Red River Radio Communications Strategy

STRATEGIC COMMMUNICATIONS PLAN DEVELOPED FOR

Sarah Tone

TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction P.2 Objectives P.3 Situation Analysis P.4 Publics P.7 Key Messages P.10 Communication Tactics and Tools P.11 Timeline P.16 Budget P.20 Evaluation P.21 Appendix 1. Radio Survey Results Summary P. 23

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INTRODUCTION Our overall objective of this communications strategy is to build awareness of Red River Radio among Red River College of Applied Arts, Science and Technology (RRC) students at both the Exchange District Campus (EDC) and Notre Dame Campus (NDC). This includes motivating listeners to listen to Red River Radio on their smart devices using the TuneIn Radio app. RRC has over 30,000 students enroll every year. This strategy aims to increase awareness and listenership primarily among them. The awareness level and listenership of Red River Radio are both low. The lack of a specific brand identity and vision for the station, infrequent social media posts, and lack of interaction with each of Red River Radio’s key publics all contribute to the limited engagement Red River Radio has with its publics. This strategy will help Red River Radio achieve its objectives, define its brand, engage effectively with its internal and external publics, demonstrate the success of its work, ensure its audiences understand its messages, change listener behaviours and perceptions where necessary, and provide measurements and evaluation recommendations to raise awareness and encourage listenership of Red River Radio. The focus of this strategy is on creating a strong brand identity for Red River Radio in the visual, on-‐air, and online platforms. This strategy will be put in place immediately and develop over the next six months. We are confident that with the successful execution of this communications strategy, we will successfully raise awareness and stimulate listenership of Red River Radio.

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OBJECTIVES Using this strategy, we will raise awareness of Red River Radio among RRC students by 50%, and motivate more Red River College students to listen to Red River Radio on their smart devices using the TuneIn Radio app. We will increase awareness for the ease of listening and portability of Red River Radio and encourage RRC students to stream Red River Radio using the TuneIn Radio app. We will develop Red River Radio’s brand identity as the number one online radio station for RRC students, advertise and promote in heavily populated areas at both the NDC and EDC, and create a highly-‐interactive social media strategy. This will also encourage the desire among students to participate in Red River Radio-‐related activities such as volunteering or hosting their own shows.

In terms of online presence, we will increase unique visitors to the Red River Radio website (radio.rrc.ca) by 40%. We will add more personal content such as: short host biographies, individual show blogs, photos of the hosts and radio station, and links to online social platforms and related RRC content. This will give RRC students a place to learn more about who and what they are listening to. Our social media strategy will boost Red River Radio’s Twitter followers by 40%. By tailoring our content to our listeners and increasing interaction on Twitter we will encourage more mentions, retweets, favourites and conversations. We will increase Facebook Likes, shares and comments by directly interacting with our audience, asking questions, and posting content that is current and relevant to RRC students. We hope to see an increase in page Likes from 424 to 850. We will post three new videos to our YouTube channel per month. We will post weekly wrap-‐up highlight videos of what hosts from each show covered throughout the week, using audio clips from podcasts. Photos, video clips and memes will add a visual component to encourage an increase in unique visits by 10%. To consider this strategy a success, Red River Radio will have:

• 20 new listeners per month listening to Red River Radio on the TuneIn Radio app • Over 900 views on YouTube • 850 Facebook Likes • 5-‐10 Likes, comments and shares of Facebook posts per week • 1140 Twitter followers • 5-‐10 retweets, mentions and favourites on Twitter • 10 volunteers signed up to host and/or produce their own show • 50% of Red River College students aware of the station • At least two calls into the station per day to request songs

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SITUATION ANALYSIS After conducting surveys within our target audience, our team discovered the awareness of Red River Radio isn’t as much of an issue as the low listenership; a small group of students is aware of the radio station, but is not actively listening. Both awareness and listenership levels are low. This situation analysis determines the strengths and weaknesses of Red River Radio to encourage listenership and motivate students to listen to Red River Radio using the TuneIn Radio app on their smart devices. It also outlines potential external opportunities and threats to the success of the strategy. STRENGTHS

