Radio Jobs: Confessions of a Former Digital Content Manager
Posted by David Huffman on Mon, Jul 26, 2010 @ 12:27 PM
EDITOR'S NOTE: Below is a bit of a case study Cheryl put together highlighting her two months as a Digital Content Manager for a radio station.
We share this story because #1 Cheryl was gracious enough to put it together for us and #2 because one of our goals with this blog is to highlight different positions throughout the broadcasting industry.
The Digital Content Manager position is fairly new and misunderstood. In fact, some stations use the title as a way to "dress up" a digital sales position as opposed to investing in a position that generates engaging digital content for listeners. Read more below.
p.s. Longest editor's note ever.
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By Cheryl Harrison
twitter: @cherylharrison
beingcheryl.com
For 2 months, I was the Digital Content Manager for a station that shall remain nameless for this post. Actually, let's call them XYZ-Station. They should have some kind of name, right?
Basically, I did some cool stuff while I was there. Ahem. Here is a case study :)
Situation: As of
March 22, 2010, XYZ-Station did not have a (valid) Facebook presence. XYZ had a Facebook PROFILE, which was a clear Terms of Service Violation and was subject to removal. The profile had fewer than 700 “friends” and had posted almost no content.
As of
May 22, 2010 (2 months later), XYZ had 2,030 fans on Facebook and was adding approximately 20 new fans each day. The fans of XYZ’s Facebook were extremely active, engaging an average of 150 times each week with the content I posted.
So how did I get XYZ from 0-2,000+ fans in two months, with no budget and very limited time with which to focus on Facebook?
Here's how:
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Added targeted messaging to the XYZ-station home page directing listeners to the facebook page
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Created contests that required listeners to engage with and share the facebook page
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Encouraged listeners to share the page with their network
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Posted content frequently that listeners WANTED to engage with. XYZ posted between 3-5 pieces of content each day to the page.
I also created a comprehensive plan for when and what would be posted to the page, revising based on fan interaction and click-through rates:
MONDAY-FRIDAY
6:45AM Today’s Morning Show Guests
10AM Mid Day Show Rock Notes
11AM Link to Daily Blog Post
11PM One O’Clock Request Hour Call for Requests
2PM Today in Rock History
4PM Jock appearances for the evening
SATURDAY-SUNDAY
2 hours prior Jock appearances
MONDAYS AT 1PM Blue Monday Teaser
THURSDAYS AT 7PM Rogaine Rock Teaser
SATURDAYS AT 8PM Saturday Night Block Party Teaser
We had an active Facebook presence and a lot of people clicking the
"like" button, but what did that mean to the station?
Facebook became the #6 source of referring traffic to XYZ's website in exactly 2 months.
Had XYZ charged for banner advertisements on their sites, this increase in traffic would have directly led to more dollar signs, however, they gave all online advertisements away as "added value."
In addition to traffic to the station's site, several of XYZ's advertisers had begun to take notice of the stations active social media presence and were interested in getting their brands in front of our Facebook community, which would have also presented an opportunity for new revenue for the station.
Attracting fans to your station's Facebook page can attract a lot more than eyeballs. It can attract engagement, promotion and, most important to the higher-ups, dollar signs.
Of the two contests I ran on XYZ's Facebook page, 48 people entered a contest that lasted only 30 minutes, and 29 people entered a contest that ran 2 hours (during off-peak times.) Most of the contests on the station's website that ran for weeks, with significantly larger prizes, did not attract even close to that much interest.