Does Social Engagement Equal Higher Ratings?

4-10-13

The folks at Jelli believe so. The company says it has new data that shows a direct correlation between an increase in social engagement with higher ratings. During a 13 week period, Jelli measured weekly active registered users who were using Jelli?fs online or mobile app to vote to choose the music played during live broadcasts on five different radio stations based in four cities across the United States. Here's what they found

??       Weekly social engagement for the sample stations increased 127%, and
??       Ratings (i.e., weekly cume) for those stations increased 30%.

The five radio stations measured were owned by three different radio groups and represented a range of musical formats. There was no common promotion or other connection between the stations, other than the use of the Jelli platform to enable their audiences to choose the music broadcast on air in real time.

In addition to driving ratings, Jelli also measured how the audience reacted to radio spots served when the audience was engaging with the broadcasts. When a radio spot played on the air, a synched display ad from the advertiser was presented to the listeners online and via mobile apps.

The results were:
??       0.10% to 0.15% of the weekly cume ratings base (i.e., all listeners) took some action with the advertising. This is roughly two to three times typical performance of online display advertising, and
??       1 to 3% of logged-in listeners clicked through on the display portion of the ad.

?gOur data shows that higher social engagement levels can have a direct impact on increasing overall audience size as measured by traditional ratings,?h said Mike Dougherty, Jelli?fs CEO. ?gIn addition, adding a ?efeedback loop?f to a one-way broadcast can drive measurable brand engagement with the traditional radio spots aired on these broadcasts.?h

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(SOCIAL) How to Get Better Engagement On FB

(by Loyd Ford) When it comes right down to it, you want the fastest way to set your radio stations' Facebook page on fire and really create engagement and sharing, right? Here are five ways to boost your engagement and get your sharing mojo going in 2012:

1. Use the social media video and content about the stars in your format. You know what I'm talking about! TMZ, CMT, People, and a hundred more sites provide you with easy opportunities to boost engagement. Just don't forget to add your own content, in the form of a local spin or question.
Engage local causes important to the core audience you are trying to attract and engage. This is perhaps one of the biggest single gaps on radio station pages and with radio personalities on Facebook. Choose what you are passionate about and what your listeners are passionate about, and make it happen on Facebook. Engage listeners to help you help the cause. You might even start a "local cause page" and link it to your station Facebook page. Get active doing good, and people will become more passionate about you.

2. Use polling. Perhaps you already do this. Expand to make sure a percentage of your postings on Facebook involve polls related to something important to listeners. Seek their opinions, and keep it interesting to the core listeners you are most wanting to attract and engage.

3. Create a blog that matters to the listeners you want most to attract and engage, and post it on your station page. You can incorporate all of the above, along with pictures and stories that bring the point home. However, you must have a plan for your blog that includes why it exists and why it could and should grow audience. If you don't have a plan and a perspective for your blog, you shouldn't have a blog. If you do blog, pictures and video should be used. You can never have too many visuals.

4. Respond, respond, respond. Always respond when someone posts something on your Facebook page. Respond to them publicly and respond to them privately (at least by way of Facebook e-mail). If you want to go the additional mile, respond to them publicly on their own Facebook wall, too. Just have balance to what you are doing. Be seen, don't be a pest. Respond, don't just let it go. By hitting people back with thank yous, you show you care. That means a lot, and people remember.

5. The final moment on this subject goes the way all final moments about having a real strategy for your radio station in social media go: Have your content lead listeners back to the station website and on air, often. It doesn't help us to make Facebook bigger. We want to lead listeners back to the broadcast brand and the value they will find more of on your signal.

Loyd Ford programmed very successful radio brands including KRMD AM & FM in Shreveport, WSSL and WMYI in Greenville, WKKT in Charlotte and WBEE in Rochester, NY. Learn more about Loyd HERE:
Reach out to Loyd via e-mail HERE
Visit his Facebook radio social media page www.facebook.com/socialnetworking4radio
Read more articles from Loyd HERE

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ENGAGEMENT - A Winning Social Media Roadmap

by Loyd Ford
Many of our bosses ? especially early on ? look at Facebook and Twitter as additional advertising vehicles. They are not. Too many executives in radio (and other industries) still focus on how many followers, likes or content readers they have as a judgment for how well they are doing.  That?s not right either.  While having a lot of followers or likes often looks good, it is really investing in a dead or disoriented measurement.  So, how can you set specific goals to gain real benefits for your radio station in social media?

Here is a 6 step specific roadmap for goal setting that will allow you real success and benefit from your social media efforts:

1. Setting goals gives your efforts focus. 
After all, if you have a plan with significant goals, you have a roadmap and a way to hold your team to specific standards of behavior and accomplishment.  Real and realistic goals allows you to set a path and achieve real and actionable benefits as your social media continues to develop.