• Red River Radio is free • Podcasts are available to download for free • Variety of programming, students can host shows anytime about any approved subject • Defined target audience, Red River College students • Online/Internet radio station is an opportunity to reach publics any time of day, any

where providing there is an Internet connection or Wi-‐Fi capabilities • Student hosts and board operators provide free labour • Any current student can produce, host, or operate the sound board for any current

program • Red River Radio volunteers and show hosts are members of our target audience • TuneIn Radio app provides convenience and is available:

o on cellular devices: iPhone, Android phones, Windows phones Samsung Bada, Palm and BlackBerrys,

o on tablets: iPads, Android, and Amazon Kindle, o on TVs: Samsung Smart TV, Panasonic Viera TV, Roku, Sonos and Logitech UB, o in cars: Chevrolet MyLink, Ford SYNC, Tesla Model S. o on Wi-‐Fi devices: iPod touch

• TuneIn Radio app makes Red River Radio portable • Can still provide local content including: weather, news and sports • Commercial-‐free programming • Listeners can call in to speak and connect with the on-‐air hosts • Established social media platforms: Twitter, Facebook, YouTube

WEAKNESSES

• One genre of music • Listeners cannot customize what they listen to • Listeners do not have a way of connecting with the hosts • No paid advertising • No revenue • No budget • Inadequate penetration in Notre Dame Campus audience • Fragmented audience between Winnipeg campuses

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• TuneIn Radio app has connectivity issues • Canadian content regulations exist for Internet broadcast content • Social media presence does not result in many shares or Likes, or encourage comments • Social media posts lack strategic planning • Website management, navigation and organization and uploading of content needs

updating OPPORTUNITIES

• Create and establish brand identity to display across all platforms • TuneIn Radio app increases reach • Flexibility of Internet radio content and programming • People listen to radio for background noise • There are multiple options for listeners to bring and listen to their portable media

anywhere (tape deck adapter, wireless FM transmitters, dashboard units, and auxiliary cables)

• TuneIn Radio app provides the opportunity for hosts to better-‐connect with listeners. Listeners can take radio everywhere, as the TuneIn Radio app is available on many popular smart devices.

• Work with local people and businesses to provide a local platform for guests to reach their audiences through Red River Radio’s online broadcasts, website and social media platforms

• Visual adaptation – more video content, mobile app, and photos on website/Twitter/Facebook

• Internet radio available in new cars THREATS

• People within our key publics still prefer to listen to traditional radio in their cars • Traditional radio has a strong presence and influence in Winnipeg • Portable music devices, online streams and other free apps allow listeners to have their

choice of what they listen to: o iPod touch and MP3 player, o iTunes, Spotify, Grooveshark, and o Satellite radio has over 220 genre and music specific stations.

• Competition for listenership and share of the market is extremely high • Listeners have an unprecedented number of music choices • Some smart devices by Apple, Samsung and Android have their own music playing and

streaming capabilities • Traditional radio has access to its listeners while they’re in the car • Not everyone owns a smart device to download the TuneIn Radio app • Not everyone has Internet access at home to stream Red River Radio online • Wi-‐Fi isn’t available everywhere

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• Data plans are expensive • Wi-‐Fi access isn’t always free • The Internet radio industry is still very new and constantly changing • There are multiple options for listeners to bring and listen to their portable media

anywhere (tape deck adapter, wireless FM transmitters, dashboard units, and auxiliary cables)

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PUBLICS Our primary internal audience includes station managers Dan Vadeboncoeur and Cathy Hanson, as well as current student volunteers who host or are involved with Red River Radio. We know that this audience spends most of its time at RRC with students and teachers. The students have classes with their section or major class, but they also have electives where they interact with some students they may not see on a regular basis. Students spend their time at RRC in class, studying, and working on homework and projects during class time. They are easily reachable at RRC, as their schedules are all posted on the Creative Arts Department information board. Students split their time away from RRC between work, home and personal activities. They have access to many different networks on any given day. If a student spends his or her day at school, works in the evening and spends time with friends at night, that one student has been surrounded by three different circles of people in just one day. Knowing that students do have busy lives and different networking circles, we know they need to spend money and participate in group activities. Based on our research, we know these students get most of their information online, and by word-‐of-‐mouth. We also know that they communicate primarily online and by word-‐of-‐mouth. Students prefer a less-‐formal communication style, with an emphasis on humour, creativity and brevity. The station managers are instructors at RRC and they interact with students on a daily basis. They spend most of their time in class, or at RRC teaching, meeting with students, or creating and grading assignments. They do also go home to spend time with their families. Their personal and professional lives are kept separate from one another, though some instructors do spend time with students at some outside-‐of-‐class assignments and events. Station managers consume their information online, because it is a part of their job as station managers to know what is current, important and trending locally, nationally and internationally, as it should be covered in the station’s scheduled programming. Station managers want the communication style of the hosts on Red River Radio to positively reflect their education and RRC as an institution. While there is room for freedom and creativity, there is a standard that all student volunteer hosts are expected to uphold. We want this audience to serve as our primary messenger for the Red River Radio brand. We know this audience will help deliver our messages to our other audiences and we will need to ensure they have the most accurate sources of information. Our primary external audience is both male and female RRC students primarily between the ages of 16-‐25. Our survey results of 216 RRC students from the NDC showed that:

