The Art Of the Tweet – Valerie Geller

A T-Shirt slogan said it best: “If you want Me to listen to You, then You have to listen to Me.” Twitter (and Facebook, among other social media sites) offers your audience the opportunity to talk back. And when they do, they want and expect to be heard and acknowledged. Talk radio by nature is interactive: taking callers on-air involves listeners. News and talk stations now use questions and comments from Twitter and Facebook, and some programs create a Twitter hashtag to facilitate a live chat after the show or interview. There are three areas where Twitter can be very useful:

1.To promote and market your station

2.To find show prep ideas, stories and material 

3.To deepen loyalty and build your relationships

Interactivity is Good Business

The corporate sector is starting to master the art of keeping customers happy using social media. Last week, I was trapped with eight others in a high rise elevator, stuck between floors for an hour and a half.  So, everyone got busy – tweeting to their colleagues, friends and family about what was going on. After help arrived, I checked my Twitter feed. The hotel had responded: @HyattVancouver to @vgeller “We sincerely apologize, and if we can do anything to assist you during the remainder of your stay please let us know!”  Wine and cheese were delivered to our rooms and we were offered a complimentary night’s stay. But the point is they responded personally, immediately, using social media. That’s now part of standard good business practice.

If listeners take time to contact you, you can earn their loyalty if you respond. Erin Loxam with “News 1130” in Vancouver has been using social media at her station for years. She stresses the importance of having someone monitor and respond to tweets, even when your station is not staffed. “If you’re on the air 24/7, the audience expects to be able to interact with you anytime.”

Short, but Sweet

You can learn to write effective tweets that will engage people. The information must be relevant, but tweets are headlines that still must tell powerful stories. It’s hard. It takes creativity, talent and time. Think of song lyrics, they’re short.

Ten Words or Less?

With Twitter at least you get 140 characters – Vallie/Richards/Donovan’s Mike Donovan once shared a story on “writing short” at an R&R panel: The assignment: create a want ad. You had to tell a story that would engage listeners and still sell something – in ten words or less. The winner:  “For Sale: Baby shoes. Never Used.”

Wonderful For Show Prep

Using Twitter can add to your unique content. Twitter is a wonderful news source for show prep, offering links to articles, ideas, experts and personalities you might not otherwise find. You hear about breaking news events first on Twitter from people who are experiencing them. If six people suddenly tweet about a fire in downtown, that’s worth checking out.

Make sure you investigate anything before it goes on air. If you don’t verify, you could get caught. It’s vital to protect the credibility of the information you broadcast. Anyone can tweet – but you are tweeting and reporting under the station’s credible brand. Protect that brand.

Getting The Word Out

In addition to finding content for your show, Twitter and Facebook are great promotional tools. Always remember WIFM (“What’s in it for me?”) At its core this is social media. People value relationships. If you can set aside time each day to respond personally to listeners who reach out to you online, it will pay off. But saying “Thanks for listening” doesn’t count. Build relationships and create conversations. If your station has an event, encourage your audience to tag themselves on Facebook or retweet the photos to help create mass exposure on Facebook while also promoting the event.

What’s In It For The User? Make it Relevant

Social Mediaologist and “Beyond Powerful Radio – Getting, Keeping & Growing Audiences” contributor Jessica Northey has accumulated more than 378,000 Twitter followers by texting insightful, fun or useful messages. Northey now works professionally with everyone from “A” list celebrities to corporations, such as banks and hospitals, and individuals—coaching them all to connect with their fans and customers to “go viral,” using social media.

Northey warns, “Don’t fall into the ‘analysis paralysis’ mode. All of the information and platforms, support applications, and mobile phone interfaces can make anyone’s head spin. It’s not that hard.  Use all social media. Text frequent, but relevant, messages. If someone follows you on Twitter, follow them back. This gives people a sense of being personally connected to you.”

Improve Your Social Media Profile

Northey recommends, “Cross-promote your social media involvement on-air and online. Connect your website to platforms using widgets, ‘Like’ buttons, etc. Please remember that whoever you designate to tweet, post or blog for your brand represents your brand. Add social media platform participation links to business cards, letterhead, vehicle wrap, and other broadcast and print media. Encourage listeners to upload pictures of station events to your website. Set it up in advance so listeners can upload pictures in real time from their mobile phones. Offer social media-only promotions – with a deadline. Don’t forget to invite followers to your events. Include links where they can register.”

Optimize Your Timing: Targeting Your Tweets

Do you have a “tweet” schedule? If not, you might think about creating one. Did you know that younger listeners tend to check Twitter in the early morning, late at night and at the end of the business day – but certain other times of day are “hot” for certain other targeted demographics?  For example, if you’re trying to reach business people, did you know the “most read tweet time” for that group is between 11:50 AM and 12:25 PM? Why? That’s when they’re sitting at a restaurant table checking their Twitter feeds as they wait for their lunch companions to arrive.

About the Author

Valerie Geller, president of Geller Media International Broadcast Consultants, works to help communicators become more powerful in 30 countries, including Australia, for news, talk, information and personality. Through consulting and individual coaching for news and talk talent, Geller finds and develops personalities, leads “Creating Powerful Radio” and “Communicate Powerfully” workshops and seminars for radio and TV broadcasters, internet radio and podcasters. Geller is the recipient of the Conclave’s 2010 Rockwell Lifetime Achievement Award and is the author of four books about radio including her latest from Elsevier’s Focal Press Beyond Powerful Radio – A Communicator’s Guide to the Internet Age. To contact Valerie Geller for a one-on-one coaching or consulting, appointment, or for information on the “Powerful Radio” seminars and workshops, call +1 212 580-3385

Note: This is an edited version of an article that first appeared on radio-info.com and has been republished with permission.