Board Blog: Easy tips to keep your social media pages active

Sam Bulkley, CBI Student Representative

College broadcasters have to find many different ways to reach and engage their audience. But today, it is crucial to find interaction between your audience and your organization. Social media is one of the most important assets to use at your radio/television station. It gives you a chance to attract familiar, as well as unfamiliar, audience members.

Here are a few easy but effective ways to engage your audience or followers through social media:

• Plug Yourself: First, make sure that your programming on your radio/television station includes promos for your social media platforms. This lets your main audience know where to find you outside of your primary medium
• Website Content: Anything that you post to your website should also be shared through your social media pages. People will check in on Facebook more constantly than they will check in on your website, make sure they know you’re producing content.
• Events: If you are putting on an event and hoping for a large turnout, make the event public on Facebook and invite everyone you can. The more exposure and people who publicly RSVP, the better.
• Holidays/National Events: Making a themed post is simple but very effective during the different holidays throughout the year. So, wish your followers a happy… whatever time of year it is or remind them that Valentine’s day is coming up and chocolate will soon be on sale.
• DJ/Staff Bios: These can be made in any format (text, audio, video) and posted to pretty much any platform. Bios will give your audience a personal connection to your volunteers/staff and share more information about who is a part of your program. These can be updated weekly featuring a new member of your crew.
• Viral Trends: Keeping an eye out for any viral trends or even viral memes is advantageous to making a well received post. However, these trends are lasting shorter and shorter until they become irrelevant, so timeliness is key.
• History/Alum Stories: Whether its a date that marks an important milestone in your program or a story about a close encounter with the FCC, people enjoy looking back on the history of your program. Reach out to alumni and ask for their favorite memories or stories to share with your followers.
• Stickers around town: Have you recently found (or placed) a sticker of your organization in an interesting spot around town? Share it! It’s as easy as taking a picture and a caption that says, “Spotted.”
• Interaction: Are you holding a remote to promote an upcoming event? You better make sure to take a picture of those hard working volunteers and share it to let your audience know where they can find you.
• Anything new: If you are making changes to any little part of your organization, make sure to let your audience know. While updating hardware or software may sound routine and boring, if you are getting new equipment let your followers know that your content is going to look/sound better than ever before!

The best way to make your social media successful is to continue to be creative and engage with your audience in meaningful ways. Social media is key to fulfill a newly needed connection with your followers. So encourage staff to think creatively and outside the box to continue to find new ways to interact with your audience.