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5 Ways To Create Excitement Through Facebook.

by Loyd Ford

A lot of radio stations have Facebook pages. Not many radio stations use Facebook as a stage for listener engagement.  Yet this opportunity exists every day in your world and your listeners’ world.

Here are 5 specifics to make certain you are building an engaging stage:
1.  Constantly build your Facebook page to be interesting to the target audience you most want to attract; don’t just try to engage your Facebook audience in contests on the station.  Divorce yourself from your “radio station view.”  This way your “events” will help build the “tribe” you want to engage and help highly passionate advocates support your radio brand.

2.  Select a cause that is important to your core target and have one of your personalities consistently engage efforts for this cause on your station Facebook page.  This is a big part in helping listeners identify with you through a connection with something deeply impacting for them.

3.  Use the “create an event” feature on Facebook to invite others to radio station specific events, but make sure the event is large enough to make a strong impression on listeners who see the influence on Facebook.   And you want to have your event invitations express real value to the Facebook participators.  Also create your “event” on Facebook well in advance of your on-the-ground event so you get plenty of lead time and opportunity to create influence.  I will add that you should always include an on-air and website opportunity for more critical information or inside scoop.

4.   Make sure your Facebook engagement is both passionate and emotional.  If you take time to really focus your efforts with an actual strategy, don’t leave these important keys out of your plan.  People respond to passion and they respond to emotion.  If you work to seed passion and emotion into your Facebook effort correctly, your radio station will have a great payoff important for growth.

5.  Respect your Facebook “audience.”  Manage your content by being careful not to stage too many events on Facebook.  This is really about controlling the balance of your posts so that you remain interesting and don’t become a commercial generator for your station.   

It all starts with having a plan, but social media offers many opportunities to truly create a stage for your radio station as long as you keep your creativity focused on excellent balance of content that is interesting and truly engaging for passionate listeners (who will ultimately drive your ratings).

Loyd Ford programmed very successful radio brands in markets of all sizes for years, including KRMD AM & FM in Shreveport, WSSL and WMYI in Greenville, WKKT in Charlotte and WBEE in Rochester, NY.  Learn more about Loyd here:  http://about.me/loydford.  Reach out to Loyd via e-mail HERE
Visit his Facebook radio social media page www.facebook.com/socialnetworking4radio

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