There once was a time when the only ratings a radio station cared about were in “The Book,” Arbitron. A quaint and innocent time that was…
The last year or so has seen the rise of an approaching, indefinable yet clearly undeniable phenomenon known as “social media.” Radio stations aren’t the only ones wondering how to handle this consumer of their audience’s valuable time. Is it a rival? Can it be a friend? Can it be an ally?
The Media Audit, a marketing consultancy, has made a stab at trying to quantify the “social media” chimera. Not surprisingly it found in its 2010 National Report that lots of people are using social media portals such as Facebook, Twitter, et al. And not surprisingly, the younger the person, the more likely they are to be familiar with and a frequent user of such things. Similarly, higher-income folks were also big users of social media tools.
The survey looked at 65,000 people so it is relatively deep. The National Report wasn’t designed specifically for radio stations but its look at changing behavior amongst those that radio is interested in needs to be considered.