• 30% of the surveyed students listen to the radio more than once per day, • 78% listen to the radio while driving, • 84% chose the music as their favourite radio component against personalities/talk

shows, • 93% own smartphones, • 66% find new information online,

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• 63% spend their free time at home, • 24% spend their free time at restaurants and bars, • only 27% had heard of Red River Radio prior to the survey, and • 89% had never listened to Red River Radio before.

Based on our survey results, RRC students are currently unaware of and uninterested in Red River Radio. Strategic placement of the materials we develop will be essential to reaching the right audiences. Much like our primary internal audience, these students spend most of their days in class at RRC. They likely have some elective classes in which they interact with groups of students that are different from the ones they interact with on a daily basis. They spend most of their free time at home, but will also spend some time at restaurants, bars and local events. Most students find new information online, and the majority of them have access to a smartphone. Regardless of whether they have a data plan, or use the Wi-‐Fi at RRC, it’s likely that they use their smartphones to find new information. These students also prefer a less-‐formal communication style, with an emphasis on humour, creativity and brevity. We know RRC students have access to student-‐focused areas at both the NDC and the EDC, such as the gym, fitness centres, seminar rooms and student lounges. We will promote and advertise Red River Radio in those areas on TV screens and have Red River Radio play over the speakers as background music to generate awareness of the station among those students. Our survey results show that RRC students get their information primarily from online sources, TV and by word-‐of-‐mouth. We can use the available mediums within the campuses to promote Red River Radio to them. RRC students at both campuses have access to TV screens, the RRC website and main home screens on all computers. Class representatives can also share our messages to the students as they have direct and personal access to them. We want this audience to be aware of and listen to Red River Radio. Our secondary internal audience includes: the Red River College Students’ Association (RRCSA), RRC faculty and staff, RRC alumni, RRC’s donors and Red River College as an institution. RRC staff, faculty and employees have direct access to RRC and its students on a regular basis, as it’s their job to be there and to interact with them. They are easily reachable at RRC in-‐person and online. RRC has its own blog, Going Places, Facebook page, Twitter feed and YouTube channel and staff and faculty receive internal emails regularly. Using these avenues, we can share online and social media content with RRC while encouraging staff to listen to the station while on break, or during work periods with their students. The RRCSA President should be in touch with her publics. We will have Jocelle Cuvos on Wes and The Goat in the Morning to discuss student-‐related issues, upcoming events, and ways to be involved with RRC. This will help her reach her audiences in a new and exciting way, and will help us gain credibility by hosting high-‐profile RRC representatives in our regularly scheduled programming.

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RRC alumni and donors share most of the same characteristics, but they do not have direct access to RRC on a regular basis. We will need to tailor our messages to them in a way that makes them feel like and know that they are directly involved. We will need to create messages that we can send to them, as we do not have the power to call each one of them when they need to be communicated with. Alumni and donors should be communicated to using a professional yet conversational tone. They have likely made great contributions to RRC and/or have been seen as a representative of RRC and should be respected as such. RRC’s donors are told where their dollars are spent and once spent, donors will be invited to share their contributions with their friends, other donors, board members, alumni etc. There is an existing alumni newsletter that goes our on a regular basis and we could use that platform to reach them. We want this audience to be aware of and listen to Red River Radio. Our secondary external audience includes parents, friends and families of the students who volunteer for Red River Radio, as well as the families of the station managers, fans and members of the local music played on Red River Radio. This audience is our hardest to reach directly as little-‐to-‐none of its time is spent at RRC. This audience has its own priorities and its own jobs, friends and other family members to include in its daily schedule. This audience gets its news about RRC second-‐hand. The information has to bear a strong enough message to make it important enough to share with this audience. To reach this audience we will rely primarily on word-‐of-‐mouth and emotional support. Parents, friends, families and fans of the hosts and musicians on Red River Radio should be motivated to tell their circles of friends about their loved ones because they’re excited for them and driven by positive emotions. We can pitch the idea of tagging Red River Radio on social media and the websites of the local bands and artists it plays, and offer to do the same in return as a form of cross-‐promotion. We want this audience to be aware of and listen to Red River Radio.

