Social media is a great way for radio stations to engage listeners and inspire donors, but it doesn’t always work that way. That’s because many stations use ineffective strategies and consistently make mistakes that create a disconnect with their audience.
Rest assured… this doesn’t have to happen to you! To help, I’ve compiled a list of common social media mistakes that decrease engagement for radio stations – and other organizations.
Mistake #1: Adding a hashtag and calling it “social media”
Most organizations know they need to participate in social media, but they often don’t know what to do or how to create engaging posts. So, they just put some of their existing content into a post, slap a hashtag on it, and call it “social media.”
Unfortunately, just because you put a hashtag on content doesn’t mean it will engage users or serve a specific purpose.
Mistake #2: Speaking without listening
Social media is not a megaphone; it’s a telephone.
Social networks are spaces where community, conversation, and interaction take place. Social media creates unique opportunities to not only communicate with your audience members, but also to interact with them. And to effectively interact, you have to listen. Watch how your followers respond to your content and then reply to their comments. That’s probably the most valuable thing you’ll do on social networks.
Mistake #3: Assuming everyone sees everything
Just because you have 10,000 followers doesn’t mean that 10,000 people will see everything you post on social media. Strive to intentionally publish content that inspires and connects with people so they will like, share, and comment. This is the way in which your posts are fed into the social media algorithm and pushed out to more users.
Mistake #4: Having no goals or expectations
You have a Facebook page for a reason. You have an Instagram account for a reason. You should have a reason for whatever network you join. You also need to be intentional about which outlets you use because you can’t be everywhere.
So, if you’re going to invest time and energy, you should develop expectations for what’s going to happen on each platform. Don’t just join Facebook because you heard that you should. Join because you have specific goals for deepening relationships and interactions with your audience through that medium.
Mistake #5: Thinking that what worked yesterday will work tomorrow
You might be tremendously successful on social media today. That’s awesome. Congratulations! But if your strategy remains stagnant, you’re going to become irrelevant sooner than you think.
Social media is constantly changing. MySpace is where you needed to be ten years ago. Facebook is where you needed to be five years ago. Instagram is likely where you need to be today. If you don’t keep moving, adapting, and adjusting, your engagement will suffer.
This applies to content, as well. Ten years ago, we focused on text-based Facebook posts and then we moved to image-based posts. And now, videos make up 70% of the content consumed on Facebook. When it comes to content, adapting and adjusting to relevant practices are crucial.
For more tips on this subject, check out my Dunham Institute course, Radio: Integrating Your Digital Space for Maximum Engagement and Fundraising Impact.
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