The Perks of a High Online Listenership
You have a Listen Now button on your radio station’s website. But is that really enough? Are you really getting a high online listenership? Is putting in all that time to increase your online audience really worth it? Read on to find out why having a big online audience is so important.
Online listeners have the option to listen to your radio show from all across the globe. They do not have to be within wave length and so you will not solely be available to local listeners. Therefore, anyone with an internet connection can listen to your radio station, undoubtedly giving you a greater online listenership.
Furthermore, promoting your online radio show will not only reach a greater audience, but also a younger audience. Young people are far more likely to listen to radio on their mobile phone than any other device and thus your radio station will be more likely to remain relevant for longer. Young people are avid social media lovers and can advertise your radio station for free. They can do this simply by sharing links on Facebook, or tweeting what they are currently listening to. This will allow your radio station to put itself out there with more people knowing about it and wanting to tune in.
Getting a higher online listenership means getting higher website traffic, which means more advert viewers. This will make your website a better platform for advertisers to campaign on.
What do you do when you hear adverts begin to play on via AM/FM radio? Do you pay any attention to them? or do you just hear them in the background as you focus on other things? You might even change the channel for a bit or simply just turn the radio off. It is difficult for advertisers to make money off traditional radio adverts due to the audience’s lack of focus. When a user tunes in to online radio, an advert will begin to play automatically. The user cannot skip the advert, or just change the channel, so will in fact sit through the advert from start to finish.
Being on a screen, eye-catching visuals can also be included in the advert, making advertising easier for products that need to be demonstrated. A link to the website can also be included in the digital radio advert so that the user is literally one click away from making a purchase.
Online radio also makes it easier to target consumers because apps can now see the audience’s age range, gender, mobile network, language and location. This allows for more efficient advertising, as the advert only reaches the people who are most likely to consume the product, or use the service.
Remember to constantly promote your online radio show. This will get you more listeners and enable you to be of better value to your advertisers.
Week in Review – January Week 1
January 9, 2017
Welcome to Exaget’s first Week in Review, a weekly roundup of all things radio, digital and advertising, of 2017. This week has marked the end of Norway’s FM network and the beginning of two partnerships between Ford and Toyota and iHeartMedia and Google. In addition, Pandora take a step into the future by adding new mobile ad formats to their streaming service.
Norway will be the First Digital Only Country
Norway will become the first ever country to shut down its FM network. Instead, they will be switching to digital radio to allow investment in this sector. This change will take months to be fully implemented. However, the change has been heavily criticised by many, even though digital radio will result in clearer sound, more channels and will be less likely to fail in extreme conditions; which is a lot better and safer in case of emergency.
iHeartRadio to Integrate with Google Home
Google Home, a voice-activated speaker, is only improving and will soon be integrating with iHeartRadio, a digital radio platform, to play music from specific stations or songs. As a result, users will get access to thousands of live radio songs. In addition, a podcast functionality will be coming soon. iHeartRadio has the largest national reach of any radio or television outlet in America; it has over a quarter of a billion monthly listeners in the U.S.
Pandora to Add New Mobile Ad Formats
Pandora, a music streaming and automates music recommendation service, has announced that they will be adding new mobile ad formats on 19th January 2017. They will roll out their first muted video and responsive mobile display ads. This will enable advertisements to adjust according to phone screen size. These new mobile ad formats will be the first in its Visual Ad Experience suite.
Ford and Toyota Create Digital Dashboard Alternative
Ford and Toyota have formed an alliance of car companies and software developers. They intend to create alternatives to Apple CarPlay and Android Auto called the SmartDeviceLink Consortium. Apple and Google are the leading suppliers of smartphone integration in dashboards. Ford and Toyota’s efforts aim to develop a standard, customisable solution for car makers. Additionally, they hope to stem the growing influence of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.