Give Your Station's Web Site a Call to Action
Does Your Web Site Have a Call to Action?
Have you taken a look at very many radio station Web sites? What do you think?
Personally, I often find myself confused. I can't always tell who the site is for. And all too often, I think I do know. In those cases, it seems to be designed for the advertisers rather than the listeners.
You won't be surprised to learn that there is a huge effort underway by marketing experts to understand and improve the quality of Web sites for business. Companies in other businesses rely on their Web presence. They need to create a compelling experience for their customers. They need to Web site to expand on and be supportive of the messages they are sending through their products, packaging and other advertising. They have studied this and written about it. And perhaps we, as radio programmers, can learn some things from these other businesses.
Taken from the title of Jeffrey and Bryan Eisenberg's book "Call To Action", here is one of the "rules" that has emerged as universal:
Have a call to action.
I think this rule applies to radio station Web sites as much as to any other. Here is how I think their ideas might apply to our goals.
Why do you have a Web site?
All Web sites want to influence site visitors. In some cases, they are selling an idea. In others, a product. For radio, we are trying to persuade people about our role in their lives. And more specifically, we may be trying to strengthen our communications with the listener by getting them to register. Typically, this could be an "at-work network" or "loyal listener" club.
If we believe that our listeners have a particular lifestyle connection with our programming we want to persuade them that we are an aid to that connection.
An example: A music station, particularly one for listeners age 18-24, almost certainly wants this.
An oldies station will want this too. But the way to achieve it will be different.
Goal: Take that concept and reduce it to action. Have the visitor do something that will persuade them that you are a valuable addition to their life.
Tactics:
Determine what action(s) your Web site visitor can take to reinforce the connection with the station.
Do you want them to tell you what their three favorite artists are, so you can tell them when they will be coming up on the station?
Do you want them to register for a newsletter that helps them better protect their children or find fun family activities?
Do you want them to sign up for an instant email when new concerts are announced?
Evaluate:
What are the three most important things that people can do on your Web site?
Are minor things getting in the way of the "big thing"?
Look at your copy. Is this great writing? Do the words you use motivate people? Did you assign the words to somebody outside the station who has no passionate connection to the link between you, the music, the station and the listener? If so, the odds are that you'll notice a distinct lack of passion. You won't see the kind of cohesive and motivating message that you want to see.
Cycle:
Go back. Think about the relationship you want with the listener and how you can persuade that it is real. Create a call to action that involves them and leads them to experience that truth. Evaluate again. It really never ends.
Conclusion:
It is hard to create a great Web site. But one step is a compelling message and a call to action that reinforces it. Let's be honest. Very often, the only "call to action" is for the visitor to click on an advertising link. We can do better. Thinking about this is one tool.
Have you taken a look at very many radio station Web sites? What do you think?
Personally, I often find myself confused. I can't always tell who the site is for. And all too often, I think I do know. In those cases, it seems to be designed for the advertisers rather than the listeners.
You won't be surprised to learn that there is a huge effort underway by marketing experts to understand and improve the quality of Web sites for business. Companies in other businesses rely on their Web presence. They need to create a compelling experience for their customers. They need to Web site to expand on and be supportive of the messages they are sending through their products, packaging and other advertising. They have studied this and written about it. And perhaps we, as radio programmers, can learn some things from these other businesses.
Taken from the title of Jeffrey and Bryan Eisenberg's book "Call To Action", here is one of the "rules" that has emerged as universal:
Have a call to action.
I think this rule applies to radio station Web sites as much as to any other. Here is how I think their ideas might apply to our goals.
Why do you have a Web site?
All Web sites want to influence site visitors. In some cases, they are selling an idea. In others, a product. For radio, we are trying to persuade people about our role in their lives. And more specifically, we may be trying to strengthen our communications with the listener by getting them to register. Typically, this could be an "at-work network" or "loyal listener" club.
If we believe that our listeners have a particular lifestyle connection with our programming we want to persuade them that we are an aid to that connection.
An example: A music station, particularly one for listeners age 18-24, almost certainly wants this.
An oldies station will want this too. But the way to achieve it will be different.
Goal: Take that concept and reduce it to action. Have the visitor do something that will persuade them that you are a valuable addition to their life.
Tactics:
Determine what action(s) your Web site visitor can take to reinforce the connection with the station.
Do you want them to tell you what their three favorite artists are, so you can tell them when they will be coming up on the station?
Do you want them to register for a newsletter that helps them better protect their children or find fun family activities?
Do you want them to sign up for an instant email when new concerts are announced?
Evaluate:
What are the three most important things that people can do on your Web site?
Are minor things getting in the way of the "big thing"?
Look at your copy. Is this great writing? Do the words you use motivate people? Did you assign the words to somebody outside the station who has no passionate connection to the link between you, the music, the station and the listener? If so, the odds are that you'll notice a distinct lack of passion. You won't see the kind of cohesive and motivating message that you want to see.
Cycle:
Go back. Think about the relationship you want with the listener and how you can persuade that it is real. Create a call to action that involves them and leads them to experience that truth. Evaluate again. It really never ends.
Conclusion:
It is hard to create a great Web site. But one step is a compelling message and a call to action that reinforces it. Let's be honest. Very often, the only "call to action" is for the visitor to click on an advertising link. We can do better. Thinking about this is one tool.
posted by Steve Casey Research at 7:45 PM
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