6-28-2013
Radio talents always want to know: How can I show that social media has real value? How can I really get attention in social media?
1. Think creatively about your content before you post on any social media. Don?t just think about the message you most want to communicate. Social media is about engaging people.That means back and forth. To do that, you have to have a listener-first focus and you always have to think about how to get listeners to take actions to engage you on their chosen social media platform and on your assets, including your on-air show. And you should always try to be the fun one at the party (when appropriate).
2. Put yourself in the shoes (or eyes and ears) of your listeners (or the listeners in social media that you most want to attract). Do you know your local listeners? Do you know who they are? Where they work? What is happening in the average listeners? life in your market? The best way to do this is to have a ?listen first? policy about your social media activities. That means, see what is happening and fit into it. Don?t always think: What can I say? Think: How can I be helpful?
3. Build your engagement around emotion and include fun twists about the fun job listeners all think you have today. Most listeners do not have jobs they think of as fun. In fact, if they are adult listeners, they are operating on everyone else?s schedule. Their kids, their boss, their wife or husband, their parents (sometimes), their extended family, co-workers, bills, chores around the house, problems. Give these people someone who cares about them and focus your content on emotion because that drives attachment. By the way, if you don?t think problems can be fun, you?ve missed the point of why historic television shows such as Seinfeld, M*A*S*H, Friends, the Brady Bunch, the Cosby Show and more have been big hits. They twist problems into fun. That?s because they are in the entertainment business?like you.
4. Give them a taste and tease them to find the rest on assets that your company owns, including both your website and on-air whenever possible. You don?t have to give them ?the whole baby? (many times you will want to deliver all). Sometimes you just want to give them a tease. This is all part of having an overall social media content strategy. Do you have one? If not, you should get busy building one and make sure you include a wide variety of rich content so you can be helpful, fun, interesting and engaging and not just be ?on Facebook and Twitter.?
5. Use pictures and video to include listeners. Please. Just force yourself and your team to begin using pictures and video in a wide variety of content. Why? Because people are much more likely to engage those ?attractors? than just simply words. You want participation. You want people to engage your PEOPLE and then your brand. Light them up with entertaining video and photos (focused on them and content that would be interesting to them, please). As I leave you with a final thought, we will let that be video. This is about sports and you will notice that there are no plays, no analysis, no boring insider information that viewers don?t care about. These are promos about ESPN that don?t involve taking themselves too seriously. People have even collected a bunch of them and reposted (fans doing the work). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgjg5XszAiM
Wildly popular. Why? Because they are fun. And your social media should be fun, too. Do that and you will discover for yourself ways to get attention in social media that counts for your brand. Now go have some fun with local listeners and make it count!
Loyd Ford is the direct marketing, ratings and social media strategist for Americalist and 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. Visit his Facebook radio social media page HERE
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