It seems like since Late Night With David Letterman first became the TV show that many of radio’s morning teams tried to emulate, it’s been all about generating “water cooler content” – the stuff that leads to those valuable conversations in the workplace, dorm rooms, and hair salons.
But today, that chatter is occurring socially, and it’s changing the way that TV producers are approaching marketing their shows to consumers. Radio should be taking copious notes.
Recently, the New York Times’ Lorne Manly interviewed a group of television producers to discuss the new reality of DVRs, social media, on-demand, and DVDs and how they are now navigating and stimulating consumer buzz.
It’s interesting that of the six TV moguls they interviewed for the article, not everyone has embraced social media. While Shonda Rhimes’ (Scandal, Grey’s Anatomy) Twitter page sports more than 430,000 followers, Robert and Michelle King (The Good Wife) don’t appear to even have an account.
As Michelle notes about Twitter, “I follow it, but I never feel inclined to jump into it. But it does seem very shrewd. Going into Season 5 that actually is the plan.”
Season 5? That should make every procrastinating morning guy who hasn’t really embraced Twitter feel a little better.
But on the savvy side of the media street, there’s Beau Willimon (House of Cards) who speaks to the power of social media expanding a brand’s footprint by amplifying conversation and buzz:
“It’s really no different than a fan sitting on the couch and commenting on the episode. You just expand that family to potentially hundreds of thousands, or millions of people. I didn’t tweet hardly at all until several months ago, and it was a shameless and admitted act of promotion for the show.”
But the real key is to engage everyone involved with a show, and that’s an area in which Shonda Rhimes excels. It turns out that actress Kerry Washington on Scandal had the right idea when she suggested, “I think we should all get on Twitter.”
And as Rhimes puts it, that started a social waterfall:
“I told the cast that they all had to get on Twitter, and everybody did. Our hairdressers tweet, our D.P. [director of photography] tweets, every single member of our crew, basically, has a Twitter account now. They love doing it; it’s fun for them.”
So, how can radio learn from the good things – and the not-so-good things – that television is utilizing to leverage the power of social media tools?
- As Shonda Rhimes has skillfully done, make sure the entire cast is tweeting – what’s going on behind the scenes, upcoming guests, and other backstage material that makes the show interesting.
- Tap into the social accounts of your guests because chances are, they’re on Facebook and Twitter and can drive their fans, friends, and followers to your show. By promoting themselves, they’re exposing their communities to your brand.
- Beau Willimon conducts 30-minute Q&As with House of Cards fans each week. Great personality shows have their core of fans who can become even more engaged and spread the word, so taking them behind the scenes makes good sense.
- Build brand advocate programs similar to how Major League Baseball uses their “Fan Cave.” Well-connected fans can do lots of the heavy lifting for your show.
- Start doing Google Hangouts, a way for core fans to connect with a show – or feature guest interviews in a real unique way that makes them feel special. This is a powerful Google tool that any station can use.
Too often, we hear radio execs talk about monetizing social media, when in fact, the real power is in creating an entirely different brand of viral water cooler talk.
If you need more information about how to implement this for your brand, Lori Lewis can steer you in the right direction.
And for more inspiration, turn on your TV and watch the transformation take place right before your eyes. Television is dealing with a very fast-moving consumption revolution. Rethinking how buzz is generated and new audience communities are built is at the heart of this change – and this opportunity.
And stay away from the water cooler.
Jacobs Media has consistently walked the walk in the digital space, providing insights and guidance through its well-read national Techsurveys.
In 2008, jacapps was launched - a mobile apps company that has designed and built more than 1,300 apps for both the Apple and Android platforms. In 2013, the DASH Conference was created - a mashup of radio and automotive, designed to foster better understanding of the "connected car" and its impact.
Along with providing the creative and intellectual direction for the company, Fred consults many of Jacobs Media's commercial and public radio clients, in addition to media brands looking to thrive in the rapidly changing tech environment.
Fred was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2018.
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Why does it always come down to “monetizing social media”? No one ever said “monetize the request line.” It’s about engagement and community-building.
Thanks, Ed, and what makes it worse is that it’s not costing stations a dime to have Twitter accounts or Facebook pages (yet). You’d think that with essentially free tools, there would be more of a spirit of how can I most effectively use them to foster better relationships. Ah well.
I think the social media montetization fixation can be at least partially linked to Wall Street. They insist on sector averages for every top and expense line number and don’t seem to get or at least embrace how in radio, those numbers are linked to personality/localization/brand building.
Social Media is basically free and it wasn’t that long ago that if you wanted to reach out to fans and would be fans outside of your air, you had to pay for it. Given how little money is available for paid outside marketing at most clusters, you’d think folks would jump on any free too that might be effective. Ah well indeed.
Bob, you are probably on-point about the pressures from the investment communities to monetize EVERYTHING – including stuff you don’t pay for. How counter-intuitive. And dumb. Thanks for pitching in.
I think people trying to monetize social media are missing the point. Social media is not something to be monetized directly, but something that will lead to monetary rewards. We have seen how passionate fans can resurrect shows that have been cancelled by filling out petitions. The trick is to engage that audience before a show gets cancelled. With DVRs, network websites, and on-demand services offering more ways to consume television programs, social media might be a great way to measure engagement.
The same can be said of radio. If I am a fan of a three hour radio program, but am only able to listen to an hour during my commute, how can I stay informed? One way is with social media. By using social media, I can have a direct line to the on-air personalities. If they have created a Vine video, they can post that on social media. If they have taken a photo with a celebrity, I can see that as well. The interaction between on-air talent and its audience does not end after the radio program. The fans can be engaged all throughout the day. With engagement comes a relationship and with that relationship comes money. While relationship and money might not be a 1-1 correlation, there is merit to building that fan base.
Very well put and a smart depiction of the new listener/station/personality relationship. Thanks for taking the time to block out that new relationship and how social media can power it.