by Ed Ryan
So, what's a "Like" worth? Right now it seems like it's zero. The radio revenue relationship with Facebook has been a puzzling one. We (radio) take our giant megaphone and drive listeners to the most beloved website on the Internet (Facebook). And off they go. Here are just a few quick examples. WPOC in Baltimore has 19,000 likes. In Minneapolis, MyTalk 107.1 has nearly 30,000 likes. WABB in Mobile Alabama has over 32,000 likes. It's like a game for radio stations. How many fans or likes can they drive to the site and spike up the numbers. But what are we getting out of it?
Morning shows post questions and get instant feedback from listeners they can use for content. Jocks test the water with topic ideas, see who bites, and what bits have legs. In the past when a format was flipped, a GM might simply let the phone ring off the hook to avoid complaints. Now they watch, in real time, as listeners post their displeasure with the move and how they will never listen to the station again. And post they will.
So we've driven our listeners there. They love it there. We love having them there. Today, listeners are probably spending more time on Facebook than a radio station website. Yesterday Entercom CEO David Field was extremely proud of the "level of engagement" Entercom is seeing on the digital side. He specifically mentioned how Entercom brands have crossed the 2 million mark in terms of Facebook fans and Twitter followers. Even with all of those real numbers, there seems to be no revenue to speak of. Field said it sets Entercom up for advertising opportunities but did not specify what they were or if he had any.
Zuckerberg has Facebook set up brilliantly. All the ads consumers see on the right side of the page generate revenue for Facebook. Not to mention the cost to generate those advertisers has to be fairly low. Advertisers read a few how-to pages, create their own ads, decide who they want to target and how much they want to spend. How long does that take? An hour at the most. And we thought the turnaround to produce radio ads was quick.
Consider this. Harvard graduate Will Dean developed a fitness race called www.toughmudder.com. The event has grown into a 2-day event, generating 10,000 participants per weekend, in cities all over the world. The growth of the company has come almost entirely through Social Media. The company is closing in on 2 million likes. That's nearly as many as The Fox News Channel (2.4 million). Is building a successful business, without traditional media, the wave of the future? While attending one of these events (in Tampa) I also noticed with all those people, not a single radio station was in attendance. No remotes. No banners. No booths. A far cry from when GM's wanted to be everywhere a handful of people were gathering. Another missed marketing opportunity I thought.
For all that traffic you drive to Facebook, you think Zuckerberg would throw you a bone and give you an avail. Let you rotate a local ad into an open spot on the page. How great would that be? Imagine if you were able to insert a local ad and generate instant click-through numbers for your clients. After all you've driven most of your listeners there. We might want to be careful because the day will come when local advertisers decide to create their own ads, target a city or zip code and send a check to Zuck instead of us (SEE NEXT STORY). It might be more targeted than the 4th audio commercial in the second 10 minute stopset on your station.
So how does radio monetize Facebook? Have you figured it out yet?
Ed Ryan is the editor-in-chief of Radio Ink Magazine. Feedback to edryan@radioink.com or leave your comments below.
(2/29/2012 7:28:07 AM)
While I don't support dumping ad copy on your station's Facebook page, weaving advertisers into P1 promotions is a way to promote the client without irritating the fans.
Create Facebook graphics for the promotion, and include the sponsor's logo. Make this graphic your profile picture for the length of the promotion. Include a link to their website in the picture caption. Charge the client for social media inclusion.
While it's unlikely, Ed, that stations are going to let their F.B. or Twitter accounts slide, it might also be worthwhile determining how to attract and hold audience for ourselves and how to drive customers to our advertisers.
As to audience input through social media: Not valid at all - just a cherry picker's convenience that takes more resources to generate and collate than is the value of such low quality input.
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