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Why Morning Shows Deserve Their Own Facebook Page

January 11, 2013 by Stephanie Winans 2 Comments

Three clients have approached me in the last few months, all worried because the station they work for is threatening to cancel their Morning Show Facebook page. Not because their behavior on Facebook is out of line with the station brand, or because it is distracting them from the on-air product, but because they view it as a threat to the growth of the station’s Facebook presence.

While I understand the need to streamline the on-air message regarding social media, I believe morning shows deserve their own social media accounts. Here are five reasons why:

1. A radio station is only as strong as its shows, its music, and its promotions. A show that is using social media to engage P1s and attract new listeners is serving more than itself- but the station as a whole.

2. A smart radio station Facebook or Twitter account represents all aspects of the station brand. This includes new music, artist news, promotions and contests, and shows. Because there are only so many posts that should be made in one day, the morning show has limited opportunity to promote their show and its content on the station page (typically within the time the show airs).

Having their own Facebook and Twitter presence allows them to be a source of entertainment for listeners 24/7, creating brand loyalty and increasing tune-ins.

3. Fans “like” and “follow” radio stations for different reasons than they do shows or air talent. They expect the station to keep them updated with concerts, music news, contests and promotions. They like or follow a show or air talent accounts to find out more about what they’ve heard on the show, and to personally connect with the specific jock they love. Following a person and a brand are different, and they both have a place in social media.

4. Morning show talent almost always ensure their online presence is in line with the on-air brand. If they are growing a fan base online, it’s because they care about their brand and the show’s success. They want to give listeners what they expect, and would not post any content that doesn’t reflect the show’s branding.

It’s unlikely they will behave badly… Facebook isn’t Vegas, so they know what happens there will always make it back to Management.

5. Facebook is a great place to test on-air topics. Many shows use Facebook as a gauge by posting phone topics the night before. Often a topic they thought would be huge has “no legs,” evident by the lack of engagement on Facebook. And sometimes a small topic turns into a huge segment, as the show sees different angles in Facebook comments. Using Facebook to “test topics” makes the on-air product stronger, as it weeds out the topics that don’t resonate with listeners.

And why not let the show keep their page?

If you’re worried that the show’s on-air promotion of their Facebook page is hurting the growth of the station page, set parameters.

If your station Facebook page lacks morning show presence because they only post on their own, set guidelines for when they must post on the station page.

Just don’t cancel their account.

This is a controversial topic by nature. I welcome your opinions, as they may help guide compromise for Management and Morning Show talent.

Photo credit: Modified from a photo from clotho98 on Flickr via Creative Commons

Think Like TV: Tips to Making a One-Way Medium Interactive

June 30, 2012 by Stephanie Winans Leave a Comment

The request lines don’t ring very often anymore. So, how can we make radio interactive without callers? Luckily, social media and texting became popular about the time calling in to a radio show became unpopular.

We have the opportunity to make our one-way medium a two-way interaction between us and the listeners. We also know that radio is a secondary medium. Listeners are doing something else while they listen. Why don’t we take advantage of this knowledge? Television does.

Here are some TV examples and how they apply to Radio:

1. Creating a Generic Hashtag for the Show

Every show on TV advertises its own Twitter hashtag where viewers can talk about the show. Create a hashtag for shows on your station so listeners can tweet their thoughts and opinions.

2. Showing Affinity for a Personality’s Polarizing Opinion

Last season, The X-Factor encouraged viewers to tweet #IAmSimon, #IAmLA, #IAmPaula or #IAmNicole to show their affinity for a certain judge’s comments during the show. The X-Factor generated an average of 94,000 social comments per episode, as recorded by Bluefin. How? By getting creative with hashtags, and promoting them constantly throughout the show.
Follow The X Factor model and also use hashtags for polarizing on-air topics. If you and your co-host have opposite opinions, encourage listeners to tweet who they agree with by creating unique hashtags. Plan this when you’re prepping for tomorrow’s show, so you can promote it before you begin the topic, as well as during the topic and afterward.

3. Creating Specific Hashtags for Real-Time Interaction

According to Carri Bugbee, the #TrumpRoast hashtag was used more than 27,000 times on Twitter during the March 2011 telecast of the Comedy Central Roast of Donald Trump.

