Maximize Your Station's Reach into the Community with Social Media

There are more than 800 million active Facebook users globally. In less than 8 years, the ubiquitous website and mobile application has become an integral source of communication for millions around the world. Social movements have flourished due to the benefits this kind of technology allows in communications infrastructure, as evidenced in the recent spur of protests continuing to emerge around the world. In sum, FB has revolutionized the way we communicate.

More than 50% of FB users log into their account at least once a day and that number is steadily increasing as more people gain mobile wireless access. Users have also moved from communicating with just friends and family to also interacting with organizations, businesses, communities and a variety of other “fan” pages. This makes community radio stations prime users for Facebook. With a fan page, stations can increase access to programming and dialog with staff and supporters.

Stations who do this successfully increase donations, listenership, and supporters. Simple tasks like posting podcasts and reminders of shows can allow more people to tune into the station’s programming at their convenience. Additionally, posting discussion topics for supporters allows them the opportunity to engage in dialog with station staff and members of the community. FB is also great for event planning and sharing news.

Implementing a social media plan with a team of volunteer administrators can maximize stations reach into the community utilizing this free medium. The Prometheus Radio Project webinar, “Social Networking for Community Radio” will give you an introduction to tools like Facebook and Twitter and provided examples of effective strategies for a successful social media infrastructure. Tune in for free and find more tips on People Powered Radio, a new FB page for LPFM.