4-23-2014
When it comes right down to it, many radio clusters and individual radio stations don?t have an effective social media plan designed to help them get results for goals they have for engaging actual local audience and for growing higher participation with their brand or brands. That?s a shame. With a little focus, effort and consistency, you could actually turn your social media into a powerful set of tools for growing social media presence, ratings, and even local-direct revenue for your cluster. Maybe it?s time for some spring cleaning and reorganizing of your true social media effort to make room for a more specific strategy that includes ?buy-in? from staff and management, and activity to drive your goals.
Here are 6 ways to refresh your social media for real results (@ Radio):
1. Start with the results you want and work your way backwards. Get with your staff and create a fun get-together (perhaps your first annual ?Social Media Rewards?)! Pass out awards for things such as ?Best Overall Contribution,? ?Most Improved in Social Media,? ?Most Creative in Social Media? and others. Then begin asking questions about what you are currently doing individually and as a team. Ask questions about goals you feel the station should have in social media. Present the results the company would like to see in social media and ask the staff how the group could best achieve these results. When people contribute, reward them and engage them to do specific parts of the content that they are passionate about so they take some ownership of the overall plan.
2. Create an actual overall social media content strategy during the get-together. Be sure to include spotlights for each participator in your meeting that contributed so everyone feels included. And distribute the individual content parts between morning show players and others so that you have a percentage of content from each player targeted to the agreed-upon strategy elements. This gives you balance, passion, and real fire in your social media.
3. Be sure your social media content uses powerful headlines to boost participation and sharing. You?ve seen this on a variety of sites, including TMZ and Drudge Report, but your goal is to spin all content back to you, your website, and your radio station. Headlines are the second-largest element that can drive participation.
4. Be sure your team understands the use of visuals to drive clicks. You absolutely want people to see your visuals and feel they must click through to see what the picture is all about. In the ?old days,? you would say: ?A picture paints a thousand words.? These days, 140 characters are more powerful than you can imagine and pictures can be explosive to help you achieve more engagement and authentic sharing and growth in social media.
5. Make sure your content has balance between personality features, appointments for listening, local causes, passions in your community, contesting, and unique local content elements. If you always think about the audience you most want to attract and engage and craft your content based on everything you know about what they find important, you?ll be fine and grow your engagement regularly.
6. Be consistent. Most people who are beginning a social media plan will do it for a short period of time and then allow their effort to fall away. To be truly successful, you must continue to follow through to get the most out of your social media and drive listeners, and potential listeners, to the content your company owns.
You can have so much more success in your social media if you focus on the listeners you most want to attract and focus your content on them with various types of content, as well as ?encouraging? listeners to engage you on-air, in social media, and on your website (along with in-person whenever possible).
Do you have an overall social media content plan? If not, now is the time to develop one. Make sure your team sees that management feels social media is important, and definitely make sure they feel empowered to help design the plan. If you do, you may become king of social media in your local market! Congratulations!
Loyd Ford is the direct marketing, ratings and social media strategist for Americalist Direct Marketing and has programmed very successful radio brands in markets of all sizes, including KRMD AM & FM in Shreveport, and WSSL and WMYI in Greenville, WKKT in Charlotte and WBEE in Rochester, NY. Learn more about Loyd here: http://about.me/loydford. Get his radio-social media content sent directly to your smart phone or email for free here: www.rainmakerpathway.wordpress.com. Reach out to Loyd via e-mail HERE. Visit his Facebook radio social media page HERE.
(4/24/2014 7:38:38 AM)
David, you are absolutely correct. People crave authenticity and it is an essential part of making social media (and your radio brand) more powerful. People can feel it, smell it and will follow it.
(4/23/2014 4:41:49 AM)
I would add a seventh - seven is such a good number!
7. Be Authentic. Authenticity builds trust and intimacy, and in turn creates brand advocates. These BAs will love & defend the brand and hopefully speak in high volumes about their brand experience on social media. Their powerful voice will resonate with you brand's audience. There's no better way to be authentic than to have the social support of your precious BAs who are always ready to step in and reaffirm your brand message.
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