Comedy Central gave #TrumpRoast its own hashtag because they knew this episode would generate a reaction. If you have a hot feature that incites a huge reaction from listeners, create a separate hashtag for that feature. Promote it each time the feature runs on-air, and use the hashtag in your own tweets from the station or show accounts.

Include listener comments on-air in real time to make the show itself more interactive.

4. Developing Promotions Around Their Experience

The Shark Week Photo Frenzy – a call for fans to submit photos of how they celebrate Shark Week, got 600,000 page views and over 1,000 submissions. The Facebook Page accrued 30,000 fans in one day, and 116,000 in one week. The ratings result? The highest number of viewers in Shark Week history.

Dateline did something similar with their “How do you Dateline” promotion. They encouraged listeners to share their experience with the show by sending in video to Dateline producers about their routine around the program or tweeting #howdoyoudateline. They saw a huge response: over a 10 month span, the show’s audience on Facebook has grown to 173,000 users from 47,000. Their followers on Twitter doubled.

Keep your highest-rated show top of mind by creating a long-term promotion around your listeners’ experience. How do they listen? Are they listening at work, at the gym, in carpool? Ask them to share with a video or via Twitter. Award a prize to your favorite each week, and give individual shout-outs on-air. For example, “This song is for Vickie, who says she works out during the show”.

5. Driving Traffic to Your Website

According to to lostremote.com, The Food Network generated 640,000 page views in May from Pinterest alone with a strategy that focuses on both show content and talent.

Create strong website content that’s worthy of sharing. Share it via social media with carefully crafted teases to incite a click through. Measure your results frequently to determine which types of posts cause a spike in web traffic.

6. Listening to Feedback

Rick Haskins, The CW’s Executive Vice President of Marketing and Digital Programs, admits to lostremote.com that they not only listen, but respond to feedback. When viewers were watching CW shows illegally on pirate sites to avoid the three day delay on the CW app, the CW addressed the issue with the introduction of next day streaming on their own site.

Listen to the feedback. Respond with a solution when possible. If you don’t, your listeners might go somewhere else to find the content they’re looking for.

7. Providing Training for Staff

According to Rick Haskins, the CW provides social media training for their shows’ stars and productions staff.

If your Programming or Promotions staff isn’t capitalizing on the opportunities they have with social media, train them. Hold brainstorming meetings to encourage sharing among stations and shows, or hire someone (me!) who can teach them how to create a strategy that produces results.

Have you tried these TV tricks on your show? How did it work out?
Also published in Radio Ink Magazine

Pinterest and Top 40 Radio: Embrace Her Lifestyle

June 18, 2012 by Stephanie Winans Leave a Comment

There’s a reason so many brands and businesses are creating a marketing strategy just for Pinterest. It’s a huge traffic driver. Recent statistics show it provides more referral traffic to other websites than YouTube, Google+ and LinkedIn combined.

Whether you’re a blogger, a retail boutique, or a radio station, traffic to your website is important. Web traffic makes advertisers happy, and your station may gain new listeners both within and outside your market from Pinterest referrals. If your website content is good, those visitors may become regulars. They might listen online, and again in the car when they head to work the next morning. They might even pin your content, increasing your reach yet again.

Almost 70% of Pinterest users are female. 50% have children. The age demographic is varied, with 27% 25-34, 29% 35-44, 24% 45-54. The site receives almost 1.5 million visitors every day, with users spending an average of almost 16 minutes per visit (which exceeds Facebook at 12.1 minutes). See the infographic below for a visual display of these Pinterest stats and more.

Both the demographics and the power of Pinterest as a referral source for websites make it perfect for Top 40 radio.

However, the nature of Pinterest is different than other platforms. Show up and do what you do on Facebook or Twitter and you’re destined to fail. Treat Pinterest as a “what’s in it for her” experience, and you’ll be rewarded with the virality of repins, an increase in web traffic, engaged listeners and happy clients.

Embrace The Top 40 Lifestyle: Get In Her Head

Define your station’s target listener. Go beyond the age and gender to determine what she does during a typical day. What are her interests? What are her problems? Defining these will help you create a content strategy for your station’s Pinterest account.

80% of pins are repins, meaning Pinterest users are browsing to curate content from pinners they follow (and not always to create organic pins from the web). This could be thrilling or damaging, depending on the strength of your station’s content. The pro: There is a strong chance your content will be repinned if it’s good, expanding your reach and website traffic. The con: Station-centric content can’t be your focus. You won’t gain any followers, as only the most devoted P1s will repin a promotional image or DJ blog.

