Stephanie Winans

Business & Marketing Strategy Consulting

social media manager

Why A Competitive Analysis Can Help You Succeed With Digital

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Whether you’re developing a strategy for social media, planning to update the station website, creating a business model for streaming, or wondering why you aren’t getting advertisers’ digital dollars, conducting an analysis of the competition is key.

Why? An online analysis of the competitive landscape yields information you may not hear by monitoring the on-air product. You can capitalize on their weaknesses, or reveal your own by finding out what they’re doing better. You can also determine whether competitors are generating revenue from advertisers.

Program Directors spend time listening to the competition. It’s time to start listening online, too.

What To Review

  • Their website for design and content. Is the design modern and easy to navigate? Is the content updated frequently? Is the air talent posting blogs, videos and audio regularly? Is the station providing any content you aren’t? From a listener standpoint, is their website more interesting, and does the content give you more reason to visit often?
  • Advertisements on their website. Make notes for your Sales Manager. Who are their sponsors for promotions and contests? Is there a video pre-roll advertisement? And don’t forget to listen to the stream.
  • Engagement on social media platforms. In addition to the vanity metrics (Facebook likes and Twitter followers), review how many comments and likes each post receives. Is your station getting similar engagement from listeners?
  • Social media content. What categories do competitors include in their social media strategy? Are they posting about music and promotions? Do air talent post during their shows? Or is their engagement empty, a product of off-brand internet meme updates?
  • Their social media sponsors. Is there any indication that advertisers are spending money on social media? Look at promotional banners or timeline photos, and read posts for mention of sponsors. Look for a contest tab for an advertiser-sponsored contest.

Who To Look At3249473645_0c81fab970

  • Competitors in your market. Go beyond stations with similar formats. Do an online analysis of all radio stations in your market that share your target demographic, as well as all stations that boast strong ratings.
  • Similar stations outside of your market. Review the online presence of stations in your format that are successful in similar size markets across the country.
  • The best [your format] station in the country. While many ideas you glean from market #1 may not be practical in your market, you can tweak some and execute on a smaller scale. If you’re going to learn from competitors, you may as well learn from the best.
  • Non-radio brands in your market. Review the websites and social media strategies of local TV stations and companies who do digital well. It is likely that advertisers aren’t giving your piece of their digital budget to other radio stations, but other non-radio brands.

What Next?

  • Use what you’ve learned to improve your digital presence. If you’re missing content categories on your website, add them. If other stations’ talent are more involved online, work with your jocks to increase post frequency. If your website looks like it was built in 1999 and your competitors are rocking a 2015 design, it’s time to push hard for a design update.
  • Help your Sales Team target digital advertisers. Give them a list of companies who advertise on both the radio and non-radio brands you reviewed. Explain the different types of sponsorships, ads and contests you saw to begin brainstorming for ideas. It’s easier for Account Executives to sell a great idea than to sell a generic banner ad.
  • Set up a Google Alert to monitor your competitors (and your station, too). Add keywords for station and show names, and Google will email you once daily with any news or blogs posted.
  • If you haven’t ever run a Google or Facebook ad for the station, do it now. Not only will it improve your website traffic and increase Facebook likes, respectively, but it will show you another realm of competition. It’s important to understand the way Google and Facebook ads work, so you know what potential advertisers are getting from these ads (and what they’re paying for).

Photo credit: Harald Hoyer/Flickr via Creative Commons

What metrics or entities do you include when analyzing competitors? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Marrying Radio and Digital: Challenge #3

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This is part three of a four part series called “The Challenges of Marrying Radio and Digital. Read Challenge #1, Accepting Change, here. Click here for Challenge #2, Strategy.

Challenge #3: Staffing and Time

Radio may as well have coined the term “wearing many hats”. Because our industry has not been exempt from the effects of the declining economy, the jobs that once required three personnel now require one. Ask radio broadcasters about our jobs today compared to ten years ago, and many of us will explain (or complain about) the many additional “hats” we wear now.

Because radio employees (air talent included) are already heavily burdened beyond their primary responsibilities, the time investment for convergence is a problem. To begin, digital innovation takes time and manpower- conducting research, creating strategies that fit the brand, and developing the final products. On a daily basis, executing the strategies and maintaining the digital tools you’ve created takes time and manpower. You may have people on your team qualified for the job, but do they have the time?

When creating or fine-tuning your digital strategy, don’t forget the “who” question. Who will be appointed (or hired) to create and execute your plans? The challenge of staffing and time may be the hardest one to overcome, because it involves the bottom line. Often managers feel like merging radio and digital is a “damned if I do, damned if I don’t” situation. Refusing to innovate means being left behind and losing money in the long run, while executing a killer digital strategy means spending money to make money at a time when budgets are being decreased, not increased.

Radio and Social Media: It’s Like a Nursery Rhyme

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I have written an exclusive article for Social Media Sun depicting the relationship between radio and social media. Click here to read it and find out which nursery rhyme I think reflects the merge of old and new media. I would love to hear your thoughts after you read it! Leave me a comment here or there, or send me a tweet @StephanieWinans.

5 Tips for Online Success in 2012

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January is an optimistic month that connotes a new beginning for business owners and managers. New budgets and new goals bring a clean slate full of opportunities to succeed.
Amidst these opportunities for success lies your station’s online presence. Make your online brand a priority in 2012 with these five tips:

1. Define your goals.

Do you want to increase your number of Twitter followers, Facebook likes or YouTube subscribers? Would you like more traffic on your station website? You can’t measure progress if you don’t know what your goals are.

