Building community

A big buzzword this year has been community. After COVID’s forced isolation, I heard experts say how important getting back out there was for radio stations. Send the show out to meet people in person. Shake hands, kiss babies. But is that what it takes to build community? 

I found an interesting article this week that breaks down building community, so I pulled out the points most relevant to shows and radio stations. You can see the whole toolkit here. 

Here are the questions to ask: 

FIrst create an identity for the community. Artists have done a good job creating fandoms – Swifties, the BeyHive, Beliebers, the Little Monsters, Britney’s Army. But some shows and stations already have named their listener base – the KVJ Army; Virgin Nation; Miguel & Holly Family, for example. 

• What is the customer need around which the community is born? 

• What is it we are asking people to belong to? 

• Are we creating an open community where anyone can be a part of it? 

• Or is there anyone who is not welcome in the community? 

• What features do members share - territory, age, interests, habits, passions, etc. 

Secondly, engage with the community. What do we do together? 

• Celebrate the group 

• Celebrate members of the group

• Meet up, online and offline

• Co-create collaborative activities (e.g. Christmas Wish-type organic promotions where the community comes together to help a family in need)

Some additional questions to consider: 

• What rituals are in place for the group? (Think daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, annually)

• How do you communicate with the group beyond the radio? (FB group, email - which, don’t laugh, is actually effective, social media)

• Do you have reward levels of any kind? (Merch, recognition, access to the show, etc.)

The creation of a community can coincide with your efforts to build great content and get ratings. It’s not a separate initiative. Having a loyal, engaged and active community can help ratings, social engagement and revenue. 

Share how you’re building community with your show and station and I’ll spotlight some of your stories in an upcoming edition! 

(Hat tip: Collaboriamo.org) 
 

Keep showing up! 

~ Angela 

P.S. I received a lot of great feedback on last week’s column about cutback anxiety and celebrating the skill sets that radio develops in you. Here it is again, if you missed it.