Social media and the opportunities that come from today's online networks really captivate me. Reading about social media is something I'd probably do by choice, in a bid to extend my knowledge when it comes to marketing my own 'brand'.
However, this media convergence project gives me an ideal opportunity to explore how businesses and people are marketing themselves through social media on the internet, as a direct result of the proliferation of participatory media platforms.
I joined a LinkedIn group earlier today called Social Media For Radio, which has some really interesting content and posts that are absolutely relevant to the competitive and frugal radio industry that I absolutely love operating in. In Radio Programming: Tactics & Strategy by Eric Norberg (1996 [but still as relevant today as it was back then]) you'll find the author explain that: "commercial radio stations cover their costs from the sale of airtime", "the commercial raison d'être is delivering audiences to advertisers rather than programmes to advertisers". As a broadcaster myself, it's sad to accept that - I am a great champion of creative, programme-oriented radio, especially specialist content. However, to make more money as a radio station, you need a bigger audience so your airtime is worth more and in turn your advertisers pay you more.
Sure you could do a big-money, branded 'Capital FM' style advertising campaign on the television:
However, virtually no stations have the money to throw at a nationwide advertising campaign, let alone get those music stars together for a video shoot! And Capital's brand (the hit music network) is very easy to capture in a video. A small local station whose USP is their local content is slightly harder to market in the same manner.
Also, for a local radio station, even a paid-for online or printed ad campaign could well set them back financially so it's a risky option.... But without alerting the unknowing public to the existence of their sweet sound on the airwaves, how on earth is the struggling station ever going to acquire more listeners and thus a bigger audience for their hungry advertisers?
That's where social media marketing enters the fray. It's free, and there's a huge opportunity (when executed correctly) for a lot of people to hear about the product. It's a cost effective way of delivering a larger audience to the guys the pay - the advertisers.
Look at Radio 1's recent news intro - 'Listen, watch, share'. The 'watch' part is interesting because a lot of Radio 1's key content is being made available to view on the red button or online. Radio 1 make use of a full visualisation department! The way that Radio 1 are spreading themselves across different media platforms highlights the reality of media convergence at work.
But for me, the 'share' part of their ident is crucial. It proves that 'sharing' content, information, music and news in any manner (but let's be fair, probably on the internet) is a massive part of Radio 1's ethos, and it works with their target audience. Young people are so switched on when it comes to sharing links and content with their mates on Facebook and Twitter so the opportunities for a piece of Radio 1's output to go viral are huge. I will revisit all these points about sharing content in another blog I think, there's so much to say!
Quite basically though, social media opens a whole ocean of opportunity for cash-strapped stations to reach new audience members through content being shared.
Yes, Radio 1 have captured an audience who do readily share content, but it is cross-generational, and realistically a lot of middle-aged people are sharing content on social media too. In 2009, a Kansas University Professor, Nancy Baym explored the dynamics of Facebook and found that the "fastest-growing segment on Facebook ... now is people over age 35".
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090330091555.htm
That's where this handy group I found on LinkedIn becomes so relevant. There is a whole community of social media experts dispensing valuable advise for free, meaning the cash-strapped station even gets a walk-through guide on how to achieve a strong marketing campaign online! The opportunities for marketing a product virally are immense, but there is also a flip-side to the opportunity. We'll explore that another time too, for now I'll leave you with a link to this post.
http://www.linkedin.com/news?viewArticle=&articleID=895203908&gid=2753612&type=member&item=80411226&articleURL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Echristopherspenn%2Ecom%2F2011%2F11%2F4-vital-search-strategies-for-social-media-marketers%2F&urlhash=DsTc&trk=group_most_popular-0-b-shrttl
As a result of using the online resources that can be accessed so easily just by having a LinkedIn account, I've taken on board the author's recommendation of further reading, a book called 'Content Rules' by Ann Handley and C.C. Chapman. Should be interesting reading.
Louis.
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