Good day, radio friends. Brian Curee here from Killer Bee Marketing. I was inspired to write this blog after hearing Annie F. Downs, at Momentum 2021, say, “When you choose fun, joy follows.” If you didn’t get to attend Momentum this year, let me give a little more context. She talked about how people like to hang out with people who have fun. It brings them joy. Joy is the emotion that follows fun. Fun is the action that produces the emotion we call joy. So having fun on social media can help your listeners want to hang out with you more on digital platforms. Fun can help increase your listener engagement on social media. Our team has been encouraging stations we coach on digital to mix fun with their messaging. To help give you some examples, I’ve asked Olivia Yetman, our Social Media Content Strategist, whom I believe has the longest job title in history, to share five ways you can have fun on social media.
- Bring Your Kids/Spouse To Work Day
Have your kid or spouse take your place in a LIVE video broadcast. You can also encourage listeners to do the same with their kiddos and spouse while providing a list of questions for them to ask during the LIVE broadcast. Don’t forget to use a specific hashtag to find those video posts quickly. You could also mix in some faith-based questions or facts that could tie it all together with your station’s message. Something like the Bible says God is watching over us. What are your thoughts about that? Or maybe something like, If God knows our thoughts, what does He hear you thinking right now? Questions like these may be some pretty funny responses from a child. They always say kids say the darnedest things.
- Emojis Have Superpowers (not really, but they’re fun)
Couple of things before you tap into these superpowers. First, don’t overdo it. Second, make sure you know what those emojis mean before you use them in your post. With great powers come great responsibility. Search emojis and find out what they mean. Keep in mind that not all emojis are as they seem. Facebook posts that include emojis can increase shares by 33% and interactions with your post by 57%. Agorapulse has also said using at least one emoji in your post will result in higher reach and engagement than those without using any.
- Be Spontaneous & Playful
I read an article by Kathy Klotz, and she said, “When you experience those moments of humanity and joy at work, get your camera out.” Does a DJ go crazy dancing when one of their favorite songs comes on in the studio? If so, record that dance and share it. If they try to lip-sync it, share it (with permission, of course) and then ask your listeners to do the same. With TikTok Duets and Reels Remix Duets, you could have a lot of fun with this type of content. Now you’re having fun together with your listeners and mixing in the music you play every day on-air.
- Recreate Fun Trending Content
Find fund trending content to recreate to fit your station’s brand. Air1 does a great job of this. They take the most popular lingo or trending videos and recreate them to fit their messaging or mission. They did one video on “What’s your worship type?” and another one, “Tell us you listen to Air1 without telling us you listen to Air1.” This type of content was trendy and allowed the DJs and listeners both an opportunity to have some fun while pointing back to Air1’s mission.
- Create A User-Generated Content (UGC) Campaign
You could invite your radio station listeners to post some fun content for your social accounts and have them use a specific hashtag.
KillerB Tip: Research how your chosen hashtag has been used before using it for a UGC campaign. On IG, you can use the tag option in the explorer search tool.
If you decide to try a UGC campaign, be sure to give the listeners an example of what kind of fun content you’re looking for. Be creative and think about your station’s message too. The fun content you ask for can bring joy to your listeners, your team, and maybe beyond this galaxy. User-generated content can also create a deeper connection and build trust between you and your listeners. So it’s a win-win for both the listener and the station if done correctly.
Brian Curee
Social media is all about creating a buzz and being social. Coming up with fun ideas is an excellent approach to drive more engagement and connect with hurting people searching for joy. Killer Bee Marketing can create a digital strategy that helps your station create that buzz and serves alongside your mission/message.