Module 2, Lesson 1 – Who are your Listeners? (Summer 2022)

So, we didn’t really discuss personas during the webinar today, but I did create two: The first, Meagen, is a 36-year-old attorney. She has a moderately high income, and enjoys travel, yoga, and outdoor activities. She is an introvert, is married to an engineer, and loves her dog, a goldendoodle. Meagen is a registered Democrat who leads a very active life. She’s a foodie who likes to explore, and she loves cities. Meagen values her family, her independence, her community, self-awareness, and information. I imagine Meagen as a listener to KWGS, our NPR news/info station.

The second is Andrew, a 55-year-old English professor at a local university. Andrew has a Ph.D and is married, and he and his partner have a 14-year-old daughter and two dogs. His income is moderate, and he enjoys dinner parties with friends, learning about wines, and hiking, and has taken a number of trips to U.S. national parks to hike and spend time in nature. Andrew values nature, the environment, and beauty. He values his tight-knit community of friends and family. When he was younger, he was more invested in current events and politics, but as he has matured (and over the course of the pandemic), he finds himself more drawn to things that bring a sense of calm and joy to his life. I imagine Andrew as a listener to KWTU, our 25/7 classical music station.

I think both of these personas think of themselves as independent thinkers, and will want to know that the action they take is making a difference. They’ll need to understand why it’s important to give. I think Meagen might respond to incentives (a cool thank-you gift, a big challenge), but not Andrew…so will need to make a strong case for him. I think Meagen is a big podcast listener, so will need to gently call to her attention that (HELLO!) she’s also listening to the station regularly as well. I think both would find the case that each station strengthens the community powerful.

Here are the two personas I created:
John Purple – 86 years old, holds a Master’s degree in English Literature, and is Upper Middle Class. He values education, culture, community, and the arts. His interests and hobbies include classical music, documentaries, painting, gardening, and fine dining.
Lilly Blue – 32 years old, holds a Bachelor’s degree in Communication, and is Middle Class. She values diversity and inclusion, the LGBTQ+ community, truth, knowledge, and the environment. Her interests and hobbies include political activism, news and public affairs, television, pop and rock music, and animals.

Both of these personas are passionate about their community, so a good talking point would be how my station provides service to and enriches our community through our programming. I would remind them of why they watch and listen to my station, what they value about the services my station provides, and explain how their financial support will allow my station to continue making a difference in our community. I think Lilly could respond well to incentives like premiums and matching challenges because of her interests and hobbies.
I do not think that incentives such as premiums would work well for John, as he is an older listener and probably not interested in T-shirts, bags, or CD’s. I also think that Lilly would be discouraged from making a donation if the on-air personalities sound like they are reading from a script, because she would want to hear more personal testimonials.

Persona 1

John, college grad, family man, homeowner, almost reaching our Major Donor level but not quite there yet-
Goal: How do I get him to be a Major Donor?
– Hobbies- Cars, computers, woodworking, takes kids to their sports events
– Values truth, Local news, community, green initiatives, kid inclusivity
– We offer local news and radio camp for kids, attempt to use local shops for our thank you items
– Continue strengthening our overall goals and improve our meetups to be more kid inclusive

John is not interested in global news. He really is concerned about his family so when developing talking points I need to focus on our local news and local events. A family focused program may get him to make the final leap to Major Donor.

Persona 2

Sarah, has never given, some college, mid 20s, works at a bar or coffee shop, listens to WFDD/our station at work with staff. Low income, has roommates.
Goal: To get them to give at the $5 entry level (60 a month)
– Shop Local, Community, buys organic at local farmers market, involved in the arts in our community, volunteers for art orgs around town
– Local meetups, local news, Carolina Curious (a local listener driven segment)
– Meetups/out reach in younger areas. Advertise more on social media-

We need to focus on getting a marketing team with social media experience that can really speak to our younger audience and reach them where they are (TikTok/ Reels). There does not need to be a lot of crossover between our email campaigns and social media because they will target different groups. Sarah won’t want to hear about major donors because that is too far out of her reach and will alienate her.