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KEY MESSAGES For all of Red River Radio’s publics, we want them to know that Red River Radio:

• is the number one online radio station for RRC students, • is free to stream online, • is free to stream using the free TuneIn Radio app, and • offers the opportunity for any current student to host and/or produce a radio show at

any time of day about any approved subject. For all publics to receive these messages, we need an increase in awareness and listenership of Red River Radio. Our key messages to achieve that increase are divided among our key publics. Our key messages for Red River Radio station managers and current student-‐volunteers are that they are the ambassadors of Red River Radio. For every second that they speak and every song that they choose to play on their show, they should be doing so for the Red River Radio audience. Red River Radio is the number one online radio station for RRC students. Our key messages for current RRC students include those that we have for station managers and current student-‐volunteers, but they also include various other benefits. Volunteering for campus activities including hosting a show on Red River Radio is a résumé booster. Hosting a radio show is a great way to promote your personal brand, views and opinions. Hosting and/or producing a radio show where you have the freedom to plan your own content is a rare luxury that not every student can undertake. It’s an opportunity that exists solely with online radio, as traditional radio stations are planned and scheduled down to the minute, with no freedom to choose content or music to play. For the Red River College Students’ Association (RRCSA), RRC faculty and staff, RRC alumni, RRC’s donors and Red River College as an institution, our key messages will reflect the level of involvement we need from this audience. We need the support of RRC as an institution, the faculty and staff and the RRCSA for permission to play Red River Radio in their respective areas and classrooms. We want them to understand that Red River Radio was created for RRC students and it encourages student participation while promoting the education of our students in the field of radio broadcasting. We want this audience to see and hear the benefits that listening to and volunteering for the station can have for them and their students. For the parents, friends and families of the students who volunteer for Red River Radio, as well as the families of the station managers, fans and members of the local music played on Red River Radio, our key message is that someone you love is doing something amazing right now. The person they have a connection to at RRC is furthering their career goals, improving their resume, and creating content for, producing, and hosting their own live radio show on a real radio station.

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COMMUNICATION TACTICS AND TOOLS The following tactics and tools have been developed based on what we know about our publics. We know RRC students get their information primarily from online sources, TV and word-‐of-‐mouth. Based on our research, RRC students are primarily active on Facebook (73%), YouTube (51%), Instagram (43%) and Twitter (35%). We know that they prefer to hear music, news, sports and discussions about current topics when they listen to the radio. We asked RRC students if they would stream a radio station using their smartphone with the TuneIn Radio app and while only 5% said they already do, 43% said maybe and 16% said that they would. We also know that because we successfully obtained 216 surveys about Red River Radio, that surveys are an efficient method of gathering information about and monitoring student opinion. We need to work on interaction with our publics to gain more followers, Likes, subscribers, podcast downloads and TuneIn Radio app listeners. Strategic placement of the materials we develop will be essential to reaching the right audiences. Red River Radio – On-‐Air Knowing that our audience prefers to hear commercial-‐free music is an asset for Red River Radio. With the exception of short PSA breaks, Red River Radio is commercial-‐free. To reach and connect with the students while enhancing our on-‐air experience we will:

• Add more broadcast locations at both the NDC and EDC • Interview local stand-‐outs including: chefs, artists, decorators, tradespeople designers

etc. that are RRC graduates who are looking to hire staff, have new projects to promote or need volunteers for an upcoming event

• Promote RRC events in conjunction with the RRCSA • Promote RRC programs, milestones, and upcoming events and seminars hosted by RRC • Feature current RRC students from various programs who excel in their field • Introduce the Live Lunch Request Hour from 11 a.m. – 12 p.m. every weekday

At the EDC Red River Radio’s broadcasting options include:

• Cafeteria/Food Court area • The Mercantile • The Grab n Go • Student Service Centres • The Bookstore • Fitness centre

At the NDC Red River Radio’s broadcasting options include:

• The Ox • Lockers student lounge • The Cave • Buffalo Cafeteria • Java Junction • Otto’s Cafeteria • Voyageur Dining Room • Student Service Centre

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• Fitness centre • The BookZone • The gymnasium during intramurals

