Sports
It doesn’t matter if you have professional teams in your community or not, a sports-themed ballot is always a big win with your audience. You could create a ballot about your local teams including categories for Best Quarterback, Best Coach, or Best Cheer Section or be more specific like Best of New England Patriots.
WDIV-TV has created a $1MM ballot program including several annual ballots specifically surrounding local high school sports!
Programming-Specific
Your station’s programming presents many opportunities for ballots. Best Daytime Show, Best Season Premier, Best Actor, Best Cliff Hanger, or Best New Show could all be categories on your station’s next ballot.
News
Consider creating ballots based on your news coverage. This is a great way to find out the topics of most interest to your viewers. Your ballot could include categories like Favorite News Anchor, Best Local Sports Story, Favorite Morning Show Moment, or Best Pet Story.
Education
No matter your community location, you’re likely dedicating quite a bit of time to your local schools with features on high school sports, feel-good student profiles, to investigative reporting. Not only do these school-related segments drive in lots of viewers, but they’re also an automatic way to connect with a large portion of your audience. Your education-themed ballot could feature categories like Best Private Grade School, Best Gymnasium, Best After-School Activities, and Favorite Teacher.
KTVQ-TV runs a recurring ballot campaign asking teachers, students, and parents to share their school’s special project and explain why it should win the grand prize of $2,000 from the sponsor.
Weather
No matter where you’re located, weather is one of the most popular segments on your network. Consider a ballot all related to your local weather with categories for Most Memorable Storm, Favorite Weather Personality Through the Years, or even Weather Preparedness Products.
Whether it’s spring show finale season or the start of high school football, you can find a creative ballot idea to work for your station. By including an email opt-in on you registration form and promoting your ballot on-air, you’ll be able to drive outstanding results for your station.
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Liz is the Senior Director of Customer Success and has an extensive background in media. She is a huge advocate of the power of promotions for every department within an organization, including sales, marketing, audience development, and editorial.