(SOCIAL) Fix Your Broken Social Media

6-19-2012

By Loyd Ford

Many people in radio and other industries today believe it is important to have a social media arm. Some see social media as advertising; it isn't. Some see cheerleaders pumping up a brand and think they can do that in your radio market for your station; you can. For some people, when their social media fails to achieve anything of substance, many people want to point and say, "Social media doesn't work." However, there is another possibility that should be considered:  Maybe they didn't work.

Let's take a closer look at two of the biggest downfalls in social media performance for stations today:

1. "We're all over Facebook and Twitter" is what I hear all the time. In many cases this means they actually have a Facebook page and they tweet. However, their focus is on contesting and selfishness and not at all on the listener experience in their chosen social media environment.

2. "We engage listeners in social media on our website and email." Then, you go to many sites and see no incorporation of social media. Frankly, when you see a station Facebook page, often times there is no substantial invitation to bring listeners back to the signal or even station website. And if you get a loyal listener email today, you are as likely to receive an email about a "good deal on tires" without any other listener benefits as you are to get information you want about artists on the station, concert events of importance, or engaging content listeners would love to receive from radio.

So, here are five easy ways to fix your social media productivity:

1. Take a step back and really think about what you want to accomplish with social media. If you don't have a specific strategic plan for social media, you are likely spinning your wheels and wasting your time. Don't make your answers about your goals for social media focused on "being on Facebook" or "tweeting about contesting only."  Develop an actual action plan that focuses on those things most important to the listeners you want to attract.

2. Develop rich content with the use of photos and video to truly engage listeners with your brand. It is easier to do these days and not at all expensive to do. I constantly tell clients at radio that we have a "backstage industry."  People want to be backstage. So many people in our audiences want to be closer to the stars of media and music. Use your backstage presence to build value for listeners in the social media space with your own content and use it to lead them to your primary signal again and again for events, special programming, and occasions of listening based upon features exclusive to your station.

3. Please think about your branding in the above video and photo opportunities, and social media should be imaged the same way you would image other outreach activities associated with your brand. Presentation is important.

4. Make your loyal listener email engaging and focused on giving listeners a variety of brief content that can lead them back to you (if they want more). Never send an advertisement by itself without a rich content "dashboard," where listeners can choose from a variety of good things and see the ad. Give listeners the opportunity to "win" smaller prizes just because they received the email from you (every time you email them). Offer listeners the opportunity to give you feedback in every contact piece.

5. Here are the two most important keys to having a great social media plan and fixing your broken social media activities. Consistency and authenticity. In other words, be real and sincere and be very steady in producing the right content in the social media environments where you truly want to engage listeners.

Changes are taking place in the way consumers use your product and interact with your product. If you don't think your listeners are moving because technology is empowering them to change how they interact with everything, you are falling behind. If you went to a party, passed out your business cards and yelled, "Come buy my stuff," do you think you would be popular? Well, no. It is the same in social media. You have to build real value for the listeners you want to attract and you have to be authentic. Here is the best news:  With a little planning, you can develop your own social media plan that will truly help you build actually important relationships with key social media participators in your market.  

Loyd Ford programmed very successful radio brands in markets of all sizes for years, including KRMD AM & FM in Shreveport, WSSL and WMYI in Greenville, WKKT in Charlotte and WBEE in Rochester, NY. Learn more about Loyd here: http://about.me/loydford. Reach out to Loyd via e-mail HERE .

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Newberry: We Tried, But Royalty System is Broken

6-6-2012

Commonwealth Broadcasting President and CEO Steve Newberry was in the thick of the action when the NAB was negotiating rates with performers a few years ago and he testified yesterday that, despite their best efforts, musicFIRST "declined our offer and never returned to the negotiating table." musicFIRST argues the NAB changed the offer at the last minute. Praising the Clear Channel Big Machine deal, Newberry said the way the rate system is set up is a "disincentive."

Newberry said, that since 2010, broadcasters have been ready to sit down and work to find common ground that properly recognizes the  promotional value of broadcaster airplay and the value of the music. "Yesterday, a negotiated royalty deal between Clear Channel Radio and Big Machine Records was announced. As I understand the details, Clear Channel has agreed to pay a percentage of advertising revenue for Big  Machine?s songs whether they are heard digitally or terrestrially. It is a free enterprise transaction between two willing parties. With no government involvement. From NAB?s perspective, nothing about this deal changes our strong opposition to a congressionally-mandated performance tax. What this announced deal really highlights is the major challenge we face as radio continues to grow online and into other new platforms. The current royalty structure for webcasting is broken. When initially set in 2007 and then built upon in 2009, the rates set by the Copyright Royalty Board were universally decried as being ridiculously high. So high that radio stations cannot afford to be successful online ? the more music listeners you attract, the less profitable it becomes."

