Big Social Numbers For iHeart Awards

The 2015 iHeartRadio Music Awards, which took place on March 29, generated more than 14 billion social media impressions throughout the promotional period of the show; nearly 75 percent higher than 2014's 8.5 billion, and almost triple that of the Academy Awards. Social media engagement data showed the awards program was the number-one trending show on Twitter that night and week, surpassing Nickelodeon's Kids' Choice Awards, Pretty Little Liars, Scandal, and The Walking Dead season finale.

iHeartRadio Chief Product Office Chris Williams said, "The social success of the iHeartRadio Music Awards was fueled by our local radio stations and personalities engaging in a live, real-time conversation with fans before, during and after the awards, both on-air and through social. We also engaged with fans through new social integrations including live behind-the-scenes Twitter Periscope broadcasts and an iHeartAwards Snapchat 'Our Story' which was populated by the audience, nominated artists, and Ryan Seacrest, whose backstage snaps kept viewers coming back for more."

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Social Media Use Dips On Smart TVs

1-15-2015

It's an article on smart TV: How does this effect radio? Stay with me here. AdWeek is giving details on a Philips uWand report that while smart TV use is on the rise, use of social media on the devices is down. Specifically video clip viewing, gaming, and Internet browsing is decreasing on smart TV. Reading between the lines of the report, there could be some implications on future connected car trends.

Despite the widespread adoption of social media, the use of social services on smart TV decreased by 20 percent in the last two years, from 30 percent in 2012 to10 percent in 2014. Internet browsing is also way down on smart TVs, from 44 percent in 2012, to 25 percent in 2014. Making the report even more intriguing, Internet-based streaming catch-up services, such as Comcast's Xfinity, is up by 13 percent. One takeaway from the report is that TV users are using their TV, well, as a TV. Despite the integration of apps and more social services, users are either being frustrated with the interface or using TV for their original intention, to view video.

The implications for the connected car interface gold rush now taking place might imply dashboard use could follow the same trends. Drivers used to a simple-to-operate radio in their car might just end up using in-dash connected car hardware the way they've always used the dash, to listen to the "radio." There might be something to the pushback from automakers to hop on the Google or Apple bandwagon with their connected car offerings. Google and Apple are battling for the dashboard, but car makers so far are staying agnostic on outside operating systems.

Automakers have noted that one of the reasons so many of them are opting for an in-house OS for the connected car, such as Ford's Sync, is they they believe they have a better handle on what drivers want and need in-dash. Carmakers are targeting a more distraction-free and simplistic interface for drivers. This latest research on smart TVs hints they might have a point.

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6 Ideas To Improve Your Social Media Strategy

6 Ideas That Will Improve Your Social Media Strategy

(by Loyd Ford) Ever had your mother or someone like her say, ?Get real!?  We live in a fast-paced world where most companies are trying to figure out how to deliver something that looks like and feels like good old fashion whatever their product or service is?but with less cost.  The end result is often an experience that doesn?t feel real because it often isn?t. When you dip over into social media for real brands and people, things often get even less real.  But being real matters more than ever and communicating the realities about how much you care for your local listeners is more valuable than ever. That means communicating those values on-air and in social media along with appearances and even advertising or marketing about your brand.

As we approach 2015, now is a great time to think about what does create that feeling of realness.  #1 on my list is authenticity.  But how do you create that feeling in your social media? Isn?t social media fake?  Not necessarily. In fact, as we take a look at the social media space you occupy, let?s focus in on authenticity and being real.  How can you make sure you are communicating those values to your audience in social media like you do on-air.

1. Put yourself ?out there? by putting personal stories out there about you, your personalities and what makes you vulnerable (within reason).  Don?t simply post national stories that can appear anywhere.  When you do post national stories, give them an authentic local twist that makes your station and your audience a part of the story.

2. Engage your audience in responding directly to your social media content.  Make it as much about them (or more) than it is about you and your reaction to what may be ?happening? out there in the world. 

3. When you don?t know the answer to something, put it out there for listeners to answer.  People love to see that you don?t have all the answers and they love to be helpful.  This makes you very real and acceptable.

4. Talk about real world things that impact you and impact your listeners and make your social media conversations about real issues that are important to them (not just contesting and gossip).

5. Let it all hang out.  Sometimes you can show a ?behind the scenes? without makeup or an event ?set up? so people can see the work that goes into doing radio.  You will be surprised how far that can go to making you seem more approachable and engaged in real world things.

6. Admit to making mistakes.  Show that you are just like listeners.  If you do it right, you will draw more people to you because they will see you as very real and ?more like them.?

All of this is about humanizing your personalities and your work.  The more human and approachable you seem, the more you will find people identifying with you.  The pressure to be perfect is more present than you might think.  Identifying yourself as someone who tries hard, is sometimes wrong, makes choices based on trying to serve others and believes in helping listeners on a very authentic level will create more attraction to you.  That?s worth the work.

Loyd Ford is the digital revenue, direct marketing, ratings and social media strategist for Rainmaker Pathway and Americalist Direct Marketing.  Loyd 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. 

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6 Ideas To Improve Your Social Media Strategy

6 Ideas That Will Improve Your Social Media Strategy

(by Loyd Ford) Ever had your mother or someone like her say, ?Get real!?  We live in a fast-paced world where most companies are trying to figure out how to deliver something that looks like and feels like good old fashion whatever their product or service is?but with less cost.  The end result is often an experience that doesn?t feel real because it often isn?t. When you dip over into social media for real brands and people, things often get even less real.  But being real matters more than ever and communicating the realities about how much you care for your local listeners is more valuable than ever. That means communicating those values on-air and in social media along with appearances and even advertising or marketing about your brand.

As we approach 2015, now is a great time to think about what does create that feeling of realness.  #1 on my list is authenticity.  But how do you create that feeling in your social media? Isn?t social media fake?  Not necessarily. In fact, as we take a look at the social media space you occupy, let?s focus in on authenticity and being real.  How can you make sure you are communicating those values to your audience in social media like you do on-air.

1. Put yourself ?out there? by putting personal stories out there about you, your personalities and what makes you vulnerable (within reason).  Don?t simply post national stories that can appear anywhere.  When you do post national stories, give them an authentic local twist that makes your station and your audience a part of the story.

2. Engage your audience in responding directly to your social media content.  Make it as much about them (or more) than it is about you and your reaction to what may be ?happening? out there in the world. 

3. When you don?t know the answer to something, put it out there for listeners to answer.  People love to see that you don?t have all the answers and they love to be helpful.  This makes you very real and acceptable.

4. Talk about real world things that impact you and impact your listeners and make your social media conversations about real issues that are important to them (not just contesting and gossip).

5. Let it all hang out.  Sometimes you can show a ?behind the scenes? without makeup or an event ?set up? so people can see the work that goes into doing radio.  You will be surprised how far that can go to making you seem more approachable and engaged in real world things.

6. Admit to making mistakes.  Show that you are just like listeners.  If you do it right, you will draw more people to you because they will see you as very real and ?more like them.?

All of this is about humanizing your personalities and your work.  The more human and approachable you seem, the more you will find people identifying with you.  The pressure to be perfect is more present than you might think.  Identifying yourself as someone who tries hard, is sometimes wrong, makes choices based on trying to serve others and believes in helping listeners on a very authentic level will create more attraction to you.  That?s worth the work.