Users are looking for content they can identify with to repin as a form of self-expression or content they can come back to later like household tips, recipes, or products to purchase.

The most popular categories on Pinterest are Home, Arts and Crafts, Fashion, and Food. Use your listener profile to expand your strategy beyond these.

If 50% of Pinterest users have kids, and many Top 40 listeners do too, create content for Moms. For example, pin family-friendly events from your website’s event calendar to a Pinterest board for your Mama listeners. Or create a fitness board to help new Moms lose weight. Follow the example of Star 94/Atlanta and pin cute kid pics.

Use Pinterest to engage listeners on topics they enjoy. Use it to drive traffic back to your website, too. Create boards that represent features on your website. For example, a Sleaze board where you can pin entertainment and pop culture news from the station website, and other sources, too.

Add content to your website with the Pinterest mindset to ensure stories, promotions and events have an attractive image to pin. Use teases to ensure your followers will read the full story on your site.

While it’s essential to pin like a listener, don’t forget to include content expected from a radio station. Create boards for music you play, concerts in your market, personality blogs, and more.
Need help? An intern (ahem, ‘pintern’) in your demo might not be a bad idea.

Source for statistics and image: medianewsinpics.com
Image created by Modea

Who Owns Your Morning Show’s Social Media Presence?

March 28, 2012 by Stephanie Winans 5 Comments

In early March I read an article about the social media battle many musicians are fighting with their record labels over who owns their social media accounts. I thought, “I hope radio never gets to this point”.

Weeks after I pondered that article, three high-profile morning show hosts contacted me– they are fighting the artist/record label battle with the companies they work for. After creating the accounts on their own, and after years of building their own relationships with listeners independent of station time and resources, stations have begun taking “ownership” of their talent’s accounts by requiring that they meet certain guidelines.

Air talent should always support the station online- by driving traffic to the website, and upholding the station’s brand essence in their own presence and interactions online. It is in their best interest that the station succeeds- both on-air and online.

However, the recent corporate requirements for morning shows are counter-productive. There is a disconnect in what Management really wants, and what they are going to get with these mandatory “guidelines”.

Social media is about personal relationships- between two people, between a person and a brand or business, between a Morning Show and a listener. These relationships, like any relationship in the “real” world, are based on trust. Listeners trust that the Morning Show is going to provide content relevant to the show and in line with the on-air brand. They trust that by liking the Facebook page or following the show’s Twitter account, they won’t get spammed.

One of the requirements recently placed on Morning Shows are rightfully upsetting this balance of trust. Stations are asking their Morning Shows to include a link to the station website in EVERY Facebook post or tweet. Posting irrelevant links that lead listeners on a goose chase for related content that doesn’t exist doesn’t build a good rapport with them. It can also be counter-productive in that they may not click through to the links that do matter after many times of clicking through for nothing.

For example, if a Morning Show uses social media to develop personal relationships with listeners, the host may share things that happen outside of the show or station. A picture of their child doing something funny, a picture with friends on the weekend, a video of their dog at the dog park. It doesn’t make sense to include a link to the station website in a mobile upload of a personal picture. Yet this is what stations are requiring.

Another unreasonable stipulation is that NO link may be posted or tweeted that isn’t a station website link. While Morning Shows should always strive to provide links to the content hosted on the station website, the content may not always be available there. Does that mean it’s not of interest to listeners? Should a Morning Show not post or tweet the news of Whitney Houston’s death because it’s over the weekend when webmasters are off work ( and the news is too new to be posted on the station website, anyway)?

Management is smart to take advantage of the relationship between a successful Morning Show and its listeners. So hold them accountable for a certain number of posts/tweets per week that contain links to the station website. Hold them accountable for a reasonable standard of website traffic. Ask them to include the streaming link when they use social media to ask for opinions on phone topics.

Just don’t create guidelines that violate the nature of social media. That doesn’t increase web traffic or ratings- it turns a P1 into a casual listener by damaging he trust relationship between air talent and listeners.

-written for Radio Ink Magazine

I am passionate about this topic! I would love to hear your thoughts. Do you think air talent (and I) have a right to be upset about these requirements? Or do you think they are realistic? Leave me a comment.

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Photo credit: Modified from a photo from clotho98 on Flickr via Creative Commons

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