Stephanie Winans

Business & Marketing Strategy Consulting

ratings

Arbitron’s Social Media Policy

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Did you know you can’t discuss ratings on your social networks? If you don’t think it’s a big deal, ask Oprah, who was under fire from Nielsen for tweeting “Every 1 who can please turn to OWN especially if u have a Nielsen box” last month.

Arbitron’s updated policy Social Media Do’s & Dont’s lists ways you can preserve respondent anonymity, avoid rating distortion (any station activity that may affect the way diary keepers record listening) and rating bias (any activity that may prompt a station’s listeners to participate in Arbitron’s survey).

This would include thanking listeners for a successful ratings book. Arbitron thinks this may encourage listeners to reveal that they were part of the survey, compromising anonymity.

Arbitron monitors both station and air talent social media accounts, so check out the policy here to ensure you’re in compliance.

 

-written for The Randy Lane Company Content Ideas

Social Media and Appointment Listening

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Facebook and Twitter are different animals, and your frequency strategy should be different for each one.

For one, Facebook is not an of the moment, breaking news network like Twitter. (They want to be with the addition of subscriptions and the ticker, but they aren’t there yet.) Facebook users are less likely to take immediate action than Twitter users.

Secondly, while posting new Facebook status updates several times an hour will likely annoy your fans, tweeting several times an hour is not only excepted — some say it’s optimal.

  • Use Facebook to post show-related content that remains relevant in news feeds once the show is over (think podcasts, phone topics, videos or stories you shared on-air). Save the appointment listening, what’s happening right now updates for Twitter. Since you are only posting on Facebook every 1.5 hours or twice per show, choose your posts carefully.

 

  • Post the same A+ updates from Facebook on Twitter, along with more appointment listening and of the moment updates. Recent research by KISSmetrics shows that it is optimal to tweet 1-4 times an hour. Posting more often on Twitter means you don’t have to be as picky with the content you choose.

Here’s an example of how an appointment listening post differs on Facebook and Twitter:

You post “We’re giving away tickets to see Adele in 20 minutes” on both. What happens?

Twitter: The immediacy of Twitter may elicit a response, encouraging followers to listen to the show to win. By the time the tickets are given away, the tweet will be buried by other tweets.

Facebook: The post may be visible in your listeners’ news feeds long after you gave away the tickets. The way Facebook’s algorithm Edgerank works makes it impossible to gauge how long this post will be visible.

The results of a 2011 study from knowDigital based on interviews with 30 KROQ/Los Angeles Facebook fans matched my own observations on Facebook and appointment setting. This study shows that Facebook posts about show or station features increase awareness, but do not encourage fans to tune in at a specific time.

Use Facebook Insights or another analytics program to measure your Facebook engagement to see if this is true for your station or show.

 

-written for The Randy Lane Company Content Ideas

From Likes to Loyalty

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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