Why do we “Like” things?
If I tell my Facebook friends about your brand, it’s not because I like your brand. It’s because I like my friends.
–Mike Arauz
That’s a pretty powerful statement, isn’t it? Maybe it’s a little bit humbling, too. If your radio station has received a lot of Facebook “likes,” that’s a good thing in any case, but thinking more carefully about why people “like” your brand could suggest ways you might change your strategy to increase your “like quotient” even more.
Let’s talk about the quote above for a moment. How many of your listeners “like” your station on Facebook because they want their friends to benefit from what you have to offer on-air? What about your station benefits your listeners? Does the music make them feel better? Do they get needed information like news, weather, traffic or conversation and want their friends to benefit from the same? Is that why they click the “like” button on Facebook?
Actually, I don’t think so. At least for the most part, I think that your Facebook presence is, or should be, a separate-but-connected entity from your on-air presence. There should be synergy between on-air and online, but remember that, if you are doing everything right, your Facebook page will draw more people than just those that listen to your air signal or your online stream. You should be endeavoring to establish links wherever you can to both your website and your Facebook page, all in an effort to increase online traffic which, ultimately, will result in more revenue from both your online AND on-air activities. So rather than relying on listeners to “like” you on Facebook, you need to provide something on your Facebook page for people who have never heard your station to “like.”
What are some examples?
Well, think about how people who aren’t already listeners are likely to find your Facebook page. Maybe by searching something about music. So why don’t you have your top-10 playlist on your Facebook fan page? iTunes, long considered one of the first non-broadcast competitors to Radio, is doing it. Check their page out here.
Maybe some of the local artists that are always bugging you to play their songs would like to have one of their videos posted to your Facebook page. You could even create a separate page to highlight local artists. Resist the temptation to charge them for this, though. Do it as a “thank-you” to your Facebook friends. You can bet these local bands will tell all of their fans to check them out and leave comments on your page. Watch the “like” stats go through the roof! By the way, if you want to charge bands to post their videos, do that on your station web page, not your Facebook page.
Maybe information is your focus. People love to talk about things important to them, and Facebook visitors are no different. But how do you get them to participate? Well, have you tried asking them to? Come up with some compelling questions and pose one every day or two, asking people to chime in with their opinions. You’ll want to pick subjects that your visitors will have an interest in. And you need to join in the conversation as well. Answer comments, throw in a link or two to related sites. Thank people for their comments, whether good or bad. If this sounds like a good idea to you, consider creating a separate Facebook page to host discussions. It will be heavily indexed by the search engines and bring a lot of traffic to your page. Traffic that you can ultimately direct to your station’s website.
If done well, these types of content can get visitors to “Like” your page because, ultimately, they believe they have found a good resource and want to share it with people they know.
Here are a few other reasons people might “like” your content:
- You keep them up on what’s going on in the entertainment industry, particularly the music you play
- Contest entries accepted through your FB page
- You keep them up on what’s going on at your radio station, both on the air andbehind-the-scenes
- Does your company have the ability to stream from a Facebook page? Are they willing to do it? If not, put a direct link to your streaming player on your Facebook fan page.
- “Inside” information posted on your wall. Stuff that you would never talk about on the air, but makes your FB visitors feel like they’re part of the station’s “Family”
- No SPAM
- You pass on great deals from your clients or even from other sources. But you don’t SPAM them with this stuff…keep it to a minimum and make sure it’s a reallygreat deal or don’t do it at all. And don’t charge your clients for this, either
- Your GM and other management actively participate on the site
- You post occasional music videos and behind-the-scenes videos from the station
- Event information and even registration/ticket sales (more on ticket sales through FB in a future post)
- No SPAM. And keep in mind that “No SPAM” is based on what your FB visitors consider SPAM, not what you consider SPAM