Comments (2)

By Steve, July 27, 2009 3:47 pm

1) The phone topic you’ll be discussing later in the show. (Get online comments to read on-air.)

2) The time your next live remote begins — and the great prizes you’re giving away only to those who follow you on Twitter and Facebook.

3) A direct link to the page where followers can hear your latest, greatest bit, or view your new show video.

4) A link to the image you just snapped at your live event and uploaded to TwitPic.

5) Emergency weather bulletins, with a reminder to tune to your station “now” for continuing local updates.

Comments (4)

By Steve, July 21, 2009 12:08 pm

Twitter and Facebook allow you to pop into your listeners’ online lives when you want. It’s true! If someone joins your radio station Facebook fan page, or follows you on Twitter, anything you type is inserted into their personal news stream.

So don’t blow it.

I follow many radio stations on Twitter, and tweets like this one leave me dumbfounded. It’s a real tweet, but the station and jock names have been changed:

Jack in the Morning is back! Carl Adams is in for Art Williams rest of this week from 10am-12pm on K-107. Join Bill Peters today for the 5 at 5!

Hundreds of K-107′s listeners have said, “Yes! Please enter my life stream through Twitter/Facebook!” — and the best it can deliver is a DJ schedule.

Here’s a better tweet:

JACK: I’m back Wed. with the craziest lost luggage story ever. Tune in at 7:15 and share YOUR vacation/travel nightmare. Trust me…you won’t want to miss this!

1) Instead of a robotweet from the station, the update was sent by Jack (even if it was really sent by Jack’s producer).

2) Jack has given the station’s followers a pretty compelling reason to tune in. Everyone’s had a vacation nightmare and, more importantly, if I enjoy Jack’s show and like his stories I’m going to tune into to hear what he has to share.

Like a radio show, Facebook and Twitter are personal forms of communication.

Comments (0)

By Steve, July 15, 2009 12:58 pm

If you can’t laugh at yourself…

Comments (1)

By Steve, July 7, 2009 12:51 pm

For those of us on the programming side of radio it’s never too late to learn about the business side. If the color of the corporate logo on your paycheck is the extent of your knowledge of your company, do yourself a favor and take 20 seconds to be better informed. Go to Google News and, in quotes, search for your company’s name (e.g. “Miller Broadcasting”). Once Google delivers the latest news to your screen click the “News Alerts” link on the left side of the page. Now tell Google to email you once a day with the latest company headlines.

Comments (9)

By Steve, July 5, 2009 4:49 am

I just read a great post by Jaye Albright on contests that award a prize to the “Nth” caller. In a nutshell, Jaye says:

• Being the 9th caller is fun…for the disc jockey.
• Eight other people “lose” because they learn on the way to #9 that they were “the wrong caller”.
• Everyone else “wins” a busy signal.
• We’re likely not doing these contests because listeners like them but because radio’s always done them!
• Historically, the best radio contests reinforce the station’s brand image or key unique selling positioning points.

This is not to say contests shouldn’t be played. As Jaye reminds us: Only a very small percentage of your audience will participate in a contest so you want to make sure you are offering entertainment value to keep those who are not playing the game entertained.

This can be as simple as an identify-the-song-clip contest, or some compelling trivia. Another thought: Don’t ask for a caller. Instead, why not reward someone who phones in with a request or compliment. Example:

Caller: “I just wanted to say we love your station. You guys always play the best music and we’re jamming to you right now out at North Side Park!”

You: “That’s awesome! For everybody out at North Side Park, I’m gonna play one of the best summer time songs ever. And since you were kind enough to call in, I’d love for you to be my guest at Saturday’s monster truck show. Would you like a pair of tickets?”

Caller: “That would be great!”

You: “Then enjoy the monster truck show and enjoy this song for everybody at North Side Park…”

One other thought: Use prizes to reward those who’ve given you permission to interrupt their lives — email club members, text club members, Facebook group fans, etc. These listeners are very interested in what your station is doing so perhaps they should be rewarded first.