-
OMG! Justin Bieber's Record Label Is Following Me
May 31, 2011
Lori Lewis has been Bieber-ized!
-
As my daughter and I were watching this year’s Billboard Music Awards, Carly (in her 11-year-old way) was tweeting all night about - who else -
Justin Bieber. Using Twitter, she was congratulating him when he won or when he “should’ve won.” In the middle of this Twitter chaos, Carly screeched, “OMG, Justin Bieber’s record label is following me!”In Carly’s world, this was the biggest thing that happened all week. She ran to school the next day and told all the 11 year-old Justin Bieber minions about this. Think about the impact this one very simple (and smart) tactic by
Island Def Jam had on this community.All the girls said they would start tweeting about Justin Bieber in hopes that his record label would follow them as well. Island Records validates you for being a “Belieber.” Validation enhances the magic of being a fan.
Radio can do this socially, too. Fans want to get closer to us, to join us, to be part of our shows. Social sites create opportunities for inviting them in and sharing our exciting experiences. But if we keep pushing ourselves on them with contesting and inconsequential information, we will continue to fall short of cool, smaller-type communications that matter to fans and their communities.
Now there are some stations that are starting to exemplify the meaning of being “social.” Dave Beasing and his team at
100.3 The Sound in Los Angeles recently played to the strengths of the kinds of connection a Facebook “Like” page can facilitate.These are the types of comments that signal engagement with The Sound’s community. Aren’t they what we ultimately want to see at the end of the day?
We place such an emphasis on our ROI with social sites but what’s their return? What’s the consumer’s return for hitting the “Like” or “Follow” button? Or for texting their name to your short code to opt in for your text club? Or for searching your app to download on their phone?
When we fail to consider the listener’s return on investment, we only create experiences like poor Ralphie had as a member of “Annie’s Secret Circle” from the Radio Orphan Annie show in “A Christmas Story.”
Social and digital channels give us the privilege of creating experiences with the folks who choose to talk and interact with us. It’s about merging your tried-and-true traditional tactics with what’s expected today, like validating fans and making them say “OMG - they are following me!”
Thanks to my friend Dave Savage for inspiring the use of that video. Leave your comments below and make sure to mention other stations that can be used as examples in the digital and social space.
Reach out to me anytime on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn or Twitter.
Please enjoy MERGE archives here.