We live in a world today that is dominated on a person level by companies that use technology to ?handle? their customers. Average consumers can feel that companies want their money and not the work of dealing with them. Imagine it: customer avoidance through technology. This causes the general population extreme frustration, but it is generally accepted as the ?new normal.?
Have you ever been on the phone screaming in a selection into voice prompts because you are frustrated you can?t ever seem to get a person on the phone? Your listeners are having these experiences and the frustration is higher than ever.
Customers and listeners want to be recognized and respected. They want to be validated in today?s world. This is why social media is so popular and it is also why people are retracting to trust mostly or only advice from their own circle of friends. They don?t trust companies. It is also why your radio personalities should be in the front of every social media philosophy you have today. People care about people. They don?t want to be ?handled? by technology.
Here are five (5) Steps to give listeners what they want from YOUR social media:
1. ?Listen? to how listeners interact with radio stations and radio personalities in social media. Do this before you do anything else. This is not about only looking at the interactions on your radio station?s Facebook page. Look at competitors and stations in your format all across the country.
2. Recognize listeners when they make themselves known in any way in your social media. Reach out to them in the public platform of their choice and follow up with them via email as well.
3. Let listeners know that your product is populated by actual people. This may seem simple (and it may be difficult for some radio stations that are mostly voice tracked from other places). But it is important. Don?t do the corporate thing; make your social media as personal as possible.
4. Give them the baby. Media has become intensely focused on ?the tease.? Teasing is important for our purposes, but your overall social media plan should involve a strategy that does NOT simply tease them all the time. Sometimes you should make it easy for them to get what they want immediately. This is part of having a specific plan for your whole social media efforts.
5. Keep your focus them. Make sure your content is focused on their benefit. It is so easy to fall prey to what humans do all the time: Talk about ourselves. Be careful to point your voice toward giving participators benefits important to your listeners. If you really want to encourage true participation with your brand in social media, you must make sure your engagement is truly the opposite of the experiences people are having with these corporations who ?handle? their relationships with customers from a distance.
You must focus your efforts to make your engagement as personal as you can possibly make it. That will take effort, but is certainly is not impossible. Radio performs best when we are a great companion. Give people the opportunity to connect with you and make them feel important in a world that largely does the opposite. Do this and you will see excellent results in social media that leads to better engagement, better loyalty and better ratings.
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: Reach out to Loyd via e-mail HERE.
Add a Comment Send This Story To A Friend
