Finger Candy Friday: Social Media Faux Pas Pitfalls

A 'faux pas' is considered a violation of accepted social norms regarding customs or etiquette rules. The term comes from the French, and literally means "false step". Faux pas vary widely from culture to culture, and what is considered good manners in one, can be rude in another.
Just ask KTCK's MikeBacsik about it.

THE LOW ROAD? Chuck Geiger

The All About Country poll is now at 85% of Country Music Radio professionals, who believe there is a disconnect between the programmers and the audience. Through the music style we now employ, we are focusing on 25-34 and 18-24 females, 18-34 to be exact. Way too low for this format, plus we have brought in more competition doing this. Instead of only being challenged by AC and or Classic Hits, Country is now in the same attraction area as: Top-40, HOT AC, AC and Rhythmic Top-40. It would great for the new CRS Agenda Committee to highlight this at next year’s convention. This has always been an adult format and we've let the musical styles from Music City dictate the direction the music has taken.

Bob Knight's Wednesday Morning Meeting for April 28, 2010

Oh, behave!

I had a cup of coffee with a media buying colleague yesterday--the conversation had many hysterical twists and turns-including which reps we share at various radio stations. In case you were wondering, media buyers are a chatty bunch. We analyze which reps we love having a beer with (Kevin O'Grady, WABC/NY), which reps know their product inside and out (most), and which reps are totally insane (should I name names?).
So, yes, we talk about your reps-- quite a bit--the good, the bad, and the ugly. One rep in particular stands out and is well-known nationally for being completely nuts. Why? How about interrupting a high-level meeting by paging the Vice President of Marketing from a major national client on an "emergency" basis to ask if the run times on a flight should be adjusted? (This Vice President was furious thinking that one of her elderly parents was in trouble.)

Certainly, what constitutes an emergency for some, does not constitute an emergency for others. If you have a sales rep that's just nuts, you may want to work with them on their behavior. And as a General or Sales Manager, be sure you're monitoring their activity with clients. Hint: If they're crazy in your office; they're crazy in front of clients, too.

Why is it that the crazy ones always hit their budget?

THE OZARK WOLF HOWLS ACROSS MID-AMERICA

I had the pleasure of talking with CC Springfield OM Paul Kelly and KSWF (100.5 The Wolf) PD Adam Burns recently about their awesome Country product. They do everything right and they have increased the ratings against heritage Country outlet, Journal's KTTS. 

Starting with mornings, Clint in the morning is a down home, real-person, talking to the audience and relating to the lifegroup through on air and social media. Clint raised diapers and cash the morning I listened to him for a listener who lost her house in a fire and just had a baby. This is what makes a connection and people talk about and raises recognition with the product.

CRB ANNOUNCES CRS AGENDA COMMITTEE

(Nashville, TN – April 26, 2010) Country Radio Broadcasters, Inc.® has announced its 2010-2011 Agenda Committee for CRS 2011, to be held March 2-4, 2011, at the Nashville Convention Center in downtown Nashville, Tennessee.

The Agenda Committee is made up of volunteers from all areas of the Country radio and record industries and gathers each year to plan events for the upcoming Country Radio Seminar. This year’s committee, which features 11 new members, will meet June 23-25, 2010, to put together the framework and topics for next year’s event.

PRIORITIES

“Win the heart and the mind will follow.  The mind (logical left brain) can always find logic to justify what the heart (intuitive right brain) has already decided.”  

     — Roy H. Williams, The Wizard of Ads.

As humans, we are all a bundle of emotions in one stage of control or another.  As marketers, and that’s what anyone in our business truly is, our job is to reach as many of those emotions as possible whether it be in your management style, your sales presentation or in the way you program your Radio station(s).

FROM JAYE ALBRIGHT'S BREAKFAST BLOG

, April 24, 2010

Ratings: UP/DOWN. Do You Know WHY?

Because there are numerous factors that cause ratings to rise and fall, too many to list in this post, it's often difficult to put a finger on exactly what causes fluctuations in your ratings.

Without the aide of analytical tools discovering why your numbers fluctuated can be frustrating.

This is not meant to be a substitute for those efforts, but rather a quick check list of numbers that sometimes get ignored when looking at the "bigger" picture.

