How to be Entertaining AND Local
One of the reasons people still listen to the radio is for that feeling of community. "The hosts live where I live." How often do you reflect on the air that you do, indeed, live where your listeners live?
Of course, you can do local news (listeners like it as long as it isn’t dark or negative). They want to hear what's going on and feel plugged in. But there are a lot of other ways to sound local… and be entertaining. Here are some ideas:
Calling the mayor’s office to complain about a local intersection.
“Breaking and entering Christmas”- type promotions to support a struggling local family.
Naming the new local (baby koala at the zoo, snow plow, elementary school).
Starting a petition to… (change the city slogan, and get IKEA to build a store).
Boycotting Taylor Swift music if you were in San Francisco last week.
Participating in NextDoor app and local neighborhood Facebook groups to keep your finger on what people are complaining about locally.
Providing exclusive access to the city's hottest shows with backstage, soundcheck parties, and other money-can’t-buy promotions.
Changing the station's Facebook cover photo to the city baseball stadium when they’re in the World Series.
Having the connections to get local influencers (including politicians, business owners, athletes, artists, etc.) on the phone.
Creating a benchmark that reflects the local community – a Portland game of “Oregon vs. Washington” since it’s on the state border.
Knowing the inside jokes about your town.
Creating a parody song for a local story - e.g. “We are the Whale” when a humpback whale the Bay Area had dubbed “Humphrey” was trapped in the San Francisco Bay delta.
Making local content for socials that will be shared beyond the station’s listener base like this one from Daryn & Deepa or this one from Nat & Drew.
And here are a few more tips from Hannah and Jonny who are killing it in Windsor, a smaller market outside of Detroit:
Follow local influencers and foodies on Instagram – you will often hear about the latest trendy meals and drinks available in your area.
Follow Instagram accounts from bigger neighboring cities if you’re in a small town (Detroit for us), to see what's going on SEMI-nearby that people might drive to.
Even photography accounts with pretty photos we'll sometimes share in our stories.
Follow the sports teams in your area, to see how they're doing and cheer them on.
Make friends who are from the city you work in to learn the "unwritten rules of"... the area you're in (street pronunciations, local establishments that have closed down, which DMV has the easiest driving tests, big annual fundraisers, etc.).