The Next Game Changer?

What do you think will be the next game changer for radio? Is it Social Media? Or is there some other technology on the horizon? As you know, a lot of people are talking about the necessity of using Social Media, but few actually explain ways how. It is one thing to tell radio stations to connect with listeners via Twitter or Facebook, which is what the "consultants" and "experts" are telling you right now. But few can do it successfully without a budget. After all, it takes manpower to create the accounts, then follow or friend people and respond to messages. Small and medium markets may have more of a challenge to maximize their Social Media presence. Problems I imagine some of the smaller stations encountering are having an intern or weekend person take on the Social Media responsibility, only to leave the station with no back up plan. 

The other aspect is revenue. Engaging with your listeners is not really generating revenue. Telling your listeners that you are at a remote can get them to come, but will it get them to buy? It depends on a few things, obviously. And this is not about the anatomy of sales. But there are things you can do to engage your audience with your sponsors to encourage a sale. But in order to make sure you can make some revenue, you need to be sure you are set up properly to manage your Social Media accounts. 

How can you use Social Media without hiring a full team to manage your brand? You start by using some of the free tools that exist. When you learn how to use them to generate some revenue, you can then move up and use better tools that have premiums to use them, and maybe hire someone to manage it for you. But how do you get started? What tools are essential? I will cover three today. As you read this you may already be advanced past these basic tools. There are many more that I will be writing about, but felt I should build the foundation to a strong Social Media management strategy. I hope you'll agree and choose to share this with your colleagues.

1. Email - I know you already have this, as so much communication is still transmitted via email. And yes, email is still relevant and always will be. When you create your Social Media Accounts, you should use a "manager's email". I prefer using GMail because of some of the features that are easy to use, such as being able to forward, tag and archive messages automatically. So, in this "manager's email" account you would "forward" the social media messages to an employee or intern to handle, but you can also archive a copy in your email. This way you can also monitor the incoming messages, or at least have a record should the need arise. Using email allows you or your community manager to make sure the station doesn't miss any interaction with your followers. When you sign up for any Social Media account, make sure all email settings are checked. Yes, this means your email flow will increase which is why you need a unique account specifically for Social Media use, or at least a way to filter the messages to a specific folder or tag (as GMail uses).
2. A Social Media Friendly Web Browser - This is a time saver in many ways. If your station wants to keep up on pop culture and share that with your listeners through some Social Media sites, having a Web Browser that has Social Media elements integrated makes it easy. If your morning show is keeping up on Lindsay Lohan, it is so easy to pop onto Perez Hilton's site, and select the latest Lindsay Lohan gossip and share on your station's Twitter or Facebook page! If you are a sports station, you can click on any sports website and easily share the latest scores with the click of a mouse. These are just a couple basic examples. If you have a unique station, feel free to contact me and I'll show you what you can do. 
   There are 3 browsers that I recommend: Chrome, Firefox and Flock.
• Chrome is Google's web browser. It is very fast and now offers quite a selection of add-ons, or extensions that make Social Media management easy, such as the share button. 
• Firefox is created by Mozilla and has been around for many years and there are hundreds of thousands of add-ons. This is probably the most widely used browser for those into Social Media. 
• Flock is also created by Mozilla but was created for the Social Media butterfly. It integrates many tools right into the browser to make sharing easy. They recently made some changes and have a Chrome engine running it. 
3. A Blog - Ideally, each jock or announcer on your station should have a blog that is updated regularly. It does not have to be done daily, but weekly is good. What do you use the blog for? Simply put, it is written communication to your listeners of what is happening at your station. If you are a small station and don't have much going on, then talk about what's going on in the community. It can be your Public Service portal. Your announcer or jock blogs should be an extension of their personality on the air. They should be giving their listeners the information they want, such as concert updates, artist news or even artist history. Some thought should be put into the blog, and it should not just be ramblings, or mundane updates. All the blogs can then be automatically fed to your Social Media channels such as Facebook or Twitter, through a service like TwitterFeed or Ping.fm. This will bring traffic back to your site, which is what you really want. There are numerous blog sites that are free, and you can easily add a tab on your stations website to open up the blog page. Or you can use software like Word Press or Blogger to build your website. 

There are many other tools that I plan on writing about. I will also delve a little deeper into some of the Social Media sites that are out there and where you should have a presence. Hopefully you already have a Twitter and Facebook Page. Please understand the difference between a Facebook Profile and a Facebook Page. You'll want to set up a Page for your station, not a Profile. One reason is the limitation on the number of people that can follow a Profile (which is currently at 5000). Also, Pages were set up specifically for Pages. See this post I wrote for more info: http://blog.cabradio.com/2009/04/social-media-101.html. 

