Social Media: Building Page Views, Viewers & Revenue #SMRTDNA

By Emily Maher, RTDNA Editorial Team

Raise your station’s revenue by engaging followers on Facebook and Twiter, said social media strategists Kim Wilson and Josh Rickel to a packed house on Tuesday.

“Write clever posts,” Wilson said at the RTDNA/SPJ Conference in New Orleans, La. “Make sure you’re not being lazy when writing. This will increase your engagement.”

Wilson is the founder of Social Media Newsroom, a solutions website for stations using social media. Before developing Social Media Newsroom, she worked as an executive producer of news for WJXT in Jacksonville, Fla. Josh Rickel is the sales and business developer at Mass Relevance, a social media curation platform provider. Rickel spent time working as a media lawyer in Washington, D.C.



Wilson and Rickel were at the RTDNA/SPJ Conference as part of the 2011 Excellence in Journalism Conference. Over 100 journalists participated in their session.

In their session Tuesday, they said stations should focus on increasing revenue by engaging viewers, increasing page views and covering breaking news.



On engaging viewers, Wilson said it is important to remember who your audience is. “Don’t lose sight of the fact that you’re talking to your local community,” Wilson explained about posting content on Facebook.

When using Facebook, Wilson advises:
•    Highlighting quotes for more engagement
•    Posting more than five lines per post, taking up more space on a page
•    Posting media-rich content: links, photos, videos

When using Twitter, Rickel advises:
•    Using hashtags to promote stories
•    Encouraging viewers to ReTweet stories
•    Responding to tweets from viewers

On increasing page views, Wilson said stations should post national stories on their Facebook pages. “Stations should be using social media to reach audiences outside of their market,” Wilson said.



When using Facebook, Wilson advises:
•    Having a “Fan of the Week”
•    Talking about viewer comments on-air
•    Posting 11-15 times a day

When using Twitter, Rickel advises:
•    Be strategic at when you Tweet: people ReTweet most in the afternoon
•    Shorten URLs in Tweets
•    Tweet frequently
On covering breaking news, Rickel said Twitter is the future of breaking news. “No news breaks faster than it does on Twitter,” Rickel said.

When using Twitter, Rickel advises:
•    Giving followers a sense of place
•    Using a hashtag
•    Tweeting quotes
•    Responding to viewer Tweets

When using Facebook, Wilson advises:
•    Asking questions on your page
•    Being transparent
•    Providing live-stream coverage

Rickel said building a strong viewership is the key to increasing station revenue. “Make people a part of how you’re building the story,” Rickel said. “And that’s how you build viewer loyalty.”