2. Social media is not NASCAR. 
Social media involves developing relationships and opportunities to influence over the long-term.  If your goal is quick influence of the masses, you have the wrong goal.  Set achievable goals of bringing on board a specific number of influencers (listeners) each week by your social media content actions.

3. Social media has a lot of value found in the need for humans to be self-considered relevant, wanted, liked and influential. 
Don?t get caught up in only trying to make your radio station more popular.  Your goals should involve bringing value to the people you want to attract and engage.  That goal should involve specific types of value from each personality every single week.  While having more ?followers? or ?likes,? more people may see your content, but your efforts will be wasted largely by investing in people who are not really going to engage in relationship with your brand or help you achieve any significant success.  Think about what kind of listeners you want to engage and focus on the people who will matter. 

4. One of your consistent goals should be to be real ? never fake. 
Being authentic is felt by other people.  So is being fake.  People can read you.  Being authentic is a path to generating a following that trusts you.  That is very significant in social media.  Live up to being real and you will find that your growing influence is also real.  If you are fake or contrived, you will find your influence is the same.

5. Put significance on reaching out to people with your personalities. 
Remember:  People want to be valued in social media.  Look for ways to do this in social media on a consistent basis and you will build a loyal tribe.  Personally reaching out builds real connection.  Imagine a listener befriended by a radio personality.  That?s connection.  Add an authentic reason for contact that gives them common ground and you are on your way to loyalty.

6. Consider setting goals with specific personalities in terms of photos, videos, blogging, causes and interaction with listeners. 
Let your staff be a part of setting the goals and celebrating success.
In today?s radio environment, you must use every tool you can to be relevant and helpful to build value for your radio station and company.   However, learning to make the most value in your social media efforts is also about building value in yourself and for yourself.  That is most worthwhile.  Having a plan with specific goals for your social media efforts will also make sure you are not just spinning your wheels.

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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Sales Rules of Engagement

by Wayne Ens

Yesterday I heard a radio ad inviting listeners to ?Go to our Facebook page and say you like us, and we?ll give you a free ice cream cone.? Do you think anyone believes that everyone who hit the ?like? button for that mall truly and sincerely likes them? Or is the credibility of those ?likes? jeopardized by the ice cream bribe?

Worse still, what if that mall is ?testing? the radio station to see how many new ?likes? they add? Will customers really jump through the hoops of going to the mall?s Facebook page, hitting the like button, then take time out of their day and spend $10 on gas to get a $2.00 ice cream cone?

Professional account executives need to help advertisers understand that sheer numbers of website hits, alleged followers on a social media site, or in any data base, do not indicate results or success. Success can not be measured by the number of hits or people on a list, but only at the cash register, or better still at the bottom line, over time.

A recent survey in Ad Age magazine tracked public engagement data for 300 of the top brands on Facebook over a one-year period starting in July 2010. The results show a clear 22% decline in average engagement. Other surveys reveal similar statistics for email marketing open rates. The goal of marketing is to capture and win the hearts and minds of as many customers as possible. Capturing names in a data base or via social media does not mean the marketer has won hearts and minds.

Marshall McLuhan was wrong. The medium is not the message, the message is the message! Account executives who steer their clients towards engaging, relevant messages, on air and online, will help advertisers win the hearts and minds of their customers, and subsequently win the hearts and minds of their clients. Only engaging relevant messaging wins hearts and minds.  The rules of engagement, in all media, are simple. Your message must deliver value, and value is measured by asking yourself these five questions;
? Is my message entertaining or interesting?
? Does my message educate or inform?
? Is my message fun or humorous?
? Did my message deliver rewards or savings?
? Did my message strike an emotional chord?

If your message is not delivering one or more of these values, your campaign is merely attracting names and numbers, not engaged customers. Our SoundADvice radio e-marketing system has an engagement rate more than six times higher than the industry average by simply following these rules of engagement.

Wayne Ens is President of ENS Media Inc and can be reached via e-mail Wayne Ens wayne@wensmedia.com

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Triton Digital Promotes Fischer to Sr. VP of Engagement

Triton Digital Promotes Michael Fischer to Senior Vice President of Engagement

Michael Fischer has been with Triton Digital since 2008, most recently serving as Vice President of Interactive Solutions. In his career spanning nearly 30 years, Fischer has held several high-level leadership positions at Lincoln Financial Media, CBS and Full Audio/Music Now. Fischer will be responsible for helping clients maximize engagement through Triton?s suites of applications and services, reporting to Division President Chris Bell. Triton?s Applications and Services Division currently serves over 2,500 affiliates and has over 3,000 implementations of its services.  The team is currently developing new ways to drive engagement through the socialization, mobilization and gamification of its loyalty products.

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