Recently, SMI CEO Jeff Small was listening to the radio when he heard that this year marks the 40th anniversary of “The Captain” Herb Ivy’s local DJ career. Over the past 25 years, radio has been instrumental in growing our audio advertising agency, and we want to take a moment to recognize the importance of local radio DJs in fostering that success.

Authentic Connection and Trust

Local DJs are more than just on-air personalities. For advertisers, they’re the bridge between the community and the brand. Through the authentic connections DJs form with listeners, they build loyal followings that boost brands’ exposure, and the trust they evoke in their audiences ensures that our messaging is heard with open ears.

“Local talent creates loyalty,” says Emily Holtzclaw, SMI Media Assistant and on-air personality for 101.5 KPLA and 102.3 BXR. Listener loyalty, in turn, makes listeners more receptive to brands. “We want the channels we’re advertising in to have a sense of trust for the listeners, so they will try what we tell them to try,” says Holtzclaw, who is known as Emily Larkin on the air.

Consistent Audiences and Time Spent Listening

Local DJs not only establish connection and trust with their audiences, they build consistent audiences with reliable time spent listening. This is a huge benefit for advertisers.

“When local DJs establish a rapport with their audience, they grow a loyal following that’s beneficial for the agency, because we know that audience isn’t going to just disappear,” says Senior Media Buyer Josh Knock. When a show has loyal listeners, advertisers know the audience is going to stay tuned to the show, even if there’s a commercial break.

“We want our message to be consistent, and we want the audience to be consistent, too,” says Knock. “When we’re trying to reach a precise number of people within a market, it’s nice to know we can rely on specific segments on certain stations to provide those numbers that we need on a weekly basis.” 

Furthermore, knowing which formats and stations within markets have a longer time spent listening helps media buyers plan accordingly. “For instance, news talk and sports stations are very engaging,” says Knock. “They’re talking about what’s happening currently, and people are calling in. So when it goes to our ad, the audience is still engaged in a talking environment. By having a consistent personality on the radio, that audience is engaged with that host and their show.”

Personality of a Show

The “audience persona” for Holtzclaw’s morning show on a soft rock station is “a mom in the car before work, after school, who’s doing pickup and drop-off every day,” she explains. “So my morning show is trying to be that friend who sits in the car with you while you’re running errands. We grab our coffee together and just talk about the random things we saw on social media or in the news. The questions we have about our life. We talk about the things that are important specifically to those people.”

Holtzclaw says her audience is actually a lot more varied than that—she gets emails from lots of older men and women without kids, for example—but the voice listeners trust from the station is primarily geared toward women 35-54, so advertisers looking to target that demo would be a good match for her show.

Community Involvement 

Local DJs create tangible touchpoints that extend the station’s presence beyond the airwaves. DJs engage with the community by hosting events, making live appearances, posting on social media, and engaging listeners in ways that deepen their relationship with the station. According to Holtzclaw, a local radio station’s on-air talent, engagement in the community, and programming all work together to foster a sense of community. “It’s not just the talent that you trust,” says Holtzclaw. “You trust the programming. You know that the music or the sports you’re talking about is going to be covered in a specific way. You know you’re not going to have the songs played too frequently.”

Holtzclaw says her favorite part of being a DJ are the community events and the work she does with nonprofit organizations. “We raise a quarter of a million dollars a year for the food bank and Ronald McDonald House in our community. For the food bank, all the staff in town sit out in a tent in the freezing cold, and it’s kind of terrible, but we get to see all of our listeners who come by. We see some people there every year… They talk about the song they just heard or ask when we’re switching to Christmas music.”

Audiences are listening to the DJ, trusting the station, and engaging with the station in the community. “It all connects,” says Holtzclaw.

Media Director Heather Hansen agrees. “It’s all bringing listenership to the radio, which is only helping us with our ads, because our ads are being heard,” she says.

SMI extends our appreciation to local radio DJs. For their ability to connect authentically with their listeners, to build loyal followings that boost brands’ exposure and make messaging more impactful. We are grateful for decades of continued partnership and look forward to many more.