Radio Ink - Radio's Premier Management & Marketing Magazine

• News Tips
• Advertise
• Conferences
  • Convergence
  • Forecast
  • Hispanic Radio Conference
• Lists
• Blogs

12-14-2011

by Loyd Ford
 
A lot more people than you might think are still wondering what their social media strategy should be.  What should you include in your social media strategy for 2012?  You program your radio station to be special, so your social media should be special, too.  If you are a radio personality reading this, you should be thinking about your personal brand value and how to enhance that through personal relationship in social media.  Here are some things that you “must include.”

1. If you don’t know where you are going, you are likely to end up somewhere else.  You’ve heard this forever, but rarely is it followed in today’s broadcast environments. Set goals. What are the Top 7 things your company (or you) want from your social media? Set specific goals and make sure everyone knows what they are in advance. Put them in priority order so the focus remains most intense on the most important goals.

2. Spend some time evaluating social media tools your team can use to limit the time spent accomplishing your goals.  In other words, there are tons of tools.  Find them, educate yourself and your team and keep in mind you want to accomplish your goals in social media without it dominating your time every day. 

3. Be like China.  Watch the effort of your competition on Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms.  See what they are doing wrong.  See what is working for them.  Make sure you learn from their mistakes and take the good they are doing as your own.  By constantly evaluating how they are doing and taking the best from it (along with your very specific efforts on your own), you will strengthen your accomplishments.

4. Connect with listeners.  If you are simply putting “stuff” out there and not connecting with listeners, you will largely fail.  Get engaged and find unique ways to reward listeners with participation in their comments, pictures, engagement.  If they comment on your Facebook page, follow them back to theirs.  Make a positive comment or send them a Facebook email.

5. Make sure each member of your “team” has an action plan that shows exactly what they are working to accomplish in social media for the station and for themselves.  Remember:  Investing in the growth of your team means something to them personally, but it also enhances what the company can accomplish.

It is not enough to say you are on Facebook or you Tweet.   What is the meaning of your social media?  How do you engage and make sure you get real world results?  These five items will help you build a solid social media plan for 2012 and get your team thinking about what is important in your job, as a station and within the community where you live.

Use social media to bring more value to your work and bring listeners closer to you in 2012.  If you have a plan and make it personal, you can accomplish a lot.

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

Send This Story To A Friend