even short interview times – you can convey much more information than a newspaper clipping, allowing listeners to connect with the spokesperson and making the brand appear more human and approachable. As most listeners are loyal to their shows, the fact that the show or presenter is ‘endorsing’ your brand by featuring it can also add validity to your campaign, with the listeners trusting you by association.
Reactive vs proactive campaigns
It is important to note that there are two main radio day campaigns: proactive and reactive. Proactive campaigns are planned well in advance and are usually part of the first exposure a product, service, company or campaign gets to the public. This might include an author’s new book or a local MP’s campaign for an upcoming election. Reactive campaigns are when something in the news needs talking about, and you believe one of your experts or representatives can add to the conversation.
An example would be when Brexit was first announced, and different economic, social and political experts were interviewed; or where local stations interviewed small businesses to add a relatable angle to the story. Reactive campaigns can also be used when your company is in the news itself and you want to control the conversation. Holding a radio day can help you disseminate your response nationally without needing to devote much time to it.
Why choose Broadcast Revolution for your radio day?
We treat each client and campaign differently, ensuring that the right resources and expertise match each business’ requirements. Our core values of quality content over quantity will make sure that your campaign is nuanced, considered and creative enough to capture the attention of quality broadcasters and listeners alike. Radio is one of the most trusted forms of media, largely because of the stringent guidelines and standards applicable to every bit of content and strict limits on outright advertorials.
We can help guide you through both BBC and Ofcom regulations, making sure that your quality content is not held up due to red tape or avoidable mistakes. It’s rarely enough for your spokesperson to turn up on the day and give off-the-cuff answers. A successful radio day will involve careful planning. Most of the interview slots are pre-sold, allowing us to prep your spokesperson ahead of time and detail how each interview can be best approached.
The day may involve a schedule of events, a rundown of specific quirks and statistics for the station or region, and helpful feedback between interviews. We know that you may find your topic and brand fascinating, but it’s unlikely that every broadcaster and listener will feel the same way.
This is where a hook or plug is needed, and every successful radio day will have one (or a few, depending on the subject). A PR company worth its mettle can turn the most mundane topic into an interesting one – and more importantly for regional radio stations, one relevant to their audience. We have helped numerous campaigns find the spotlight they deserved, such as SMARTY’s money-saving campaign, which saw Anna Richardson sharing advice with the public on how people could save money during the pandemic.
Final thoughts
With trust in other forms of media at an all-time low and listenership of radio stations remaining high, now is the perfect time to invest in radio media relations and use a radio day to get your brand or product out there. With intelligent planning and industry connections, plus our 50+ years of experience, Broadcast Revolution can help get you into the ears of future customers, clients, and soon-to-be brand advocates. Interested in working with us to create your radio day campaign? Drop us a line to get started.