Newberry was the NAB joint board chairman during some of the most heated discussions with the music industry. He testified that the system needs to change. "Believe me, radio broadcasters want to take advantage of all the possibilities the Internet presents, but these royalty rates create a financial disincentive to webcast, and solving this problem for broadcasters is essential. If we want music streaming to survive, we need to find a way to strike a better balance between royalty payments and platform growth, which at the end of the day, helps broadcasters and artists."

(6/7/2012 10:35:58 PM)
If these fees are so high, why aren't companies creating their own hits? Want a hot song that can't be found on Pandora? Make one and play it.
(6/7/2012 7:31:58 AM)
Two years ago I suggested a partnership with the music industry was a better approach than the war declred by the NAB. It is not too late as the Clear Channel approach illustrates. Listen to Greg Walden's words so that the next time Congress butts in the industry can say, " we have that worked out." Radio will get a much better deal.
(6/7/2012 7:25:01 AM)
Two years ago

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Feel Broken Today. This Will Help You Get over It.

by Sean Luce

Since early in my career, videos have been a key component of my sales training. I started using videos as a sales manager and have continued showing them in my consulting business.  The videos originally provided me with a chance to swallow some water in case I became nervous while speaking. Videos are now a key component of my speaking engagements. In my experience, the videos should be no longer than 5 minutes, but I did have an exception to that rule. I would show a documentary about Ernest Shackleton called ?Endurance?.  I had never found a story to rival Shackleton?s tale of human endurance in the Antarctic until this past July.

One of my consulting clients told me about a best-selling book that featured a man who ran in the 1936 Berlin Olympics and was personally congratulated by Adolf Hitler. One of the most fascinating points of the story was that this young athlete was on course to break the 4 minute mile by 1940, and his real story had not even started. As a high school student, Louis Zamperini, ran a 4:16 mile and set the world record for the mile. He was on pace to do something nobody thought could be done. He planned to break the 4 minute mile at the 1940 Tokyo Olympic Games, but the Tokyo games never occurred. Instead, World War II started, and Louis went to flight school. While on a Pacific Island in 1943, he ran a 4:08 mile on an airport runway. Louie would never clock anything close to that time again.

In the summer of 1943, Louie?s B-25 crew was searching for a downed aircraft when his plane crashed into the Pacific. Louie and the survivors did not having the usual ?lost at sea in the raft for a few days? ordeal. They were in a raft for 47 days. End of story?pretty amazing, right? Wrong! Louis and another crew member drifted 2,000 miles in the Pacific Ocean only to land in the Japanese controlled Marshall Islands, and now the story begins. Louie was held captive in the most brutal of conditions. The Japanese severely tortured the prisoners. So much so, that modern waterboarding techniques look like a vacation in the tropics compared to what the WWII POWs endured. Just when you thought the story could not get any worse, it did?.over and over again.

There is also another story within the story that?s not in the book. The author?s name is Laura Hillenbrand. Ms. Hillenbrand wrote the best seller ?Seabiscuit? about a 1930?s race horse. The book would later become a Hollywood movie of the same name. Ms. Hillenbrand spent 7 years writing about Louis Zamperini. Laura suffers from Chronic Fatigues Syndrome which is a debilitating disease. While writing ?Unbroken? she never personally met ?Zamp?. She had to interview him on the phone since she could not leave her home due to the illness. Her research is impeccable. ?Unbroken? made the best seller list by selling 6 million books on the first run.  Her motivation to complete the book came from ?Zamp? himself. He helped Hillenbrand to the finish line of the book as he did running track in the 1930?s.

His story was so incredible that I wanted to learn more about this guy Zamp. He is real?.and he is alive today at 94 years of age with a smile on his face that would make your knees buckle from sheer delight. Universal Studios is filming the movie set to premiere in 2013.  Zamp will be 96, and I fully expect to see him on the red carpet.

In my research, I found a video CBS made during the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics featuring the Zamp. Louie carried the Olympic Torch on the same streets where he was held as a prisoner during WWII. Bob Simon made an incredible documentary on the Zamp?s life into a 39 minute segment. The documentary does not do the book justice, but it is as close as you will find until the movie premieres.

In my seminars, I like to split up Zamp?s story. I show the first 16 minutes which ends as the Zamp and a fellow survivor are finishing their 47 days on a raft. I encourage you to watch the other 23 minutes to find out how the story ends. With all the challenges we have dealing with the recession, debt crisis and natural disasters, the Louie Zamperini story will make you sit back and appreciate that what we have in life is pretty good. The next time you feel like quitting after a tough day in the field, throwing in the towel on your career or getting ready to kick the dog then please read ?Unbroken?.  You will probably never face the circumstances that Louis Zamperini encountered in his life. However, his inspirational tale of survival can help make the impossible seem possible. In my opinion, Ernest Shackleton and Louis Zamperini are in an elite league of their own.

Note:  To find the video, go to www.louiszamperini.com, hit the video tab and select CBS Video. You will not spend a better 39 minutes in your sales training or for that matter your life.

Sean Luce is the Head National Instructor for the Luce Performance Group and can be reached at Sean@luceperformancegroup.com.

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