The Peak: Marketing/Promotions
To drive immediate and continual traffic to The Peak program, both in Broadcast and Podcast form, we will employ the following marketing tactics:
Broadcasting on KZNT AM 1460/FM 101.1 The Answer
KZNT AM 1460 is a well-known, respected, and listened-to station, established in 1956 as Top 40 for Colorado Springs. Acquired by Salem in 2003, it’s been News-Talk for more than two decades. Known primarily for its national big names, The Answer is where you hear Hugh Hewitt, Mike Gallagher, Charlie Kirk, Dennis Prager, Sebastian Gorka, Brendon Tatum, Eric Metaxas, and more! The Peak will be the only daily local program on KZNT, and will immediately benefit from all the power and reputation of the Salem and The Answer brands.
Time Slot
The Peak is assuming the 3 – 4pm MT time slot on The Answer, which is currently the third hour of the very popular America First with Sebastian Gorka, and directly preceding the three-hour Officer Tatum Show. Its strategic position in early drivetime will give The Peak an immediate established audience that loves bold, straightforward journalism and commentary. Beginning in March 2024, our “Best of” show will air weekly at the same exact time on Saturdays and Sundays, basically making us the owner of the 3 – 4pm slot on The Answer, no matter which day you tune in! Being broadcast in such a prime time slot is a powerful positioning tactic.
Broadcast Promotions on all three Salem Radio Stations
Salem’s trio of market-leading radio stations will be a prime promotional engine behind our success. Paid advertising, as well as cooperative cross-promotion, will bring new listeners to The Peak on a daily basis. The most directly effective marketing will be commercials run during The Answer’s other programs. Our primary demographic are also loyal fans of 100.7 FM The Word (Christian teaching and talk) and Q102.7 FM (Christian Contemporary Music), and so we will promote there too.
Streaming Audio promotions on all three Salem radio stations’ Websites and Apps
An increasing percentage of radio listenership is through Streaming live programming on station websites and apps. Running ads on this audio stream for the three Colorado Springs stations reaches a whole other audience for The Peak, including our younger listeners who do not tend to listen on broadcast radio, but rather through apps.
Display Advertising
Salem is not just a leader in radio, but also Digital Advertising. They own and operate many Conservative and Christian websites and apps, over which they promote into local markets in highly-targeted ways. The Peak will utilize this cutting-edge technology to promote to potential broadcast and podcast listeners for the show.
Social Media
The Peak will distribute and promote itself across the dominant Social Media platforms, including taking advantage of our video component to deliver full episodes as well as edited clips. We expect that our fans will also help share us across the social landscape.
Other Digital Marketing
As our budget allows, we will employ other forms of digital marketing, including targeted email, geo-targeting, OTT-CTV, and more.
Podcast Networks
The Peak will also be distributed through a variety of audio and video Podcast networks.
Video: Full Episodes and Clips
Each episode of The Peak will be video recorded, so that it can also be livestreamed and podcast over video platforms. (eg. You can’t stream just audio, nor upload an audio file, to Facebook or YouTube.) While we may increase the production values over time, these will basically be “radio on video” events, and our listeners can add to their Peak experience by watching what real live radio looks like if they wish. Tucker Carlson became the most watched and most trusted conservative news-talk host in American in part by chopping his nightly 1-hour live show into topical segments and pushing them out daily to YouTube. (In Marketing terms, this is known as “chum”.) Also when fans visit our website, they will find both our full episodes posted and these short clips available on topical pages and keyworded for easy serchability. Come and see for yourself if Chaim actually does have a face for radio! 😛
Word of Mouth/Networking
Any quality radio program counts on organic person-to-person recommendations, and we will amplify that relational marketing through existing Conservative, Christian, and other networks in the Pikes Peak region.
Business Cards
Promotional business cards for The Peak, which include our core marketing messages and our website URL and QR code, will be produced and distributed to our sponsors, citizen journalists, and fans to help facilitate their personal word-of-mouth efforts by utilizing pocket-sized hand-to-hand leave-behinds.
Every Guest
Each person we interview or report on has his or her own “tribe”. It may be just family and friends, or a well-established worldwide network, but whatever the size, most will happily promote their appearance on the radio or podcast to their circle of influence. Therefore, with each new guest The Peak will be exposed to and gain credibility with a brand-new audience of potential fans. And so on, and so on….