You’re Still Sending Listeners to Social Media?

Last week, programming great Gary Berkowitz posted a great article in Radio Ink titled “Did Your Radio Station Pass Saturday’s Test?”  The article focused on how many stations failed to mention the biggest news story of the previous Saturday when former President Trump was nearly assassinated. Regardless of your format, every station should be prepared to jump on the air to inform our listeners of such a big new event.  In the article, Steve Granato at Renda Media shared a great list of things every station should do…

  1. Establish a relationship with a local TV station.
  2. The PD or Operations Manager should subscribe to all news sources with notification enabled. This includes the traditional networks (ABC, NBC, CBS), local TV, Cable news (CNN, Fox etc.) and your local newspaper. This way, when something happens, you will know quickly.
  3. Download a recording program on your phone in case you are not at the station when this happens. Minutes matter here.
  4. Have access to the station’s computers pre-set up and ready to go on your phone. A simple, quick message about what happened is all you need to be effective. The goal here is to inform your listenership, not get in-depth with the story.
  5. Be prepared to direct listeners to social media for more updates. Then keep it updated with developments.

Social Media, Really?

Number 5 in this stands out to me. Why send people listening to the radio station to your social media? Once they get there, it’s a simple thumb swipe for them to leave your circle and go somewhere else.

Maintaining a social media presence and being everywhere your listeners are is essential, but social media should aim to attract followers to your station website. Increased visitors will help your SEO, making it more visible in search results. They will also build your numbers to show potential advertisers who want to advertise there.

Updating your social media might be easy. However, managers should know that just because your station has 75,000 followers doesn’t mean all 75,000 will see everything you post. Only a small fraction of those followers will see anything you post unless you pay for more exposure.

Number 5 in this list should have been “Be prepared to direct listeners to your station website and social media with links to your station website.  Then keep them both updated, always directing visitors to the website.”

I would also add a Facebook live element since it immediately alerts more of your followers that you are live. Otherwise, Facebook’s algorithm will determine how many (if any) of your followers see that post you’re making.

Updating Your Website from the Field

There are tools available for updating your website on the go. If you have a WordPress website, WordPress has an official app to tie into your website to make post updates from the road. You can also create special frontend forms that allow you to post updates. I’ve covered these in previous podcast episodes.

The main takeaway is to know how social media works and not immediately send your audience there to get sucked in.  If they’re going to get sucked in anywhere, let it be your station website so your station can benefit from every click.

Is your station lacking a website encouraging visitors to stay engaged with you longer?  We’d love to help you with that?  Reach out to us.

We want to help your radio station grow and succeed online.  That journey starts with an amazing website that keeps visitors coming back often.  Reach out to us to start your path to online success, or schedule an appointment to see our tools in action.

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