Take Listeners Trust Very Seriously

10-1-14

Those were the words of iHeartMedia's Angie Martinez yesterday at a Social Media panel during Advertising Week in New York City, moderated by RAB president and CEO Erica Farber, that included Bobby Bones, Ebro Darden and Amani Toomer. Combined, the four radio stars have millions of followers on Facebook and Twitter and say they also have to be active on sites like Instagram, Snapchat and Vine to stay in touch with their fans. To all four, social media is all about that special bond that radio gives them with their listeners and not taking advantage of that relationship

Darden, who hosts a morning show on Emmis' Hot 97 in New York said he doesn't believe radio gets the credit for the connections it has with the community and he uses social media constantly to troll for topics. "I like to provoke. I like to see how people feel about different things." Darden says he's had listeners call him when they're giving birth or when they're ready to do harm to themselves. Martinez added, "You are living in the dark ages if you think you can be any type of personality and not be active on social media."

"I am very sales department friendly. It starts to deteriorate your trust if you just try anything. I turn things down all the time. It's about finding a way that makes sense and its honest. Bones agreed that not taking advantage of that trust is they key. "I just cannot be caught in a lie."

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(SOCIAL) Grow Trust And Usage With Social Media

4-24-2012

The simple rules of the road are mostly about expectation. When you build a radio station, you know that trust and expectation are two essential elements that cannot be faked. The same is true for social media and personal contact opportunities. Here's how you grow listener trust and usage over time using social media?

1. Think local communities, and give listeners a brand-central place to meet, discuss, and activate.

That is correct -- your outreach should involve opportunity on your website, Facebook page, and other social media platforms where your listeners can gather and engage. Giving them a place to do that freely makes your place important to them, and it also leads directly back to your primary brand. This helps bring listeners closer to using your brand -- and believing in your brand as more than just playing music they want to hear when you're playing their favorite song. 

2. Never forget that you must earn trust with valuable regular content. If you truly want listeners to care about you, you must key on constantly developing relevant and trustworthy content that has real value for listeners, within their expectations of your brand. That is the only way grow trust over time in social media environments. Regular valuable content focused on desired benefits to the listener is critical. There are no shortcuts.

3. Provide easy access for listeners to connect with you. I cannot tell you how many times I see content of all varieties from radio stations and personalities with no additional contact or usage opportunities. We are in a full-contact business. We should seek ways for people to connect with our personalities and our brand. If we don't, we will be less and less in the actual lives of our listeners. How is that in our best interest?

4. Always give listeners the opportunity and reasons to use your on-air product to get additional benefits. Yes, that means you should refer to on-air benefits in relevant content on social media platforms and in loyal-listener e-mail. It is not enough to offer content in areas other than your primary signal. Every contact you have with a listener should be an opportunity to connect that listener to your primary business.

These are four easy steps rarely followed by radio. Take these steps and make sure you are responsive to listeners in social media space the way you would be responsive at a station event or concert, and you will win.

Loyd Ford is the direct marketing, ratings, and social media strategist for Americalist. He has programmed successful radio brands in markets of all sizes, including KRMD-AM and 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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