1. Personas
Leila Matthews: A Latino 28 yrs. Old. BA in English and is currently single. She is in the mid-middle class. She’s an ally of the LGBTQIA+ and makes it known that she’s all about equality and inclusion. She loves being out in community areas and supporting small businesses. She loves music but due to the pandemic she hasn’t been to many concerts. She listens to KXT throughout the day and Monday’s for our New Music Monday with Gini. Our goal with Leila would be to get her to post on social media about our KXT Events and who we are.
Kelton Davis: An African American 55 years old close to retiree school administrator. He’s in the upper middle class. He enjoys comradery among his close-knit friends and is a family man. He loves the alternative, rock classics and eclectic sounds that KXT plays. He likes to mentor and educate the younger generations when possible of hard work, being active, and being true. He listens to KXT when he’s working around the house and sometimes in the car. He likes Friday’s for their “Funky Friday” set. Our goal with Kelton would be to get him interested in becoming a donor that leans toward major giving and become a volunteer.

2. What does your listener value?
Both listeners value community and the opportunities surrounding to help it. Finding the best way to represent this as well. Matthews love hearing all kinds of voices and representation, while Davis has his set likes and doesn’t really move from it. Matthews enjoys the arts and seeing where she can support her culture and interests. Davis, while in his ways steadily with staying close to home and what he knows, he likes knowing of different educational or knowledge base things that he can spread through W.O.M or to any mentees.

3. How does your station represent those values?
KXT represents arts and culture with trying to stay aware of our community and how we best need to showcase ourselves. We want to keep it local with not only our music but events we attempt to do. We are lacking some in educational forward opportunities at this time but would love to look at partnering again with Girls Inc. or a Musical School Program opportunity to draw in educational lovers.

4. What does your station promise that aligns with these values?
KXT always holds a promise to stay local and keep the music coming that is not only new but brings the nostalgia. Especially during a fundraising drive with our different “Program day” themes like “Throwback Thursday” “KXT gems”, etc. We want to give our audience the music but also keep them interested in their community through us and support!

Personas:
AB – 20 year old college student, loves live music and discovering new bands, not a lot of spare money to spend but tries to donate once a year at the lowest level during the fund drive to get our latest t-shirt, doesn’t tend to sign up for volunteering but does enter to win show tickets on a regular basis
CD – 50 year old lawyer, loves our community involvement, is a sustaining member at a significant dollar amount but not necessarily a “major donor,” enjoys the swag but that isn’t a primary donation motivation, occasionally a station volunteer at events

While we definitely push to have people become sustaining members, someone like AB feels comfortable with a one time donation rather than breaking it up monthly. We do try to explain the benefit of sustaining vs. one time, especially for those who are habitual lump sum donors. On the other hand, working with someone like CD to get them from a high level donor to a major donor might involve the hurdle of how it benefits them.

Here are my personas:
David, 77, master’s degree, retired from state government work. He is upper middle class who has given generously to the station for decades, usually in a few larger gifts per year. Passionate about the news, and seeks information from multiple sources. Father of two children, grandfather of 5. Dotes on the kids. David values education and truth. His work in state government, where he worked often with media, gave him an appreciation for accuracy. He also cares deeply about the community as he’s lived here his entire adult life. Our station provides accurate news all day every day for David to listen to. Our station promises that we will continue to find programming that provides informative and engaging news for our audience to tune into.

Julie, 41, has broadcast background, runs the family business while also taking part in community theater, very savvy on social media. Married with two sons, whom she adores. Is middle-income family and donates at least once a year. Passionate about improving her community and providing a solid education for her children. Julie values the arts of all kinds, as well as increasing educational opportunities in the community. Our station provides programs about arts programs in the community. Our station promises that we will continue to find new ways to share with our audience information about the arts in our community.

Topics that I will want to keep in mind as I develop talking points include knowing what types of programming would appeal to them so I can either increase their gifts to push David into a major gift and Julie into a monthly reoccurring gift.

Points that might not resonate well with these two include reduced staffing and a lacking social media presence. We need to work on more than just posting

As a music based station, we have the opportunity to engage with a variety of listeners no matter their interest or points of view. It’s an opportunity that news based stations don’t have but it could be a bit broad or unfocused in the sense of target marketing, but I think our station does a good job in overcoming this by matching thank you gifts to our specific programming. Our listeners/donors love supporting their favorite shows or DJs.

