The other day, I got a call that I knew was coming. That didn’t make it any less strange.
“Hey hon,” my mom said. “I don’t think you and Richard should come home for Christmas.” My husband and I live a few hours away from my mom’s place, which is just outside my hometown of Detroit. “It’s just not worth risking anyone’s health. And of course, I’m not having the Christmas Eve party.”
Whaaa? I mean, if there was ever a time for a bye year on my mom’s Christmas Eve party, where she’s made Lit’l Smokies with grape jelly in the Crock-Pot (sound gross, actually delicious) for 30+ years, it’s 2020. But that party is an institution with our family and friends. Far from a rager, it’s a time for people who love one another to reconnect, appreciate each other, and be reminded of our gratitude for our relationships. That said, it’s just not safe this year.
You may be in a similar situation, and it’s certain that a meaningful portion of your listeners are, too. As we close a year that has been phenomenally stressful for most of us for many reasons, not the least of which is the contagious, deadly virus out there (come on, vaccine!), many of the year-end social and spiritual outlets we’ve relied on forever aren’t available to us — at least in the same form we’re used to. So, how can CCM radio help fill these gaps?
This is an excellent time to think through how you can deepen your relationship with your listeners around the holidays, if you haven’t already.
Make your best content available on your listeners’ terms.
CCM radio personalities provide an invaluable sense of positivity and community to your listeners. That said, not everyone is ready to receive a message at the same time we choose to deliver it over the air. Why not make your best broadcast content available on-demand so that listeners can access it when and how they prefer? (If I may, consider that Futuri’s POST systemmakes this very quick and easy!) Doing that and promoting its availability on-air, on your website, and on your socials helps ensure the right message gets to the right person at the right time. This is especially important during this unique holiday season.
Create virtual events to celebrate your listener community.
Yes, it’s true — there is a burnout factor when it comes to virtual events. Especially if you work remotely, being on Zoom all day can be *a lot*, especially now that the thrill of wearing pajama pants below your on-camera blazer has worn off. But this year, many listeners who are being cautious about gathering in person are turning to technology to fill the social void created when the holiday season is happening during a pandemic.
How can your station brand and personalities bring your listeners together virtually in ways that are fun and engaging? Pro tip: Simply opening up a Zoom room without a plan ain’t it, unless your goal is to have a bunch of people staring at each other for half the time and talking over each other for the other half. Create a structure, a hosting plan, and a great hook like you would for any in-person station event. Bring local businesses in to underwrite prizes. Maybe even arrange for unannounced artist drop-ins to up the surprise and delight factor. Bringing this type of holiday joy to your audience is an excellent way to deepen your listener relationships, build your database, and grow your holiday giving efforts with the right calls to action.
Be there for your audience wherever they are, 24/7.
Note that I didn’t say “be fully staffed 24/7.” Podcast and on-demand content, regular updates to your website (consider content like a roundup of online holiday services), and social media content — especially video, which is highly engaging — can all be scheduled. Paired with your broadcast content, by thinking beyond the daypart, you can emphasize that your brand is welcoming, inviting, and here to deliver a positive experience whenever your listeners want one.
While this holiday might be a tough one, I’m eager to see all the creative ways this community will step up to the plate to serve your audiences in unique ways during this unprecedented time. I hope your holiday season is full of blessings for you, your loved ones, and your audience — and hey, hit me up if you want Mom’s recipe for Crock-Pot grape jelly Lit’l Smokies. I assure you you’ll do a better job at executing this holiday favorite than I will!
Zena Burns
SVP, Strategic Marketing and Brand Development
Futuri
Zena Burns has spent 20+ years in key roles helping develop multiple iconic brands, including iHeartRadio and TEEN PEOPLE Magazine, and their digital strategies. Today, Burns is on the leadership team at Futuri, where she uses her diverse professional experience to help their more than 1,500 radio, television, and digital publishing partners worldwide grow audience and revenue with the company’s innovative audience engagement and sales intelligence technology.
98.5 KTIS strives to point people in the Twin Cities to Jesus on the air, online, and on the street. Through remarkable service projects, 98.5 KTIS listeners are the hands and feet of Jesus to multiply the KTIS impact in our community. The first Friday of each month was 98.5 KTIS Drive-thru Difference Day, as listeners shared God’s love by paying for the order of the person behind them in the drive-thru. Moms overcame health, financial, and family difficulties through 98.5 KTIS’ Heart of a Mom initiative; meeting needs for a kitchen update, fulfilling a missed honeymoon with a cruise to Alaska, securing a reliable vehicle, and more. 98.5 KTIS’ Christmas Blessing resulted in remarkable stories of goodwill in the community, meeting needs by blessing people battling cancer, overcoming miscarriage, and recovering from financial devastation. Collecting thousands of Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes filled with toys for kids around the world, the 98.5 KTIS Shoebox Showdown shared the hope of Jesus from the Twin Cities to children around the world. Listeners continued that generosity by working together to collect over 11,000 pencils for boys and girls in the Dominican Republic. 98.5 KTIS listeners ‘Shared the Warmth’ as a local business paid listener heating bills during the cold winter months, and listeners used those funds to bless their favorite Twin Cities nonprofits. 98.5 KTIS’ Ministry of the Month connected listener passions and talents to local ministries, highlighting the good being done in our community by these organizations on-air and online.
