Your Brand Has A Voice

It’s easy for radio talent to engage listeners with social media. Your DJs interact with listeners the way they would with a friend or acquaintance, because their brand is their personality.

But what about your station accounts? How should brands interact with people on a social media platform? Like a person. Humanizing your station’s Facebook and Twitter accounts is easier than you think. After all, you know a thing or two about being human, don’t you?

To give your social media efforts a personal touch, you just need to develop your brand voice and say the right things.

Developing A Brand Voice For The Web

• Know your audience. Create your “brand voice” with both your demo and format in mind.

• What adjectives describe your station– serious, comical, conservative, hip, edgy, fun? Use adjectives that describe your brand to develop a “tone” for your brand voice.

• Use your station’s imaging to help you brainstorm about how your station should sound online.

What Is Your Brand Voice Saying?

Your radio station is a brand. Your brand has a voice. But is your brand voice saying the right things online? Think of your brand as a person. Would you be friends with someone who talks about himself constantly, doesn’t engage in conversation, or ignores you? No, and neither would your listeners. Here are a few tips to keep your brand voice from sounding like a braggart or a bore:

• Make it about your audience and not about you. What do your listeners want or expect from your social media accounts? Updates on local concerts, music news, promotions and giveaways, pictures and videos of station events, sneak peeks into what happens behind the scenes? If you aren’t sure, ask them. Use Facebook questions or a Twitter hashtag to start the conversation.

• Don’t brag. Self-promoting is accepted only when it serves a purpose for the listener. When in doubt, ask yourself the question “What’s in it for them?” before posting. Are you offering content relevant to your demo? Are you giving them more of the personalities they love to hear on-air? Are you giving them a chance to win something they want?

• Don’t mistake your Facebook and Twitter accounts for a press-release dumping ground. Many brands make this mistake, and radio is no exception to this rule.

• Make sure your content is relevant. Remember you’re talking to your listeners, so talk about topics your demo is likely to care about.

• If you wouldn’t say it on-air, don’t say it online. Your web presence should be a natural extension of your on-air brand.

• Join conversations that are relevant to your brand. Respond to comments on Facebook, and join conversations on Twitter using @replies to create a conversation between your station brand and the listener.

• Answer their concerns. Be customer service minded, and don’t let listener questions go unanswered. Whether it’s the name of a particular song, the date you’re giving away certain concert tickets, or a gripe about an on-air talent or promotion, let them know their voice is heard.

• Don’t sound desperate. Studies show that calls to action (asking for likes and comments) produce results, but don’t get carried away.

• Stick to the strategy. There’s nothing worse than a brand that abandons their social media accounts. If you can’t keep up with them, delete them.

-written for Radio Ink