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 thousands in no time.
After 10 years of running 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, who they’re targeting.
Ask yourself:
- Find a picture online that resembles your ideal listener.
- What’s their name?
- How old are they?
- What school did they go to?
- What job are they in?
- Are they single, in a relationship, married?
- Where do they eat lunch?
- What car do they drive?
- Where do they live?
- What type of phone/computer do they have?
- Do they have kids? If so, how many?
- Who are they living with?
- Etc…
The idea here is detail… and to make them a real person.
The more you know, the better your station will be positioned.
Provide options to listen
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? Four? All stations should have at least 3, with popular stations having at least 10.
Questions to ask to get more listeners:
- Do you have a radio player on every page of your website?
- Does it autoplay? Nobody likes this!
- Is your radio player responsive on both desktop and mobile?
- Does your radio player work across all devices?
- Is your radio player in an obvious spot on your website?
- Do you have a mobile app for your station?
- Is it easy to download your mobile app?
- Have you listed your station on TuneIn?
- Have you listed your station in directories?
The equation is simple, the more doors you offer, the more people will enter. Guaranteed.
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
Continue on from the point above, 60% of your audience will stumble across your station on another medium than your website.
(Making your station sound that much more important). The reality is these days, people find new stations/music through social media, even email signatures, but also (and in my opinion most importantly right now) radio directories.
It’s crucial your SHOUTcast server is listed in as many radio directories as possible including the Shoutcast directory.
At Gecko, we offer a ‘Get More Listeners’ package, where we add your station to up to 20 different radio directories that we have partnerships with.
Create incredible content
This one is a lot easier said than done but think back to your personal radio listening. What was the last piece of content that kept you sitting in your car, even though you were running late…
This is the magic content you want to make at least once per week.
Doing so not only leaves listeners wanting more but gets your content shared amongst friend groups.
Remember, not everyone can tune in 24/7, so when you do make amazing content, shout it from the rooftops. (Repackage it into podcasts, featured on-demand audio/video on your website, on social media, edited into ‘weekly highlights’ for airplay, 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 directory, but are still not growing… just remember, every single station goes through this.
Be sure to keep doing what you’re doing. Keep reshaping and refining your content, and over time your Internet radio station will grow.
Remember, every new listener, is an opportunity to reach 100 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.