If you can't wait for my next post here, don't hesitate to contact me. Find my contact info here: http://contact.charlieprofit.com. I'm happy to give you a free consultation with ideas you can implement immediately. 

Don't forget to click to share and tell your colleagues to follow this blog. It only takes a minute, and you'll feel good about it! Comments are also welcome!

Originally Posted at http://blog.cabradio.com/2010/07/next-game-changer.html

Don’t “get” Social Media? Think like a Musician.

2009. The year of the Social Media explosion. Thanks to Facebook and Twitter primarily, the world has found a new way to stay connected, interact and experience each other.

Of course, businesses and marketing types have noticed the power of these new fangled tools and the great ways they’re influencing both the masses and products.

One of the hottest new jobs in 2010 will be for people who know how to harness the power of these tools for individual companies and brands. Seminars are popping up everywhere with “experts” and “guru’s” willing to help explain this new landscape, why it’s important and what it all means. I’ve attended quite a few over the past year. Some have been worth attending. Many have just been common sense.

DISCLAIMER: I’m not an expert. I’m not a guru either. But I like to think I get it.

I like music. Like most people, it moves me. It’s been a part of me all my life, thanks largely to my Dad. I’ve personally interviewed at least a couple hundred certified Rock Stars over the years (real Rock Stars…not to be confused with the Social Media standouts claiming the title per their awesomeness). The beauty of musicians is their willingness to expose themselves to an audience. Their words are intimate, if only to them. They’re more so than not, authentic in their personality and not everyone gets them because of that – but that’s ok. They have a tribe of fans who do get them and are willing to do anything to champion the success of their star.

Musicians are tied to community. They’re passionate about cause and the human condition as it often feeds their inspiration. When they write (just like Twitter and Facebook status’s), their words reach out and relate to someone else who sees things as they do. It creates a connection and apparent conversation. It’s personal between the artist and listener.

U2 360

I had the pleasure of seeing U2’s 360 Tour at Carter Finley Stadium this year. From the minute I walked into the stadium Bono was speaking my language.

“Do you like our stage? We call it “The Claw”. We built it this way to get closer to you…to be more intimate”, he said. It reminded me more of a giant spaceship come to take us all away. I dare say by the end of the concert if Bono had said “climb aboard”, we all would have. He was that good.

He had me. Not only did he just drop a concept right out of the Social Media handbook, but the stage was set up like the popular island exhibits you see at conventions. At trade shows, it’s routine, but out of the numerous concerts I’d seen, this was the first for me. U2 accomplished what I’ve been telling my exhibit customers since the early 90’s. Use the structure to stage the tone and message, but get rid of obstructions and allow free flowing traffic. Remove the barriers. Allow access (if only in perception).

Throughout the show, Bono connected. He delivered the pillars that make Social Media so appealing; community, engagement, conversation, transparency, authenticity, content, intimacy.

Another one of the most well rounded shows I’ve ever seen ranked right up there with U2 is jazz musician and trumpeter Chris Botti. The show was flawless. It was just a great ride. It rocked. It swooned. At times, he made it big. Other times, he brought us in nice and close. It was an experience.

One of the more disappointing shows this year was blues guitar phenom Joe Bonamassa. He only said one brief thing the entire night…at the beginning. His performance on the guitar was breathtakingly impressive not doubt, but it was a one-sided show. He lacked content so he never engaged or connected…at least with me. The blues are chocked full of stories and emotions to draw on. I never felt his.

Sting

“If On A Winter’s Night” is the latest project from Sting. This past Sunday morning, CBS’s Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood featured an interview with the virtuoso. Sting talked about how playing in a church or pub is very different than playing a large stadium full of people. It’s a different mindset.

“In a large stadium event, your goal is to make it an intimate a setting as possible. In a small intimate setting, the goal is to make it an event.” [paraphrased]

Experienced musicians know how to connect. They make it personal regardless of the venue or transaction.

As your company moves into 2010 and considers implementing Social Media into its marketing and branding mix, keep this in mind. It’s not rocket science. It’s just personal.

We’ve all gotten comfortable over the years doing business a certain way and for the most part it worked, right? The barriers for your customers have been knocked down now. They have access to more information, education, choices and people now more than ever. They trust status updates and their friends more than what we as businesses tell them is good for them. We all can be replaced by something faster, better and cheaper in an instance.

The good news? It’s still all about the way you treat your customers. Remember the email and website explosion of the 90’s? This is so much cooler. Once again, you’ve got a new set of tools to play with…to stay connected, interact and experience each other.

The bigger the transaction, the more intimate it should be. The smaller the transaction – it’s still a big deal to them.

The world’s a stage. Go play.