Most radio personalities who aren’t doing endorsements fall into one of two camps. The first group believes endorsements are something that happens to you. At some point, if you’re good enough and well-known enough, an advertiser will materialize, checkbook in hand, ready to make you their spokesperson. You just have to be patient and keep doing great radio. The second camp knows endorsements don’t just fall from the sky, but has no idea how to get one, who to talk to, what to say, how to position themselves, or where the process begins. They do nothing, which produces the results you’d expect.
The path to your first endorsement deal (and your second, and your tenth) is more straightforward than most personalities realize. It doesn’t require an agent, a massive ratings book, or years of market dominance. It requires a clear understanding of where opportunities come from, a few deliberate relationship investments, and the willingness to treat endorsements like the professional business they are.
Start With an Inventory
Before you approach anyone about an endorsement, you need to know what you’re bringing to the table. You probably have an idea of what you hope to bring, but the only thing that matters is what you actually bring.
This means an honest assessment of three things:
Your audience relationship. Do listeners respond when you ask them to do something? Do they call, text, post, and engage? Have you documented it? When you mention something you love on the air, do people notice? Have you ever had a listener tell you they tried something because you recommended it? These are the signals that matter to an advertiser, and they’re the signals you need to be able to speak to.
Genuine enthusiasm. The best endorsements start with products and services you already use (or want to) and believe in. Make a list of things you love and would recommend to a friend without being paid. Maybe it’s your dentist or the restaurant you go to twice a week. Is there a gym that changed your life? How about a local car dealer where you’ve bought your last three vehicles? These are natural starting points.
Your personal brand. What are you known for? What does your show stand for? Endorsements that work best are the ones that feel like an organic extension of who you are. A fitness enthusiast endorsing a supplement makes sense. The same personality endorsing a steakhouse requires more creativity. Neither is impossible, but the fit matters.
Do this inventory before you have a single conversation. If you don’t score well in these categories, it doesn’t mean you can’t get endorsements. You’ll just be starting from a different position than a seasoned vet, and that makes everything that follows more confident and focused.
The Opportunity In Your Building
Here’s where most personalities make their first mistake: they look outside the station for endorsement opportunities before they’ve fully explored what’s available inside it, but your station has a sales team. That sales team has a client list. Many of those clients are spending money on advertising. That’s money that currently goes toward produced spots, standard live reads, or digital packages. Any one of them could become an endorsement client, and the sales team already has a relationship with them.
Don’t wait for the Account Executive to come to you with an opportunity. You have to make it happen yourself, and most personalities never fully tap it.
The key is building genuine relationships with the people in your sales department. Internal marketing goes a long way. Learn their names. Know their accounts. Understand what they’re working on. Show up to a sales meeting when you’re invited. If you’re not invited, ask to be.
When a salesperson knows you and your brand, they become internal advocates. They start thinking of you when a client asks about endorsements. They pitch your name in conversations and, if you work it right, they become a personal sales team at no cost to you.
This doesn’t happen because you sent an email saying you’re available for endorsements. It happens because you invested in the relationship before you needed anything from it.
