OK was taken by surprise
Hello everyone,
Thanks for pushing up to the final week,
The following are my inputs to the questions of the week ;
We use Facebook mostly because it is easily accessible however we are eying whatsapp as other alternatives since access to smart phone is increasing .
Facebook because there is Facebook zero which does not require Mbs.
A big yes, the more active you are on social media reflects the amount of crowds you can pull. Advertisers are attracted or associate with crowds
Mostly i heard of an online betting company, not in my Radio though.
Finally my question is how can local Community support Farm program directly. But not leaving it entirely on NGOs and few inputs dealers
Thanks so much Fellow comrades. Waiting for the physical meet and greet with each of you who made the discussions worthwhile.
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Good Morning all,
What social media do you use for your radio program, or at your station and why?
At Voice of Kigezi in South western Uganda we use Facebook and Whatsapp.
we use the two for social media because they are easier to use and are popular in this generation.
In your experience which social media is most effective for interacting with your audience?
Facebook is more effective because it can be used by non smart phone users.
Do you see a link between using social media and generating revenue for your radio program? Please explain.
Yeah there isâŚsocial media has a bigger reach in accessing potential sponsors,advertisers and partners, especially when program content is shared on social media. It can attract the interest of individuals, companies, or organisations who may either respond to calls for support to the program or just make the decision to support the program due to the relevant content.
How have you seen social media used to generate revenue for a radio program? (This could be at your station or another station)
- starting or improving social media use.
- Being consistent with updates.
- Promoting the social media platforms on radio for more following from the audience.
- Interacting with users and giving timely responses on issues raised via the social media platforms.
5.Posting relevant content.
When all the above is put in practice, some advertisers have mentioned we got to know about this from your social media posts or shares.
What is one question about generating revenue for your program that you would like to ask people participating in this e-Discussion? This question doesnât have to focus on social media. This is your chance to get input from others on a burning question you have that hasnât yet been addressed over the past few weeks!
How can a presenter/producer successfully run a weekly one hour farmerâs program without any funding?
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Hello members of eDiscussion, itâs a very interesting week
Week 4:
My ideas on the questions questions are as follows :-
a) What social media do you use for your radio program, or at your station and why?
My station is only using Facebook. This for quite a number of years in operations and worked well in communicating with our funs who are on the network by sending them our programming and their comments are read live on air since most of our funs are on facebook.
b) In your experience which social media is most effective for interacting with your audience? Of course Facebook as a new technology in our region is very good and easy to use at no cost as compared to others.
c) Do you see a link between using social media and generating revenue for your radio program? Please explain?
Yes, i see a link. In generating revenue; when clients like advertisers and sponsors see a Station active in any of the social media, they got convinced that such a particular radio station had good number of listnership and many people will listen to their spot messages and the advert therefore such a Station will get sponsorship from any advertisers.
d) How have you seen social media used to generate revenue for a radio program? (This could be at your station or another station).
Haaaahaa it is very unique here in our region but it has only boosted our listenerships which are realised on our Facebook page.
e) What is one question about generating revenue for your program that you would like to ask people participating in this e-Discussion?
This is my question i am asking in this eDiscussion:
Is it possible for Farm Radio International to support agricultural programs and the station technically in providing some radio equipment like computers, recorders and internet?
I wish you well in ending up this week in peace
Odongo Wendo Boniface
Thank u Mwigwisagye for sharing on Week 4. However, make me understand how u are using whatsApp as poplular for this generation. Is yo station for this generation or? How do u use it? Have u created a whatsapp group for particular generation? What we know of whatsapp, is may b having a group or individuals on yo phone & alike. Itâs also good to attract as many listeners as possible to listen to yo radio station in order to have persistent, new listeners for the good of the radio station. How would u use the whatsapp popular platform at yo station to do this?
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I am glad to present my contributions onto this educative platform.
Now, What social media do you use for your radio program, or at your station and why?
I use Face book for my radio programs because the listeners prefer them to others and because they are cheap when compared to other phone apps. I share regular communication through Kilimo Bora where listeners post educative and informative information which others share and appreciate. The other social media that I use happens to be a whatspp group which the listener prefer as they send their recorded voices which I play back in the program.
But, a majority of listeners are still using the analog - calling into the program and at times sending sms which is the phone short messages.