Loyd Ford is the digital revenue, direct marketing, ratings and social media strategist for Rainmaker Pathway and Americalist Direct Marketing.  Loyd 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. 

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Survey: Agencies Still Wonder About Social, Video ROI

2-21-14

A Strata survey of advertising agencies found that while social media and online video were "major areas of focus" for advertisers in Q4, those agencies aren't really sure they're getting value for their clients from those channel. Still, 87 percent said they were interested in using social media in client campaigns, and nearly all -- 98 percent -- said they're just as interested -- or more -- in streaming/online video compared to a year ago.

Facebook is still the leading social media channel for advertisers; 81 percent of respondents said they'd use Facebook in clients' campaigns. Other popular channels are YouTube and Twitter, with a "big shift in sentiment toward Pinterest," Strata reports.

Meanwhile, 54 percent of respondents said they'd buy more social media if the value was "more obvious," while 41 percent said they'd be more open to social media with changes including an easier process, more obvious effectiveness, lower minimum volumes, and less complex targeting.

Strata EVP Joy Baer said, "In the advertising industry, the buzz often comes before the payoff. Everyone wants to buy social media and online video because it's the way the industry is heading, but the real ROI is more complex to define. It's a science that is still being developed."

And traditional radio? Strata found interest has dropped 67 percent since 2010, but "interest in streaming radio is growing tremendously, with 58 percent of respondents more interested in the medium than they were a year ago."

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(SOCIAL) Cardinal Traits For A Radio World

10-16-2013

The St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) are in the hunt for another World Series appearance and they remind us of some useful examples that  relate to our business. Full disclosure: I'm a lifelong Cardinals Fan!

1) Core Managerial Leadership and a Steady Hand

Manager Mike Matheny (@mikematheny22) is an even-tempered leader who is  supremely aware of his team's history and what they need to compete today. The team model is always fundamentally sound and the unit is well prepared for every opponent. Matheny makes it look incredibly easy, but you know his level of preparation, and what he expects from his team, are both very high. The message for radio is to emulate the Cardinals' in terms of strong core management.

2) Create a Team That Has Diverse Talent Assets

The Cardinals team benefits from many role players who aren't afraid to be available in other key roles. A starting pitcher who can be relegated to a relief pitcher, and visa versa,  has been a frequent occurrence over the years on Cardinal teams. There is a "do what it takes to win" approach that seems to permeate the organization. As we look for people to fill roles at our properties, we must be certain they have the willingness to always expand their skill set.

3) The Cardinals Keep the Plan Simple

The Cardinals don't beat teams with high-priced stars or over-the-top home run performances. They win with pitching and with timely hitting. The defense is solid and pitchers get ahead in the counts. The Cardinals don't take big chances. A mundane, simple plan for success for your radio brand can sometimes feel bland internally but frequently the less complicated approach will win. Always tweak and improve your plan but insure that it is simple and clear.

4) The Cardinals Are One of the Best at Growing Their Own Talent

Homegrown talent is a hallmark of this successful franchise. With a deep farm system and a continuous plan to teach and coach the "young guns," they are always finding the "next big star" to bring to the foreground. We must more consistently develop new talent from our bench as we plan for the future.

5) The Cardinals Have Great Respect for Their Past

Respect for great past players who toiled away to build outstanding careers should never be forgotten when thinking of a successful brand. Our business has to walk the fine line of respecting the past yet going  headfirst into the future.

Buzz Knight is the Vice President of Program Development for Greater Media and he can be reached at bknight@greatermediaboston.com. Knight was named among ?Best Programmers? by Radio Ink Magazine in 2007 and 2010. He has served on the programming subcommittee of the National Association of Broadcasters(NAB) and is currently a member of the Arbitron Radio Advisory Council and the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) COLRAM Committee.

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(SOCIAL) Key Visuals For Social Media

10-14-2013

The number one way to get people interested in your content in social media? Visuals. Pictures and video. Yet, a lot of radio pros have difficulty grabbing on to how big visuals are at driving engagement in social media. After all, we?re audio, right?

How much attention do you give to your visuals in social media and leading listeners back to your local radio brand? If it?s not that much, you should upgrade your visuals and get engaged with your local audience. Here are some examples of ways to rethink visuals and give listeners the fun experience of your station brand in social media so they want to listen more.

1. Visual in the market. Your market is visual. People know when they see pictures of landmarks near their house, near work, or near their favorite restaurant. They have emotion linked to the visual images that represent the familiar to them. You can use these visual images to ?represent? local connection with their familiars. If you look for opportunities to be local and spread the visuals on your website, Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms, you?ll find them. Great radio stations are part of their communities. Show it and listeners feel it.

2. Visual with the format fans. This isn?t about you, right? Not about the radio station, right? People have a moment of decision and pick your content. So, it?s about loving your listeners. In social media, guess who is more important? That?s right. Them. Listeners generally like to see themselves. Visuals of them in social media (with their permission) are like giving the love back.

3. Visual with artists (or additional content generators if you are news or sports). If you and your listeners attend big events with artists or the additional content generators you use on your radio station as an attractant, you know photos are big. Use them. Focus on listener experience with the artist or content generator if possible and include them with your visual assets too (logo, station vehicles, staff handing them backstage passes if appropriate).    

4. Visual with radio personalities. We have to be careful here. When photographing personalities, focus again on the listener experience and tie it into what?s important to listeners. Believe it or not, if you are a radio personality, you have a fun job. We?re not talking about the stuff you think is negative. We?re talking about the fact that many listeners think their job sucks and you have a good time for work. This is the entertainment business. Give them the entertainment pictures in social media and focus on why they would be attracted to you, and on benefits for them.
There are so many ways to use visuals from your radio business to attract listeners in social media and social media platforms represent entirely new and exploding ways to help average Americans waste time at work, spend time looking at unusual photos, and feel like they belong. And you want to do it because you can use higher engagement to boost ratings and connect with new levels of listener loyalty.

It?s time for you to experiment with visuals in your social media strategy. Let?s go!

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 e-mail for free here:  www.rainmakerpathway.wordpress.com. Reach out to Loyd via e-mail HERE.  Visit his Facebook radio social media page HERE.

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(SOCIAL) Making That Special Connection

10-4-2013

Why do you think personalities avoid putting themselves out there in social media? Don?t these personalities remember their mom saying they were like snowflakes?   

You see this all the time if you follow what is largely happening in radio on Facebook and Twitter (and other social media platforms). You see a lot of focus on what other stations are doing and a lot of promotional crap. This content is generally driven toward shock or promotion of a radio-station-selfish movement. Too little is focused on real connectivity with local listeners, but that can change. Let?s look at the possibility of focusing on three key areas that could really give great impact for local radio personalities today.

1. Personalities are people. Real listeners respond to authenticity and other real people. It?s weird to say ?Be real? isn?t it? But that is the point and it is largely missing from local radio personalities in social media. When you repost the content of others or use tricks, it isn?t really connective. It can provide ?temporary eyes,? but you should be looking to win hearts too. Be yourself and put your life into social media. Of course, you want to be careful and use good judgment for safety and also to make sure you are matching company standards, but people don?t really like being manipulated. They like to see you are a real person. Once they do, they are usually drawn closer to you. That?s half the real value of social media and something most manipulators miss.

