While personal Facebook pages have just gone through a tsunami of change, many of which affect the way brand marketers (like your radio station) approach their social marketing strategies, what has so far remained unchanged are the brand Pages themselves. I wouldn?t count on them not changing. In fact, I?d bet the FarmVille on it. We haven?t heard anything specific or official from our friends at Facebook yet, but based on some reading between the lines, brand Pages will be undergoing a titanic shift not unlike what the personal profile pages just went through.
Profile pages used to be a cursory description of what people wanted to say about themselves; where they work, who they?re in a relationship with, lists of songs or movies or books they like, etc. Now, the profile page is a comprehensive, curated ?Timeline? of a user?s entire life, arranged in chronological order and populated based on what they post, what they listen to, what they do, and who they interact with. It?s scrapbooking on steroids. A little unsettling at first. After all, not everyone is quite ready to publicly publish their own autobiography. But make no mistake, it?s an autobiography, not a biography. That means the user has complete control over what appears in their Timeline.
The buzz we?re getting is that the coming comprehensive overhaul of brand Pages will be closely modeled on this new user Timeline. So what does that mean, and how should you be preparing in advance for it? The heritage of your station is about to really come into play. Stations with a longstanding brand and a rich history will have an opportunity like never before to showcase that history. If your station has been an integral part of the community, this is where you?ll get to put up a permanent tribute to the deep community connections you?ve formed over the years. WSB-AM in my hometown of Atlanta immediately comes to mind as being a station steeped in the city?s history. That?s going to be a truly captivating Timeline to peruse, if they do it right.
This means some poor promotions person should be given the task right now of digging up all the photos, clippings, legendary audio moments, TV coverage, awards, promotional collateral etc. that have been gathering dust in some closet or photo album all these years, because your station?s museum isabout to open, and it needs exhibits.
Even if yours is not a heritage station, your new brand Page will start getting automatically populated with the things you post and the social activities you engage in. So to make your Timeline as interesting as you can, as quickly as you can, make sure you?re consistently posting the most engaging types of content?video, photos, and best-of audio moments. Start thinking about how you want to introduce your station to people, what you want them to know about you, because that?s what should be expressed in the Timeline.
Yeah, I hear you. ?How is this going to help my PPM or sales?? Your online job is to build relationships with your listeners and with your advertisers. Listeners like to listen to stations they feel connected to and identify with. A large bulk of your sales are products of relationship-building. It?s very hard to develop a relationship with someone who won?t tell you anything about themselves or let you get to know them.
Oh, and if you?ve been treating radio brands like nothing more than disposable tissues? stop it.
Mike Stiles is a writer/producer with the social marketing tech platform, Vitrue, and head of Sketchworks comedy theatre. Check out his monologue blog, The Stiles Files.
Find him on Facebook or on Twitter @mikestiles
Stiles Facebook: www.facebook.com/mike.stiles
Add a Comment Send This Story To A Friend
