For this week’s Programming To Win, Jacobs Media Digital & Social Media Strategist Lori Lewis delves in to the multitude of options radio now has to interact with its listeners. When it comes to your station’s biggest events, how can social media be deployed best? Lewis suggests having a plan and a “command center” for applying social media to your next major event.
Lori Lewis
Leading up to the NFL’s Super Bowl (or “Big Game,” just to play it safe), an Indianapolis-based team of strategists, analysts and techies monitored the digital fan conversation in Facebook, Twitter, and other social platforms from a 2,800-square-foot space. The team read and responded to fans in their city who were posting about the game and their teams.
In the process, Indianapolis was elevating the fan experience.
Incorporating real-time interaction during big events heightens radio stations’ brand authority and brings a more buzzworthy experience to a new (or heritage) event. Whether it’s backstage cameras (which are what really makes events stand out) or real-time polls and conversations, when you enable fan participation you take events and make them even more special.
It’s a way to show you’re present and most importantly connected to their preferred platforms.
All research done today, including radio’s annual Jacobs Techsurveys, point to the fact that people are glued to their mobile phones, laptops and of course, Facebook. So, why not give fans that “behind the curtain” feel they enjoy so much on the channels they say they “can’t live without?”
In order to develop and execute an efficient interactive “command center” for your event, it’s important to acknowledge that a strategy must be in place before you venture out into the social media wilderness. Too many times, brands “do” social and digital on the fly around annual events, and the outcome is scattered and the results are checkered.
“Random acts of social” leave you with no measurement – no ability to record what didn’t work and no way to template for future success.
Decide what you would like to achieve from this type of real-time activity. Would you like to build on your brand authority, increase website metrics, and pinpoint your station’s “social mouthpieces?” Or something else?
Once you know what it is you want to accomplish and measure, you’ll want to ensure the proper metrics are in place to gauge the effectiveness of your efforts.
Building out this “social media command center” may have its challenges with staffing. Whether you have a station that is fully staffed with talent that “get it,” or a skeleton team and the challenge of little buy-in, being realistic is a start. Here’s a good checklist:
1) Identify people outside the station who could be part of your “super social team” such as interns, colleagues from sister stations, and even friends/family members – really anyone who is trustworthy, has the wherewithal to respond in an appropriate, timely manner, and who will speak in the singular voice of the brand.
2) Understand what platforms your audience uses most to key in on the hierarchy of importance. All channels will be used and monitored but where you place your stronger people and focus is vital.
3) Consider other opportunities beyond your station website, text and Facebook that can facilitate real-time communication for your event, such as Instant Message, Tumblr, Twitter, YouTube, and even Google Plus Hang-outs. How cool would it be to have one of your stars live from the big event doing a Hangout with nine lucky listeners?
4) Analyze the free social monitoring tools that work best. Social Seek and Social Mention, as well as Facebook and Twitter’s own search functions work well. Don’t get conned into buying any type of social media monitoring tool. The free ones are great.
5) Stay ahead of the conversation and think of all the questions that may come in: directions, what’s allowed at the event and what’s not, weather related items, artist stage times, and other information (such as what to do in case of an emergency) and have a plan to answer each question individually. Remember – authenticity is expected. If someone asks a question on Facebook that you already answered two posts down – don’t tell them to “scroll down and get the answer.” Respond to each person individually. Never underestimate the importance of one-to-one customer service.
6) Because we get so busy plotting out how to integrate digital and social with our big events, one piece that is frequently forgotten is a mobile strategy. A dedicated app for the event offers real-time opportunities and can be very effective.
It is likely that nearly 100% of those who attend will have a cell phone in their pocket or purse which opens up many opportunities. When you encourage fans to use their mobile phones to email/text pictures they take to a dedicated web page, you have real-time “citizen journalists” at your own event.
Real-time conversation monitoring at events also offers the ability to amplify what’s already being talked about. The opportunity is in creating/curating content around these conversations and linking it out – pulling this social audience into your space – your station’s website.
There is also the opportunity to participate in people’s conversations when they don’t think to seek the station out directly. Monitoring all of the different “key words” that might be used in conjunction with your event allows your brand to go beyond ordinary to extraordinary. Whether fans are looking for information about the event or just throwing out their comments and observations (like “parking sucks”) there’s opportunity everywhere to offer acknowledgement and assistance, which enhances the event experience, leaving them coming back for more.
Researchers from Ball State University’s Center for Media Design will be conducting a study of the Super Bowl’s command center, analyzing its strengths and weaknesses after the fact. When discussing this new social hub concept on CNN, Michael Holmes, Director of the Insight & Research Unit for the Center, stated that this command center is an example of “the ubiquity of social media and the absolute necessity for companies, organizations and communities to use these tools to improve their relations with their customers, audiences and citizens.”
He’s right on. Talking with (and even surprising) your fans in real time on their preferred platforms is a bigger deal than you may realize. The more you consider that these platforms are the tools from which to build better relationship, the closer you are to ensuring the long-term health of your brand and the strength of your connection with your listeners, which ultimately lends to a better bottom line.
Lori Lewis is Jacobs Media’s Digital & Social Media Strategist. Since joining the company in early 2011, Lori has emerged as one of radio’s leading voices in the social media space.
