Does Your Listener Know You're Interested?

International social media analytics firm Brandwatch's just-released report on radio listener Twitter activity in the U.S. and U.K. points out:
"Radio stations do not tend to reply to the comments aimed at them, seldom engaging with listeners at all." 

• Celebrity culture is a main driver of conversation, with over a quarter of all listener mentions relating to celebrity news, interviews or songs.
• Radio stations act upon this trend, with 41% of radio stations directing @interactions at celebrities and 32% towards brands.  

Would listeners like us better, telling their followers and friends about us in more positive ways if more of our Twitter conversations were listener-based? 

• The use of competitions as part of a social strategy was generally a successful tactic
• Of all personalities’ personal tweets, only 5.5% were about their radio station.
• Sport stations are the most social on Twitter, using @mentions to talk to their audience much more frequently than other genres.

Negative discussion centered around stations can gain rich insights from this social data, helping them understand which content works best.

Over the period analyzed, 1% of the conversation was negative. Although a seemingly small number, it accounts for 3,200 mentions, very few of which were responded to.

32% of social customers expect a response to a complaint within 30 minutes. Research by Nielsen demonstrates that 71% of consumers who experience a quick brand response are likely to share that with others.

To get the full picture you can download the full report for free here.

You Already Have A Smartphone App. It's Free. It's Twitter.

Of course, if your station is fortunate enough to have your own smart phone app, that's terrific, but really the only important function your own app has (hopefully) is an alarm which awakes your listener first thing in the morning to your stream.

And, of course, they have to download and install it.

For the majority of your audience who don't know what podcasts are and will never download a radio station app...

Thanks, Holland Cooke, for sharing so many actionable ideas in your Talkers 2013 presentation last week (click to watch it).

And, yes, I am going to Tweet this post.

Is Radio Faster Than Twitter (When It Comes To Selling Our Strengths)?

So if twitter is faster than an earthquake. What's radio (both commercial and ham)?

Why couldn't we make a similar claim? Or at least be as creative?

When your station responds to an emergency, do you post-promote your coverage, linking the image to dependability and trust?

A 24/7 News Source

If you are the lone person in your studios over the long holiday weekend and even the usual local sources are staffed lightly if at all, how do you stay in touch with "the news" locally?

Twitter has a few lessons in how to do that.

Which is very helpful, but is also a reminder of how easily local radio could be replaced by social media as a local information/buzz/interactivity source for your listeners unless what goes between the songs is immediate, in the know and in the now, 24/7.

Voice tracking is convenient and easy for YOU, of course, but what's in it for the listener?

The Arbitron Client Conference One Tweet At A Time

Real-time results for #ACCJMS10: (join the conversation!)

We must be the source of innovation. --Larry Rosin, Edison Research via Twitter for iPhone from Inner Harbor, Baltimore

@stevejonesabc: Compared to 1-year ago, 55% of 12-24 are using Facebook MORE, says Edison Research.

JessicaNorthey

Hope everyone at the Arbitron Client Conf/Jacobs Media Summit is getting as much from it as I am!!! At #ACCJMS10 sitting w/@JessWrightRadio @JayeAlbright Valerie Gellar @MomsofAmerica and Tom Taylor from Radio-Info listening 2 @fnjacobs

fnjacobs

Great remarks from Arbitron boss Bill Kerr about radio's opportunity in the digital media space.

@Debesayian: "We are sitting on the greatest opportunity to transform the radio industry forever...Nobody can mine a database better than us"

Create specialized contests & prize packages for your strongest, most involved listeners. You have to mine the data to get there.

jessbenbow

@arbitroid Welcome! Don't forget the hashtag for today's session! #ACCJMS10

Continuing The Conversation

Last week Tucson-based Jessica Northey really impressed A&O clients on our latest bi-weekly client conference call, as she shared her expertise, taught us a lot about the "do's and don'ts" of Social Media Networking for Radio.

There's no doubt that country radio is playing catchup in this fast-emerging social economy as new "do and don't" lists seem to appear almost daily.

It's easy to mistake all this sharing and blogging as absolutes instead of what it really is, an ongoing dialog where new rules are constantly trumping old ones.

In that light, allow me to toss in the possibility that Jessica is "86% right" in our very enlightening exchange.

Two things she suggested raised caution flags for me.

1. Videos of the morning show (unless its compelling) can be an issue I'd try not to do. Of course, if it's truly incredible, there's nothing like Facebook to take something absolutely worldwide, but "broadcast" sparingly in social media, and engage generously. Don't find yourself with two million "likes" for all the wrong reasons, none of which grow your radio audience locally.
   
2. DO NOT update "Status" hourly on Facebook. It is self defeating. You won't make your target's news feed, since over posting drives down your score. If you want to post hourly or more often on Twitter, that's fine, since it usually leads to nothing.

It's not that I think Jessica is absolutely wrong, really, but it's just that I worry about folks taking this advice too literally, feeling that they have quotas to meet and thus damaging their efforts.

Sadly, most of the online content produced by the average radio station doesn't compete very successfully outside their current, small, group of 'friends.'

It's not that "less is more," it's that better is better.

CMA Tweets Awards

Remember when radio used to simulcast the CMA Awards because there was no stereo TV? Remember when radio listeners asked us not to spoil the awards broadcast by announcing the winners before they were shown on TV?

That all was sooooo "YESTERDAY"! (click to see what the CMA is doing today)