March 18, 2013 Content Ideas THE ART OF SOCIAL MEDIA by Stephanie Winans We talk a lot about the science of social media -- the strategy and the measurement of our efforts. What we don't talk about enough is the art -- the philosophy of social media that drives our presence. Strategy is important. The functions of social media within your company or show... how often and when to post on each platform...which types of content receive the highest reach and engagement... those are all key pieces to an effective strategy. But without a philosophy of social media, none of that matters. So what's a philosophy? Your philosophy is the answer to the question, "Why are you on social media?" When you develop an answer to that question, your strategy becomes more focused with every post, tweet, upload and comment. It will become the 'spirit' of your social media presence. Regardless of your philosophy, your strategy should be driven by it. Your philosophy determines which goals your strategy should measure. Here are a few examples: If your philosophy is to engage and super serve your social listeners, your focus will be on giving fans what they want. You'll measure the engagement on each post to determine fan favorites, and you'll post content based on what you think the audience wants. Before you create and publish content, you'll ask yourself "Will the listener love this and be moved to action?" If your philosophy is to use social media to drive website traffic and revenue, your focus will be on writing inciting teases and creating strong website, blog, video and podcast content to drive listeners to your website. You'll measure website traffic to determine how much is referred from social media platforms. You'll develop opportunities for advertisers to get involved. If your philosophy is to use social media to increase tune-ins, you'll plan posts around onair content and teasing. If your philosophy is to gain new listeners through social media and increase cume, you'll be mindful to create content that is universal for your demographic, and not entertaining exclusively for the P1 listener. When thinking about your own philosophy, consider your company and management team. What are the company's overall social media goals? If you like your job (or just want to keep it!), this is key. If your beliefs are different than those of the company, you will need to compromise enough to ensure you meet company goals with the station's platforms. IMPORTANT UPCOMING DATES Spring Break (week varies for different school districts); Spring Breakers opens Mar 22 St. Patrick's Day, March 17 March Madness (US college basketball playoffs) March 19 - April 8 First day of spring, March 20 Spring Cleaning Walking Dead Season finale and Game of Thrones Season 3 premiere NBA playoffs begin, April 20 Passover March 25-April 2 Easter, March 31 Major League Baseball season opens March 31 April Fool's Day, April 1 Final Four April 6-8 (NCAA basketball finals) Tax Day, April 15 NFL Draft April 23-26 April 30 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs begin Kentucky Derby May 4 Cinco de Mayo (May 5) Mother's Day, May 12 GUESS HOW LONG IT WILL TAKE [local celeb] TO CALL OUR SHOW? by Dave Ryan, KDWB/Minneapolis via Studio Think Tank This started with my 21 year old daughter. She lives here in town but she NEVER listens to the show. She got over how cool it was to have your dad on the radio a LONG time ago. So I asked, "Okay, I know Allison isn't listening, but I'm sure some of her friends are. How long will it take starting right now, for her friends to get the message to Allison to call my cell phone?" Less than 5 minutes, 5 to 10 minutes, before the show is over, or not at all. You can do this bit with virtually ANYONE. Local sports figures, news anchors, reporters, other deejays from your station, etc. Remember, the bit is THEY might not be listening but you KNOW someone that knows them is listening and hopefully they'll contact them and have them call your request line. March Manness From Kevin Rolston, Kevin, Virginia & Jason, WLDI/West Palm Beach via Studio Think Tank Sometimes it doesn't take the most creative idea to get the best reaction. We are doing an NCAA tournament bracket with March Madness of hot guys. Here is a bracket and the guys, based on our seeding. All