Look for these numbers to help uncover the question of "Why?".

Audience Composition/Sample Composition: For most markets ratings break down the demos into multiple demographics: Teens, 12+, and 18+, 18-24, 25-34, 35-44, 45-54, and 55-64 for both men and women.

Here, you'll find what percentage of your audience falls within each cell.

How Does This Help You?

You certainly have an idea of whom you where targeting during the book. These numbers show how accurate you where in reaching that demo. If your primary target was Women 25-34 and your audience is comprised of only 5% from that demo, you immediately know you have a problem. Now, look at the sample composition to see if the problem was your station's or was due to a poorly distributed sample either demographically or geographically (or both).

You can also see what station did a better job in that demo. Was it reach or TSL? Compare both the Audience Composition in Cumeand AQH to help you draw a conclusion.

Daypart Trends: By looking at the Cume Rating/Persons and theAQH Share/Persons trends, you can quickly see where you were most affected.

Be sure to keep a record of what, if any, changes occurred in anydaypart during a book that could have affected your outcome (i.e. If you had a new afternoon show this book and AQH went down).

Look at how well each daypart converted the available Cume toAQH. Your marketing may be bringing them in, but is your PM Drive show keeping them?

You may also narrow down the reason for a trend to a show element by looking at the Hour-By-Hour shares. Maybe your "All Request Lunch Hour" is (or isn't) the reason for your mid-day spike. Is your morning show losing or gaining audience from 6:00am - 8:00am? You'll find these answers here. PPM data really shines here, due to its granularity and also demonstrates convincingly that much of what people write down is not what they really do.

Metro Cume Duplication Percent: With which stations do you share the most/least of your audience? Is their audience reciprocating?

This is a great way to monitor your marketing tactics. What can you do to get the attention of your competitor's listeners?

Population Estimates and In-Tab Diaries by County: Make sure you've concentrated your efforts on the hot spots. This is especially important now, since samples will still be based on changes in population estimates that started by in 2000. It will be 18 months before actual 2010 changes start to impact the estimates.

If doing a diary review, be sure to look at your return rate from these counties and compare it to your competitor's.

Look at the zip codes and do the same comparison. Be sure you know where those active radio listeners live. Even better, study the zip codes which contribute more than average time spent listening to you.

Cume Recycling: find out what percentage of your total cumepersons listen to any particular daypart. Simply divide the 12+cume for each daypart by the total metro cume.

How well are you recycling your listeners through other dayparts? Do this for your competitors' stations as well and find the daypartsyou can improve upon. You can also break this down by specific demo, as well as AQH persons.

Listening Locations: This is another indicator that is sometimes given little attention. It shows what percentage of your audience listens "At Home", "In car", and "Other". You'll get a feel for your listeners' morning, in-office, and drive time listening habits.

While looking at the big picture and searching for the generic answer in your latest book, don't take for granted these often overlooked calculations.

They can help point out some of the finer, more intricate reasons WHY your station performed the way it did.

Correct the problems you uncover, and next book you and you'll be asking, "why did we do so well this book?" Even better, you'll KNOW.

FROM EDISON RESEARCH - WHO SAYS RADIO HAS A BIG IMPACT Tom Webster

In our recent "Infinite Dial" presentation in conjunction with Arbitron, we showed the graph above, which says what percentage of the users of any given item said it has a 'big impact' on their lives. Now before anyone says I'm bashing radio, let me stress that this graph went on for two pages and many items scored lower than AM/FM radio in terms of impact.

FINGER CANDY FRIDAY - THIS WEEK: Get a G.R.A.S.P. - Social Media Made Easy

Happy Finger Candy Friday!
This was a great week for me and my company Finger Candy Media!

I released my first eBook, "Get G.R.A.S.P. - Social Media Made Easy", re-invented the Full Throttle Country website,  had a few multi-media interviews and now it's....Friday...my favorite day of the week...not because I feel it is about me but because it is the beginning of the weekend!

WHERE DO YOU STAND IN THE HUNT?

Back in the day, we dealt with the PD and then in the 80's, we began to deal with managers in the job search grind. Some companies and stations will bring in consultants, OM's, VP/Programming, PD's and MM's from sister stations to aid in the filling of what little positions there are. How many of these searches are real and how many are just courtesy calls to talk to a few people for prospective EEO points?