2. Passion means easy engagement. Hopefully, you are a personality that matches the market you are in and you also match the audience you are trying to attract. If this is true and you are a well-rounded person with interests beyond radio that you're passionate about, it?s likely you should use them creatively to connect to your local listeners. There are causes in your market, things that happen that are hyper-local. Comment on them, engage listeners about them, be passionate, and build community with others who will identify with you.

3. Get listeners to take follow-up actions. Try to create your content in such a way that you really get listeners involved. This involvement could be as simple as commenting on a post, photo, or video from you, going to your website or on-air (one of my favorites) or joining up with you if you are super-involved in a cause or event, to help you ?take it to the next level.? You talk about opportunity to gain loyalty of passionate listeners! 

There is great opportunity out there for local radio personalities to really connect, protect themselves and their livelihood, and grow audience with social media. But it takes authenticity, strategy that matches the life group of your format, the values of the audience you most want to attract, and smart engagement that leans directly into the benefits for, along with passions and interests of, your local listeners. If you do that, while being highly visual and fun, you will win opportunity to move audiences in social media. That?s much larger than temporarily manipulating someone to see reposted content or generic cookie-cutter stuff everyone else in radio may be posting.

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.

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(SOCIAL) Key Elements For Your Social Media

9-13-2013

You hear people all the time talk about how important their social media is, but what is behind those words? Are people really taking social media seriously or is it just viewed inside local radio clusters as a waste of time or something that can?t be harnessed? Let?s investigate?

1. "Social Media is a time waster." Yep. This is true ? for the consumer. Your on-air staff and sales team shouldn?t be ?consumers? at work. They should be providing content and feedback, engagement and helpfulness to their targets.

2. "Everyone should be engaged in social media." Uh, really? A better way to go would be to give time to thinking about the kind of consumers (listeners) you most want to attract to your personalities and brands and design a strategic social media content plan (that spells out content right down to daily percentages of each kind of content and when posting should take place). Once you have fully developed the plan, you should carefully select those you want to engage in social media on behalf of your individual station brands. Of course, big generators of content should be your morning show talent and other high-profile personalities, but you may also find someone on your team who is gifted with understanding certain types of content or gaining access to special engagement. In either case, start with building a plan and then assign the parts with specific responsibilities that individuals understand so that you can set goals and achieve specific things for your on-air and digital products (assets). After all, this is a business, right?

3. "Part-timers should be assigned social media so everyone else can focus on the real work." I?m not suggesting that part-timers can?t do social media, but it is essential that you have confidence in the people who are executing your social media content strategy and you must have consistency. Without consistency, you are wasting your time.

4. "Your sales department shouldn?t have a social media presence in the market." What? If you don?t have an effort that supports local-, small-, and medium-size business success and promotes the benefits of marketing business to consumers, you must think that has no value. Contrary to what most people focus on in social media for radio, we believe you should be engaging local businesses of all varieties so you can be helpful and be seen as a local resource of trust for those in the business community that can be helpful in creating a more pro-radio local radio market filled with a variety of expected and unexpected opportunities now and in the future. We constantly teach our clients in selling that it is important to be engaged and market, but we should back that up by being more than transactional sellers. In addition to that, engaging in strategic and helpful content for local businesses gives you more credibility and can produce opportunities for marketing and sales events where you can develop and close more business because you are helpful to those who are working to learn more about how to grow customers.

5. "We should have connectivity and synergy use of all assets." This is true. You shouldn?t look at any asset or effort on your team as meaningless or a waste of time, and in today?s very hyper-fast world, you have to connect everything so that your strategic assets support one-another. Listeners won?t go out of their way to find you. You have to do the work and that?s not a time-waster if you have a strategic plan.

You?re kidding yourself if you think Facebook ?likes? are the goal of your social media. Your goal should be deep engagement and relationship connectivity with the most important consumers (listeners) for your individual brands and local advertisers who can spend money with education from you and effort from you in helping them become a more successful and engaged advertiser and business owner. If you don?t have a specific strategic plan for these things in social media, you are probably largely wasting your time. Your social media gives you essentially free opportunity to elevate loyalty and passion to your personalities, local brands, and even salespeople.

A lot of business people still see social media as a waste of time because it isn?t effort directly engaged in prospecting for money. Well, money is made up. Value is real. Only time has real value. When you spend your time creating value, people will part with more money and freely give it to you. Shouldn?t your social media pull to that goal? 

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, 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.

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(SOCIAL) Where Social Media Growth Comes From

9-6-2013

Most people spend their time trying to figure out how to take shortcuts. A lot of people simply don?t want to do the work. They want the spotlight of game day (as they say in sports) without the commitment to working out consistently that makes you a champion. That?s called watching. Not doing. We are in the ?doing? business. In fact, you could argue that local radio is in the ?doing for others? business. So, let?s experiment with social media.

For one month, focus your social media totally and completely on others. No posts about you. Post about others. Comment about others. Do good things for others. Give helpful tips when someone is expressing frustration. Post information that will offer people help in doing things that are important to them.

Consider this:

1. Real growth in social media success comes from realizing that people seek validation. They want to feel they matter. They wish to belong and often our modern society leaves a lot of people out there struggling in their daily lives to belong to anything.

2. You?ve seen those people on Facebook that complain Facebook doesn?t have a dislike button, right? Why do people want a dislike button? Because human instinct drives negativity, but people actually crave positive thought and energy. So give that to them in social media (along with validation) and you will see your social media efforts become much more ?sticky.?

3. You tempt people to follow you by investing in them. Put effort into thinking about your ?target listener? and what can improve their life in your local market. Give it to them with strong visuals and content that makes them feel smart to share with their friends. While you may want to focus on promoting what is important to you, being all about ?them? lights a passionate fire in those individuals that will be rewarded.

4. Resist the desire to think contesting is great content. I am personally not against contesting in social media or driving people directly to your radio station (in fact, I am 100 percent for it). However, I do believe in ?dialing back? to the basics of why people really go on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. I encourage clients to hyper-focus on their local market and what the listeners who they most want to attract are passionate about in their format. That?s so much more than focusing on purely trying to get people to listen to your radio station. Give them reasons that matter to them for tuning in.

5. Expose your vulnerabilities and concerns. Making yourself human relaxes others and encourages connection. Without the human element in your social media, you might as well be using a technology trick. I?m not against technology, but people naturally crave authenticity and that cannot be consistently faked even in social media. So, be yourself, be open and try to encourage others and bring real value to your content.

Maybe your social media is on the right track. Perhaps you have a plan that includes vibrant visuals and engaging content that is truly focused on your core target listeners that you most want to attract to your brands. Maybe you have a strategic plan for your social media content that includes specific content goals by percentage of types of content and individual daily assignments, and a voice for each person on your team posting content and engaging local listeners on social media platforms. I hope that is true. But this is fall. It?s a good time to review your goals, your content, your strategy, and to determine the value of your overall social media to your actual brands. This includes the social media strategic plan for your sales department. What? You don?t have one? Seriously. It?s almost 2014.

If you can?t point to the value you receive from your social media efforts, maybe it is time to think about developing a different strategy that focuses on the key to driving your business:  doing for others. After all, there is a lot of local profit in doing for others. Radio gets power from being local and connected.

Here?s to a great connective fall where you strengthen your strategy and results in social media. You deserve it, your listeners deserve it, your advertisers certainly deserve it, and your business deserves it.

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.

