New technologies have made radio a visual medium. In order to compete, stations need to have interactive Web sites with photos, blogs, podcasts, downloads, polls, contests, and video. Due to the popularity of videos online, DJs are becoming VJs. On-air personalities are online personalities creating video blogs, behind the scenes videos, music news videos, promotional videos with advertisers, etc.

Is this good or bad? That kind of depends on the content you create and how comfortable you personalities are in front of a camera. If you are capable of creating a compelling product with relatable hosts than this can be great. If you can’t then don’t waste your time cheapening your brand.

What do you need to create a decent video? First of all, you need a staff that really wants to do this. If there is no passion there it will show. Second, you need someone with a steady hand and technical knowledge of video cameras. You don’t want your videos to make your viewers feel seasick. Third, keep the videos short! The shorter the better, anything over 3 minutes is too long. There are instances where videos over three minutes will work, such as interviews with artists, or how-to videos. Viewers are willing to give videos more time if they are a fan of an artist or are learning something they find useful. Breaking up interviews or how-to videos into a series of short segments is a good idea if you want to keep the videos short but give viewers the full content.

How do you give your videos the professional edge? If you want to come across as professional you should have someone who knows how to work a video camera and someone who can edit the video. Having someone on staff or a freelancer who has gone to school for video production would be best. It is also important to plan your shoot and be prepared. Sometimes shooting on the fly works and has a reality feel, but it doesn’t always work. Graphics and special effects can make a video look great or extremely bad. Only use special effects and graphics when necessary, overuse will make a potentially good video look amateur.

Are your personalities right for video? Just because your talent is good in front of a mic doesn’t mean they’ll be good in front of a camera. They need to feel comfortable in front of the lens and come off as likeable. It’s not worth it if they look awkward and uncomfortable, this may diminish their on-air presence. If your talent comes off as confident and comfortable then by all means let your listeners put a face to the voice.

What can your personalities do to look professional in front of the camera? They need to be organized and concise. A personality floundering around in front of a camera is not a good thing for anyone. Make sure they get to the point and don’t fall in love with the sound of their own voice. They don’t have to be overly scripted but they need to know what they’re talking about. Having a basic outline and covering topics that they know well works best. Do multiple takes and run the camera when they are practicing. If they don’t know they are being recorded they may be more natural. Be honest with them, it will only make them better.

Commitment! Don’t expect to do a new video everyday. It takes time and effort to produce and edit videos. Once your personalities and staff realize the amount of work that goes into a video they may lose their excitement. Shoot multiple videos at once and release a new one every week. This will give you time to plan the next group of videos. Just don’t post videos consistently for a week and then trail off to whenever you get to it. Your listeners will stop looking for new videos if they don’t know when they are going to be there. Condition your listeners just like you condition them with on-air specialty shows.

What are the downsides? Putting out poor videos may affect your listener’s perception of your on-air product. If you post your videos yourself on your site you may get a surprise when you get your hosting bill. Bandwidth is expensive. Your best bet is to use a service like YouTube. Even if you have permission to use copyrighted music, YouTube may extract the audio from your video because of their deals with the major record labels. Camera and editing equipment can be pricey. It takes time and effort to create videos. Always factor in the time it takes to produce and edit the video as part of the cost. Once you start doing videos your listeners may expect them. Make sure you’re committed before you start.

Conclusion:
Video can be compelling content for your Web site visitors but it takes time, effort, and talent to produce them. Getting clients involved with sponsorships can more than make up for the costs. The problem is that online videos are easily measurable and clients won’t pay top dollar if you don’t have the numbers to support it. So before you jump in, make sure you factor in all of the pros and cons. Videos can definitely be compelling content for your listeners and an alternate source of income. They can also give listeners a less than professional view of your station and be a drain on your staff and your wallet.

–Tom Stark, Partner, RadioGlue. tom@radioglue.com – 732.416.0900
Let RadioGlue help you with your new technology initiatives. Contact Tom for more information.

Radio has long been recognized as the theater of the mind but more and more it is becoming an interactive medium. New interactive technologies are opening up new and possibly fruitful opportunities for radio stations – but they also require a fresh new approach for salespeople.

Today selling radio also includes online sponsorships, videos, text messaging, online streams, podcasts, display ads, etc. One size fits all packages are not the way to go when you have so many new weapons in your arsenal. To be successful, account executives must create custom solutions that both benefit their clients and the radio station they represent. The perfect ad buy not only brings in fresh new revenue but also drives traffic to the on-air product and reinforces the power of your station.

First you must evaluate your client’s needs and then figure out the best way to achieve an effective campaign that uses only the appropriate technologies. Selling a complicated technology-rich ad campaign to a client that would be more than happy with a simple spot buy creates a lot of unnecessary work with the possibility of scaring the client off. Technology sales work best with clients looking for something new and exciting. The car dealer looking for a fresh way to highlight the latest hybrids on their lot, the clothing store that wants to dress your morning show up in the latest fashions and have them do a pose-off, the coffee shop that wants to use text messaging to give away free coffees to your listeners, etc.

