Radio's Tendency for "Random Acts of Digital"

I first heard this phrase at the Worldwide Radio Summit last month.  Consultant Fred Jacob used it to describe the scattershot shotgun approach radio stations and companies have applied to their online world.

Basically, they just do stuff--with their website, Facebook, Twitter, streams--willy-nilly without any coherent plan or long-term strategy.  They scream for things like "We need 'Likes' on Facebook!" without really understanding what that means.  Tweets are sent with no rhyme or reason.  

And most of all, they forget that communicating with an audience online is completely different that broadcasting with a transmitter.

Why do so many radio people still not take their place in the online realm seriously?  Cost, for one.  If there's no immediate return on investment, what's the point?  We have to demonstrate monthly and quarter-to-quarter growth in all areas, otherwise we'll be punished by the market.  Shareholders will get grumpy.

Second, it's very hard for the people running the show to ween themselves from a business model that's almost a hundred years old.  They may pay lip service to the IP world, but many of them just don't get it. So many people I've met believe that radio will just continue in its present form without having to get involved in that messy online stuff.  

"A digital strategy?  Prove to me that it's going to work and then we'll talk."

Fred Jacob's newsletter had this quote from marketing dude Seth Godin today:  "Relying too much on proof distracts you from the real mission--which is emotional connection."

If you're a radio person with the ability to enact change, please read this.  If you're a radio person and not interested in this subject, then start thinking how you're going to make a living outside of radio in a few years.

Comments

[Andra Collazo]

They may pay lip service to the IP world, but many of them just don't get it.