Watch when All Access posts an ad and how through time the ad will change. They begin looking for this, than that, then something else. Due to budgetary constraints, limited vision and an all around ignorance for the future of the radio station, many quality candidates who are still full of piss and vinegar are being ignored. Stations rarely let candidates know where they stand in the hunt for the job. There is some kind of fear that goes along with this. We can't let them know, because if we don't hire them and we told them we liked them or they were a good fit, they will sue us. 

Stace Karge 

i've gotten 2...but i will say this...had a lovely email from a pd awhile back, just letting me know he had received my demo, and would know within a week if i was being considered...honestly, i appreciated (and told him this) very much...we're all swamped...but when you're on the beach, any considerate act becomes enormous. :)

Jay R Gonzalez 

Out of 100 jobs I've applied for I've only received 3 HR forms all from CC...only 10 emails saying they received my package and they would be in contact three phone interviews, only heard back from 2 saying the filled the position and one saying they hired from within and the rest saying I was overqualified. How can you make a decision I amoverqualified based on my resume? No one takes the time to talk and find out what I am willing to accept as a financial agreement. I do my homework before I even apply as to what the basic cost of living expenses will be before I apply, and if I am applying to any market, doesn't that indicate to you that I know more or less what the market value for the position I am applying for is? Why not take a veteran like myself who has passion for this industry, knows what it takes to win, all the experience and positions I have held and use it to their advantage? I don't get it! 

Don Hallett 

99% of the positions I have applied for have not resulted in a request to complete an HR application. Probably 75% of the time after I have had an initial interview for a job has there been a follow-up email or phone call when the position has been filled and I have been passed over.

WEDS MORNING MEETING WITH Robert Knight for 4/21/10

I LOVE THE GREAT RECESSION.  In 2009, most of the annual deals we inked with stations were so outrageously low, that it was like paying Wal-Mart prices at a posh retailer like Nordstrom’s.  Alas, the reality of the slow recovery means that inventories are beginning to fill up, and rates are on the rise.

FROM DOUG ERICKSON'S BLOG "VISIONARY"

"For the first time in centuries, the creators in our economy are its rulers, their personalities shaping not only their products but entire companies. It's as if, instead of being confined to an insane asylum, Vincent Van Gogh were allowed to direct the activities of thousands."

That's Glenn Kelman, CEO of Redfin, and he said this in an article about the obsessive nature of Steve Jobs.
From various reports, Jobs is not a fun guy to work for, or even with -- but there's no denying his results.
Radio used to have visionary, maverick leaders. I'm thinking of Gordon McLendon, Ken Palmer and others of their ilk.

That was a long time ago.

WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM PIRATE RADIO

 Back in the 70's in Top-40 Radio, the staffs were much like PIRATE RADIO. We almost lived together. We hung out between shifts, ate together, played together and did great radio. Why? We were all moving in the same direction, real motivated and we loved what we did.

Watching PIRATE RADIO, you can see what's missing from radio today. A bond with the audience that seems to be growing smaller almost day to day in 2010. Everything they did was team work, they did a remote at the one jock's wedding, they were always in involved about the business of communications and talking to the audience. Wow and they sold advertising!

If you get a chance to rent the movie, check it out - Look and listen for all the special things they did for the audience and the music, late-60's pop...Rocks!

Social Media ROI: Socialnomics

I saw this video online and wanted to share with the Full Throttle Country Family. Also if you get a chance Socialnomics from Erik Qualman is an essential book for anyone who wants to understand the implications of social media, and how businesses can tap the power of social media to increase their sales, cut their marketing costs, and reach consumers directly.
ENJOY!

Twitter's Ad Platform to Launch

Last Tuesday Twitter is launched the much anticipated (and feared by some) advertising Platform !

"We hope you'll share in our enthusiasm as today we unveil a simple service we're calling Promoted Tweets. It's non-traditional, it's easy, and it makes a ton of sense for Twitter," writes Biz Stone on the Twitter Blog.

