You've heard it before....social media is important for radio stations.

Precisely. The trouble comes when creating content for your accounts.

It’s an issue most radio station owners face.

Well, until this guide. Get ready to see how other radio stations are using Facebook, Instagram, & Twitter.

We reviewed over 20 accounts. Then found 10 of the best tips for social media for radio stations.

Let's get started:

#1: Trail your upcoming programs

Social media can be a great tool for reminding your royal followers about your upcoming shows.

Doing this will increase the number of listeners. Now here is an example of a radio station that promotes their shows in an eye-catching way.

What’s great about it:

  • Use of hashtags
  • The host’s portrait
  • Eye-catching banner
  • Use of icons to indicate the radio's other social media pages (Facebook, Twitter & SoundCloud)

#2: Post short video clips of your broadcast

The audience on social media is a different lot. They don’t have mountains of time to spend on one tweet. Often, they are rushing through.

Sure, your morning show was 3 hours long, but you can’t just dump it all on social media. You can do it on YouTube. But for Twitter & Facebook, it’s advisable to keep it short.

A good page to learn from is BBC Radio 4 Today’s Twitter page.

What radio broadcasting and social media lessons can we learn from it?

Short description: It summarizes the main topic & idea.

Link: There is a link back to the website. Ideally, you want the listener to spend more time on your radio website hence the external link.

49-second video: The video is very short. Under 1 minute. Twitter actually limits the length of videos to 2 minutes 20 seconds. Though, some select publishers can post videos that are up to 10 minutes long. Keeping it short is a strategy you can use on Twitter & Facebook.

#3: Sharing, promoting, and engaging

Do you know the social media rule of thirds? It goes something like this:

Promote (1/3) – Make a third of all your posts about your content and shows.

Share (1/3) – Be on the lookout for entertaining posts from your network that you can repost, for instance, on Facebook.

Engaging – Social media is all about socializing. You can like what others have posted or leave comments.

What we can learn here

It is a radio station account but incidentally, they've posted a video of an infant laughing as he gets possibly his first haircut. Find similar content to this and share it out with your followers. You won’t miss a like or two.

#4: Behind the scenes peek

On social media, I bet you have come across people sharing pictures of themselves engrossed in some mundane activity, for instance, having lunch.

Similarly, you can divert from the expertly edited social media graphics, memes, and GIFs. Give the listener a behind-the-scenes look into your studio.

What we can learn about it

A lot…

There are two dudes, one in a red tee (John Robins) and the other in a gray tee (Elis James) who happens to be reading a book “The Scrabble Dictionary.”

Jokes aside…

It’s a decent photo giving us a taste of what goes on inside a radio studio. Precisely, what the two comics are up to before they start their show.

While it may seem normal to you or boring, such pictures are great for establishing rapport. They induce a sense of normalcy.

#5: GIFs

Need a tried and tested way of communicating with your audience on social media? I’m not talking about words, images, or videos?

GIFs—Graphics interchange files

Some radio stations are indeed using fun GIFs, and trust me, they are here to stay. It's the easiest way to communicate complex emotions.

You can check out how The Morning Breakdown uses GIFs on their Twitter page. There is a new one every day.

What you can learn about it

Choose a clever GIF.

#6: Promote content from your blog

If your station has a blog that’s regularly updated, you can promote the entries on Twitter and Facebook. It's really easy; just post a link to the blog post on a new Facebook post or Tweet.

Once you copy the link, Facebook or Twitter will fetch the cover picture & meta description. You can even boost a post that’s popular with your followers through paid advertising. Here is an example of a page doing this:

What you can learn from it

Image: The image is eye-catching. That’s AJ Pritchard, just-so-you-know.

Emojis: They have used emojis. First, we have Face Screaming in Fear – conveying that the money paid to the highest earner is shocking! Then, the money with wings emoji, which is self-explanatory.

Language: The language is also informal and in touch with the audience. "Fiver" is an informal word that denotes a five-pound note or five-dollar bill.

#7: Contests and giveaways

Radio stations run contests and promos all the time. Social media is a great platform to promote your contests and giveaways. For instance, this example:

What we can learn about it

The picture is awesome and has a hopeful and inspiring message. They have used relevant hashtags. The call to action is clear, “Head over to our website...” If someone is looking for an incentive to do so, they will see: “Sign up for a chance to win.”

#8: Be playful with memes

Radio stations are there to entertain...and there are plenty of stations out there that go for the giggles.

Humor is a beast. Some people may find what you post funny.

Others may feel offended. So strike a good balance.

What lesson can we learn from it

A bit of context: The whole tussle with Area 51, begun on Facebook. There was a page where people could pledge to raid area 51 and see ‘em aliens.

This post that trolls the Naruto Runners is actually shared from the “It’s-a Meme page.”

The station has an upbeat feel, allowing them to dip their toes in this kind of stuff. There are plenty of memes you can share. You just have to find them.

#9: Weekly Top 10 - (Top tip for social media for radio stations)

Are you a music radio station? I bet you rank songs based on what’s popular or most played at the moment.

Several stations post their list of top tracks on social media. In case you ain’t using this technique yet, here is a great example by Falcon Radio Station from Manilla.

What you can learn from it

Description: The description is just fantastic, and take the first 5 words, “Here’s this week’s Top 10 songs.”

Social media graphic: It’s stunning! You have the radio’s logo, cleverly, on the top left. Big numbers 1 – 10. The top song is highlighted. Cast your eye to the bottom left. You can deduce other social media profiles the station has Facebook, Twitter & Instagram.

It's so eye-catching that you would gladly share it. Well, this post has 20 comments and 18 shares, so far.

#10: Some radios are on Instagram

Yeah. Instagram is the second-largest social media platform after Facebook. It’s mainly popular with the younger generations from 13 to 34 years old.

Though most stations are on Facebook & Twitter, some have found effective ways of utilizing Instagram for radio marketing.

Videos and pictures are a mainstay on Instagram. It would be easy for TV stations to run wild on Instagram because everything they do is virtual.

Since you’ll not be posting selfies of your hosts on the daily, you can try this approach used by Fox News Radio:

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What’s great about it

Image: It’s a great picture. And Instagram calls for the best pictures.

Pulsating audio equalizer (waveform bar): It tells you that this particular post has some audio in it. So you better click.

Description: There is a segment lifted from the audio interview. The description also has tags.

Last Words

Social media for radio stations is a great approach to radio promotion.

Gone are the days of wondering what to post because this article has given you 10 approaches and real-life examples of how radios are using social media.

Don’t forget to like us on Facebook. We need your likes.

And if you’re looking for the best place to host your radio station, look no further than CloudRadio. We have the best hosting platform.