Tiffany Schortgen Interview 1-9-17

Tiffany Schortgen
Promotions Director
WBCL
Ft Wayne

Career Capsule: Tiffany is Promotions Director at WBCL Radio Network headquartered in Fort Wayne, IN. Tiffany holds an MBA and a BS in marketing from Indiana University, Fort Wayne. Prior to working for WBCL, she held positions in a variety of areas of marketing communications, including advertising account executive, freelance copywriter, and adjunct instructor.

Tiffany, tell us what’s new at WBCL, and with you etc… ?

Here at WBCL, we are in full gear getting ready for our SHARE 2017, which starts January 23. This year our goal is just over $1.8 million, which funds the operating budget for our network 9 frequencies!  My desk is knee deep in all things digital . . .preparing webpages, graphics, videos and so forth.

What are the 3 main ingredients to make a promotion successful?

For a promotion to be successful it needs to have a ministry focus (the contest should somehow help or uplift people), be strategic (increase Nielson ratings), and be interesting (sound good on-air).

What is the best promotion advice you’ve been given? The worst?

The best promotion advice I’ve received is find a great prize and keep it simple.

The worst advice I’ve been given relates to all the hype about millennials. People talk about millennials like they’re some other lifeform we need to figure out. Being a millennial myself, I can tell you that while the ways to communicate with us may differ slightly, overall, we have more in common with the rest of the population than we have differences.

Regarding your career, what are you most proud of?

I’m happiest and most content when I’m making a difference for others. That’s why I love contests . . . they offer me a super-fun and creative way to make a difference to the people in my community. Whether the prize is picking up a listener’s heating bill or dropping off a quarter beef, it warms my heart to be a part of something greater and to see how God uses something like a simple contest to bless the lives of our listeners.

What is the one thing YOU must have to do your job every day?

Coffee! My creativity is only as good as the coffee served!

In your opinion what makes the ideal station promotion?

My answer to this question is the same as my ingredients to make a promotion successful. The ideal promotion somehow helps people/spreads the love of Christ, sounds good on-air, and helps to improve ratings.

I also love things that get people talking and start a buzz. We recently did a “Beef Up Your Christmas” promotion in which we gave away a quarter beef (cow) a day. When we introduced the promotion, there was a huge buzz . . . really, what radio station gives away freezers full of beef?!

We also did a promotion for our 40^th birthday last January in which we were live for 40 hours and gave away a prize each hour totaling nearly $3,000 worth of prizes. During the 40 hour promotion, we played some retro music, played “best of” short segments from the past and had special guests in studio to reminisce. Every break was about the birthday. Listeners wrote/called/Facebooked in by the hundreds to say how much they enjoyed tuning into that broadcast. One of the prize winners who won at 2:00 AM had set her alarm each hour to try and win!

Regarding social networking and promotion, what have you had the most success with?

The struggle is real in the ever-changing world of social media! Right now, we’re seeing the most success with video. . . a week ago, it was probably something different. Keeping on top of trends and knowing the nuances of the algorithms helps a lot!

How do you measure the success of a great promotion?

A promotion is truly successful if it has in some way made an eternal significance. If we’ve helped someone, brought them hope, or ministered through the promotion than it’s successful in my eyes. And likely we’ve had a lot of fun doing it!