Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic we have talked about the need to always go to where the audience is and where we perceive them to be in the near future. As of today, some states are opening back up, with limitations, and other states are opening in about 18 days. I’ve talked to some radio people and they believe it’s time to back away from COVID-19 talk in an effort to help people get back to “normal.” I understand the desire to do this but it is not what your listener wants. They DO want to get back to normal, but they will need your help to get them there.
Now is the time to go into your next stage of planning for a post-quarantine world. This planning will not only be for your on-air content but also for your business partners as they reopen their doors. It many ways, their success is directly related you yours.
Many in your audience will be looking for positive and easy ways to reengage family, friends and other gatherings. They are looking for non-alarming, reasonable ideas. They are overwhelmed with negative headlines on social media and TV. It will also be important to assure the listener that it’s okay if they don’t want to venture out. Likewise, it will be good to reinforce how important it is that we are all respectful of others when we do go back out.
This may be most divisive time in the United States since 1861. Your job is to bring listeners together by way of accentuating the things we have in common, not what our differences are. The first step in this is to describe the universally safe and easy ways to reengage.
