Stephanie Winans

Business & Marketing Strategy Consulting

feature

Pinterest: What’s In It for Radio

by Leave a Comment

With new social networks popping up daily, it’s easy to tune them out. However, there is one newbie you can’t ignore, and that’s Pinterest.

What is Pinterest?
It’s a virtual pinboard that allows you to organize and share (or “pin”) things you find on the web. Common uses for Pinterest include wedding planning, home decorating, fashion, and cooking. It’s social because other pinners can comment, like, or repin your pins.

What’s in it for Radio?
A recent article in Radio Ink by Mike Stiles stated that because Pinterest is a visual medium, there isn’t much opportunity for an audio medium like radio. While I agree that Pinterest shouldn’t be a station’s first priority for online presence, it does offer some creative opportunities for both radio stations and personalities.

According to Tech Crunch, Pinterest just hit 11.7 million unique monthly U.S. visitors, crossing the 10 million mark faster than any other standalone site in history. Only Facebook and Tumblr have more social media time on site than Pinterest. 18-34 year old upper income American women are propelling the success and popularity of Pinterest.

If 18-34 women are within your target demo and you are looking to expand your online presence, Pinterest may be worth your effort. As Mike Stiles pointed out in his article, it is a visual medium. Be prepared that translating your station brand or personality brand to a visual-only medium may take some creativity.

Pinterest for Personalities
Your Randy Lane Company consultants work with you to define your personality brand. Remember those passion topics you listed? Remember asking yourself what makes me unique? Use those on-air character definition exercises to determine what makes you pinteresting (I’ve been dying to say that!). Here are some ideas to jumpstart your brainstorming:

  • Use Pinterest to share your interests with listeners (and friends). Do you love cooking? Motorcycles? Fashion? Hi-tech gadgets? Sloths? (You never know- Kristen Bell may read this.) Create a pinboard for each of your passion topics. For an example, check out JohnJay and Rich on Pinterest. They’re sharing fitness and diet plans, as well as another show player’s wedding ideas.
  • Pin pictures of you with different artists or artists you’ve met in radio.
  • Create a pinboard for pictures with listeners, and open your settings so that listeners can pin their own pics with you on the board.
  • Create some drama by creating a pinboard for weird (I said weird, not horrible) pictures of your co-host.
  • Create a pinboard for your entertainment feature, stupid news, or a general one for heard on the show. Post pictures for the stories you share on-air.

Pinterest for Radio Stations
While it is admittedly easier for personalities to pin, there are endless opportunities for stations, as well. Here are a few to get you started:

  • Create a music pinboard. Add the album cover of songs you add weekly so listeners can keep up with new music.
  • Tie-in Pinterest to your Street Team promotions. Pin pictures of the locations for a scavenger hunt. Let Pinterest be the exclusive source of hints for where the Street Team is headed next.
  • Create an Events pinboard where you pin pictures of the locations. Include the date, time and event description in the caption.
  • Integrate Pinterest into on-air features. For example, post pictures for your “Pump It or Dump It” songs and tell listeners they can also vote by commenting on Pinterest.
  • Use Pinterest to create visual clues for an on-air trivia contest.
  • Pin pictures from your station website of concerts and events.
  • Create a visual lineup of your on-air talent. Post pictures of both live and syndicated shows. Include the time it airs in the photo description.

Are you on Pinterest? Follow me at Pinterest.com/StephanieWinans. I would love to see how you’re pinning.

From Likes to Loyalty

by 1 Comment

We’re not cell phone companies, we’re radio.  So why are we concentrating so hard on getting likes, followers, and circles with no focus on how to keep them happy once we get them?

With social media, it’s easy to get allured by the numbers.  We compare our Facebook likes and Twitter followers (and perhaps YouTube subscribers or Google+ circles) to those of other stations, other morning shows, other media brands.  When we talk social media, we are primarily sharing stories on our status in likes, and how to grow that number.

Are we losing focus?  It’s what we do with those likes and followers AFTER we get them that counts.  It’s the interpersonal connection, the listener engagement that translates a like to a loyal listener.

You don’t really want a like, or a follower, or a subscriber, or a circle.  You want a person who is or will be a listener who LISTENS to your station.  You want a listener who won’t change the station because he or she feels connected to your brand, and the shows and DJs within it.  You want ratings.

While it is nice to have large numbers online with social media, the focus should be not on the numbers themselves.  Planning social media growth in numbers without a content strategy is like planning a wedding with no thought to the marriage itself.

Instead of concentrating solely on the number, share your focus to concentrate on your content strategy.  How can you convert likes to loyalty?  It’s all about the content. 

➢    Let listeners get to know your brand.
Show some personality. Let your brand shine by sharing what makes you special- your talent.  Give your jocks and promotions staff access to your accounts (under your guidance and the eyes of the social media manager).  Encourage them to make posts relevant to your demo, in your brand voice.  Share contests, promotions, station events, opinions on hot topics, and what’s going on behind the scenes.  Have them end their posts with a name signoff.  This will humanize your account and listeners will feel like they are connecting with the person behind the brand.