Through intentional, community focused service initiatives, Spirit 92.9 partners with listeners and businesses to help make their community better, together. The station’s first “Community Spirit” project in 2022 focused on showing God’s love to children entering foster care in the area after the ministry learned that there were more children than ever before in the system. During a weeklong collection drive, Spirit 92.9 listeners and business partners generously helped provide a new pair of pajamas and a stuffed animal for over 1,100 kids. Hoping to lead by example through serving, the Spirit 92.9 team helped prepare over 800 free meals for individuals and families in need for Easter, prepared and served a meal at the local homeless shelter, and helped clean up trash at an abandoned property near their studios. Hundreds of women in the community were served and uplifted in January at the station’s first Ladies’ Night Out-an opportunity to worship, laugh, receive support and prayer. In the fall, listeners and business partners joined together to help three local organizations provide free homemade, holiday meals to those in need. This ‘More Than A Meal’ on-air and online fundraiser helped feed over 3,000 in Central Minnesota. At the end of the year, Spirit 92.9’s “Share The Joy” promotion offered listeners the opportunity to nominate someone to receive a financial blessing. Single mothers, elderly homeowners, and the family of a father badly injured and hospitalized out of state were among the 12 people granted a $500-$1000 gift.
From entertaining the airwaves on KFRC-FM in San Francisco, to dancing away the late 90s on WKTU-FM in New York City, to encouraging and uplifting Atlanta on WFSH-The Fish every afternoon, Beth Bacall’s three decades on the air have had a lot to say. In 2003, she embraced CMB and the CCM sphere when she started working at Star 99.1 FM in NY/NJ. Since 2005, she has served on the Momentum Leadership Team while also offering mentorship to CMB’s Women in Radio community. Beth is a champion for others, taking a sincere stance of integrity and leading by example with her on air work, community engagement, and show prep. As a top talent coach, she equips multidisciplinary broadcasters and artists to embrace their authentic self, grow awareness, share stories effectively, and create meaningful Christ-centered content with all audiences. Beth specializes in moments that matter and is a driving force behind The Fish Christmas Wish Program and Fish Acts of Love. Working on all aspects of creating promotional, reward-based content, including research and execution, Beth is a dot connector that the Lord uses to bring joy and experiences into the lives of others. Even after these promotional seasons, she’s always looking for the next opportunity to be a blessing.
For over four decades, Rick Dunham has been at the forefront of marketing and fundraising for Christian nonprofits. In 2002, he founded Dunham+Company, which has become a global leader in providing multi-channel strategies across some of the world’s most influential sectors. Through radio and television, local churches and overseas missions, medical relief and philanthropic initiatives, Dunham+Company is multiplying the reach of the Gospel. The company currently serves nearly 100 clients in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand – whose collective effort is reaching nearly every corner of the globe. Rick is the author of Secure: Discovering True Financial Freedom and If God Will Provide, Why Do We Have to Ask for Money? He serves as a member of the board of The Giving Institute and is a former chair of the Giving USA Foundation, which publishes the most widely respected annual report on giving in the U.S. He has been published and quoted in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Washington Post and more. From devotionals to blogs, webinars to books, Rick’s personal faith in Jesus and his Biblical training are the driving conviction of his communication.
Over the decades, Jacobs Media has become known for advising broadcasters on strategic planning and digital transformation, championing forward thinking of the in-car audio experience, developing its innovative Techsurveys, and driving research initiatives with some of the most influential companies in media. In partnership with Radio Ink, the Jacobs duo created the DASH Conferences in 2013-15, bringing together leadership from both automotive and radio broadcasting industries. Working with CMB, Jacobs Media launched the first of its annual tech surveys for Christian music radio in 2014. Working in collaboration with the NAB’s Connected Car Committee, they developed the original “Best Practices” report in 2017. Fred Jacobs, a 2018 Radio Hall of Fame inductee, is credited with the creation of the Classic Rock radio format in the mid-80’s. Paul Jacobs specializes in revenue generation for Jacobs Media’s clients including heading up jācapps – the industry’s first, and now largest, mobile application development company with more than 1,300 apps worldwide. In 2022, Fred and Paul were recipients of the National Radio Award, the highest honor from the National Association of Broadcasters. They were the first duo to receive the award as well as the first consultants.
Jim Leightenheimer has passionately pursued the mission of teaching, mentoring, and preparing college students to serve Christ in radio since 1982. A 30-year radio veteran, Jim implemented and developed a student radio station that started as an AM carrier current, transitioned to a low power FM, and is currently streaming as Resound Radio. Under his leadership, student radio has served to jump-start the careers of many current leaders in Christian radio stations and networks across the United States. His students, both past and present, credit Jim for being the catalyst in building their love for radio. Throughout his career, Jim has enlisted graduates and other professionals to serve as mentors to his student radio staff. He has introduced scores of students to CMB by bringing them to Momentum and, more recently, CMB University. Jim currently serves on the board of directors at WCVO (104.9 The River) in Columbus and continues to be a resource not only for his current students, but for those who are living out his legacy in radio.
Joe Paulo has served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Hope Media Group since 2018. With an extensive background in media and leadership, he began at KSBJ (now Hope Media Group) as Vice-President of Operations in 2017 after serving at Educational Media Foundation (K-LOVE/Air1) as the Director of Donor Stewardship and Communications. Prior to that, he led a division of Columbia International University as Director of Broadcasting until 2014, overseeing the growth of successful radio stations in Charlotte, NC and Columbia, SC. Joe has also provided volunteer leadership at the board of directors and advisory levels for other nonprofits such as Youth Commission International, CMB, and Crime Stoppers of Houston. In addition to speaking on leadership, fundraising and media, Joe and Kelly, his wife, have spoken at marriage and parenting events to share their passion for marriage, parenting and adoption.