John is a 65 year-old retiree. He was a prominent oncologist for over 25 years in Windermere, an affluent section of Orlando. He has been happily married for 47 years, has 3 children and 5 grandchildren. He plays golf on the weekends and attends multiple fundraising galas for medical research. He likes to keep up with the latest reports in health & medicine, but he’s also highly interested in politics as he use to be a lobbyist. He appreciates that WMFE provides fair & balanced news, so he gives an annual donation. Our goal is to show John the benefits of becoming a Cornerstone Society member (major donor), which would help the station develop new programs and projects, turn new ideas into reality and find innovative ways of serving him better.

Carol is a 56 year-old African-American school teacher, recently widowed with no kids. She is an advocate for the Central Florida arts. She is a board member of several arts & culture organizations. She loves the WMFE program called Spotlight, which showcases the local art scene. She gives to the station sporadically, but doesn’t see the need for fund drives. The key is to show her that member support is the foundation of WMFE. The goal is have her become a sustainer, to make sure she is aware that her monthly donations fund her favorite program.

Persona #1 – Sarah is a 42 year-old work from home mom. She is middle class, working for a local marketing firm. She volunteers for several non-profit organizations. She has two kids and a dog. She values education, her community and the arts. She likes to stay informed but absolutely loves music and the local arts scene. She really appreciates the on-the-hour news reports that air on our all-music station, so that she stays keyed in but can still fill her day with locally-curated music rather than all talk.

Persona #2 – Bill is a 68 year old retired lawyer. He is upper middle class, and spends his days golfing, playing with grand-children and fixing his car. He values his family, the truth and civic engagement. He’s been a public media fan for as long as he can remember. He listens to VPM News daily…particularly Morning Edition, watched PBS Kids with his children (and now grand-children) and never misses WWDTM on the weekends. He really appreciates VPM’s renewed focus on local news.

For Sarah, I think her giving will be more impulsive. With her busy lifestyle, she’ll respond to an email ask or ad she sees on Instagram. For Bill, I think he understands the value of the programming. He’s been a steady donor for years. He is ready to build a more meaningful relationship with the organization and should be cultivated as a Major Donor prospect.

For both, I want to make sure our pledge messaging focus on what VPM brings to the community beyond national programming from NPR, including local news reporting as we have the largest news team in Central Virginia and locally-curated music that highlights local artists and community performances.

We are a classical music station. The two personas I created are:
One – Reginald, 75, lives in Florida with his husband but they are from Chicago where they first found the station and listen through streaming. Degree educated, passionate about music, arts, concerts and being active in his retirement. Listens to the station for both calm and musical education. Appreciates the tone of the station, respect for the listener. Used to take thank-you gifts but no longer. His giving is all but guaranteed, he’s a long time member and will give once a year only, if he’s tuned in to the drive or receives a letter around the time of his renewal month.

Two – Rebekah, 42, lives in Chicago, she and her husband are working parents to two kids. She plays the station in the car for everyone, and sometimes at home. Rebekah listens because her parents did, it was a part of her childhood. She is passionate about access to the arts for everyone in the community, especially young people, and one of her kids plays the violin. She values the station’s emphasis on and commitment to showcasing works by under-represented composers and playing a variety of classical music. Her giving is more spontaneous, and more likely driven by talking points on air and special incentives from pledge drives like thank-you gifts that she can share with her kids.

Both listeners are good prospects for the sustainer program. Talking points would focus on what specific things the station brings to them individually.

Given the personas you’ve identified in the webinar, what are some of the topics that you’ll want to keep in mind as you develop your talking points?

We will need to keep in mind how we message the station, positioning ourselves as a socially responsible organization, that provides a grassroots, community-based service

What points may not resonate well with these personas?

They might not be as interested in the “perks” that our station offers- the t-shirt, or our VIP list that has opportunities to win concert tickets

It is crucial for stations to be a reflection of their community, that’s why it’s important that we consider the many elements and differences in our community to offer content/information/benefits/events that are relevant to our actual audience.

We tend to link public media with college-educated people in their 50’s+ but the reality is that we have to expand our horizons, our audience is way more diverse than that.