➢    Extend on-air content online with social media.
During show prep meetings, ask your team “What online element can we add to this feature?”  You don’t have to create new material, but add a visual to what’s been said on-air.  Post a picture or quick video of what’s going on in the studio during on-air stunts.  For listener topics, solicit for responses online and include them in your on-air conversation.

➢    Treat social media like a cocktail party.
The most important and overlooked rule of thumb is to be social.  Make sure your social media manager and jocks respond to listener comments and questions.  Treat social media like a cocktail party, where the focus is on conversation.

For example, don’t post content asking listeners for their opinion and fail to respond once they give it.  That is the equivalent to meeting someone at a party, asking them a question, and walking away after they answer without a word.  It’s rude!  Make sure your staff are facilitating the conversation- it only takes a second to respond.

Focus on the content and the value you are providing to your listeners online, and the numbers will come.  When listeners feel connected to your brand, they will share their excitement over the entertainment you’re providing online AND on-air.

-written for Radio Ink Magazine

What I Like About Google+

by Leave a Comment

Google+ is Google’s new social network, an attempt to compete in the social media empire dominated by Facebook and Twitter.  Now in the invite-only phase, you must have an email invitation to join.  We’re sure Mark Zuckerberg loves the talk on Facebook on wanting a Google+ invite!  If you still don’t have one, leave me a comment and I’ll invite you.

What I like about Google+:

  • Circles. You can target specific “circles” of friends with your posts.  You can talk radio to people in your “radio” circle without your Aunt’s two cents about Lady Gaga’s latest fashions.  You can view your newsfeed according to your circles, or view the whole feed at once.  If you use social media for show prep, this is similar to using Twitter lists.
  • No Reciprocity. You can add someone to your circle without them reciprocating, similar to Twitter’s follow model.  You’re free to add anyone who looks interesting!
  • The Mute Button. Ever commented on a Facebook picture of someone’s engagement to say Congrats, and then received hundreds of notifications when other people comment?  Google+ has the “mute this post” option, which allows you to turn off notification for that post only.
  • A Dream for Gmail Users.  Google+ is well integrated into other Google accounts.  If you use them, you’ll find Google+ a natural extension of those.

-written for The Randy Lane Company Content Ideas

Are Your Station’s Content Rules a Roadblock to Quality Content?

by Leave a Comment

You can’t do this.  You have to do that.  With so many stipulations on content, jocks are afraid to get involved online for fear of doing something wrong.   Companies are trying to emphasize the importance of digital… but are they going about it the wrong way?

I have heard many jocks say they are so focused on quantity of content to satisfy a company checklist that they don’t have time to focus on the quality of the content posted.

Wouldn’t it be better to have one video go viral than have ten videos no one wants to watch?  If the focus is on satisfying a checklist that mandates the type and quantity of content, the quality of content becomes secondary.

Online content is important.  The internet offers air talent the chance to strengthen personality brands by using content to showcase characters and expand show content.  It also gives jocks the chance to engage with listeners on a personal level, which increases listener loyalty.

It’s no wonder that companies are pushing their air talent to spend some time online.   With so much controversy and pressure for radio to succeed with the internet, radio managers are searching for answers.

The focus should be on engaging listeners, and posting content that showcases character and expands show content… not on the number of blogs, pictures and videos that are posted weekly.  When too many restrictions are placed, creativity is robbed and digital becomes another duty instead of an opportunity to succeed by building strong content and connecting with listeners.

Rules that specify how many blogs, videos, photos, and social media posts are added per week guarantee that jocks don’t get a case of internet laziness.  However, is the frequency of posts more important than the actual content?

If a listener visits your station website, Facebook, Twitter or YouTube account to find content lacking real substance, he probably won’t visit the station website again, follow you on Twitter, or like your Facebook page.  While the frequency is important to keep your station looking fresh and active online, quantity should not be the sole focus of your company’s measurement of talent’s success online.  To engage listeners and keep them coming back again and again, the focus should be on quality content.

Here are five ideas to help you build a solution to create air talent focus on quality content:

1.    Show them how.  Many DJs aren’t active online because they don’t know what to post, how to create and edit video, or how to write a solid blog.  Consider a weekly meeting, highlighting a different online “how-to” each week.  Keep them simple; the point is to show them how easy it is, not to overwhelm!

2.    Create a 30-Day Online Challenge for your station.  Challenge each DJ to do one thing each day to extend their brand online.  Don’t mandate whether the content must be in the form of a video, blog, photo, or social media post.  Let the jock use his own brain to determine what channel sparks his creativity!

3.    Get them some help.  Many jocks are wearing so many hats; with PD, APD, Music Director, Production, or Promotions Assistant duties, they genuinely may not have the time it takes to create strong content.  Consider hiring an assistant or intern to help with the technical aspects of online content.  Have him edit the video or upload the photo.  If your Webmaster looks bored, add this to his list.

4.    Add online content to their daily show prep.  The easiest way to create organic content is to have jocks ask themselves “What online element can I add to this feature?” in the early stages of planning.

5.    Tell your Webmaster or Social Media Manager to speak up.  Because their natural focus is on the internet, they often think of radio in terms of how it translates to the internet.  Involve them in show prep or promotions meetings, and you may be surprised at the result of unleashing their digital creativity.

-written for Radio Ink