Ask your staff for input. The people who implement your online strategy on a daily basis are likely the same people who know its weaknesses best. Ask your webmaster, social media manager, promotions team and air talent for their insights.

2. Assess your competition.

Take an objective look at other stations in your market. Is their website superior to yours? Do they have more participation from listeners on Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube? Comparing their online brand to yours will help you create goals for 2012. If they have a competitive edge over you online, check in regularly to learn what they’re doing right.

If your station is sitting pretty compared to market competitors, compare your brand to successful stations outside your market. There is always room for improvement.

3. Develop frequency strategies.

How often will you be tweeting or posting on Facebook? How often would you like your air talent to post a blog on the website? Develop minimum frequency goals and stick to them. This will ensure your website and social networks don’t get stale. If social media participation isn’t an issue, consider a maximum frequency goal to ensure you aren’t over posting or tweeting.

Plan a meeting to discuss frequency parameters with your staff to ensure that the strategy is realistic. The goal is to increase participation, not to stifle it. Their input will generate attainable goals you can work toward as a team.

4. Make it easy for air talent to manage the station’s social networks.

Choose a social app to manage various social networks. Your air talent will be able to manage the station accounts and their personal accounts from one interface, increasing their participation. Because air talent participation humanizes your station accounts and showcases the personalities you have on staff, it’s important to get them involved.

Your social media manager can also schedule some of your promotional tweets and posts so your message reaches a larger percentage of your audience. Social Bro, Buffer, Hootsuite, and Market Me Suite are a few of my favorite apps.

Many apps will even tell you when your audience is “listening”, which helps you understand the best times to post important information about contests or promotions.

Make your air-talent page admins of the station Facebook page so they can post content without logging out of their personal account. (You can always revoke access later, if necessary.)

5. Follow up.

Don’t wait until 2013. Evaluate progress and re-evaluate your strategy quarterly. Because the Internet is an ever-changing entity, a winning strategy isn’t static. Regular evaluation of both your efforts and the changing online environment will ensure you’re celebrating with your staff at the end of 2012.

 

-written for Radio Ink Magazine

8 Tips for Good Social Media Service

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The term “customer service” conjures thoughts of restaurants, cell phone companies, and probably a few brands that you’ve sworn to never do business with again.

Think about your worst customer service experience. What was it that disappointed or upset you? A faulty product, a question that went unanswered after repeated attempts, the feeling that the business didn’t value you? Or worse– speaking to a representative with a sour attitude?

We’re in the customer service business, too, and our listeners are our customers. With social media, listeners are more likely to Facebook or tweet a question than call or email the station. Are you using this opportunity to answer questions, make a personal connection, encourage on-air listening and drive web traffic?

Is your staff social media service savvy? Here are tips to ensure that both you and your listeners are getting the most out of your station’s social media efforts:

 

  • Appoint a social media manager. Many stations leave air talent responsible for checking comments on posts or tweets made during their shift. While this allows talent to personally connect with listeners on a topic they’ve started, it doesn’t account for the numerous organic posts made by listeners, or the comments on popular posts or tweets from days past. Have one person who is responsible for ensuring that all questions and comments have been addressed.

 

  • Don’t overlook any avenues. On Facebook, view your wall using the Everyone tab so you see comments on your posts as well as organic posts from listeners. On Twitter, check @mentions and DMs. Use Twitter search daily to monitor and respond to other conversations about your station.

 

  • Respond in real time to reinforce the on-air brand. Often listener questions refer to an of-the-moment topic, such as a show topic or on-air contest that is happening right then. When possible, respond quickly so your answer is relevant.

 

  • Your station’s social media accounts often provide first-encounter experiences for listeners. Behave online the way you would at a remote or station event. Be thankful your listeners are there. Make them feel valued, and be friendly. While the latter sounds like common sense, two real examples I have seen this week say otherwise. One station made a post on Facebook asking for “NO COMMENTS”. Another responded to a listener question about a song that was played with “Ughhhhhh. Are you serious? That show is syndicated. I don’t know”.

 

  • Answer questions by providing additional information that drives website traffic. For example, if a listener asks “Is there another chance to win Maroon 5 tickets today”, reply with “Yes, you can win again at 11:20 and 3:20. Here’s a link to more information on our website. Good Luck!”

 

  • Answer questions with information that drives on-air listening. In the example above, you could respond with “What’s your favorite Maroon 5 song? We’ll play it for you before the contest at 11:20.”

 

  • Use comments to create conversation. Part of social media service is connecting with listeners who reach out to you. Many comments are not clear-cut questions, but that doesn’t mean they don’t deserve a response. If a listener writes about their love for a song you just added, respond with information that reinforces their passion for the music you’re playing. Send them a link to the video, or background information on the artist.

 

  • Respond to complaints. According to September 2011 research from Maritz and Evolve124: of 1,298 Twitter complaints reviewed, only 29 percent received a response from the company mentioned. The other 71 percent went completely ignored by the brand. 86 percent of the tweeters who were ignored said they wanted a response from the company. Your listeners want to know you’re listening. Address their concerns, have empathy, and try to solve the problem. Use social media to convert a frustrated listener into a P1.

 

written for Radio Ink Magazine