Radio was the first social network. Sharing information, telling stories and building communities over the airwaves. Now, stations are using social media to deepen audience relationships. They are increasing engagement on-air and online, building loyalty and getting more people to listen for longer.
Social media converts followers into listeners
Local radio attracts listeners who are passionate neighbours, businesses and community organisations enthusiastic about their area. Social media helps to develop this relationship with insightful and shareable content, driving a need to know more through listening to the station or engaging in online discussions.
No longer are stations just sharing news articles; owned content is king. Radio is becoming increasingly visual with stations such as LBC, Radio 1 and Capital all sharing video content including emotional case studies, fiery or comedic exchanges between presenters and listeners and in-studio webcams capturing all the activity of a show. This content encourages the on-air listener to move online, and the online follower to switch on the radio and this is only encouraged by services like audioBoom sharing this content on social media, websites or smartphones for the morning commute.
Crucially, the content sharing is now both ways. Listeners have the power to control what they want to listen to on-air, collaborating directly with producers by sharing photos, videos, news, music requests or messaging presenters. The best content is shared on the station’s website to encourage community engagement and drive website traffic.
How to make this work for campaigns
Offering both a spokesperson and interesting social content increases your campaign's influence, reaching listeners and followers.
With cuts to editorial budgets seeing newsrooms across the country shrinking, social media provides a local and efficient way for audiences to create their own content for stations; from accidents on local roads to a regional story attracting lots of attention but has not yet hit the news wires.
A tweet is just as sweet
It is not just radio stations that are the key to spreading your message. Presenters are influencers who talk about your brand, even if your spokesperson is not on-air. Their loyal fans trust them which strengthens loyalty to both brands and stations. For example, when music personalities host one-off shows on Magic their followers are likely to listen and stay listening after the programme.
For those listeners that want to engage with the presenter on-air, switchboards can get blocked up quickly. Twitter and Facebook - the most popular networks for radio - make interacting with the programme convenient and provides quicker access to presenters than calling.
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Social media is also being used by stations to build a loyal community of fans through exclusive content, including images of what the presenter is eating for breakfast, online streams of a Q&A or video content of presenters continuing on-air discussions online. Coverage can be secured by brands if they are able to offer products as prizes, getting your message across in online-only competitions that can be teased on-air to drive listeners to social media pages.
Social media increases engagement, drives loyalty and continues the conversation even after the audience switches off the radio.
So when listeners aren’t listening, they’re always tuned in.
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