I also have a fans club whats up group which we use for our advancement as farmers and listeners. They even managed to form a cooperative society where they assist each other to finance their businesses/farming.
b) In your experience which social media is most effective for interacting with your audience?
Facebook is more effective when you compare it to others because even the simplest phones have a provision for internet and most listeners have access to face book and now a days given the competition telecom service providers have come up with a system of selling their airtime, internet data and SMS in bundles so people happen to have these almost every time on their phone.
c) Do you see a link between using social media and generating revenue for your radio program? Please explain.
There is a big link between social media and generating revenue and the better a station is at using social media, the more likely it will be at and my audience will respond positively to pledge drives and contributions that will attract Advertisers.
I can make sure that I have social media accounts of the audience which has lots of interactions with my listeners which will eventually attract advertisers, that is, organizations and businesses to advertise with you.
Secondary, social media can be used as a channel through which I can directly fundraise and or sell physical products as broadcasting advertising packages. I will carry out a resaerch, find out what my audienceâs physical preferences are and have things like T-shirts, Mugs, window sticker and pens all branded with the station logo and I put them on my Facebook page, I will defenately attract a lot of likes and advertisers will see the numbers and will willing offer to advertiser in my program. The items will also be sold to willing buyers - the audience.
Now apart from having the online network, I will encourage them to interact physically by hosting networking events where members will be encouraged to connect with each other that is through âFans Clubâ. After considering carefully the kind of products which might be popular with my particular audience like T-shirts, Mugs, window stickers and pens well branded with the station logo, I can put these on my Facebook page and definitely I will have followers who will like the page, even if they may not buy the products but a potential advertiser will see the number of likes and consider adverting with my program thus increasing revenue.
Later on the audiences will find ways of buying the branded items and this will fetch revenue too.
This one is for stations which can do fundraising freely without any constraints.
âInform your audience of your budget both on social media and those on air. Mention a fee required and then request them to contribute. Those on social media can make their pledges and give them a telephone number where they can deposit their donations but a clear system of accounting for the money should be in place and transparency should be observed whereby an acknowledgement note is sent immediately the donation reaches the station. These are the ones I referred to previously in my posts as theâ friends" of a station and I categorized them as:
âYouth Friendsâ, âFamily Friendsâ, Elderly etc whose donations come in to generate more revenue. Technically this is known as âCrowdfundingâ.
Members we can use Social media to generate revenue by them acting as another channel through which we can talk to and sell to our audiences and there by helping to attract advertisers.
e) What is one question about generating revenue for your program that you would like to ask people participating in this e-Discussion?
My question to the e-Disscussion team about generating revenue is :- "What approach can one use to educate a lay person about marketing/looking for sponsors/advertisers for radio/farmers programs?
Crowd finding would work but media owners especially private Radio stations dont observe transparency thus making it hard to do that.
Secondly commercial Radios are profit oriented, Crowd funding may not work.
@obolo
Thank you for you post âThough most of the farmers are illiterates, the voice note function in WhatsApp has become essential. It is easy to record and send with just a little orientation. Farmers are excited when they hear their contributions being played on-air like it would have been if they had called inâ.
I want to concur with you that the excitment the listener gets after hearing himself on the radio is great and especially when you play back his recorded voice from 'Whatsup" or a pre recorded interview.
Farmers should be encouraged to send more sound/audio recordings from their phones as a way of being part of the program and we should also make them send in feedback and other information using the app. But as you correctly put it, most of them are alliterate and this is where we come in. It is our duty to inform, educate and entertain our listeners. It is equally our concern when these would be informers do not know how to use the gadgets that could bring direct information from the âhorses mouthâ (The farmerâs or any other listenerâs voice will be real and not tampered with),so we should take it up and make it our responsibility to teach them how to use the phones, how to record their voices and how to send them properly if we are to get meaningful output/optimal participation from them through social media. You can dedicate a whole program to teach them how to use mobile phones and their applications.
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@Jasper Thank you for your response, and particularly this part:
[quote=âJaspher_Wit_Laurie, post:48, topic:816â]
Crowd finding would work but media owners especially private Radio stations donât observe transparency thus making it hard to do that.
[/quote].
If crowdfunding doesnât work for private commercial radio stations then the community radios can use it. I know of a radio station which collects a lot of revenue from this. It is a community radio, a religious one for that matter and they practice a lot of transparency and that is why they have managed to sustain the crowdfunding.
Thank you for showing interest
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Exactly. We need to make an impact (leave a mark) on their (farmers) lives.
