Many -- maybe most -- stations use Facebook WRONG.

[Holland Cooke]

“Social Media is NOT ‘broadcasting,’ it’s ‘engagement...’”
...according to Arbitron's Digital Media Manager Jacquelyn Bullerman and DMR's Trip Eldredge, co-presenting “Let's Get Engaged,” at the recent Arbitron Client Conference. They summarized a study of how 45 stations employ Social Media, and demonstrated some important do’s and don’ts.

The most-common, most-fundamental mistake stations make?
Using a tool like Facebook as another one-to-many transmitter.
“Social media is NOT about the station. It’s about ‘them’ [listeners who Friend you].”

And “listeners are using Facebook as Customer Service.” It’s “a very public, very transparent consumer dialogue;” and those who take the time to post are likely P1s (so-called “First Preference” listeners, those who listen to your station most), mathematically the most-valuable listeners a station can have.

Common Facebook faux pas:

• Pushing the station’s agenda. “Contests, talking about the station, etc., are not ‘engagement.’”

• Another no-no: Inviting questions and not responding, “like not showing up for a date.” Facebook requires attention.

• Others: Ignoring direct questions. “Everyone sees that you do!” Or not-expressing-interest-in what’s being posted.

• Worse: Ducking tough questions. One laughably-bad example: a station deleted all the negative posts about a fired DJ and posted an advertiser’s coupon. Ouch. A more useful response: transparency, have the conversation.

All-of-the-above are typical of how stations misuse Facebook: “No clear strategy;” the station is there “because everyone else has a Facebook page.” Better than not being there at all? Yeah…but not much.

More, including how smarter stations use Facebook, in my Arbitron Conference notes @ www.HollandCooke.com

Happy NEWS Year,
HC

 

[MC]

Arbitron the gold standard of Social Media? they seem to fall short themselves

 

[borderblaster]

Complete FAIL if your station has a profile page and not a business page.

 

[Holland Cooke]

"Why should I?"

Properly-exploited, Facebook is one helluva tool for radio personalities. Yet everywhere I go, I hear radio hosts groping to get to 1000 or some other round number by begging listeners to “Friend me,” without offering them a reason.

Why should I?
"Friend me" betrays a fundamental misunderstanding of engagement.

Meanwhile, MY BARBER – someone without a transmitter – has, as of this writing, 41,013 Likes for his Facebook page "I Love My Rhode Island Accent."

If you live in, or are from, The Ocean State, you “get it.” I do, and I do. The Rhode Island accent is the awkward collision of Boston and New York accents, and locals here celebrate that, with quips aplenty on this page.

This should be instructive to radio people who misuse Social Media to “broadcast.” Like great Talk Radio, Social Media is programmed by a crowd, and merely hosted by the host.

HC
www.HollandCooke.com

PS: THAT SAID, you're invited to follow me on Twitter.

 

[Holland Cooke]

And while I've got you...

Every time a-voice-on-the-radio says "CHECK OUT OUR WEB SITE," can't you almost hear that 1980s Compuserve modem screech?

 

[mescutia]

Re: And while I've got you...

Every time a-voice-on-the-radio says "CHECK OUT OUR WEB SITE," can't you almost hear that 1980s Compuserve modem screech?

No.

 

[Holland Cooke]

RE: "can't you almost hear that 1980s Compuserve modem screech?"

No.

In THAT case, young lady, it's past your bed time!

But since you're still up...

[cue harp swirl]
Once-upon-a-time, we plugged the computer into a phone line.
[cue harp swirl]
Fast-forward to present day: Many -- possibly most -- radio station web sites are still "pages," a brochure about the station.
Zzzz...

Headline news: Attention already was currency...before it got REAL scarce.
People were pacing-in-front-of the microwave 20 years ago.
Now, there's a crime called "Distracted Driving."

Blending-into the blah-blah-blah is a recipe for extinction.
Example: http://survivalspeech.wordpress.com/2012/01/01/tell-me-something-i-dont-know/

 

[mescutia]

Re: RE: "can't you almost hear that 1980s Compuserve modem screech?"

A few things:

1) Young lady?

