How Radio Can Use Social Media To Remain Relevant, Win Back Listeners, Develop Listener Relationships And Make Radio Advertising Effective And Interactive At The Same Time

Here is the big secret about Radio, listeners want to hear what THEY want to hear. That is why the broad channel format on Sirius and XM is so appealing. Pick your genre of music and there it is, commercial free . . . but still you have to wait to hear the song you want to hear and you rarely know what is coming next.

Enter social media.

If radio stations were to embrace technology like Twitter, they could have their DJs announce via Twitter what song would be next, get immediate feedback about songs, about things they are talking about and they could localize multi-station shows.

Here's how it could work. I'm a DJ. I sign up for a Twitter account, as I'm playing one set of songs, I can Tweet what song is next. I can also engage listeners by announcing that during the next set I'm going to be talking about how they can win tickets or let them know that I'll be hosting a giveaway during the next set of songs. I can tell people on air to tweet their responses about something I just said. The idea goes on and on.

Radio becomes interactive. If the station really has some balls, they'd let listeners be the DJ at the top of every hour and play the best five song set tweeted by a listener.

But here is why most radio stations will never do it.

They are afraid that the DJ will develop a following that they can easily take with them if they leave or are fired. They are afraid that the DJ will have too much interaction with the audience. They are afraid of the listener having too much control.

And they become increasingly irrelevant.

If they were really smart they'd talk about some of the tweets they get about advertisers and make their advertising more relevant too. But that would be really scary for radio.

Radio is about relationships and with voice tracked morning shows and the same set of 20 songs rotated until exhaustion, listeners can't change stations fast enough.

But the moment a station gets relevant, gets interactive and gets involved, they'll get listeners back by the droves . . . and the first one to the punch gets a ton of free PR for being so insightful.

Just remember to announce over the air that you heard it here first, better yet, announce it and ask everyone to Tweet me their thoughts.

Comments

[JP Micek]

Dave, this is cool idea on the music side.

Deb & I are working w Rick Hamada whose talk show is on KHVH 830-AM here in Hawaii on using Twitter leading up to, during, & immediately after his show. Easy sell since it effectively expands a 3hr show to 5-hrs w no added expenses for the station. Plus, talk radio hosts have a little more freedoms w mgt, especially if they're show is #1, so testing begins next month. :) Will let you know how things go.

[Chad Michael Lawson aka DJ Slam]

Dave,

It's a great idea and I had to gestate on it a little while to apply it to my scenario.

I'm going to steal your idea and put it into action next Tuesday. You can check it out here:

http://www.chadconnects.com/dj-twitter-event/

Again, thanks for great information and I'd love to "hear" your take on things...

[David]

Wow...
and yet another genius dave!.....lol.

that really is genius!
marketing mastermind at the top of his game right here folks!

it's so true...

radio is about relationships...
I feel like I know the dj's on the station that i listen too!

Love it dave love it!

thanks for keeping my mind creative with this one!

[Carol Wain]

Dave... my sales coach, Stacey Hylen, forwarded me your post because we are creating a listener engagement program for radio stations and she thought I'd be interested in your comments (she was right!)

Our product is designed to help stations do everything that you mention in your title by enticing listeners to register online as a "club" member and to participate in contests, surveys and games, as well as to visit sponsors (aka advertisers) for point earning opportunities. Although we have contemplated social media tools such as wall posts, groups, events and message posts etc. for engaging the audience, adding a Twitter connection is a superb idea!

Knowing your listeners thoughts on songs, chatter, contests and yes, even ads, is one huge step towards engagement and any station that is brave enough to do this will succeed, as you say.

I believe that the next step is to really know your audience, which is where the loyalty aspect comes into play. By providing opportunities to earn relevant rewards, connect with fellow listeners, be heard, receive relevant offers and control how you wish to be communicated with, you serve up what your listener wants and at the same time you provide your sales team with aggregate data that goes far beyond the ratings data provided by 3rd parties. That, I believe will be the true key to success... (and I suppose I should go and get my own account to Tweet you with now :-)

[Pete Windle]

Dave, great post! It's amazing how so few radio stations provide interesting, interactive and compelling content on their own sites. After all, content is king!!

Please check out our site, we provide scalable solutions to the radio market that provide the DJs and stations with most of the functionality you mmentioned above. We've integrated with Bebo and Facebook as part of out social network strategy and the results have been astounding!!