Maybe it is for variety. I still think 3 is a lot though, two may be ok.
With Christian Radios it very possible, may be commercial Radios can borrow a lift by running Farm programs like a project. Their it can work
Hello everyone,
We are getting closer to the end.
Let me share some highlights from the Barza French discussion on revenue generation.
. Knowing your audience: Turning listenership into money
Interactive radio programmes attract large audiences and these audiences make up a powerful resource that attracts sponsors who pay to air their ads or messages. Radio Batcham of Cameroon has gained fame due to the close relationship with the audience. The flow of announcements and adverts keeps rising. Radio TĂŠlĂŠvision UnitĂŠ of BĂŠni has successfully implemented through its environment program, a campaign for the creation of small waste management units. The revenue generation activities have prospered and the managers also pay the radio station to promote these activities.
Audience research by private organizations often reveal top ranking stations in a competitive environment and these results are a working tool for advertising organizations and other sponsors who use to tool to take informed decisions on the right channel to use. Radio Boukoki of Niamey, Niger, grabbed a major contract with the West African Programme for the Promotion of Agriculture after an audience research that gave the station a top rank.
When programmes are tailored to meet listenersâ needs, well structured and active listenersâ clubs ensure the stationâs presence in the community and ease revenue generation. âRadio Communautaire la VĂŠritĂŠâ in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sidikolo FM in Mali have listenersâ clubs all over their territories. Sidikolo FM for instance has 166 listenersâ clubs in 83 villages. They keep the station lively and equally boost revenue generation by receiving and channeling announcements from their communities to the station through voicemail. Some stations like âRadio Bonne Nouvelle Bafoussamâ in Cameroon, organize an annual convention of listenersâ clubs. They come together to discuss on their activities and raise funds for the station. For the âNemaro Zienâ Catholic Radio in Burkina Faso, Monthly donations from the community constitute the main source of revenue.
Presentersâ field trips create a bond with the community and they are often hired as MCs for private events and they are also hired as stars and their voices used for the production of adverts with ensuing income for the producer, the programme and the station.
2. The best sources of revenue and how to diversify revenue
Announcements cost little but the number adds up to give a comfortable amount of money on a regular basis for radio station. For some stations, announcements that target a specific group like farmers have part of the payment dedicated to the production of the farmersâ regular show.
In some countries like Cameroon, devolved services of the Ministry of agriculture have an annual budget provision for communication. Delegates use part of this provision to fund the farmersâ show on some local stations as they also promote their activities through these stations.
Broadcasters in a given city or region can pool their resources within a broadcastersâ network or union to canvas for funds. Some NGOs and international organizations prefer communication through networks for better impact.
3. Using social media to raise funds
Radio stations mostly use Facebook and Whatsapp for programme promo and to share programme clips and photos during and after broadcast.
Facebook serves as a tool for audience research and guide sponsors on the choice of stations for communication campaigns.
Announcements are scanned and sent through whatsapp to radio stations and payments done by mobile money. This eases revenue collection and savings on time and transport cost to and from the radio.
On Facebook and whatsapp, some stations have a page for the station and specific pages for some programmes.
Facebook, Whatsapp and other social networks take the radio beyond its traditional broadcast range, thereby giving the station a global perspective and could ease contacts with donor organizations.
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Hi Odongo,
Thanks for your question. Farm Radio International rarely provides equipment to radio stations. We just donât have the resources.
Farm Radio International works with broadcasters in different ways. One way is through the services such as scripts, eDiscussions, training resources and Barza Wire - all of which you can access by going to www.farmradio.fm. These services are for all broadcasters in sub-Saharan Africa.
Farm Radio International also receives project funding from different donors to support a few radio stations to produce interactive radio programs for farmers. These projects are only in some countries, and take place in specific regions in those countries. Stations we work with in projects sometimes get things like tablets or recorders to help them produce their farmer program - often there is a needs assessment done at the outset of the program to identify which equipment would be most useful.
Enjoy the rest of your week!
Blythe
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Week 4 Issues:
Dear Friends,
This week we are looking at how to use social media to generate revenue for your farmer program. Specifically to address the weekâs discussion we need to answer from the experiential point of view the following;
⢠What social media do you use for your radio program, or at your station and why?
⢠In your experience which social media is most effective for interacting with your audience?
⢠Do you see a link between using social media and generating revenue for your radio program? Please explain.