Biz Stone

In additon, "Tomorrow at Chirp, both Dick (Costolo, COO-Twitter) and our fearless leader Evan Williams will further discuss this program and what it means for the Twitter ecosystem. " He adds, "This announcement is a long time coming and we're thrilled to finally be able to share it with you. As this project matures, there will be more to talk about. We will learn a lot as the program grows. "

Finger Candy Media Signs With STAR Country Media

FINGER CANDY MEDIA Signs With STAR Country Media!

Nashville, TN (April 8, 2010) – STAR Country Media is pleased to announce the signing of FINGER CANDY MEDIA to their clientele! STAR Country Media will handle publicity and promotion efforts for the new media design and social media optimization firm. Concurrently, STAR Country Media will assist Finger Candy Media’s owner, Jessica Northey, in securing interview opportunities as well as speaking engagements.

Finger Candy Friday - Digital Platforms and the Future of Radio

A study released today from Arbitron Inc. and Edison Research shows that consumer use of social networking web sites is not just for kids! According to the report half of those living in the United States have social media profiles. While nearly eight in ten teens (78 percent) and 18 to 24s (77 percent) have personal profile pages, almost two-thirds of 25 to 34s (65 percent) and half of 35 to 44s (51 percent) also now have personal profile pages.

LYRIC STREET - THE FIRST OF MORE TO COME

Just like broadcasting had to cut costs, mostly in personnel, the same thing is happening with the music industry. The old school business plan for the record industry can't survive. Labels continued to rely on old school ways of trying to deliver and promote music to radio and listeners. Void of digital delivery systems, which they own and applications for smart phones.

Wednesday Morning Meeting for April 14, 2010

Want more listeners at your Country station?  There's an App for that!

Today in Japan, more people are using their smart phones for Internet searches than their laptops or desktop computers.  In less than ten years, it's predicted that here in the United States, we'll behave the same way.  Soon, everyone (my father excluded) will have a smart phone and will be consuming media differently.  If you are the proud owner of an iPhone, Android, and the newest BlackBerries, you're keenly aware that it's not enough to have a great Web site anymore.  It's all about the App, baby!  Has your Country station developed an App yet?  Can you listeners access your content through their mobile device?  Can they push one button and instantly be connected to your request line or send your morning show a text?  Can they submit a photo wearing station logo all around the world, with the tap of one button?  Do you have a two-way conversation going with your audience?  

WHERE'S THE CONNECTION

I was reading ALL ABOUT COUNTRY'S weekly poll, "Is your station voice on more than your talent" and so far: Station voice exceeds local talent by a landslide. Have we gotten so lazy, that even in these economic conditions, we are just plugging sweepers into the clocks? 

ARBITRON/EDISON SOCIAL MEDIA STUDY

USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA EXPLODES - ALMOST HALF OF AMERICANS HAVE PROFILES SAYS NEW ARBITRON/EDISON RESEARCH STUDY

Study Also Reveals Younger Consumers Eager to Adopt Mobile Digital Radio

COLUMBIA, Md., April 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The percentage of Americans age 12 and older who have a profile on one or more social networking Web sites has reached almost half (48 percent) of the population in 2010 – double the level from two years ago (24 percent in 2008), according to the new national survey from Arbitron Inc. (NYSE: ARB) and Edison Research, The Infinite Dial 2010: Digital Platforms and the Future of Radio.

HIT THE REPLY BUTTON PLEASE

Why Don’t People Reply to Business E-mails?
February 24, 2010 by Judith
Filed under Business E-mail Etiquette, Essentials

Because they lack business savvy? Because they don’t realize the importance of promptly responding to business e-mails? Because they do not realize that answer business e-mails in a timely manner is basically a customer service issue? I could go on…

At least a couple requests come in each day inquiring about what a person is to think when they don’t get a reply to their e-mails. The natural inclination being “they are not interested in my e-mail” or “they are ignoring me.” That’s not necessarily the case — their lack of reply may have nothing to do with you, more so it has to do with them!

We live in a me, me, me – busy, busy, busy world. I see this mentality increasingly carrying over to business communications to the exclusion of proper business practices risking perception. The idea that you can get to e-mail when you want, reply to only those you deem important can be an attitude that you’ll eventually regret. Regret that will kick in when those contacts, associates or partners stop sending you e-mail!

