Audience Building Part 2- Staying Tuned In

This is the second post in a series entitled “Audience Building- Tips from Broadcast Media” I am exploring how the old media boys such as TV and Radio have and continue to build huge and energize audiences around personal and corporate brands. What are the techniques employed? How can we apply that wisdom to our own social networks, micro crowds and communities? In this post we will continue to look to Radio for our muse. Your feedback is always greatly appreciated!

So What’s Your Frequency?

Radio shows live at the same frequency and at the same time every day. Likewise, your audience should always know when and where to find you on “the dial.” The new media translation would be RSS. I know that’s so obvious, but it’s true. I have come across blogs with obscured RSS feed opt in buttons or no0ne at all! So, If you haven’t already done so, set up a feed through Google’s Feedburner to allow greater distribution and control over your RSS feed. I strongly suggest placing an email opt in link at the top of your blog so readers have the choice to subscribe to your feed via their own reader or an email subscription. Feedburner has a handy blog widget available to provide email subscriptions to your blog. (Here’s a tutorial on how to install the feedburner email opt. in widget in Wordpress.) RSS feeds allow listeners to get updated when a new post is created. This is ground central in any new media broadcast campaign.

Target Post Times

Bloggers who are not able to be found or inconsistent are losing future and presently subscribed audiences in huge ways. I’m not saying you need to post everyday, (althought some do and it’s not really such a bad idea) but train your audience to expect when they can hear from you. Think about peak times when people are more apt to be tuned in online and schedule your post times around your audience’s highest internet activity. For instance, Radio has its peak drive times (morning and evening) when most people are listening to the radio as they drive to a from work. TV’s prime time attracts bigger audiences. Take a look at Twitter’s peak post times. Or Facebook’s most trafficked time slots. Think like a new media broadcaster. Know when your following is listening and be there when they are tuning in.

Blog Promotion

Promote the heck out of your blog. Put the link in your email signature, business card, online profiles, etc along with a catchy tag line that explains what the blog is about. Ask people to subscribe to your RSS. If you are using old media advertising, add your blog link to your ad.

Boost Your Signal

Use social networks and communities to build frequency by posting relevant and meaningful content as it relates to your brand. Get involved and engage heavily within your networks. Reach out and meet new people daily. You may want to set a goal of connecting with a couple new people a day on Twitter or facebook?

So many people get caught up in the numbers game. You could have 20,000 followers, but if no one knows you or cares about you, than it’s really just a meaningless waste of time to have a massive following. An active online connection is truly like a signal boost to your your “new” radio tower. It literally is reaching out or spreading across a virtual space one connection at a time. Actually, the term “New Radio” is a Chris Brogan (ism) I gotta give props. We are essentially new radio broadcasters.

Givers Gain

Social media is very much about the offering and sharing of useful information. The more you give positively the more you grow in Recognition and Respect or trust. R and R is a tremendous power boost and should be nurtured at all times. Read and comment on blogs often within your niche or in other side niches related to your business. Make your self visible and be constructive in other online communities. Be helpful. It goes a long way.

What are some other things you are doing to broaden your online reach?

Harness Anticipation

Audience anticipation is good mojo for your blog. Just like in a commercial break or a “stay tuned” moment, bloggers naturally leave people hanging from post to post. Don’t disappoint them. Use this to your advantage. Deliver on time and do it often with great content.

Create topics based on a series of posts. This is a good way to generate continued interest. End your posts with a mention of the next blog topic. Leave a cliffhanger or an enticing nugget. Repeatedly fill the needs and expectations of your audience and you will keep them in tune.

Now I’m going to practice what I’ve just preached. The next post in this series will address the issue of developing an online persona and brand as it relates to “celebrity”. Keep your RSS in site! Don’t delete that bookmark! I’ll keep you posted!

Please chime in if you’ve got some other ideas to share. Thanks!

Audience Building Part 1- Dialing In the Dialogue

This is the first part in a series called “Audience Building.” Travel with me as we explore how and why the big names in broadcast, print, cinema, and theatre can attract and attain such massive and devout followings. What are they doing to get millions of views and followers? How can we apply that to our own personal and business brands, micro niches, blogs, podcasts, and social media pages? There is a fine art to crafting strong and meaningful audiences and communities. What works so well in the “old media” formats and how can we apply that to the new media? What are some of the failures of the old media and what can we avoid? Ok, enough of the intro. Let’s begin.

Talk Radio Tips

Talk radio could be viewed as the original “blogger” format. It combines current events, culture, entertainment, opinion, special interests, and hobbies with a real time, two way conversation. All at the flip of a dial! What more could you want? Sounds like social media to me. So much can be gleaned from the phenomenal success of talk radio- even in an age of cable tv overload, home entertainment, video games, and internet media dominance.

Nurturing the Community

Almost every successful brand, be it personal or corporate, has carved out a niche around helping individuals or groups solve problems. Fundamentally, that’s what businesses do. In radio and in other live broadcast mediums the host and the listening community work together to tackle the issues of the day. I’ve noticed that, within this sphere, there is present, a real desire to be mutually heard. The audience is encouraged to call in and give their opinions. Callers comment on other callers. The host brings in opposing view points and lively discussions build and play themselves out for all to hear. Staunch view points are challenged and arguments ensue. It’s a situation in which the host sparks the debate, the callers chime and the audience listens. This format works because we all want to be understood and to be heard.

Audience Participation

Get people thinking. Post on controversial or difficult subjects that stimulate dialogue. Join other bloggers in on the conversation and link them in. As bloggers we need to get our audiences engaged and motivate them to actually want to talk back. You can’t force anyone to comment. First and foremost, your content has to be stimulating enough to warrent a response, but secondly, you need to ask for the feedback. Make sure to place questions in your posts like:

What other opinions do you have?
Am I way off base here?
What do you think?
How can I say it any better?
What more would you like to add?

Encourage readers to comment in other ways like:

Tell me what you think.
I need some more ideas on this subject.
Let me know if you disagree here.
Please comment. Feedback appreciated!

Instant Feedback

Live radio has a one second delay from caller to host and back again. That’s pretty fast. Try to emulate that quick response and instant feedback. It’s not that you have to sit and wait by your computer and jump on any comment instantly, but never leave a comment or question hanging for too long. Always get back to your audience as soon as you can. You will discourage and frustrate otherwise. This is especially true for fledgling blogs. Nothing kills momentum more than a one way conversation.

Summation

Understand the needs and problems of your audience so that you can be the one to provide those valuable solutions in a fun and entertaining way. Work to foster a strong community through stimulating ideas, sparking conversations and working together to solve problems and improve lives. This builds trust and value in your content and keeps your audience coming back for more. Make yourself visible and available consistently. Nobody wants to be talked to and never heard. As your audience grows, you will need to put systems in place to respond and answer the needs and concerns of your fans, and friends.

Let’s get this conversation going. What do you think? Is this material pretty much common sense stuff anyway? How do you think bloggers can learn from talk radio? Do you really think live talk radio is the original electronic social media?