Thinking outside the box is a great way to impress your clients and can get them excited about working with you. But don’t promise what you can’t deliver. Always check with your technical staff to make sure what you want to pitch is possible. If not, your technical staff should be able to give you alternatives that may be even better. You certainly don’t want to get a client excited only to pull the carpet out from under them.

Another important aspect of the technology sale is how you present it. Having the right attitude and dressing sharply can be undermined by handing your client a proposal that looks like someone with minimal design skills created it in Microsoft Word in five minutes. This simple detail can send a very negative message to your client. It says that even though you look sharp on the surface, the product you’re selling may be less than professional. Consider having a designer on staff or outsource your promotional materials to design professionals. This will ensure your station looks like the cutting edge, technology savvy radio station it is.

Lastly, don’t cannibalize your on-air product just because you have shiny new toys to pitch. Selling clients technologies for half the price of an on-air buy is not a good idea. Make your clients happy but don’t lose focus on the bottom line. If your client is happy on-air and that means more money than selling them a technology campaign then don’t remake the wheel.

In this technological age the average person expects more from every medium, make sure your radio station is ready to deliver and reap the rewards.

–Tom Stark, Partner, RadioGlue. tom@radioglue.com – 732.416.0900
Let RadioGlue help you with your new technology initiatives. Contact Tom for more information.

Source: Wired

Source: Wired

Source: Wired

Source: Wired

Source: CNET

Is your station ready to join the social? Social network sites such as Facebook and MySpace are huge. Out of all of the millions of sites in the world, Facebook is ranked #5 and MySpace is ranked #7 according to Alexa.com. So is it time to test the social waters? Let’s find out.

What’s so great about having your own social network? Primarily it’s a great way to interact with your listeners and earn their loyalty. It’s empowering for your listeners to be able to post on their favorite station’s social site. They feel like they have a say in the station and to a small degree they do. If you have a bunch of people say that they would love to hear the new Coldplay single and you put it in rotation, they feel like you listen to them and care about them. Also, as members of your social site your listeners will be able to tell you where they listen to your station and when, what they would like to hear on the air, tell you who their favorite artists are, where they like to hang out, what they like to do for fun, etc. In addition to all of that, your DJs can interact with the listeners, and have their own blogs.

Wow that sounds great, how could that possibly go wrong? Well, your DJs and listeners are free to post what they feel like on the site. Not only that, but they can also post questionable photos and videos. This can definitely be a problem. You will need someone or several people you feel are responsible to moderate the site and remove any questionable material. Removals have to be done tactfully and fairly or you will become Big Brother stealing your listeners’ freedom. A line will have to be drawn and all of your moderators will have to be on the same page. More than one person should look at any post teetering on the edge of that line before action is taken. A certain degree of freedom is necessary for your listeners to feel at home. Another thing to consider is your competitors’ ability to sign-up and bash your station. Banning members from your social site should only be done in extreme cases. Social sites can be a bit damaging to your image if they are not properly moderated.

Also, you should consider your station’s demographics. While social networks appeal to many different demos, a younger demo will most likely have a better chance of success. Having a social site without members can be very embarrassing and can make your station look weak. Finally, people who have a Facebook profile and a MySpace profile may not want to join yet another social site. Some people have trouble keeping up with all of the sites they are already members of.

So you’re willing to have moderators that will taken action and keep your social site going in the right direction. How do you get people to join and stay active? All of your DJs will need to get involved and promote the social site on the air. It is also important that your DJs are willing to interact with listeners through the social site. Listing where your DJs will be and have them promote it on the social site can drive more traffic to your events. Asking local musicians and bands to add profiles and maybe even highlight some of them on the social site’s homepage. Local musicians and bands are normally passionate about what they are doing and will sometimes invite their fans to join your network to support them. Contesting through your social site, maybe even including local artists, can drive traffic. Allow your listeners to interact with major label acts that drop by your studio through the social site. Create groups in your social site based on your on-air programs that listeners can join and add their comments. Let your listeners know that this is a site for them. You listeners will be a part of your station’s extended family.

Okay, I want to do this and I have an idea how to drive my listeners to join. Can I make money with this? Well, Facebook and MySpace are still having trouble with that, so it’s certainly not easy. You can try the traditional methods you probably already use on your Web site, such as banner ads. You can also try to get the social site sponsored by a client or have each group you set-up sponsored by a different client. The problem is that potential content your listeners may add can scare away some clients. You could charge a fee to join the social site but I wouldn’t suggest it. Charging to join may cause a very anemic social site. It would be much better to have an open-minded client to power the social site. Although this will put much more pressure on your moderators to be fair. Any negative action from your moderators will also reflect on the sponsor.

Should your station be social or anti-social? It can be a great new technology, which can give you a good idea where your listeners’ interests are at. It can also be an embarrassing disappointment. You will have to decide if your listeners are right for this sort of technology and if you have people in-house that will be able to moderate it properly. In your next email blast, ask your listeners if this is something they would want. If you don’t get much of a response you may have your answer.

–Tom Stark, Partner, RadioGlue. tom@radioglue.com – 732.416.0900
If you are seriously considering a social site you can contact RadioGlue. We will answer your questions and can set-up a social site for you.