Your Reinvention Plan

Recently featured in Radio Business Report: This is the time for us to embrace change, restructure our strategy and staff, and prepare for a prosperous future. wo media consultants, McVay New Media’s Daniel Anstandig and Geller Media International’s Valerie Geller teamed together to offer a practical vision for the radio station of the not-too-distant future.

Keys To Interactive Success in 2009

In 2009, the difference between hitting your budget and not hitting your budget will be interactive advertising. This year, $25.7 billion will be spent across the USA in online advertising. Here are four keys to your interactive success in 2009...

Radio's Digital Blue Ocean

Future success can be accomplished with a new way of thinking and an adjustment to radio’s business model. The most arduous obstacle between our current status and future success is our thinking. Changing philosophies is difficult, and our industry is still clearly mired in legacy systems.

Electing Your Station

This year, politicians have used new media to enfranchise potential voters on their way to the paper ballot. Learn how these tactics can work for radio’s campaign to motivate listeners on their way to the paper diary.

You can launch a social network, communicate with bloggers, send out millions of text messages, or reinvent the internet. However, if your product does not resonate with the audience, new media won’t win the election for you alone. The product must be right first.

Brands That Win

The biggest challenge today for any operator is retaining focus of their core product, their brand. It’s only natural to get distracted by the chaotic demands and surprises that every day brings. Today, give yourself the luxury of five minutes of reflection on your brand’s health by reviewing these traits of the most profitable entities.

Core Business: Content

The radio stations that succeed and thrive through this new media revolution will be those that offer a personally relevant and memorable “entertainment experience.” As our world becomes more wired, listeners will continue to seek out entertainment and inform.

Waking of the Tan Tiger

Digital Media opens new opportunities for stations in the formats which have traditionally had difficulty maintaining a high percentage of Hispanic AQH. This is where online programs can offer high reward with lower capital investment to reach Hispanic listeners. It is possible to create a version of your brand online which targets Hispanic audience.

Hispanics are also heavy users of Social Networks. If you are in an area with a high Hispanic population, consider employing social networking tactics on your website, which target this segment.

Digital Media Strategy Checklist

As Digital Media has matured in the marketplace, many models have emerged for strategic development of websites. At McVay New Media, we consult for media companies who are entering the digital space, and we design and implement digital media strategies for companies on eight cylinders: content, community, communication, commerce, monetization, movement, management, and measurement.

Without thoroughly considering and planning for any one of these areas, the digital media strategy of that company may be vulnerable. If your company is developing a digital media strategy, these are some of the questions that must be addressed to ensure your success.

Radio in 3-D

Many advertisers are now convinced that an audio ad is no longer enough to reach their customers. New Media has opened up new options to reach consumers—outside of television and radio, and local direct advertisers are buying campaigns that are “diversified” in nature. Radio/advertising companies that offer a multi-dimensional solution to advertisers (including audio, online showcasing, online lead generation, etc.) are more likely to win the lion-share of the business. Many of the radio companies we consult on building their digital marketing/sales strategies have reported that the street-level enthusiasm for radio buys with an interactive bend is at an all-time high.

Top 5 Media Trends of 2008

This year will be one of pivotal change for the media industry. As the lives of consumers and our listeners accelerate, marketers and programmers are being forced to find new ways to reach out to our targets and research/collect information about their desires. Here are five trends that will emerge throughout 2008:

Podcasting Do's and Don'ts

Most of my radio clients have embarked on podcasting in the last year, recognizing its potential to bring new listeners and new revenue to the table. In some cases, we have worked with radio stations who have signal issues to install internet-radio streaming and podcasting as part of their “reach” strategy.

Whether you are developing a plan to podcast or nurturing an existing podcasting plan for your station, here are some DO’s and DON’Ts to consider:

Downloading Ratings & Revenues

The Internet has radically changed all of our lives in recent years. Now, our individual “circles of social influence” are more accessible than ever. Our friends, family, and business associates are merely a keystroke away, and information on anything is only a quick “google” away. Instant messenger and blackberry devices offer instant contact (and constant distraction).

We are living in a wired world, and it is triggering radio listeners to change their entertainment consumption habits and expectations of our programming. Savvy consumers can now find anything and everything they want on the Internet in a matter of seconds.