you have to do is plug them in and go. #1 Channing Tatum Adam Levine Ryan Reynolds Ian Somerhalder #2 Robert Pattinson Bradley Cooper Ryan Gosling Shemar Moore #3 Paul Walker James Franco Josh Duhamel Matthew McConaughey #4 Mark Wahlberg Justin Timberlake Will Smith Josh Lucas #5 Chris Hemsworth Robert Downey Jr Kellan Lutz Matthew Bomer #6 Gerard Butler Usher Paul Wesley Jake Owen #7 Tim Tebow Zac Efron Dwayne Johnson Jason Aldean #8 Blake Shelton Ryan Seacrest Daniel Craig Taylor Lautner #9 Joseph Gordon-Levitt Luke Bryan Jeremy Piven Hugh Jackman #10 Joshua Bowman Leonardo DiCaprio Jake Gyllenhaal David Beckham #11 Denzel Washington Brad Pitt Jude Law Johnny Depp #12 George Clooney Colin Farrell Tom Hardy Ashton Kutcher #13 Jon Hamm Chris Pine Joshua Jackson Orlando Bloom #14 Wentworth Miller Chace Crawford Andrew Garfield Clive Owen #15 Chord Overstreet Joe Manganiello James McAvoy Liam Hemsworth BIG-BONED MANNEQUINS From Virgin Morning Show with Marc, Danaye & Fuzzy Virgin/Calgary The show posted this picture on Facebook asking the question 'Do you think more stores should use more realistic mannequins? Is it uncomfortable for ladies to shop at those fancy lingerie stores when they are geared to the perfect body?' The show got added drama when a male caller [if you don't get one you can always set one up] voices the opinion that women should be beautiful and thin and that the mannequins are offensive. That got their phones going! ESQUIRE NAMES DAZED AND CONFUSED THE DEFINITIVE 90's MOVIE...AGREE OR DISAGREE? Read the article here. WOULD YOU RATHER DATE: BORING OR BIG DRAMA? Cosmo had an article this week about the breakup of Harry Styles and Taylor Swift. Set up ideas: What would you rather date: boring or big-drama? Describe the most boring person you ever dated. Harry supposedly called her "so [bleep]-ing boring." When were you called 'boring' and what did your date or friends want you to be doing? [One of the comments in the article was a girl whose boyfriend called her boring for not wanting to sit there while he got high at his dealer's house.] PARENTING TOPIC: MATTEL BLAMES MOMS FOR DECLINING HOT WHEELS SALES From the Ace Burpee Show, Virgin/Winnipeg Is it really not the fault of other more popular electronic games that have caused the sales decline? Read the article here. Set-up Ideas: Did your mom play cars or sports with you? In Canada, many moms play goalie so their kid can practice their shots. Can moms play cars or not? Is it really that hard? What else can't moms play? [e.g. shooting a toy gun] Take stories from dads playing with little girls -- nurse, tea party, makeup. TOPIC IDEAS: What is your one insignificant regret or bad choice? From Danny & Zack, K92/Roanoke via Studio Think Tank How did you embarrass yourself when you thought you were alone? From TJ, Ace & TJ, 96.1/Charlotte via Studio Think Tank What celebrity body part would you have surgery for? According to one article, more and more women are asking for Kate Middleton's nose. Do you wear a celebrity fragrance? For the smell or the celebrity? Are you embarrassed? [You could take the stance of "Who buys those??? NO ONE wears those celebrity fragrances." People will call.] From Elvis Duran, Z100/New York (syndicated) Why do your in-laws hate you? From Eric Rowe, KRBE/Houston via Studio Think Tank Were you ever injured but too embarrassed to go to the hospital? Ever lie to the doctor about what happened? From Kevin Rolston, WLDI/West Palm Beach via Studio Think Tank Did you spread a relative's ashes in an unusual place? from Maxwell & Pam in the Morning, 93.3 KIOA/Des Moines One listener said her mom loved to gamble, so they took her ashes to various Reno, Nevada casinos. Another listener said her father loved cruises, so they tossed half of his ashes overboard at sea, and spread the other half among the potted plants onboard the cruise ship. The topic morphed into "Where do YOU want your ashes spread?" One woman said she wants her ashes mixed in with tattoo ink for her kids. A guy wanted his put into a bowling ball. YOUR IDEA HERE Your show could be highlighted on the Randy Lane Company Website or the weekly Content Ideas email. Send your ideas to stephanie@randylane.net and give as much detail as possible (name of feature, execution details, audio, etc.).