A radio station in the Pacific Northwest did what many do, flipped their format. But when Inland Northwest Broadcasting moved from Hot AC to Classic Hits on 102.5 KRPL for Pullman, WA and the Moscow, Idaho markets, they did something unheard of, they promoted local businesses around the clock, for free. Yes, it can be difficult to get advertisers, but what if you did one better than “a dollar a holler” to help your people?
KRPL came up with their "3 Months to Thrive in Downtown Pullman" campaign (which was kind of like Small Business Saturday on hormones), put together to get their listeners out to support local businesses hit hard by summer construction, which had forced some to even close.
The station donated over 1,500 minutes of airtime to get folks downtown and shopping local. They also had remote broadcasts and station promos to keep pounding on how important it is to support local businesses. Many of the businesses said it was a huge help.
And think about this: it would also help radio stations, because it gets your people on the streets with the people in their community. KRPL helped about 20 area businesses.
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