A high-‐traffic time for most students to be out of the classroom is the 11 a.m. – 12 p.m. lunch hour. Hosting a live call-‐in request hour during this time would encourage people to call in to the station to request songs they’d like to hear on their lunch break which would increase awareness and listenership during this time. Red River Radio Web site – radio.rrc.ca Many Red River Radio listeners may go to the station’s main website first after being exposed to marketing, promotional items, or hearing it in the halls. It is important to have relevant information in a prominent location on the website. It’s also important for Red River Radio’s listeners to connect with the hosts they’re listening to. If we add host bios, photos and blogs listeners have a better chance of relating to the hosts. To enhance our website we will:

• Update home page with radio-‐related photos • Add links for TuneIn Radio app, and RRC home page on every page • Add Facebook widget • Organize podcasts by show rather than having them all in one list • Add regularly-‐updated blogs for each show on each show’s individual page • Update the Listen Live feature to include recently-‐played and currently-‐playing

tracks • Add an on-‐air show schedule • Create pop-‐up surveys for when the online stream closes to ask visitors why they

were there, what they liked and what they’d change • Add station to online radio station directory such as Canadian Web Radio and

Internet Radio • Add host bios and photos of all hosts • Add a poll widget for listeners to vote on the songs that Red River Radio may add to

the rotation • Add information and examples of the music Red River Radio plays to the About page

so people know exactly what they can expect to hear on Red River Radio By formatting a more user-‐friendly website, with information on how to listen to the station positioned in a prominent and eye-‐catching fashion, we make it as easy as we can for the listeners to tune in. Red River Radio Twitter -‐ @rrcradio Red River Radio’s Twitter page currently has 814 followers, is following 757 people, and has sent 1,593 Tweets. Content is posted regularly, but primarily promotes currently-‐airing shows and hosts with little audience interaction. Current posts also aren’t taking advantage of hashtags (#) or tagging others in posts as often as they could. To increase the number of mentions, retweets, favourites and followers Red River Radio needs to focus our messaging on two-‐way

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communication. We will:

• Create a weekly posting plan to ensure consistent content posting including: o Promotion of shows and hosts o Use of #throwbackthursday, #followfriday, #crecomm #redriverradio and other

trending hashtags o Mention, tag and thank people when they become a follower, Tweet that they

are listening request a song, call-‐in, guest host, and/or make an appearance for an interview or performance, etc.

o Number of posts per day (6) to be divided among show hosts and station managers

o Creative content ideas o Links to photos and videos of Red River Radio-‐related content o Links to radio.rrc.ca o Links to TuneIn Radio app

• Follow all RRC students who are currently on Twitter • Follow all RRC staff, faculty, alumni, and donors who are currently on Twitter • Follow all RRC programs that have Twitter accounts • Save RRC-‐related searches, such as #crecomm, to review frequently, retweet, and

respond to

Tweets can be managed and scheduled in advance using programs like HootSuite or TweetDeck to ensure that we maintain at least six Tweets per day. Students and staff who have access to the Twitter account can add content wherever they see the need and can review the scheduled posts in timelines and publishers. Red River Radio Facebook -‐ https://www.facebook.com/redriverradio Red River Radio’s Facebook page currently has 424 Likes. Since Sept 1, 2013, there have only been 19 posts; 4/19 were Liked, but not one of them had shares or comments. Content is posted on a semi-‐regular basis, but is repetitive and like the Twitter account, primarily promotes currently airing shows and hosts with little audience interaction. Facebook has implemented the use of hashtags (#), and people, places, businesses and organizations can be tagged in posts. To increase the number of Likes, shares and comments Red River Radio needs to focus our messaging on two-‐way communication. We will:

• Create a weekly posting plan to ensure consistent content posting including: o Promotion of shows and hosts o Use of hashtags relevant to posts to increase content visibility o Tag and thank people when they Like the page, o Share when people post that they are listening, requested a song, called-‐in,

appeared as a guest host, and/or made an appearance for an interview or performance, etc.

o Number of posts per day (3) to be divided among show hosts and station managers

o Creative content ideas o Links to photos and videos of Red River Radio related content

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o Links to radio.rrc.ca o Links to TuneIn Radio app

• Like all RRC related pages • Like all RRC student professional pages (including but not limited to IPP pages and

events) • Like all staff, faculty, alumni, and donor Facebook pages

Facebook posts can be managed and scheduled in advance using Facebook’s Activity Log. Students and staff who have access to the Facebook account can add content wherever they see the need and can review the scheduled posts in the log.

