I like to look for two pieces to a puzzle, then fit them together. Did you see the results of the Jacobs Media Techsurvey8? It showed what we probably didn't really want to hear: that 57 percent of respondents hop up and start their day with?not radio. Meaning, a medium or device other than radio.I have to tell you, if I were radio's ambassador to the world, I could make a convincing argument for starting your day with radio. It's free. It's readily available in every room of the house. It plays music you like. It gives you news, weather, and traffic to get you prepared. And best of all, you can consume all of this great stuff while you're getting ready. Showering, dressing, putting on makeup (which applies to some of you guys as well), eating your biscuit?radio is a soundtrack that can accompany the everyday things.So what are they using instead? Well, the younger demos are going right to email or Facebook. It is indicative of their technological realities. When they're not on Facebook, they feel disconnected. So, naturally, the first thing they want to do in the morning is "re-connect." But 45 percent of respondents listen to Pandora. And almost half of those who do, don't even classify Pandora as "radio," most likely because they consider their customized aggregated stations as something they built, as opposed to programming that's created without their involvement. People don't like to be left out anymore.Puzzle piece No. 2: some recent Nielsen studies on tablet use. They show us that 45 percent of U.S. tablet owners are using the device daily while they're watching TV. Most are checking email and going on Facebook. The younger the demo, the more likely they are to be on social media. Overall, 47 percent were on a social site. But when it comes to 13- to 17-year-olds, the number rockets up to 62 percent! So we're hardly the only medium that has other devices and mediums competing for our users' attention. And given how younger demos are behaving, that isn't going to reverse itself in our lifetimes. So what's the good news?The good news is that a sizable percentage of tablet users are looking up information on the TV show they're currently watching. Twenty-seven percent even looked up info on a product they saw advertised. So if I'm a TV show that's doing social correctly, I'm deliriously happy. My "second screen" efforts add to the primary screen. And not only is my show benefitting, so are the advertisers within my show. What's not to like? The key is to embrace social as a partner and ally, as opposed to defending against it as some kind of threat. It's only a threat if the audience is incapable of multitasking. Not only are they capable of multitasking, they love it. It's a perfectly normal way of life for them.And so it can be with radio. Do you view your audience's activity on your Facebook page as something they do only when they aren't listening? Why? If you created events and activities that ran concurrently on the air and on your social streams, you too could have a simultaneous "second screen" where your listeners are interacting in real time, are involved as part of the process, are responding instantly to what they hear over the air, and are potentially reacting to your advertisers' immediate calls to action. Takeaway: Your listeners are capable of consuming and engaging in more than one medium and more than one thing at a time. Are you capable of producing for more than one medium and more than one thing at a time?Mike Stiles is a brand content specialist with the social marketing tech platform, Vitrue. Check out his monologue blog The Stiles Files and follow him on Twitter @mikestiles.
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