So you’ve just launched your brand new Internet radio station. The excitement of setting everything up is starting to fade and now you face the challenge every station owner has faced at some point. How to get more listeners for your radio station.
The truth is, it’s not that easy, or quick, but with a strategy, you’ll be broadcasting to hundreds or even thousands in no time.
After more than a decade of running Internet radio stations, here are our top 5 tips.
Define your audience
First, ask yourself who your ideal listener is. Not just their age or gender but really, who is this person? Likes? Dislikes? Get detailed. Dig deep.
For example, most corporate FM radio stations have life-size cutouts of their “listener” around the office, reminding the entire crew, of who they’re targeting.
Ask yourself about your listener:
- -What’s their name?
- -Where are they from
- -How old are they?
- -What school did they attend?
- -What job do they do?
- -Are they single, married?
- -Where do they eat lunch?
- -What car do they drive?
- -What type of phone do they use?
- -Do they have kids? If so, how many?
- -Who are they living with?
The idea here is detail… and to make the demographic a real person. The more you know, the better your station will be positioned.
Make listening obvious and easy
Now that you have your ideal listener in mind, ask yourself, how is ‘ideal listener name here’ going to tune in to my station?
To start, imagine your Internet radio station as a building, how many doors do you have to get inside? One? Two? Three? All stations should have at least 3 as a minimum, with popular stations having 10 or more. The equation is simple, the more doors you open, the more people will enter.
Questions to ask to get more listeners:
- Do you have an html5 radio player on your website?
- If so, is your radio player responsive on mobile?
- Does it autoplay? Nobody likes this!
- Does your radio player work across all devices?
- Is your radio player in an obvious spot on your site?
- Do you have a mobile app for your station?
- Is it easy to download your mobile app?
- Have you listed your station in radio directories?
- What about smart voice assistants, Alexa? Google?
Don’t have a mobile app yet? Get in touch with our team to get one developed for your station.
Don’t rely on your website alone
Continuing on from the point above, 60% of your audience will stumble across your station through another medium other than your website. The reality is nowadays, people find new stations/music through social media, even email signatures, but especially streaming radio directories.
In fact, it is crucial that your station gets listed in the Shoutcast directory. Please see the related reading material at the bottom of this article for more info.
Create incredible content
This one is a lot easier said than done but think back to your personal radio listening experiences. What was the last piece of content that kept you sitting in your car, even though you were running late…
You want to make fresh content at least once per week. Doing so not only leaves listeners wanting more but also gets your content shared amongst friends and groups.
Remember, not everyone can tune in 24/7/365, so when you do make amazing content, shout it from the rooftops. Repackage it into podcasts, on-demand audio/video for your website, social media posts, weekly highlights for airplay, and as a highlighted piece of content in your weekly newsletters, etc.
Be patient and consistent
This is probably the hardest and most important step.
There will be times when you feel like you’ve created amazing content, have an audience targeted down to the letter, and are listed in every possible radio directory, but are still not growing… just remember, there is a lot to know about Internet radio and every single station goes through this in some form.
Be sure to keep doing what you’re doing. Keep reshaping and refining your content, and over time your Internet radio station will eventually get more listeners. We promise!
Remember, every new listener, is an opportunity to reach one hundred of his or her friends. Create content that can’t be ignored, alongside different opportunities for them to listen, and you’ll have a large audience in no time.
Related reading material