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(SOCIAL) Where Social Media Growth Comes From

9-6-2013

Most people spend their time trying to figure out how to take shortcuts. A lot of people simply don?t want to do the work. They want the spotlight of game day (as they say in sports) without the commitment to working out consistently that makes you a champion. That?s called watching. Not doing. We are in the ?doing? business. In fact, you could argue that local radio is in the ?doing for others? business. So, let?s experiment with social media.

For one month, focus your social media totally and completely on others. No posts about you. Post about others. Comment about others. Do good things for others. Give helpful tips when someone is expressing frustration. Post information that will offer people help in doing things that are important to them.

Consider this:

1. Real growth in social media success comes from realizing that people seek validation. They want to feel they matter. They wish to belong and often our modern society leaves a lot of people out there struggling in their daily lives to belong to anything.

2. You?ve seen those people on Facebook that complain Facebook doesn?t have a dislike button, right? Why do people want a dislike button? Because human instinct drives negativity, but people actually crave positive thought and energy. So give that to them in social media (along with validation) and you will see your social media efforts become much more ?sticky.?

3. You tempt people to follow you by investing in them. Put effort into thinking about your ?target listener? and what can improve their life in your local market. Give it to them with strong visuals and content that makes them feel smart to share with their friends. While you may want to focus on promoting what is important to you, being all about ?them? lights a passionate fire in those individuals that will be rewarded.

4. Resist the desire to think contesting is great content. I am personally not against contesting in social media or driving people directly to your radio station (in fact, I am 100 percent for it). However, I do believe in ?dialing back? to the basics of why people really go on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. I encourage clients to hyper-focus on their local market and what the listeners who they most want to attract are passionate about in their format. That?s so much more than focusing on purely trying to get people to listen to your radio station. Give them reasons that matter to them for tuning in.

5. Expose your vulnerabilities and concerns. Making yourself human relaxes others and encourages connection. Without the human element in your social media, you might as well be using a technology trick. I?m not against technology, but people naturally crave authenticity and that cannot be consistently faked even in social media. So, be yourself, be open and try to encourage others and bring real value to your content.

Maybe your social media is on the right track. Perhaps you have a plan that includes vibrant visuals and engaging content that is truly focused on your core target listeners that you most want to attract to your brands. Maybe you have a strategic plan for your social media content that includes specific content goals by percentage of types of content and individual daily assignments, and a voice for each person on your team posting content and engaging local listeners on social media platforms. I hope that is true. But this is fall. It?s a good time to review your goals, your content, your strategy, and to determine the value of your overall social media to your actual brands. This includes the social media strategic plan for your sales department. What? You don?t have one? Seriously. It?s almost 2014.

If you can?t point to the value you receive from your social media efforts, maybe it is time to think about developing a different strategy that focuses on the key to driving your business:  doing for others. After all, there is a lot of local profit in doing for others. Radio gets power from being local and connected.

Here?s to a great connective fall where you strengthen your strategy and results in social media. You deserve it, your listeners deserve it, your advertisers certainly deserve it, and your business deserves it.

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.

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(SOCIAL) Don't Fake Your Social Media & Digital

8-30-2013

Basically, we all know at this point that Miley Cyrus recently did something sexually over the top at the VMAs and social media exploded about it (predictably). Onion.com essentially did a parody of an open ?admission commentary? of the actual managing editor of CNN.com about their coverage of this ?important cultural event.?

Radio covered it, too. However, the CNN.com ?admission letter? was focused on how CNN does everything possible to trick viewers into spending as much time as possible on their website so they can show major advertisers they need to spend more money with CNN.com and that sounds strangely like one of the large radio companies controlled by a private equity group today, doesn?t it?

Essentially, the commentary suggests that CNN.com does the following:

1. CNN.com does everything they can to get viewers to click on CNN.com so they can drive up their Web traffic, which in turn would allow them to increase advertising revenue.

2. The ?managing editor? suggests that CNN.com doesn?t just do a top story on the VMA performance. CNN.com would potentially do a slideshow called ?Evolution of Miley,? which is just a way to manipulate almost everyone to mindlessly click through 13 more photos of Miley Cyrus. The managing ?editor? goes on to describe that if CNN.com can get 500,000 viewers to do that, 500,000 multiplied gets them 6.5 million page views just on that one slideshow. CNN.com could add a few more slide shows related to past VMAs and, well, you get the idea. More manipulation. ?Also, there are two videos,? the open Onion.com letter says. ?One of the event and then some two-minute clip featuring our 'entertainment experts' talking about the performance.? The parody of CNN.com continued, ?Side note: Advertisers, along with you idiots, love videos.?

*Make a note: Listeners (humans) love videos. That part is not parody. It?s for local radio social media content.

Again, basically, the ?editor? was saying, ?If you clicked on the story, and all the slideshows, and all the other VMA coverage, that means you?ve probably been on CNN.com for more than seven minutes, which lowers our overall bounce rate? (the percentage of visitors to a particular website who navigate away from the site after viewing only one page). Keep the bounce rate low and show companies that people don?t just go to CNN.com but stay there and they can ?go to Ford or McDonald?s or Samsonite or whatever big company, and ask for the big bucks.?
The point of the parody on Onion.com was that CNN.com pandering to the lowest common element on their Web assets means: ?All you are to us, and all you will ever be to us, are eyeballs. The more eyeballs on our content, the more cash we can ask for. Period.?

That sounds like private equity thinking, doesn?t it? But that doesn?t equal real value to advertisers and we all know it.

The conclusion of this ?admission letter? was that CNN could have stuck to doing what mattered in their business, ?but then not nearly as many people would have seen it, which wouldn?t get us the page views we want, which wouldn?t get us the money we want. So you see, there?s no stopping this.?

The Onion.com parody was suggesting that CNN.com does the same thing Miley was doing on the VMAs:  Trying to get the most attention and get money without worrying about content consequences or even protecting the value of their brand (the golden goose). That?s not what you should be doing if you are trying to grow a local radio brand or the value of individual brands in your local cluster to both listeners and advertisers. After all, local radio gets power from being local and really connecting with local listeners and for local advertisers.

While local radio can use tactics like those described above to artificially boost social media views and keep people engaged in that content longer, our real mission is to serve listeners and advertisers and that takes real value on assets we own. Advertisers will eventually catch up with ?fake manipulators? (even in social media).

How do you build real value?  Simple. Build a strategic plan for your social media and overall digital that supports your assets and grows your ratings and revenue. Use pictures and videos to gain attention, but provide real content that is truly interesting and important to local listeners to build trust with your listeners/viewers (online) and bring them back to your real relationship that is actually valuable to your advertisers. That kind of value is something you can use to boost page views as well as to support your over-the-air products because authentic local relationship is a value that grows over time because local consumers do trust you and what you put out in social media and on your website as well as over your air.

And don?t worry so much about following private equity down a fake hole meant to capture people?s money and not actually provide any value for anyone. Faking out advertisers is simply bad behavior.

This is local radio. Our connection is what makes us different than the automated processed numbers advertisers buy from a distance when their livelihood doesn?t depend on actual results. It gives radio unique power that other advertisers simply don?t deliver.  Your social media and digital should represent you. Not cute tricks to get temporary eyes for no value. 

