A cooperating team can make social media reach more effective for your radio station, and when you consider how Facebook structures its reach, it’s a sensible strategy. Facebook prioritizes friend posts over brand posts in newsfeeds, so why not engage your team’s social circles and improve your station’s reach with collaborative effort?

Branded message reach receives significant boosts when shared by employees on their pages rather than brand pages — a 561% reach increase, in fact. Those brand messages typically see eight times more engagement when shared by team members because that content is reaching their circle of friends, many of which are probably not following the station’s page.

Social Advocacy Programs

Increasingly, organizations and brands are introducing social media advocacy programs. These programs are designed to amplify reach by boosting branded content through employee social media channels. Teams that have adopted this kind of employee advocacy have seen many benefits, including increased visibility, increased brand awareness, and better customer service. Studies have shown that more than half of users who introduced social media advocacy saw improved visibility as the biggest benefit for their brands on social media. 

Furthermore, with social advocacy programs, employees are encouraged to show company achievements on their social networks, promoting the mission to the people in their social circle. By sharing and discussing your radio station’s social media goals and mission with the entire team, they have a clear understanding of your main mission and how you intend to go about it.

Ways to Encourage Social Media Participation

Some companies offer incentives for employees who participate in social media advocacy programs, but since most Christian radio stations have the goal of introducing people to Jesus, we think it’s better to implement a more organic and authentic strategy. After all, the risk and the rewards are much greater when we’re talking about eternal matters. Ask your team if they will share posts introducing the station and what you have to offer to their social media friends. If they don’t want to for some reason, no problem. Some people aren’t comfortable at all with sharing work-related content on their personal profiles. Some don’t mind, but worry that they’ll post it in a way that their leaders will frown upon because the language used isn’t on brand. You don’t want to force anyone to participate. For those who want to, provide guidelines and direction. You can even send out emails and regular reminders with direct links to the posts you want your team to share with their social media followers. This makes the sharing process more streamlined, letting team members know what to share and how to share it without confusion.

Could you use some digital coaching and advice on how to implement a successful social media advocacy strategy for your radio station? Schedule a call with Killer Bee Marketing, and let’s get going!

Brian has worked in the digital field professionally since 2006 and has served the Christian Radio Industry since 2013. He has completed Donald Miller’s StoryBrand Marketing Roadmap and has a degree in Computer Science and Theology. Brian is passionate about helping the Christian Radio industry create a digital strategy that delivers clarity, improves conversions, and grows your station’s audience online by providing digital coaching, and consulting. You can learn more about Killer Bee Marketing and the services their KILLER team provides at https://killerbeemarketing.com