⢠How have you seen social media used to generate revenue for a radio program? (This could be at your station or another station)
⢠What is one question about generating revenue for your program that you would like to ask people participating in this e-Discussion? This question doesnât have to focus on social media. This is your chance to get input from others on a burning question you have that hasnât yet been addressed over the past few weeks!..â
During my tenure in an FM radio station, none of the current social media platforms were in application for common messaging and chatting let alone being used in any way within local media houses. So the impact of such media wasnât my privy then.
However today, very few Radio Stations would be fully and digitally complete without the use of the available social media platforms to compliment their regular programming.
In general, the average commonly used social media platforms may include but not limited to;
⢠Facebook
⢠Twitter
⢠Instagram
⢠LinkedIn
⢠Google +, YouTube, Foursquare and Pintrest
⢠Snapchat,
Facebook is the biggest and arguably most powerful social network in the world with 1.55 billion active monthly users.
Twitter is known as the ââin the momentââ platform and boasts a respectful 255 million active monthly users.
Instagram is a visual platform designed for customers to post, share, and comment and engage through digital media.
LinkedIn is regarded as the professional social networking site.
Other Social Networking platforms include, Google +, YouTube, Foursquare and Pintrest and Snap-chat,
From my observation, Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp appeal to many listeners and thus the rationale for the integration of each of them in the media communication strategy of many radio stations.
The Social Media Platforms have been extensively used by Media Houses including such media where farmersâ programs regularly run.
They are used as;
- Communication Platforms
- Mobilization points within a radio stationâs Audience
- Communication tools between person to person
With a demonstrated following and usage globally that could be translated and extrapolated nationally to reflect usage of social media at a local level, it would be fool-hardy for any station management to ignore such demonstrated and proven powerful mediums such as social media.
Thank You!
Denis Lindo
Resource Person
Farm Radio
Generating Revenue
E-Discussion-2018
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How have you seen social media used to generate revenue for a radio program?
Social Media can be and has been used in several ways to market both a company and her products depending on the marketing objectives.
Social media marketing helps to validate your brand. A companyâs social media presence, when done correctly, tells consumers that their brand is active and focused on thriving communication with consumers. In the case of radio stations, the listener is the consumer.
As both communication and mobilization tools social media could successfully be used or applied in the following scenarios and namely;
- Communicating content to the listener
- Receiving feedback from listeners
- Mobilizing listeners to a cause
- Direct marketing campaigns
- As mediums of transmission of programs to the targeted listeners
- Etc,etc
Through Social Media, the station can develop quick and reliable logs of;
- Listener Contact with the radio station
- Program Participation between the listener(s and the Program at the station
- The demographic usage and responsiveness of the listeners visa vie the program on air
- Determining the active listeners of particular programs
- Establishment of a cost effective commutation mechanism for the station
- The establishment of a continuous mode of communication between the station and listeners as well as between one listener and another.
The availability of quick and reliable logs of a social media into the stations particular program is what is offer-able as âvalueâ from the station to the targeted advertiser or sponsor.
The bigger the size of the social media following, the much more the possibility of raising commensurate revenue from such following.
Thank You!
Denis Lindo
Resource Person
Farm Radio
Generating Revenue
E-Discussion-2018
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Hello everyone,
Today is the last official day for the e-Discussion on generating revenue. We have really enjoyed every moment. Your contributions were amazing, and I believe we have all learned something new from each otherâs shared experiences. You still have the rest of today to contribute and we will post a summary of this weekâs deliberations later today.
You can continue to use WhatsApp to interact with people after the e-Discussion ends, although I will no longer be moderating it.
Before you take a break, please help evaluate this discussion by completing this survey. FRI will also send you the survey link via email. Please be as honest and truthful as you can. Your response will assist us in improving our discussions in the future. By completing the survey by March 30, you could win $50 CAD in mobile phone airtime.
Congrats for making this such a successful discussion!
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its true Sarah, thanks for the information
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Hello @Jovine_Johansen_Joel,
Here in Uganda, radio programs that have more than one presenter are basically entertainment programs, and the importance is to keep the show lively and interactive, for example one can be a comedian, then the lead presenter, the Dj and a co-presenter. This is in mostly Morning shows and Evening Drives. However, i donât think its relevant to have more than one presenter in farmer program. @DenisLindo and @Busi_Ngcebetsha can advise on this.