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 

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(SOCIAL) Simplifying Social Media

8-21-2013

It?s not the 20th century anymore. In the old days, you just went on the air and did your show, you answered the request line, played songs, and enjoyed the music. But the old days are gone and you can never go back. Today you have to be ?connected? to listeners in social media. It?s new and you have to be an expert, right? What if the answer was suddenly, ?No?? Open your mind and let?s use the experience you already have as we look at what is happening with listeners today in a slightly new way. Here is how to make complicated social media fun in eight steps. Ready?

1. Become genuinely interested in other people.
2. Make the other person feel important ? and do it sincerely.
3. Talk in terms of the other person?s interest.
4. A person?s name is, to that person, the sweetest and most important sound in any language.
5. Give honest and sincere appreciation.
6. Be sympathetic with the other person?s ideas and desires.
7. Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.
8. Arouse in the other person an eager want.

How do you make sure you are focusing on the right things so you are not just using your opinion to determine what is important to local listeners? It?s easy to learn to use Twitter for that. Learn something new if you?ve not done this. To view trends on Twitter for a specific location, click CUSTOMIZE in your Trends box. Select the desired location. Yes, you can select your city. You can look up local Tweets on any topic by using advanced Twitter Search operators.

No matter what you post in social media, using these eight things as your ?funnel? (content should have to ?qualify? before you post it) will keep you on target for a more powerful connectivity to the listeners you most want to attract and it will impact everything from your ratings to the power to move local listeners to issues important to them and to you. Focus locally and put these eight things to work consistently in your social media and you will be an expert. At the same time, you have to lay down that all too constant human desire and demand to focus on only what you want.

How about two social media bonuses (I don?t want you to feel you didn?t get your money?s worth)?  Appeal to the nobler motives and throw down a challenge.

If this doesn?t look new to you, it isn?t. These tips are very loosely taken directly from Dale Carnegie, who died in 1955. His Facebook page has over 184,000 ?likes,? but you should really read his book ?How To Win Friends and Influence People.? Yep. Still good stuff and totally worth using for your social media or your life.

Why Have A Plan?
You know the old saying, ?If you don?t know where you are going, you?ll end up somewhere else.?  Of course this means you should develop a strategic plan for your social media right down to the percentage of each type of content you post, when and where you use visuals, what each person on your team is responsible for daily, and local high-passion causes that can generate powerful ?stickiness.? 

Always encourage turning your local social media attention on the listeners you most want to attract while using visuals (and that definitely includes video) to display why your radio station, your show, is fun! People do love fun. That?s why everyone generally celebrates Friday and the same people look at Monday with great suspicion.
With the launch and explosive growth of Facebook and other social media platforms, people are more connected than ever and also actually less connected than ever. Nevertheless, everyone you know craves validation. Give it to them in your market.

If Dale Carnegie was excellent at social media and he died in 1955, you can surely do amazing things in your local radio market in 2013.

Now, let?s get out there and get interested in some local listeners!

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.

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(SOCIAL) Closeness & Connectivity With Local Listeners

8-14-2013

Is really connecting with local listeners a myth in 2013 or can you really focus your efforts and pull in the ?big haul? of real connection, more listeners, and active cheerleading for your show and your on-air brand with the listeners that are most valuable to your company?

Here are seven important ways you can increase the opportunity for real connection that moves the needle of growing closer to listeners in social media and making it count for the radio station.

1. Be authentic and stand for something. If you really want to connect with people in the real (local) world, focus on being authentic first on-air and in social media. Make your connection via something that bonds you to your audience. Choose a cause that is important. Do something for your community that matters to your target. The fastest way to mess that critical connection up is to be fake or be so generic that no one can tell you are even a real person. The quickest way to set yourself apart from your competitors is to zero-in on what is really important to passionate locals and put yourself out there.

2. Get rid of ?all about self.? It?s easy to be all about ?you.? The world is full of these people. Eliminate the word ?I? in your posts and comments and focus on the life of the listener, the interests of the listener, and connecting to them in the most emotional or useful way you can (or both).

3. Validate your friends (listeners). Especially today, people want and crave validation and most people don?t get it regularly. Life moves too fast. Take a second and roll over to their Facebook page when someone comments on your station page. Go comment on their interests in a way that is public and their friends can see on their page. This says, ?I am close, I see you and I am willing to step out there.? It also says, ?Hello.?  Most radio stations and on-air personalities are missing this in social media. If you really want to connect with local listeners, connect with them regularly on ?their ground.? It will change things if you do it regularly. Test it yourself.

4. Realize that social media environments are like real life and real friendships. They only become real if you are willing to step up and help your friends. Be there for them by paying attention to them and not just requesting they do ?stuff? for you. Reaching out to solve problems, giving tips on topics of interest to the local listeners you most want to attract is more powerful than you realize. Like the Beatle said decades ago:  ?The love you take is equal to the love you make.? Love your listeners and make it authentic.

5. Ask for advice and thoughts on significant issues on your radio station or show and reward engagement. The big companies want to know what is happening with their customers. A lot of radio has pulled back from this kind of engagement, but knowing your audience means putting yourself out there and allowing listeners to give you feedback and then following up on the advice if it is good. This says, ?We are connected.? And, yes, you should say, ?Thank you? to listeners who step up and critique you as well as those who praise you.

6. Try to even make posts about national content relate to your local market and tie it directly to local listeners' lives if you can do so regularly. Frequently lead them back to the station website, your blog, or on-air with the promise of more valuable content. Don?t make it simply another post about listening to you. Everyone wants to be listened to today. Be unique and offer something that listeners don?t usually get from radio. Play with their passions.

7. Don?t game listeners into playing contests or string people along without giving them ?the baby? (or content they desire). A big part of connecting is showing consistently that you deliver on what local listeners expect on-air and in social media. If you don?t know what your target listeners are interested in, spend time to find out. Don?t wait on the program director or someone else. You do it. Consistently deliver this content and you will find a growing appreciation for your influence in local listener circles. Word will spread. That can translate to powerful social media connectivity that really counts.

When it comes to connecting with a growing number of people in social media, why not start with these simple guidelines and make the most of your social media? 
Authentic connection comes from changing your focus from radio-focused to truly being listener-world focused.

Make it about more than the words and really work hard to engage them instead of inserting the radio station into their lives and you are likely to find more true engagement. That will increase closeness and connectivity because it is both.

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

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(SOCIAL) Four Tips And A Bonus!

8-7-2013

If you are on the radio in a local market today, what really matters is appropriate on-air content and local connectivity. You probably spend most of your time working on your radio show, but you should also work to have a social media plan for developing more local listeners, and those efforts have to be substantial in 2013 and beyond, to say the least. Today we talk about four basic things you might be doing, or could enhance, to make your results for your morning show jump. Then, we will give you a bonus for ?career improvement.?

Here are four powerful ways you can drive connection to your local audience:

1. Do a pre-show video every morning. This doesn?t need to be fancy, but it does need to be personal. Everyone has some basic experiences getting up and going to work. Take advantage of that by relating to them. Share something personal, have fun with them, and point them to your morning show. ?See you on (station brand)? is asking for the order. Giving them something personal before you ask for the order gives you more opportunity to influence them. Get going!

2. Remember the old ?handshake tours?? Yep, they work. Politicians do it. Consider yourself running for office in the county of ?Social Media.?  How do you do it? Use video and/or pictures with people you meet in the market. You with them. Relate to them, make these pictures and videos a percentage of your actual posts on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms. People love to be validated. You with them is big. You?re on the radio. They will be proud of this. So will their friends (I?m assuming you are really good and funny, right?) and you will receive the benefit over time as more and more people see all these pictures and videos of you with THEM (listeners). Do a little each day and don?t be afraid to ask for a picture with them so you can post it on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, et al. You will build audience with this.

