As online producer for the RN Music Unit I've been looking at developing social networking projects. The idea is to uses these sorts of initiatives to develop the culture that surrounds the program, enter spaces where our audience spends time and drawing on the social glue that is networked media to turn our shows into hubs that encourage our audiences to feel connected and part of 'something bigger'.
As part of the job I've been working with The Daily Planet to help set up a Planet Facebook group. Now I don't particularly like Facebook - but it is a space where lots of people are - so that's where the program needs to go.
The DP FB page has been running for six weeks and going well in comparison with similar pages - today we have 294 fans and (for this week) have a post quality rating of 4.1/5 (this measures the percentage of fans who engage when we post content by adding their own comments or by liking/disliking things)... check out our page here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Daily-Planet-ABC-Radio-National/6...
Anyway, I've extrapolated few notes below about broadcast programs running Facebook groups:
>> PROGRAM BRIEF - is Facebook right for your show? it's got a commercial feel and is not going to work for everyone... not fabulous for the more quirky or niche programs (I'd recommend a Pool group there)... But for a music program FB is great - music has universal appeal and you can have quite meaningful discussions about music with absolute strangers... it's a subject that carves out social groups anyway... but the real reason FB is good for The Daily Planet is because there are heaps and heaps of music groups/clubs there already (we need this to market our page effectively)... So, before you set up a page I recommend you cruise around looking at similar pages... bother with FB if your audience or potential audience is there and ripe for harvesting - I'd look for another tree if you have to lay the first seed
>>ACTIVE VIRAL MARKETING - I think this is pretty important on FB, it's not an environment for wall-flowers - you do need to look for ways to actively recruit fans (who aren't just your friends or friends of friends - that's a good place to start but won't get you that far)... for your active recruiting to be successful - the fans have to be there in the first place (point above) and you need the content to keep them (points below)
>>PRESENTER ENGAGEMENT - if yours is a presenter-driven show and they want to take their ball and go home - then there is no point in really starting the page... the fans need a star - FB is built around that kind of 'studio' structure. But if the presenter is willing to give it a go - they can find it is not very much work at all and that it is really quite rewarding (NB the space is not mediated but you don't seem to get much nastiness as dissatisfied users are not all that likely to become 'fans' in the first place)
>>POST/CONTENT - You really want to offer something different (but related) to your broadcast - Copying and pasting promo material is not going to cut the mustard... Users smell marketing copy and no one likes being spammed - to avoid this you might try to find an angle on the show or a part of it to feature that is a bit 'off centre'...
- >> asking questions and generally giving users some kind of guidelines about what you would like them to do or contribute to is good... people find structure comforting... otherwise they just hold it in or babble about what a great show it is and neither is much of a conversation starter... encouraging simple voting of 'likes and dislikes' is a good 'on-ramp' (as JJ would say) for greater involvement... it is a way for users to contribute without sticking their necks out too much
- >> presenters making a few off the cuff, casual comments about nothing much is quite good for business too (in addition to the more serious asks) again, this takes the pressure off users feeling they have to be a genius to post a comment... also responding to users comments is good ettiquite and is something users like... also maybe a behind-the-scenes note about the show or subject... it should be a relaxed but informative space - much looser than the program (but obviously upholding the ABC values)
- >> getting stars and featured guests to comment is good - as is experimentation - like Lucky attempting a FB interview
- >> links, links and more links flesh things out and turn your page from a limp and useless appendage (hanging off your already whole and complete and tightly sealed program) into a social nexus (open to others) and buzzing with content related to your show and relevant to your research, but not belly-button gazing at your show - links obviously take on greater significance in this space than they do on a program page (they look bigger and are given automatic images) - and they seem to be something users are very interested in... perhaps think about the FB page as being more about the subject you deal with, rather than your particular programs take on that subject...
>> POST FREQUENCY - several times a week is good - too infrequently and you lose engagement and too quick - the material doesn't get time to breath and users feel inundated... just like holding a small bird - hold it too loose and it will fly away, too tight and you will kill it
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