What I do, when I run into those who don’t respond to e-mails, is to step back and think “outside of Judith”. Most are not into this whole “e-mail etiquette thing” like I am –many time to their detriment. Some even thinking I invented e-mail etiquette (yeah, I was right next to Al Gore when he “invented” the Internet). So I always try to look at their motives, or lack there of, before I assume. Maybe they are out of town, crazy busy, having business crisis. But, if they are habitual non-repliers — I stop e-mailing.

Let’s face it, it is simply good business to take the time to e-mail those who take the time to e-mail you (of course not including obvious spam). So, how do you handle non-repliers?

TRADITIONAL OR MAINSTREAM?

Who would of thought we would see the day where some of our Power artists from the 90's would be coded traditional instead of mainstream. Proper sound coding in Selector 12v or any similar music rotation system for Mainstream Country stations should employ: Pop, traditional and mainstream.

Garth Brooks, George Strait, Brooks and Dunn, Reba and the power artists of the 90's are all considered traditional. Brad Paisley, Toby Keith, Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney are mainstream, Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood, Rascal Flatts and Keith Urban are pop. The gold becomes pretty segmented with a focus still on the class of 2004. 

The day every music industry head wished for has come true. Country is a current, recurrent and power gold based format. Omitting the reliance on so many gold categories, increase the current depth of Country radio. And we have sound coding issues there too. Easton Corbin - Traditional (Sound like a George Strait song). Lady A and Love and Theft surely pop and we continue to enhance the mainstream ladder with Toby, Brad and Kenny. 

FINGER CANDY FRIDAY: Combining the Power of Mobile Marketing & Social Media

Combining the Power of Mobile Marketing & Social Media

Mobile marketing is a natural extension of social media. If you are successful in promoting your business and spreading word of mouth advertising by “creating apostles” to your business with social media then mobile marketing is the next step to take to increase your customer interaction, frequency and sales.

These platforms from Twitter, Facebook, mobile marketing and now new sites that are showing huge promise such as Groupon and FourSquare can all be used effectively alone. Where we see the big difference and missed opportunity for small business owners is the question how to run multiple social/mobile marketing platforms together and integrated with each other.

WHY CAN'T WE BE FRIENDS?

Why do morning show players want to kill each other? Why can't we be friends? The battle for morning show position and acceptance on a staff, management and listener level is intense. With the ending of many major market morning shows, the implementation of syndicated shows and company channels, Paranoia mean destroyer. Morning shows need to follow a simple path - Engagement with the audience - Social Media representation - Community-based interactions and by gum, they need to like each other and work to preserve the brand and don't sweat the small stuff. Most of the time they are concerned with areas of the radio station and the programming, when they shouldn't be. Upset over the remote rotation, why the have to voice track a 6th day, ya da ya da. 

In my career I have seen them at each other's throats.Been in the middle of it so many times. When they talk to the programmer or manager together, they are so gracious and accommodating and when you talk to them individually, the want to bury each other like Uma Thurman in KILL BILL. Remember this kind of behavior will only promote ill-feelings for everyone involved. 


I have met so few morning hosts with a real demeanor, that strive for the station and not themselves.  Usually the problem in relating to each other comes from a lack of communication they have between each other. I don't know how many times I've played therapist for morning show members. They want to out do and out shine each other to the point there is so much internal struggle. The goal of the morning show is to be external and localize, be topical and interact with the listeners. The days of this being all locked up inside the station are over. We need to be fresh, caring, out-going, motivated and aimed at the listener. Morning show partners need to get along and if they can't work out their differences, programming and managers need to step in with HR and find a resolution to the problem. 

Wednesday Morning Meeting for April 7, 2010

iPAD: The Game Changer

Why should radio care about the iPad?  Because it promises to change the way we obtain and manage information (media).  Like its cousin, the iPhone, the iPad promises to be a game changer.  Even tech experts are hailing the iPad as the replacement for the laptop. And I think they're right.

In the days leading up to its launch, the iPad was one of the hottest topics in pop culture, and a hot trender on Twitter (take that, Justin Bieber!). Apple sold nearly 700,000 iPads in its first few days on the market.  The device promises to make media more portable, more accessible, more organized with aps.  The iPad also fixes the two fatal flaws that most smart phones (like the iPhone) posses:  short battery life, and screen/keyboard too small for serious writing.  Now, a device designed for consumers of media on-the-go, or even those who stay put, is here are is surely headed toward critical mass.  

