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Searching For Something To Listen To And More
July 12, 2011
Have an opinion? Add your comment below. Sammy Simpson searches for answers.
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I love the fact that each of us has the ability and the tools today to make an impact in every moment ... and most of them are free, or cost very little.
Here's a great example.
Take out your smart phone now, or go to a computer and launch a browser. Go to Google.com, or any search engine, and type in the name of one of your artists, people or personalities on the station.
Looking down the left side navigation, you'll notice your location ... and just below the option to search by any time -- past hour, past 24 hours, and so on.
On the right side navigation area is where you'll discover advertising that is relevant to the search by companies using the keyword, name, or a modifier that was typed in to the original search query. For some searches, these ads will also appear just above the organic results in the middle of the page.
For example, I am in New York and I typed in "U2" for the original search query. The organic results in the middle of the page featured no advertising; it simply showed me options for U2.com, atu2.com, videos for U2, and so on.
The right side, where the advertising is displayed, only featured one ad -- and that was for the U2 tour coming to the Meadowlands with a link for ticket information.
That was it!
Now I can think of several New York radio stations that feature U2 as a core artist, but in searching for information, or whatever may be top of mind in that moment about the band, my best option for making a connection with a media brand was only found through an organic search entry for last.fm that listed, "Watch videos & listen to U2: Beautiful Day, With Or Without You & more, plus 350 pictures.U2 is an Irish rock band which formed in 1976 in Dublin, Ireland."
Good job on their part for making SEO a critical component around the overall brand and music.
However, the opportunity is there for you as well!
The fastest way to take action and make an impact now is through paid social advertising that doesn't cost very much at all. It could literally be cents at a time.
By utilizing this approach, you can capture moments of relevance and localize it for when your listeners and users are specifically looking to make a connection with the band, their shows and/or the music.
It could be as simple for New York stations as just letting U2 fans know that outside of being able to search for ticket information to the Meadowlands show, you can also win tickets to be there, or a once-in-a-lifetime experience courtesy of your station. Or it may be that you can hear U2 play today at the following appointment times.
There are many possibilities that you can use immediately to drive traffic to a site or social page, make an appointment, generate another occasion of listening and so on.
You won't master an SEO strategy and be above last.fm in organic results -- that's a deeper topic -- but it will get above them with your paid ad; plus you will get attention, and it could possibly lead to something deeper as you connect with a fan at a moment when they are ready and doing it on their terms.
As John Battelle, Founder of Federated Media Publishing said, "Increasingly, search is our mechanism for how we understand ourselves, our world, and our place within it."
JOHN BATTELLE! FOUNDER! FEDERATED MEDIA PUBLISHING
Now you have the ability to be in that world with them, too, as they search for something to listen to and more.
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