3. Take listeners behind the scenes, but be clever. This is video of prep. Video of something special that you are planning. It could be an event, an appearance, whatever. And it might involve a client. That?s more than fine. You have a meeting with a client and you?re going to do something with them. Take a photo with the client or video (see number 2 above) and post the visuals with an invitation to ?listen? for what will happen!  Focus on what is important or interesting to LISTENERS. Show them ? in a fun way ? how ?it? is put together. Notice how much of this is all about THEM and not so much you.

4. Finally, are you involved? Is there a cause that is important to YOU that fits with the images of the core listeners you are most trying to attract to increase your ratings and make yourself a super hero? Well, are you heavily engaged in that cause? No? You should be. You want to build a tribe of passionate people who will fight for you? Identify an important cause in the market you can be passionate about and let ?er rip (don?t choose a political cause). People (listeners) will gather around you, listen to you, promote your show like you wouldn?t believe, and TELL EVERYONE. They will stick up for you!

FREE HIGH-PROFILE TALENT BONUS

If you are on the radio (especially in morning drive), you should be thinking about your future. If you love your market and want to build your future there, you should double-down on your fame. This isn?t about the radio station, it?s about you. If you are not working to capitalize on your fame today and turn it into other lanes of revenue for yourself outside of your radio work, you are likely making a big mistake. The bottom line is that your company is focused on their bottom line. That does not leave you with endless support (and you know this), but the world is also changing.

Clearly you will want to avoid violating company policies of any kind, but you should be working to develop additional revenue beyond your morning show or other high-profile personality positions on the radio in your market. There are options. It?s easy to see a country or Top 40 or Urban star being managed by someone to ?maximize? their income streams. The same can be said for Hollywood types. Well, guess what? You should be managing your career, too. That means your investment in social media and local connectivity has a value for you as well as for the radio station and broadcast company. The world in the near future may not look like it does today. That includes that you may be doing your show in another arena that is not on traditional radio. Think ahead and look at your strengths. Focus on how you can develop your footprint in the market. It will benefit your radio station, but you are also working for yourself.

Yes, you should have a strategic plan for what you are doing in social media (including percentage of content and what types of content dominate your posts and comments). It should be focused on the listeners you most want to attract with you in the center. If you don?t have this plan, get busy. Time waits for no one.

Everyone says this in our business: ?Content is king.? It?s a lie. Money is king. That?s why our business works the way it does. Your job is to provide value in your content so that it turns into money for your employers and for yourself and your family, too. Focus on what is important. In 2013, you have to be a quality content provider and local connectivity expert. Take this advice and you?ll be glad you did.

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

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(SOCIAL) Developing A Radio Strategy For Social Media

7-31-2013

If you have conversations with radio people across the U.S. about social media strategy, nearly everyone will tell you they have one. They will say, ?We?re on Facebook and Twitter.? When you ask a follow-up question about what kinds of content they are using, the answers regularly become more disturbing. Often, it?s, ?What do you mean??

The bottom-line is simple. Most battles are won before the first bullet is fired. In social media, you should have some specific goals and you should build an actual strategic plan that focuses on who you want to target, what types of content you want to use, how often you post, and how you attract the local listeners you want to engage to your personalities and local radio brand. And you should also make sure your content and visuals do not become stale. So, here are a few thoughts as you prepare for a change-of-life season we all know as fall (complete with both PPM and diary ratings and plenty of revenue pressure):

1. Visuals are the No. 1 attractant for eyes in social media. Fun, engaging, or interesting photos, and video that best represents the fun of actually engaging your brand should be in the foreground of your social media today. After all, you want to attract local listeners and visual not only gives you more opportunity to gain access to their attention, there are visually fun elements to the radio business that will encourage familiarity between the local listeners you most want to attract and your radio brands.

2. Causes can be a great electrifier of loyalty to your local personalities and this can lead to loyalty to large portions of your radio station in highly coveted day parts. Do you encourage your staff to identify local causes that are important to them and ?fight for them? in social media? If you don?t, you should think about it because people who are highly fired up about causes (appropriate to your format and target, please) can lead other highly passionate ?believers? to your brands and cut off competitors by giving listeners a deep personal reason to choose you : their cause.

3. Twists on content important to your target (those you most want to attract) that lead listeners back to your radio station and to appointments. This means taking a subject that you know does very well with your core target audience and a current event that is ?happening? in pop culture and twisting it so that listeners have to come to your station or directly to your website to get more details. In other words, don?t give up ?the baby? in social media. Give them a taste and bring them back to something you own. We should really be trying to do this in ALL THINGS we do in social media environments. After all, we don?t really care how Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms do. We should be focused on the strategic mission of improving our connection with important local listeners of our brand and driving results for the local broadcast company.

4. Community involvement can be a big driver for your efforts and get important ?actives? more connected to you if you develop a program for highlighting their events that attract others. You have so many tools for doing this today. You can post pictures and details on Facebook, Twitter, your website and other digital platforms. Again, this is like the ?causes? section above, but this time you are engaging active groups and highlighting their efforts. This is validation of effort and allows you to also gain access (as you should, to having your logos on all printed material, t-shirts and other assets that help connect you to their effort. The more you validate people, the closer they will come to you. When you are dealing with actives who are working on important issues as a group, that is an identified element of the market that is packed with potential cheerleaders for your brand.

5. Visual connectivity is so important that you should develop a regular amount of steady content that focuses on the fun things about your brand that listeners get, want, and have a passion for today. This can be stars in a music format, backstage activities most listeners don?t see, pictures of fans inside and outside an arena at a concert, listeners wearing or holding station swag and smiling, and more. It could be politicians and community leaders engaged with your brand if you are a News/Talk station. The focus is on what the most important keys are visually for bringing the listeners you most want to attract in social media closer to your brand. That?s usually fun or something important enough for the listeners to stop and spend time looking. Familiarity breeds loyalty.

6. Finally, you might think that doing the same thing over and over and over is good. Sometimes it is good. However, if you pay close attention you can get a lesson from big companies such as McDonalds or Coke. The most successful national restaurant chains do it. Big time nightclubs do it. Coke does it. They ?turn the lights up, turn the lights down.? Or, I should say, they ?freshen? their brand visuals and offerings. You can do this in social media by adjusting things about your ?pages? or visuals that you use to identify your brand (careful to follow company policy). You are not looking to change your brand. You are only looking to freshen the visual images from time to time so you get noticed again.

The bottom line with social media is that you want to be fun, helpful, and engaging. You don?t want to only promote yourself. Much of radio is taking the generic road or the self-promotion road in social media. Stand out. Mean something. Offer listeners something personal. Connect with them and truly engage them. Use visuals and control the percentage of content, when you post, and the freshening of image from time to time to create communities around your radio station that happen to marry up with the local listeners you most want to attract for your brand.

If you don?t have a specific strategic plan for social media that works for your radio station, you are making a mistake. Change it. Develop a plan. Don?t know how to develop an effective plan? Reach out and get help. This is important stuff if you do it right. The world is changing and consumers (listeners) are gaining access to real power like never before. This isn?t just for radio, but all companies better get with consumers and focus on what is important to them. Otherwise, you will be ?out.? Since the biggest efforts in radio have been on reducing every cost and not on expanding our footprint and engagement in local markets, this is especially true for radio.

