A recent story in Inside Radio discussed the now-familiar dilemma revolving around how stations and DJs with lots of fans and followers can sell advertising around the strength of their social media profiles.
A number of radio broadcasting mavens were interviewed, and the bottom line conclusion was that social media is a nuanced communications tool that isn’t easy to tap into on the revenue side. It requires transparency on the part of high-visibility air personalities who shouldn’t try to blatantly sell things to their fans. As the article pointed out, radio DJs have amassed 36+ million Facebook fans and 58 million Twitter followers in just the top 25 markets. Yet, few if any broadcasters have cashed in on these impressive social media fan bases.
As Lori Lewis has reminded us since joining Jacobs Media, being sold isn’t usually why people “like” stations on Facebook or follow them or their personalities on Twitter. Social is really about brands being in the moment, capturing that real-time excitement, and reflecting it back to the consumers who like and follow them.
Last week, Lori discovered a great example of how this works, thanks to NRG’s Jeff Winfield. It’s fascinating that while radio’s big personality shows have typically been great at seizing the moment when it comes to what’s going on in town – or the world – they are often slower to recognize these same opportunities socially.
Here’s Lori’s “take” on how carpe diem works in the social space. – FJ
The San Francisco Giants may have won the World Series, but it was Chevrolet Regional Zone Manager Rikk Wilde from Kansas City who unwittingly won the Internet that night.
Wilde, who was clearly nervous presenting the keys to a new Chevy Colorado to World Series MVP Madison Bumgarner, unknowingly became a Twitter sensation when he uttered this line: “The Colorado offers class-winning and -leading, um, you know, technology and stuff.”
Here’s the moment:
>Email recipients: Click here to watch the Rikk Wilde “technology and stuff” presentation<
None of us is perfect, especially under the bright lights of a global audience, and any of us could choke under this pressure. That’s what being “flawsome” is all about – flawed and awesome – simultaneously.
So instantly, “#TechnologyAndStuff” became a trending topic on Twitter.
And in a great example of seizing that Twitter moment, here is what Chevy did:
Chevy quickly had “#TechnologyAndStuff” plastered on their website, and even took out full page ads in publications like USA Today the next day:
Chevy was nimble and perceptive enough to seize this moment. That’s a great lesson for how brands should behave today.
Smart stations and personalities know when to say something, and when to stay quiet.
- They are in tune with their current image, its voice and consumer expectations, and work from that origin.
- They speak as though they are people – without losing the trust and capital built up along the way.
- They believe every person counts and work continuously to earn a positive exchange with fans.
Being in the moment can have a bottom-line effect, too. When you have a real handle on social interaction, you’ll find an increase in your brand’s positive image, a boost in fans sampling the brand, and more recommendations to their friends because you were so good, they couldn’t stop tweeting about you.
So perhaps the real benefit – financially, socially, and from the standpoint of building brands – isn’t using Facebook and Twitter as sales platforms, but as digital reflectors that keep brands and personalities in the moment, capturing what people are feeling in real time.
And if you want to find out more about your brand’s social media “footprint” and how you can best take advantage of the social space, sign up now for Techsurvey11, launching in January.
Lori will be moderating a panel at Conclave 39 (Nov. 14-14 in Minneapolis) – “Socially Unacceptable” – featuring Brian Thomas/Cumulus, Kevin Robinson/Hubbard Radio, and others. Information here
I think that Lori’s point is right on the money. It doesn’t require being “flawsome” although that does really humanize a situation, making it very real, but radio personalities have that singular one-to-one advantage while speaking to hundreds of thousands of listeners. I read and hear so much about monetizing digital assets when the social relevance of local radio is extremely powerful. Local radio and its personalities have always fueled “watercooler talk”, that has not changed, it’s just taken on a extension opportunity. Use it wisely….but use it.
Great points, Dick. Thank you for taking the time to share.