4 TV Stations and 3 Radio Stations
Back when I was a kid I had to walk uphill to school … both ways … barefoot! Just kidding, but really we only had 4-5 TV stations and limited radio stations. We had rabbit ears on our TV or an antenna on our roof (depending how far we were from the big city!) We had limited choices, we planned around the shows being delivered, and we liked it!
Pandora and Hulu
I only dreamed about watching TV or listening to TV or radio on my own schedule. I was an early adopter and bought a Replay TV (yes I was a rebel and skipped TIVO!) It arrived; it worked and then it broke. Then cable services, like Comcast, started offering DVRs and then on demand services. I was hooked. Now you have services like Pandora (create your own radio stations), Hulu and Amazon Fire Stick (I am an Apple TV guy). You no longer have to schedule your entertainment around programming times; you can schedule your entertainment around your schedule!
On demand has changed advertising forever. Not only can you not count on people seeing your ads, but they can also skip or avoid them all together. So how can you, the small business or medium business, stay relevant amongst all the noise and marketing message avoidance?
Radio Station WIIAM vs WIIFM
This weekend I was watching a friend try to extend the reach to her audience on Facebook. She was talking about how she made a decision, how it helped her and what it meant to her journey. I get it, but did her audience? She was interviewing herself on radio station WIIAM (Worthy Interesting Information About Me), but my guess is people are tuning into WIIFM (What’s In It For Me?)
She explained that her company had told her, “Great content includes your story”, but they get that from a skewed perspective. Rock Stars, actors, and celebrities (who make the most money for said companies) can talk about themselves all day long and people will pay attention. Us common folk have to earn the attention and may never have the right to be that self-absorbed.
Ours is the hero’s journey. How the common man (or woman) is a human who has an unbelievable obstacle to overcome and has hit rock bottom. The human has found a Yoda to teach us the secret to the Force and has overcome unbelievable odds to come out on the other side only to start again! Notice that I said that most people are brought whole again, not like lottery winners who crash and burn. It’s Mr. Miyagi teaching us to “Wax On, Wax Off!”
A lot of those people talking at radio station WIIAM are selling a dream that few, if any, ever attain! More often than not, these are the only people that solve problems and get rich from it! The people talking at radio station WIIFM are sharing knowledge that they have learned with no expectations or strings attached!
Promotions and Advertising
Let’s face it, the media has been using promotions and advertising to increase listenership, readership and viewership for years. More listeners, readers or viewers means higher advertising rates to people who want to use that medium to get their messages out. Radio stations use contests, like “Be caller #6 to win, and so on!” TV shows now use viewer feedback and voting, via Twitter and Facebook, to see who gets voted off the island. Print media has often used contests to build readership.
The Winning Formula From Radio Station WIIFM
- Get Them To Follow You – It starts with getting people to know that your radio station exists. Then promote the CRAP out of it (without becoming annoying.) Get people to follow you on your social media platform of choice or get them to join your email list. It may take some enticing (freemiums or giveaways such as a free eBook or something.)
- Feed Them Great Info – Give them your best stuff. People often give 10-20% of the great stuff in hopes that people will pay for the other 80-90%. Give 100% and see what happens. They can get your concepts, but they can’t get you and your knowledge for free. Entice them to want to learn more. Be different than everybody else!
- Ask Questions – Think about using surveys or questionnaires to gather intelligence on what peoples’ needs or problems are. Make it easy and simple with no strings attached. Give them something in return for their efforts (freemiums or giveaways such as a free eBook or something.)
- Engage With Them – Don’t post and run. If people engage with you, engage back. Be active, engaging and responsive. Make sure you are not the person using HootSuite to just post crap and never respond to questions, feedback, and interactions. Being human takes time, but often reaps rewards in the form of sales!
- Later, Rise, Repeat – People come and people go. If I gave you a dollar and you gave me two I would do that all day. The same goes for your fans, friends and email lists. People come and go based on the time and status of their lives and their businesses. Don’t take it personally … take it to the next level. If you lose one subscriber from your email list today, figure out how to add two tomorrow!
Final Thoughts
It takes some effort to get heard in this ever-increasing noisy world. It can take many tactics and channels to get people to pay attention to you and your messages. Keep trying and don’t give up! Building a tribe and an audience takes time. Once you do, they will start to tune into your radio station to hear your greatest hits or new releases!
I would love to hear your thoughts, feedback and comments! Post away!
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