Social media gives you arguably the easiest path to develop a plan and execute it with specifics to strengthen your advantage over other competitors who are only ?on Facebook and Twitter.?
Loyd Ford is the direct marketing, ratings and social media strategist for Americalist 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

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(SOCIAL) Shift How Your Employee Value Is Perceived

7-24-2013

The next time you find yourself in a conversation at the radio station with your boss or general manager about social media and digital and if there is any real value for radio in these things, nudge the conversation toward something important to him or her:  Money and their employment.

Ask them if they are aware of the digital revolution that is happening with money. You could mention how BIA/Kelsey suggests that the dominant amount of advertising and marketing will be placed digitally in the U.S. within just a few years and this could mean steep declines in local radio revenue. You can invite them to go to their office (or yours) and Google "digital advertising revenue" and consider the potential impact on traditional advertising (like radio). If they do this, trust me, it is attention-getting and shifts the focus to something important to them:  Their job performance and how they make a living. Just make sure you tell them that they can do something to impact both audience connectivity and local revenue by developing a strategic plan for social media and digital now.

You can then ask them if they have considered the potential impact that mobilizing their sales promotion efforts in social media could have on revenue. In other words, you can point out that having a person on the sales team be the ?point person? and create a blog that focuses on helping local advertisers and potential advertisers with a variety of topics important to the local, small- and medium-size business owners (not just blogs about buying advertising on your stations). This blog should have relevant and helpful information for local business owners and resources to help them improve their outreach and their profit. You can say they should consider including several opportunities to also create full local business marketing seminars to draw new advertisers each year as a part of your social media and sales blogging efforts. These can be cluster events that turn into showcases for your brands with potential new advertisers and revenue opportunities to sign new clients twice a year. This is where you can really also showcase the power of local radio. At this point in the conversation, you can introduce statistics on what is actually happening OUTSIDE of the radio business with respect to digital and social media and businesses:

According to Salesforce Blog (from the Center for Media Research and Mediapost.com):

? $118.4 billion will be spent on content marketing, video marketing, and social media in 2013
? Marketers spend over 25% of their marketing budget on content marketing
? Blogs give websites 434% more indexed pages and 97% more indexed links
? 91% of B2B marketers use content marketing
? 86% of B2C marketers use content marketing
? B2B companies that blog generate 67% more leads per month
? Interesting content is one of the top 3 reasons people follow brands on social media
? Social media and blogs reach 8 out of 10 of all U.S. Internet users
? Organic search leads have a 14.6% close rate
? 79% of B2B marketers use content marketing to achieve brand awareness goals
? Articles with images get 94% more views
? 78% of consumers feel that organizations behind the content are interested in building relationships
? 37% of marketers say blogs are the most valuable type of content marketing
? 58% of consumers trust editorial content
? 68% of consumers spend time reading content from a brand in which they are interested
? Social media and blogs account for 23% of all time spent online
? 87% of B2B marketers use social media to distribute content
? 90% of consumers find custom content useful
Your boss may be wondering a lot of things at this point, but he or she won?t be thinking like they were before. Maybe they will think of you as a person they should pay more attention to in the building. Who knows? You might get a raise. You will be seen immediately as someone who is interested and tuned in on ways to protect and grow the value of the local radio cluster the company owns.

When you reach this point, remind them that you think much more impact can be made by developing and putting a top-down endorsement on social media and digital efforts to engage listeners, and that you think if this is done correctly it could mean higher ratings and higher revenue.

The conversation about digital and social media strategy needs to change for radio. We have to seriously invest and get active in having a real strategic plan for social media and digital for both programming and revenue to impact local listeners and local advertisers. If we don?t, we risk more than not being efficient. We risk radio in the 21st century.

Loyd Ford is the direct marketing, ratings and social media strategies for Americalist and has programmed very successful radio brands in markets of all sizes, 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. 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 

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(SOCIAL) Turn Social Video Into Listener Power

7-17-2013

If you have read my columns on radio and social media, you know that I am a firm believer that you need to be constantly visual to gain access to the attention of a lot of eyes across all social media platforms. Today we focus on video. After all, radio has so many video-based opportunities. There is absolutely no reason that your morning shows should not be very pro-video in their social media content and no personality on the radio should be left behind when it comes to being social media active with local listeners. So, let?s talk about how to develop a pro-video social media strategy.

1. Recognize that people are much more engaged visually than with the spoken word. Why do you think Google purchased YouTube? It was because of fear that people would stop using words (yes,that is for real) and they wanted to have a search engine that was not based upon words.  That bet has paid off for Google. If the recognition of the visual over words in content is good enough for Google, it should be good enough for your local radio station and personalities.

2. Let go of your fear over putting video up-front in much of your social media engagement. While I hope you will recognize my strong recommendation that you balance content and content delivery in social media (that comes from having an actual well-defined social media strategy with goals for the radio station), many broadcasters (this includes morning show talents and other personalities) have fear of using video regularly with listeners. What if it doesn?t look professional? What if I do it wrong? You must learn that letting go of this fear is the actual path to really having fun in social media and engaging your audience with easy-to-make video that will work in attracting the people in your market you want to have listening to your station and engaging you in social media. That?s that job here and it doesn?t have to be perfect or professional. People respond to imperfect people (like themselves).

3.  People read content or watch video to be entertained or to learn something or to be a part of something. They also share things that make them look smart or ?in the know.? Recognize this and build your video content around these things and you will be successful.

4. Regularly seek information on what is trending in online searches in your market. After all, knowing the "hot buttons" will help you better create content that puts you at the top of what your audience is looking for in the first place. This should be done continuously.

5. Your morning show and other high-profile personalities should link their videos to their blogs (they have a blog, right?), to your website, and to your social media assets (Facebook, Twitter, etc.). After all, you want to create a larger and larger local audience for your videos. Promoting the content is the key to driving your participation numbers higher.

6. Use Twitter to post your link for your content. If it is more evergreen content, you should think about posting the link 10 to 12 times in the first 48 hours over a variety of hours to maximize the ?pull.? 

7. I do also recommend that you include a call to action on or inside your videos to join your ?(radio station) loyal listener email to get more fun and free benefits.? You may not always get huge sign-up, but you will build traction over time and participation builds real familiarity and that builds real value if you focus especially on number 1, 4, 5, and 6 and above. After all, if this is a part of your overall content plan on social media, you will create a path to build real value regularly for these listeners. That?s real engagement.

8. Include your best videos in your monthly loyal listener email. This allows maximum coverage with high-participators who are likely to send your content to others.

Local ?listeners? on Facebook or Twitter or another social media platform are not just going to experience a video or your other social media content and immediately react to you by becoming a loyal listener of your brand. This is not advertising. It is targeting listeners that best match up with your brand in social media and giving them content that entertains, educates, and creates community they want to be a part of over time. That?s the real key. Social media offers you opportunity to engage and then influence them to become a part of the ?culture? you are encouraging at your brand.

Finally, here is a message for every morning show personality or other high-profile personality on radio today:  We?re halfway through 2013. This is the time for all personalities on radio to really develop deep, penetrating engagement in local social media within your market (no matter who you are). If your radio station doesn?t have a plan, you certainly should. This is the path to developing your own future so that you will have real career growth and value to other employers. Learn to excel with social media content and you will be learning to be more successful to meet the challenges of the future, connectivity, and loyalty with local listeners. That makes you a winner.