2) The phrase that reminds me of screeching modems is actually "AOL keyword".

3) I don't know about you, but when I go to a radio station's website, it's because I'm looking for, say, the name of a song that was just played. I would think that would be considered information about the station.

4) I don't work in the radio industry, but even I can tell you that a station website done right can actually be a really good source of information. For one thing, it can have direct links to Facebook and Twitter (and Google+) profiles, which eliminates the chance that someone doing a search for a station on Facebook will end up with the wrong result (such as a fan-made page). It can also be dynamic and have such useful features as a list of songs recently played, show clips, etc.

5) But the main reason I replied "no" above? The Web DIDN'T EXIST in the 1980s.

 

[Holland Cooke]

"Young lady?"

"On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog."
And, other than the handful of us who do identify here, it's capriciously anonymous.

I don't work in the radio industry

Welcome anyway!
For you, the living, this mash was meant too.

Reading some threads here, one gets the impression that many-who-lurk-here don't actually do-radio for a living.
And many who do-do radio might not for long, the way things are going.
Thus the worth of getting as-right-as-possible.

Good point about name-that-tune...which many stations don't do. And as research (also presented at the Arbitron conference, which you can download @ www.HollandCooke.com) also demonstrates, listeners still do use radio to discover new music. So, on behalf of everyone-in-radio who's-still-working, THANKS for listening.

 

[MC]

Given shake-ups in programming and personalities, I wonder if social media could be a curse more than a benefit? Look at concerns about bank and other fees. A big friend list could become a cadre of discontented to raise holy hell when it comes to a programming change or a beef with an advertiser.

Also correlating social media to a profit margin is not entirely defined. A station was running a contest where people texted in, then a short time later they were getting a bunch of unwanted ads to their phones...not too cool.

 

[borderblaster]

Every brand that is on Facebook faces the same risk of negative comments and posts. You have to make a choice in how you handle them. If you aren't in control of the conversation, someone else will be.

 

[Holland Cooke]

It's NOT just another "transmitter." It's a CONVERSATION.

A big friend list could become a cadre of discontented to raise holy hell when it comes to a programming change or a beef with an advertiser.

Every brand that is on Facebook faces the same risk of negative comments and posts. You have to make a choice in how you handle them. If you aren't in control of the conversation, someone else will be.

AMEN to both!

This is what stations-that-view-Facebook-as another one-to-many transmitter don't get.
It's a CONVERSATION.

Highly recommended reading -- even without the accompanying narration by its presenters -- is the Arbitron/dmr PowerPoint
“Let’s Get Engaged: Ratings & Social Media,” which you can view @ www.HollandCooke.com (among other Arbitron/Jacobs presentations, second-item-on my homepage, under "If you couldn't make it to Baltimore...").

Happy New Year,
HC

 

[Tom Wells]

Facebook is a worldwide CB where the conversation holds still for posterity.
At least on CB 27 mhz it was real time only.

CB was fully public, and often in the worst of ways.
For the same reasons Facebook is a one-level, street-level network and behaves differently from controlled access networks.
It is a dangerous area for those accustomed to stature, respect, advantage or controlled monoploy.

 

[Holland Cooke]

RE "a worldwide CB where the conversation holds still for posterity"

At least on CB 27 mhz it was real time only. CB was fully public, and often in the worst of ways.

YES!

And Social Media is more so, since, once you put something "out-there," it's out-there for keeps...as lots of young job applicants find out the hard way. Those shots of you guzzling from the jug-handle-size Popov bottle CAN haunt you later (http://getonthenet.com/SuccessAgain.mp3).

AND, about two years ago, The Library of Congress (!) started archiving Tweets. Yep, everything on Twitter is enshrined there forever. Though it was already "out-there" forever anyway. So, as many radio-info members don't-seem-to-do, think-before-you-type.

Also from a couple years back, this, which, just-a-couple-years-later, looks dated to me, and reminds us how fast Social Media are evolving: http://getonthenet.com/facebooktwitter.pdf. Included there: "The 20 Most-re-Tweetable Words & Phrases (at the time).