Red River Radio YouTube -‐ http://www.youtube.com/user/rrcradio Red River Radio’s YouTube page currently has 2 subscribers, 4 uploaded videos and 825 views. Red River Radio is not committed to its YouTube page. There are many opportunities to improve and contribute regular content, including:

• Upload a cover photo • Add a description in the About dropdown menu • Comment on student videos • Subscribe to RRC-‐related channels such as:

o Red River College o Current and former students o Performers, musicians, bands etc. who are in Red River Radio’s current rotation

and database o RRC programs o RRC faculty, staff and alumni

• Add content about current student shows • Add videos of hosts on-‐air, operating the sound board to give and inside look to a world

not everyone is lucky enough to see • Film content throughout the week, of a variety of shows to create a weekly wrap-‐

up/highlight reel to post at the end of each week • Once content schedule is established, post videos on a weekly basis

Online content development, using hashtags, tagging people, places, businesses and organizations will help with search engine optimization (SEO), and can help increase content visibility of the YouTube channel. Red River Radio – Live on Location The visibility of a radio station is essential to its success. Red River Radio’s presence is primarily online, leaving little to no access to the station itself or its hosts. To increase visibility and show that there are current students operating the RRC’s radio station, Red River Radio needs to be live in locations that are highly visible and accessible to our primary publics. To host live remotes from different locations at both the NDC and EDC would be an optimal way of promoting the Red River Radio brand to its audiences. Both the EDC and NDC host orientation weeks, student events, mixers, meetings, and tours which allow access to our publics. Red River Radio has the opportunity and technical capability to host from anywhere on either campus. Each location potentially contains a large portion of Red River Radio’s target audience.

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A successful tactic that was used in the past was the morning show, the Morning Hike with John and Mike, broadcast live every Thursday morning from the EDC atrium. This allowed students to see the hosts in action, take photos, interact with the hosts, request songs live on the air and know that students just like them were hosting a morning show on a real radio station. The morning show is a perfect time frame to host a live on location especially in the atrium of the EDC as during that time, students are making their way into RRC, parents, friends or family members are dropping them off and people in line at Time Hortons could also see and hear what was going on. The atrium is a high-‐traffic area in the morning. This was an excellent way of increasing visibility of Red River Radio and should resurface. A great way to get exposure for radio stations is to cover local events. With all the events that happen downtown and in the Exchange District, such as Live at the Folk Exchange, Red River Radio could set up for a live remote for a few hours prior to, or during the event to promote it and in-‐turn promote the station and its brand. If a nearby restaurant is having grand opening, or a retail store is having a long-‐weekend sale, Red River Radio could be live on location to promote the event, special or sale. By reaching out to these stores, events and community organizations, we can use them as an outlet to share Red River Radio’s messages to their audiences. This will help increase awareness of Red River Radio’s brand and engagement of Red River Radio’s online social platforms. This type of promotion is the perfect opportunity to have free giveaways such as Red River Radio t-‐shirts and coupons or discounts offered by the location the remote is promoting. An ideal upcoming opportunity for this type of promotion is the Red River College 75th Anniversary Alumni Gala at the Patterson GlobalFoods Institute on October 18, 2013. Hosts could speak with Alumni, get them to share their memories and stories, which programs they were in, what they’re most excited for – almost like a red carpet interview as a way of welcoming the guests, and to promote the RRC program success stories.

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TIMELINE

WEEK OF

TACTIC

PUBLIC

RESPONSIBLE

DONE þ

September 30, 2014

Approach RRCSA and RRC to discuss broadcast possibilities and event promotion

RRCSA, RRC Station manager, hosts

Draft list of local stand-‐outs to interview

Local stand-‐outs Hosts

Draft list of RRC students to feature

RRC students Hosts

Draft schedule for Live Lunch Request Hour

Station manager, host Station manager, host

Approach alumni relations and Paterson GlobalFoods Institute about coverage of Alumni Gala

Alumni relations, alumni, RRC

Station manager, remote host

October 7, 2014

Review all drafts from previous week

Station manager Station manager

Website update (ongoing)

Volunteers, station manager, students, faculty, staff, RRCSA, alumni, donors, parents/families/friends of students, RRC

Station manager, hosts, website developer

Add station to online radio station directory

Volunteers, station manager, students, faculty, staff, RRCSA, alumni, donors, parents/families/friends of students, RRC, new