Good luck!
Loyd Ford is the direct marketing, ratings and social media strategist for Americalist and has programmed very successful radio brands in markets of all sizes, 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. 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.

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(SOCIAL) Back-To-School Digital Dollars

7-10-2013

We often like to think about what is right in front of us and generally speaking we don?t think about how time works. It?s nearly the middle of July and children will be going back to school soon (believe it or not). So, now is a great time to develop your social media plan for taking advantage of what people will find important as they prepare for the fall and prepare for returning their children to school and their lives to ?normal.? To do this, you can use your on-air, website, and also email database to dial in a huge advantage for your local radio brand against competitors while building a new wall of digital revenue, too. Here are some starter content ideas:
1. Focus on making the local ?return-to-school details? easy for parents to find THROUGH YOUR WEBSITE and promote it on social media platforms. Find out the local websites and materials available to adults in your listening area and prepare to ?publish access to them? in a ?back to school? email and across your social media assets (all of these assets should send people NOT to Facebook or other social media platforms?but to YOUR WEBSITE and/or features on-air if you have any of that happening in the early fall).

2. Publish tips on how to save time and make the ?return to fall? more efficient and less stressful. Believe it or not, you can access this in a wide variety of ways through the Internet. Give credit where credit is due, but ? again ? publish these things on YOUR website and draw ?fire? to them from your posts on social media. All of radio?s social media should include some clever form of help or fun, and all should drive local listeners back to our assets: on air and on the websites we own. After all, we want to use the large crowds of local listeners using a variety of social media platforms to promote our value (based on focusing on what your target listeners want the most) and bringing them back to our core products.

3. Even when you have a back-to-school push happening, keep in mind that listeners will also want to get one more push of summer fun in before everything returns to fall as usual. So, for this reason, provide a variety of tips or ideas on how to get a few more fun family activities in before kids turn back to school seriousness and the routine returns to a schedule around school study and activities. Again, there are a million resources for this on the Web. Pick and choose wisely and always focus on local opportunities first (local theme parks or local weekend activities, of course).

4. Make sure parents know where they can get school supplies. By the way, this can be sold. There are always specific merchant level ?pushes? to gain access to the attention of these parents in the late summer each year. You can publish a list of what is needed by county in your market and where these items can be purchased. If your sales team sells this, isn?t that just providing the content and building revenue at the same time? Isn?t that what we do? By the way, all of these content features (on your website) can be sponsored. Why not?

5. Publish interviews with the major personalities in the local school systems and make sure listeners know where they can find these interviews. That?s right. You can publish written interviews or you can video them in sections or as one large video with the school officials everyone will know in your market. This gives you a hyper-local connection and it gives the school system what they want:  A big opportunity to talk directly to parents. It also gives interested parents content they would love to access and an easy way to do it. As with all other elements above, this can also be sponsored.

6. Finally, you can create a back-to-school contest for your website or radio station (depending on what is most appropriate for your station format). Radio is supposed to be fun. You can create a fun contest to draw listeners to your content on the website and on-air if you like. This allows you to tie all things together in a section on your website or appointments on your actual radio station for back-to-school content. All of this focuses on how local you are and how helpful you are for the massive return-to-school efforts happening soon in your market.
These ideas are not meant to be the complete plan. I am only trying to get you to think about how you can use your website, on-air, and social media assets (along with your own loyal listener email club) to boost local connectivity, local community service, and digital revenue. Local radio still has the single-largest quick-fire opportunity to personally connect with listeners in the most meaningful way coming up within the next month or so. The question is: Will you take advantage of it for boosting participation, connection to your personalities and radio brand, will you use it to be hyper-local and give yourself ?community advantages? over your direct and indirect adult competitors, and will you develop an overall plan to increase the spend or digital dollars you should be receiving for this kind of content effort?
Good luck in creating dynamic fall connectivity content for adults that will help your local radio brand with both community advantage and digital revenue. Do this and it will help you have a more productive fall for your local radio brand.
Loyd Ford is the direct marketing, ratings, and social media strategist for Americalist and has programmed very successful radio brands in markets of all sizes, 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. 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.

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SOCIAL)Give Listeners A Great Social Media Summer

7-1-2013

Great radio personalities are always looking for ways to relate to their local listeners right now. When it comes to social media, the superstar personalities focus on service and providing important information that listeners could use or share (or both). Sometimes that is as simple as understanding that summer means kids are out of school, parents want a vacation (no matter if they can afford it or not), and even those who may not go far will want a quick escape during Summer 2013.

How do you create content in social media that draws on what everyone is thinking: ?How do we get out of here?? or ?How do we make the most of our summer time even if we stay home??

1.   As always, pictures and video draw people to you in social media and creating a Top 10 Local Staycation list or any type of list that could gain attention and provide helpful ideas about summer ?escapes.? Ask everyone to comment on what locations should be included on any future list or what you may have left off that local (your station) listeners should know about for Summer 2013.

2.   Ask listeners to comment on the best vacation they have ever taken in their lives and ask for pictures. If you have a favorite vacation from your childhood and actual pictures, use them in your content because it will really connect with a lot of listeners. People love to see things they don?t expect. They also will connect deeper with someone on the radio who truly shares themselves.

3.   Create content that showcases the best vacations within driving distance of your market or in your market. If you wanted to go all out, you could interview decision-makers or PR folks at some of these locations and offer an opportunity (on your website, or even on-air if your station allows) to win tickets or services at any of a variety of within-driving-distance locations for listeners. By talking to the decision-maker or PR person, you will also likely have access to the best pictures and inside information that will make you seem ?in the know.?

4.   Make another list of unusual and creative escapes INSIDE your market. Of course, this would also allow you to ask others what cool local tourist-type opportunities you might be missing on your list.

5.   Summer is often about fun. Make a list of the best ?guilty pleasures? and ask local listeners what you might be missing for things like the best hidden local ice cream, local fun things to do (as simple as Putt-Putt or a local fun or water park).

6.   Of course, it would be excellent to include a big list of station summer staycation or escape moments (including concerts or local events the station is engaged in this summer). Just make sure you always have a variety of content so that the things you write about, show photos about, and share are listener-focused.

Some personalities make the mistake of thinking everyone has their life, their vacations, or their access to summer fun. It?s important to focus on listeners first and realize that there are a lot of experiences in your audience because of economy, work, family, and other factors. But as someone once said to me, ?It ain?t nothing but fun.? That?s what listeners like. They are just like you and me. They work hard. They want to play hard.

Everyone won?t have the same kind of vacation this summer. Frankly, if you go on vacation, call yourself fortunate. At the same time, make sure you think about the variety of experience your local listeners have and be helpful to them in your social media content. Use great pictures and video, ask them to contribute to the content with their own suggestions, pictures, and video. You might be shocked at how much fun interaction you will see on your Facebook, Twitter, and more! And I always recommend that you try to find unique ways to bring listeners back to your on-the-Web and on-air assets.

Life is short. Summer is even shorter. If families are in the audience target for your radio station, summer seem even shorter. Be helpful and dig in. Give them fun ways to extend weekends, after work, vacations, staycations, and summer and show them why radio is still the best place to spend time listening and having fun in summer (or anytime).

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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