Like most business, the radio industry has struggled to keep up with technology in the changing times.  While many stations are trying to build the perfect Web site, fewer are building aps (the Web site of the future).  Many stations are building up larger "digital" divisions (the growth sector) to develop content, but fewer are seeking strategies on how to generate content for new methods of media consumption.  See, radio is not in the "radio" or "broadcasting" business.  Heck, we're not even in the "music" or "news" business.  We're in the business of generating compelling content.  We use radio frequency, streaming audio, live events, and mobile devices to syndicate our content to our audience.  

Trouble with all this technology is that it is evolving at a head spinning pace.  So, start building your iPad ap today.  Have clients develop ads to run on your iPad ap.  Rich media is best, but not crucial.  The iPad will reach critical mass within the next few years.  Make sure that you're there to dominate.  

Bob Knight is Executive Vice President of Harrison Edwards PR & Marketing in New York and heads up the company's advertising and digital divisions.  He's reachable for questions and comments at bknight@harrison-edwardspr.com and via twitter atwww.twitter.com/BobKn

LOYD FORD: Social Media a Path for Radio?

What If Social Media Represents A Path For Radio?By Loyd Ford Americalist1@aol.com877-475-6864

It’s cool to catch the social media wave, and you should catch it. However, a lot of broadcasters make the error or either assuming that social media is a big waste of time or that social media is the same as traditional marketing. Neither is true. I guess a lot of people see social media and revenue as different subjects, but I really don’t.Many have so far missed that connectivity to people with social media is something that theycan use to generate additional non-traditional revenue for their business.

After all, we are not the only industry that wants to stay close to the way things have always been done because that is the way we have always created our revenue. You know, go with what you know works. This thinking is understandable. Your average market manager does not think in terms of reinventing the wheel. Theyget rewarded for beating last years’ numbers. How do they do that? The traditional way, of course.When you have the ability to impact a big group of people who are passionate about something, you have power to engage in revenue generating business.

This is a traditional idea that radiounderstands, but we are not really connecting that to new media revenue generation. Yet many in radio are participating in Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and other social media in name only. They are not building substantial relationships or listening to what listeners are saying about radio or their brand. Not really.While radio still seems to view non-traditional revenue as something you turn on and turn off for success, we should all encourage radio managers to begin to look at new media and social media as a path to turning on continuous non-traditional revenue.

This is a path to additional support for the employees at radio.If you are using Facebook, Twitter and other platforms for your station, I think that is excellent. While it is not a replacement for marketing, we should all be looking at it as many local additional ways to generate more continuous revenue for stations in local markets. We can’t expect broadcastcompanies to support creation of new content for any other reason. At the same time, social media certainly offers powerful connectivity tools that allow listeners to get closer to our brands and feel empowered by engaging those brands.That means that these new tools can offer support to marketing and help you generate revenue for the company you work for today.

Or the company that replaces that company and harnesses the power of local radio again in both new and old ways for profit. Why? Because radio is still verypowerful when used as a local connectivity tool for advertisers. Clients know it works. While radio races to pay debt, there is a strong shift underway in mobile personal entertainment that will jolt radio by impacting listeners’ ride to work and home in the car and their connectivity toother non-traditional choices. This dynamic shift could replace much of traditional radio in the car. That


will develop as a big problem because many of our radio stations have replaced a lot of local talent, local creativity and local connectivity. That was a first and best line of defense against these kinds of intruders on radios’ traditional turf. Many already know that the automobile manufacturers are shifting to give consumers of theirproduct more entertainment choices in their vehicles. These choices are additional sales tools for the auto industry. These choices also – like much of the new world order – focus on giving consumers morepower and choices. This will impact radio. It means more defenses are required to prepare for this shift.I am not saying that social media and new media is “all that.”

People who judge these tools against traditional media are comparing apples and oranges. However, there is a shift taking place andit is likely to speed up over the next 18 – 24 months. We have to find our way back to growing local content and strengthening our hold on local. Social media and new media choices for RADIO certainly should be a tool of connectivity andengagement and a powerful potential source for a new and non-traditional revenue. This is a pivotal moment for our industry and we should be moving to build additional value for our local markets.We have to give ourselves an update that includes the connectivity of social and new mediaalong with the powerful traditional brands radio owns. And the focus has to be adding local value.These local markets are our real markets to continue to win or lose.

