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Radio: Broadcasting your event to the right people

Fine Music Radio Staff WriterArts & Culture, Everything, Marketing & Promotion, Music

Radio how to's.

“Somebody that I used to know.” Referrals through radio may be the answer to spreading your event's reach.


When it comes to making a decision about spending time and money we tend to do research. Especially when it’s our own money, we tend to ask questions like “Is the product, service or event worth our while?”, “Is it run through a trusted and helpful platform?”. And often the best place to get trustworthy answers to these considerations is through referrals. First prize is generally a referral from someone we know. This could be someone who has similar likes and tastes, someone whose opinion we respect. Or it could be someone we wake up with, drive to work with, cook supper and then go to sleep with. No, we’re not talking about a second personality, we’re talking about our age-old friend, Radio.


On Air: Referrals on Radio

With radio, being in the friend zone can be a good thing!


Spotify, iTunes and Google Music are global giants when it comes to getting our hips shaking. Nowadays, whether it’s Bach or Bieber, you have instant access to music at the swipe of a finger on a touchscreen. But ironically, with their size and global reach, these services can never hope to compete with a local radio station.



Where do I start?


If you’ve never advertised with radio before here’s the deal: It’s easy, flexible and pretty darn effective. You call the station and meet for a chat and, after the cursory offering of beverages, you launch into some info:


  1. Who do you want to come to your event?
  2. How many tickets are you aiming to sell? When a radio station averages over 30,000 listeners a week and up to 75,000 listening online on a monthly basis, it’s important to know.
  3. What is your budget?
  4. Who are the big players and is interviewing them possible?
  5. What are your expectations?

Together, you and the station will then put together a package that best works for you. This includes interviews, generic commercials, promos and online content. Now the fun begins:


  1. You submit a copy brief – all material is sent back for your approval.
  2. You are invited into studio while your generic advertisements are recorded.
  3. Your designated guests are interviewed.
  4. Social Media and blogs are posted.
  5. The station will do a recce for an outside broadcast at your location.

Showtime: For the outside broadcast the station will erect a mobile unit at your event and broadcast live. Nothing beats a trusted presenter saying, “I’m having a fantastic time at this wonderful place, come join me now!”.


Debrief: Before you blink all those months of hard work are over. Luckily your station will leave you with a nice exciting package of all your ads and interviews for you to enjoy at your leisure! Sound good? You bet it does.



Case Study: Cape Town local Radio Station - Fine Music Radio


Radio listeners are loyal, active participants and engage with their station. Why? Because it’s an extension of their lives. For example, Fine Music Radio is pretty much part of its listeners’ families. So when such a platform asks those same listeners to get involved, well they jump right in. Just take a look at these examples...


  • Coastal Clean-up: This is the third consecutive year that FMR together with Plastics SA invited listeners to clean up the coastline with this years’ clean up taking place at Hout Bay beach. In spite of the blustery conditions and recent unrest, FMR listeners were not deterred. Together they filled over 80 plastic black bags full of debris.
  • Every School Child Deserves School Shoes: FMR ran a promotion asking listeners to help raise enough money for 200 pairs of school shoes, the listeners doubled this ask.
  • Mandela Day: FMR asked listeners to donate 67 radios to the Cape Town Society for the Blind. Not only did listeners come to the party, together they also raised an additional R15 000.


Show me the money


We all have that friend who loves to overquote that line “Show me the money!” at every turn. Well, as a radio partner it’s imperative that the radio station understands that they need to “show you the money” when it comes to delivering the results event needs. For the first National Antique Fair in Cape Town which took place at the Alphen Estate in November 2017, FMR put together a creative advertising campaign which included: Generic Adverts, interviews, competitions, social media and three days of outside broadcasts. The results of this concerted campaign basically speak for themselves, but when they can’t the organisers of the fair step in…


“Our first Antique Fair in Cape Town was indeed a resounding success thanks to an integrated marketing campaign that included Fine Music Radio as our exclusive radio partner.  Key to the success was a call to action to bring antique items to be valued and we believe FMR’s outside broadcasts really had an impact with the Stephan Welz valuations team!

The crowning moment was shortly after Rodney’s interview with one of the exhibiting dealers, who subsequently sold a R200 000 coin to a collector who had heard the interview on FMR! There are more stories like this from other dealers at the show.

FMR’s lead up to the fair created the much needed hype, awareness and excitement. The FMR team went the extra mile to make our event a success”.


-    National Cape Antique Fair organizers: Clyde Terry & Giuli Osso



Your event just got bigger with radio referrals


Your event needs to be talked about. You want, and more importantly need, feet through the door, seats filled, tickets sold. If it’s an annual event you need an audience who will return the following year. It all starts with someone’s best friend recommending your event, namely, radio. Radio is a home space for listeners, it’s there with you throughout your day, talking to you about your world, and your space, with your best interests at heart. And with partners such as Quicket and FMR involved, you’ll be sure to convert many more of those recommendations.

So come on, let us “show you the money”. Sorry, we’ve become that friend, haven’t we.


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