Station manager

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audiences

Introduce widgets, add links, add on-‐air show schedule to website


Website developer

Drafts of host bios, take photos of hosts and radio environment for website

Station manager Hosts and station volunteers

Draft pop-‐up survey Review survey Upload survey to website

Station manager Station volunteer, Station manager

Reserve live remote equipment. Request John Pura’s assistance at Alumni Gala remote

John Pura Remote host

October 14, 2014

Review all drafts from previous week Upload new information to website

Website visitors, Red River Radio listeners Volunteers, station manager, students, faculty, staff, RRCSA, alumni, donors, parents/families/friends of students, RRC

Hosts, station manager, website developer

Confirm setup time and location with alumni relations, Paterson GlobalFoods Institute and John Pura

Alumni relations, Paterson GlobalFoods Institute, John Pura

Remote host

Begin communications with potential interviewees

Potential interviewees Hosts, station volunteers

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Social Media posting plan for Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube (ongoing)


Hosts with access to @rrcradio, station manager

Draft Twitter plan, research content

Station manager Hosts with access to Red River Radio social media accounts, station manager,

Draft Facebook plan, research content


Draft YouTube plan, research content


October 21, 2014

Confirm with RRC and RRCSA and begin broadcasting from newly approved locations

Volunteers, station manager, students, faculty, staff, RRCSA, RRC

station manager, hosts

Launch Live Lunch Request Hour

Volunteers, students, faculty, staff, RRCSA, RRC

Afternoon host

Reserve remote equipment and notify John Pura of morning show live from the atrium every Thursday

John Pura Wesley Keeley and Jared Gauthier

October 28 Launch Wes and The Goat in the Morning live from the atrium Thursday morning

Volunteers, students, faculty, staff, RRCSA, RRC

Wesley Keeley and Jared Gauthier

Review social media posting plans and content drafts

Station manager Station manager

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Launch social media posting plan


Station manager, host with access to Red River Radio social media accounts

In the months to come, throughout campaign

Evaluations -‐ of tactics -‐ overall plan (final evaluation)

*Management and monitoring of social media and website content is ongoing throughout this strategy. Monitoring the success of the Live Lunch Request Hour will be done at the end of the hour and will be based on how many songs are requested, as well as social media interaction levels. Interviews and remote opportunities will continue to be researched and broadcast live.

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BUDGET Budget item Estimated cost ($) Estimated staff

time (hours) Total hours Total cost

($) Volunteers Free 40

Hosts Free 60

Live Thursday morning broadcast

Free (book space ahead of time)

4

Remote equipment

Free 2

Remote setup Free 7

Remote space at Alumni Gala

Free (book space ahead of time)

7

Remote equipment

Free 2

Remote setup Free 7

Social Media posting plan draft

Free 12

Social Media management

Free 50

Prizes for remotes and social media

Free Red River Radio t-‐shirts $300 – big prizes!

0

Promotional awareness

Free on RRC TVs, computers, word of mouth

25

Evaluations (13) Free 40

TOTAL 256 $300

*Planned costs and time are subject to change.

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EVALUATION The evaluation of this strategy is essential to ensuring the proposed tactics reach their maximum effectiveness. This evaluation plan will assist in the measuring of the success and progress of our efforts. Objective: Raise awareness of Red River Radio among RRC students We successfully surveyed 216 people about Red River Radio and know that surveys are an efficient method of gathering information about and monitoring student opinion. We will conduct short, quarterly surveys to determine the effectiveness of our tactics on raising awareness of Red River Radio among RRC students. Calls in to the station to request songs and interact with the show hosts will help us measure awareness levels. An increased number of students proposing and hosting shows on Red River Radio will also determine the success of this strategy. Objective: Social Media -‐ gain followers on Twitter, Facebook Page Likes and unique visitors to YouTube channel Facebook Pages are set up for weekly monitoring. They track statistics and inform page administrators of how many friends of fans we can reach, how many people have shared posts, and what the Page’s weekly total reach is. It also registers statistics for each post’s reach, engaged users, number of people sharing the post and the chance of the post going viral. Tracking and monitoring our posts, followers, retweets and mentions on Twitter is simple as the feed provides that information. With the help of HootSuite or TweetDeck post scheduling, we can also track our brand mentions and analyze social media traffic. Google Analytics will track data for Facebook, Twitter and YouTube pages. The statistics we can track using Google Analytics include: site visits, page views, average time on site, pages per visit and percentage of new visits. Google Analytics can also track referral traffic including search engine, direct visits, and website referrals. Google Analytics is a free service as long as your website generates 10 million or fewer hits per month. If the website exceeds 10 million hits per month, paid subscription services are available through Google Analytics Premium. Objective: TuneIn Radio app listeners The TuneIn Radio app has its own built-‐in analytics measurement system, TuneIn Amplifier. It measures total listens, unique listeners, and the listening hours of each listener. Each of these statistics can be broken down by date and location of the listeners. Objective: Increase unique website visits Google Analytics will track data for radio.rrc.ca. The statistics we can track using Google Analytics include: site visits, page views, average time on site, pages per visit and percentage of new visits. Google Analytics can also track referral traffic including search engine, direct visits, and website referrals. All of this will help us monitor what our listeners are looking for.

