What Should Your Station’s Social Media Profile Look Like?

What Is a Social Profile?

A social profile refers to an account on any social networking site owned and managed by an individual or group. Examples include TikTok, Snapchat, Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. Brands use social profiles to connect with their existing audience and attract a new audience outside their own. You can grow connections with posts and content that display personality, inform, entertain, promote and sell.

Why Is a Social Profile Important for Broadcasters?

A social media presence is necessary for any business, radio stations included. There is a good chance your station listeners are on social media and likely on multiple platforms. The average user is active on seven different social networks each month. That’s a lot of untapped potential for broadcasters.

What Should You Share?

The profiles that see the most success share relevant and consistent content. Stations can follow the 4-1-1 rule as a general guide. The 4-1-1 rule suggests that for every six posts you create, four should be educational or entertaining, one should be a subtle promotion, and one should be a hard sell. Here is a mix of promotional and informational content ideas to share:

• Events: You may already be promoting events over the airways, but why not extend your reach with a social post? Generate hype by featuring performers and tagging them to reach their audience in addition to your own. Get users involved by creating a giveaway contest through a social post.
• Highlights: Do you have a past or new broadcast that received good traction? Post a snippet of a top moment that generates interest in what your station has to Like a movie trailer pulls the best bits of the film to build excitement and intrigue, a station can do the same.
• Community information: This is especially important for small local stations. Stay in touch with what your listeners care about with posts that feel close to home. Feature the cause and contributions of a local organization to the community they serve. Keep a finger on the pulse of the audience while also strengthening authenticity.
• News and pop culture: Local and national news are important to share. Roughly half of U.S. adults answered that they sometimes or often get their news from the radio. Furthermore, 1 in 5 U.S. adults said they often get local news via radio. Your audience wants to stay informed, which may be their reason for tuning in. Deliver the content they are looking for on your social platforms, too.
• Messaging around advertising offerings: This is an example of a hard-sell post your station may consider. Social media acts as a marketplace for a variety of products and services. Don’t miss the chance to reach advertisers and sell more. Promote spots available, deals that may be running, and general contact info for interested advertisers to connect with sellers. Add more credibility to these posts by having on-air talent play a role.

What a station shares over the air will make relevant content for social media. Keep this in mind when mapping out a social media content strategy. Transform the noteworthy bits of a broadcast into a visual format that would fit into a social feed.

How to Optimize Your Station’s Social Profile

Your station may have an existing profile, but it may not be at its full potential because of a lack of time, resources or understanding of which platform is best. Posting on socials doesn’t immediately result in higher engagement, soaring revenue and a jump in listenership. There is a strategy behind every memorable social page.

Consider which social sites make the most sense for the content you intend to share and the audience you want to reach. What are your listener demographics, and where would you find them spending the most time online? Find the most effective social media platforms for your station’s needs in our Social Media Advertising 101 blog post.

Engage with users by posting content that elicits a response. Post polls, open Q&As to your stories and giveaway contests to your page. Posts with more comments tend to gain more visibility on social sites like Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. Experiment with different formats — video, audio over a still image, GIFs, etc. — to gauge what your audience interacts with the most.

Be consistent in the frequency and type of content your station posts. Try to schedule posts in advance to save the time and stress of posting on the spot. Keeping your brand messaging consistent is as important as consistency in post frequency. The on-air personality and brand should carry over to the social profile.