Sadly, I find that more and more stations are not properly promoting their websites as they should. If you treat your website(s) as a separate radio station(s) that you can generate traffic and revenue from, then it only makes sense to consistently drive your listeners and followers there as often as possible. It’s not like you’re asking them to do something rather than listening to the radio station. In fact, you’re asking them to become more involved with the station.
The stations that I hear promoting their website, most often tag the website address to the end of a sweeper or the announcer may randomly slip in “for more visit our website” without giving a specific reason why listeners should take that action. I seemingly hear announcers promote what’s on the station’s Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok pages more often than anything.
So, today, we’ll talk about how to best promote your website.
1. Promote the website within and educate.
This is the biggest issue. If the radio station owner or GM doesn’t see the website as a priority, then it will not be a priority for everyone under them. If you want to see your traffic and revenue growth, then the website should be a part of every meeting. Whether this is promotions, sales, or programming meetings. If you’re talking about the radio station or about your group of stations, the website(s) need to be an equal part of that conversation.
Educate your announcers and salespeople about to the value of the station website and how it fits into the overall mission. For announcers, it can be a tool for the content they talk about on-air and it’s a way for them to extend their shows beyond their air times when they contribute to it. For salespeople, it provides more opportunities for sales. Do they have a “Digital Inventory List” available, so they know what’s available to sell? Do they know the value of displaying a banner ad above the fold versus not? Or the value that a particular page sponsorship could benefit a client?
I have personally seen salespeople completely forget the station website because it wasn’t a priority for the sales manager, who didn’t see the bigger picture and value.
2. Adjust how you promote the website on-air.
It’s a common occurrence for me to hear a sweeper like, “We’re on-air at 97.6FM, all over socials and around the world online at 976fm.com.” As a potential visitor, what is the value to me in that statement? Why would I want to search for them on social media for that matter?
Back when I was on-air, I was told by our consultants that talent, “should continuously sell listener benefits several times per hour. Help listeners ‘use’ the station with words that sell a benefit so that they connect the station with the listener’s lifestyle or activities.”
I was given examples like…
Instead of “…Weather is up next”, say “It might be a good idea to take an umbrella later. Find out exactly when coming up.”
Instead of “Traffic is coming right after this from Garth Brooks” to “I-220 West is at a standstill at Beasley Road, full traffic right after Garth.”
As you can see, we’re selling the reason for staying rather than simply saying we have a content feature coming up. The purpose is to whet the listeners’ appetite by piquing their interest. All of the major news networks tease ahead using a “factoid” morsel that makes you want to stick around until after the commercials.
So, let’s apply that philosophy to promoting the website. Within recorded sweepers, sell the benefits of key areas of your website rather than simply stating that the station has a website. This means rotating several promos targeting different areas of the site.
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“Tomorrow morning, you could find out what happened overnight from ‘Loud Larry’ at the water cooler.
(Insert obnoxious voice “Did you hear about the…”)
OR, you could have it in your e-mail when you wake up.
(“Did you hear about”… (other voice cutting off) “YES, I DID!!”)
The choice is yours. Sign up for the Launch FM Newsletter today at launchfm.com/newsletter.”
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“(SFX: thunder & wind) When severe weather hits our area, folks turn to launchfm.com to find out which schools and businesses are closed or have different hours. Find closings and more ‘news you can use’ at launchfm.com.”
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“Did you miss ‘Swap Shop’ this morning at 9 am? NO WORRIES! Browse through all the latest listings and even submit your own at launchfm.com/swapshop.”
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Personalities should tease and sell the benefits of visiting the website as well, rather than simply noting that the website has content.
Have them single out just one benefit at a time. Here are some examples…
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“We received a thank you shout-out from Gerald in Heytown. He’s starting a new job on Monday – a job that was found on our ‘Local Jobs’ page at launchfm.com. Man, that’s awesome. Are you looking? Check out local openings at launchfm.com/localjobs.”
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“Three locals found dead in Memphis last night. Find out how they died in our top story right now at launchfm.com.”
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“Your opinion matters! Today’s poll at launchfm.com is ‘How do you feel about the new pay to park meters downtown?’ See how people feel and submit your vote at launchfm.com.”
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3. Tease your content links on social media.
Don’t simply share links. A social media best practice is to add a comment or question in front of everything shared on social media. Simply sharing something without comment is the lazy way and, admittedly, I’m guilty of it too.
The page or post headline should grab attention and entice you to jump into a news story. However, how many LOCAL news titles have you clicked on this week because they enticed you by the headline? Even experienced writers will confess that it can be tough to write a compelling title for any piece of written work.
So, it’s up to your social media team to jump in and help by adding an additional sentence or question to the post.
- For news post: “Three locals found dead in Memphis last night. Find out how.”
- For the “Closings” Page: “Some area schools and businesses closed tomorrow for bad weather. Get the list here.”
- For the morning show podcast page: “The Breakfast Bunch learns something mind-blowing about Jim’s recent past. Will you look at Jim the same after learning?”
You should find that you’ll get more engagement and more shares (which should equate to more page views on your website) by engaging with the content you post and share on social media. Simple page shares without any interaction do not facilitate many reactions from your followers.
Remember, it all starts with promoting the website within your radio station first. Educate everyone about the value of the website and your programming team about the content that’s available to promote. It’s all about getting more visitors to your site more often.
We hope these tips help you to promote your website better. If they provide value to you, please do me a favor by leaving a comment or review wherever you are hearing this.
If you need help with your website, please reach out to us.
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