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We will also set benchmarks within our strategy to measure our successes up until certain decided-‐upon times. To measure the overall success of this strategy, we will:

• Track website visitors on a daily, weekly and monthly basis • Track TuneIn Radio app listeners on a daily, weekly and monthly basis • Track the number of podcast downloads on the Red River Radio website • Which shows, when they’re downloaded and how often they’re downloaded • Track social media engagement on a weekly and monthly basis.

o Twitter: followers, mentions, retweets, favourites o Facebook: Likes, shares, comments o YouTube: subscribers, shares, likes, views

• Conduct surveys among RRC students on a quarterly basis to determine listening habits, awareness, show preferences, opinions and how they found out about Red River Radio

We will ensure the regular monitoring, tracking, researching, opinion polling and evaluation of online communications tools and best practices for each of our tactics. Evaluations will occur throughout the project on a regular basis or as indicated. Specific evaluations will occur weekly, one month after the strategy begins, midway through the implementation of each strategy, and one month after the strategy ends to ensure the tactics in place are on track to meet our objectives.

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APPENDIX 1 – Radio Survey Results Summary Red River College students from the Notre Dame Campus were surveyed about their radio preferences. This is a general summary of the results. Total number of participants: 216 Female: 109 Male: 107 Ages: 16-‐20: 76 21-‐25: 91 26-‐30: 29 31-‐35: 10 36-‐40: 2 40+: 5 NA: 1 Major programs: Applied Accounting: 4 Business Administration: 80 Carpentry: 9 Child and Youth Care: 6 Civil Engineering: 6 Green Space Management: 7 Mechanical Engineering Technician: 6 Nursing: 30 Photography: 5 N/A: 10 Total number of programs: 38 4. How often do you listen to radio? Never: 23 Rarely: 46 Every Week: 29 Once Per Day: 51 More Than Once Per Day: 62 5. Which is your preferred radio type? AM/FM: 173 Satellite: 22 Online: 20 N/A: 2 6. Where do you most often listen to radio? While Driving: 168 On The Bus: 14

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At School: 7 At Home: 24 At Work: 10 Other: 11 N/A: 3 7. What radio stations do you listen to (list two or more)? For this question the most common responses were 103.1, 104.1, 106.1, 92.1, 97.5, 102.3 8. Which is your favourite component of radio? (Check One) Personalities/Talk Shows: 36 Music: 181 Other: 8 N/A: 4 9. Had you heard of Red River Radio before beginning this survey? (Check One) Yes: 60 No: 154 10. How often do you listen to Red River Radio? (Check One) Never: 192: Rarely: 14 Every Week: 1 Once Per Day: 1 More Than Once Per Day: 2 N/A: 5 11. Which social media platforms do you actively use? (Check all that apply) Facebook: 158 Twitter: 76 YouTube: 111 Instagram: 93 Vine: 22 LinkedIn: 7 Other: 10 12. What type of smartphone do you have? iPhone: 139 Samsung: 13 Galaxy: 8 Google Nexus: 3 HTC: 1 LG: 1 BlackBerry: 10 Android: 16 N/A: 16

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13. Would you stream a radio station through your smartphone with the TuneIn Radio app? (Check One) No: 73 Maybe: 92 Yes: 35 I already do: 12 14. Where do you most frequently find new information? (Check One) Online: 142 Television: 45 Radio: 30 Newspaper: 31 Word of mouth: 48 Other: 4 15. Where do you most like to spend your free time? (Check One) At home: 135 At restaurants/bars: 51 At events: 34 Other: 31 If you had your own radio station, what would you like to hear (music, topics, news, sports, podcasts, etc.): Most common answers: Music News Sports Current topics Weather Traffic No commercials

SARAH TONE

Red River Radio Communications Strategy

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Transcript of Red River Radio Communications Strategy