Our cool factor has always been local passion. If radio will focus on a new additional model for new media sales and generating continuous non-traditional revenue, we can help radio recapture our power to actually grow.It is my hope that radio will engage new media as an additional revenue generating tool, but I feel passionately that radio must also break the model by establishing a separate sales staff to sell non-traditional and new media products focused on local markets. This is a different business than what your traditional sales people sell. The proper sellers for these products are not likely to look like your radio sales team today.

Other businesses throughout history have faced these same pivot points. Some moved slowlyto change; some moved quickly. Some allowed the business to fade out. What are you prepared to do to open the flow of non-traditional and/or new media revenue generation wide open in your market and protect and grow your stations?

About Loyd Ford:Loyd Ford is the marketing and ratings strategist for Americalist Media Market out of Charlotte, North Carolina. Americalist has been helping radio stations boost ratings consistently since 1987 in all market sizes and all formats. Additionally, Loyd has developed The Magnet Program™ for PPM and FastCUME Tactic™ for Holiday Music Stations along withthe AWEPOP (area wide e-mail pop) for radio clients coast to coast over the last seven years. Loyd has been in the radiobusiness “all of his life” and programmed in some intense programming battles in a variety of formats. He has the experience to
help you in your situation. You can reach out for Loyd by e-mailing him to Americalist1@aol.com or calling him directly at 877-475-6864. You can also join Loyd’s free social media radio group “Social Networking for Radio Stations” only on Facebook. Get your free monthly e-promotion newsletter for ideas on marketing with little or no money by signing up at www.boostmyratings.com.

WHAT DOES YOUR IMAGING SAY ABOUT YOUR COUNTRY STATION?

How many Country stations have you listened too and maybe even you're own, where produced sweeper after produced sweepers play in the clock? This circumvents creativity. I just heard a Midwest smaller market Country station that employs the trick of the trade, that no one endorses. The imaging matrix for imaging grid that equally rotates several styles and forms of imaging:

1. Listener Sweepers - Real ones, not sales ladies!
2. Artist Sweepers - With song hooks and/or calls out (and into that artist's music, you would be surprised how many stations will play a Taylor Swift sweeper into Brooks & Dunn).
3. Short Female Sweepers - Whispers - CAT COUNTRY, THE WOLF, etc.
4. Image Sweepers - Attributes of the station
5. Community/Town Sweepers - "Johnsonville, Sidler and Perry Creek, all towns we love".
6. Artists Geo Sweepers - "More Taylor Swift for Trexlertown".
7. Web Sweepers - Incentive topical, not "Hey click to win". Tie back to social media.
8. Hourly ID's - With a comedic, community, cultural and Country tie-in.
9. Jingles - Shorter, faster and image building - Not long Country positioning statements.
10. Morning Show - Never in the past, only future. Reason to listen more.

Combining all of these elements makes for a more distinct listening occasion for your P-1's and will set you apart from the competitor - Unless they are already doing it and you are playing 12 in a row sweepers.

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HAPPY EASTER FROM FTC

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FINGER CANDY FRIDAY - THIS WEEK: Twitter vs. SMS Text Messaging

TWITTER VS. SMS TEXT MESSAGE MARKETING

If you ask 100 people whether you should use Twitter for you business your likely to get split answers. Twitter is undoubtedly very popular and it can provide sales and a new level of customer interaction for your business. There are several benefits and weaknesses to using Twitter for your small business, lets take a look at them when compared to SMS text message marketing.

TOM WEBSTER AT EDISON ON SOCIAL MEDIA

How To Think About Social Media Engagement

I was honored to be asked to co-present a webinar on social media strategy with Triton Digital's Jim Kerr yesterday (for those who missed it, it will soon be archived here.) In my part of the webinar, I presented a section on developing policies and structure for the four broad "buckets" in which social media interactions can fall, and how to develop a differential strategy for each. Essentially, this means thinking about how to fill in this matrix:

SPRING CLOCK SUGGESTIONS CLOCK A