HC
www.HollandCooke.com

PS: CB still works! And since so many users have wandered-away from it, CB works BETTER because it's less-crowded.

 

[radiowizard101]

I still don't see the need for any social media in my life. No Twitter or Facebook here. Does that mean that I'm faceless and a waste of human flesh? (Now, I'm scared) By the way, I've watched the Social Network movie and it made absolutely no sense to me. So... can anybody tell me what all of this social networking is all about, other than a scam to collect personal information and sell it to advertisers? I really want to know.

 

[Holland Cooke]

RE "I still don't see the need for any social media in my life."

I hear ya.
I was the-last-on-my-block to get a cell phone.
'Didn't want to be that loud-talker in the restaurant: "You're breaking up...you're breaking up..."
Meanwhile, the couple at-the-next-table was...BREAKING-UP.
Ouch.

I've watched the Social Network movie and it made absolutely no sense to me. So... can anybody tell me what all of this social networking is all about, other than a scam to collect personal information and sell it to advertisers? I really want to know.

That stealthy collecting-information-for-advertisers process SURE IS an issue. By participating, users give-permission.
Given the unprecedented adoption of Social Media, users either don't-know or don't-care.
We trade-off for the novelty and usefulness of the tool itself.

And the platform itself.
Nobodies are the new Somebodies.
YouTube, Facebook, etc. let anyone "do a show."

It really is CB.
And, like CB, lots of the traffic is just noise.
Thus the opportunity.
As with on-air programming, those using the online platform who cut-through-the-clutter will be heard.

HC
www.HollandCooke.com

 

[recto101]

“Social Media is NOT ‘broadcasting,’ it’s ‘engagement...’”
...according to Arbitron's Digital Media Manager Jacquelyn Bullerman and DMR's Trip Eldredge, co-presenting “Let's Get Engaged,” at the recent Arbitron Client Conference. They summarized a study of how 45 stations employ Social Media, and demonstrated some important do’s and don’ts.

The most-common, most-fundamental mistake stations make?
Using a tool like Facebook as another one-to-many transmitter.
“Social media is NOT about the station. It’s about ‘them’ [listeners who Friend you].”

And “listeners are using Facebook as Customer Service.” It’s “a very public, very transparent consumer dialogue;” and those who take the time to post are likely P1s (so-called “First Preference” listeners, those who listen to your station most), mathematically the most-valuable listeners a station can have.

Common Facebook faux pas:

• Pushing the station’s agenda. “Contests, talking about the station, etc., are not ‘engagement.’”

• Another no-no: Inviting questions and not responding, “like not showing up for a date.” Facebook requires attention.

• Others: Ignoring direct questions. “Everyone sees that you do!” Or not-expressing-interest-in what’s being posted.

• Worse: Ducking tough questions. One laughably-bad example: a station deleted all the negative posts about a fired DJ and posted an advertiser’s coupon. Ouch. A more useful response: transparency, have the conversation.

All-of-the-above are typical of how stations misuse Facebook: “No clear strategy;” the station is there “because everyone else has a Facebook page.” Better than not being there at all? Yeah…but not much.

More, including how smarter stations use Facebook, in my Arbitron Conference notes @ www.HollandCooke.com

Happy NEWS Year,
HC

The general public like me also has to learn these tips from you.

 

[FreddyE1977]

Re: And while I've got you...

Every time a-voice-on-the-radio says "CHECK OUT OUR WEB SITE," can't you almost hear that 1980s Compuserve modem screech?

Good point. If you can't use 1930's technology to promote 1990's technology any better than THAT...

 

[FreddyE1977]

I still don't see the need for any social media in my life. No Twitter or Facebook here.

My main objection is that they are too much work!

My sister got my wife hooked on Facebook, and I can see how it literally sucks hours and
hours and hours out of her life now. No thank you.

Besides, why do I want FM 99.3 to be my FRIEND?
It was creepy enough back in the 70's when Channel 4 kept saying that it loved me.

 

[charlestondxman]

In our area, the country music stations have the most followers while the news/talk stations don't use it well. For example, when our midday local personality was cut off at the end of November, they deleted all of the negative comments toward the station (WTMA) about Rocky D being fired.