"You Never Phone Me"

That's not just your mother saying that. It might be your listener too.

Telemarketing to homes (to reach men and build cume) and to businesses (to reach women and improve TSL) continues to have impact for radio, even in the age of PPM and social networking.

Just like throwing darts, done right, it works to find heavy users of radio who enjoy giving their opinions 75-80% of the time.

Tip: develop and clean your database every six months.

A&O has seen recent telemarketing to station databases that found between 40% and 80% of those who joined the database six months ago still consuming the same radio station - 20% to 60% had changed stations and needed to be encouraged to come back, tactically.

If you don't reconnect personally and re-engage in a meaningful way, your Facebook fans and your email list - and even those who agreed on the phone months ago to sample your radio station in hopes of winning a prize - becomes less and less effective, increasingly incestuous.

Growing and maintaining a real relationship requires reaching out, personally on a regular basis.

Just ask your mom.