The people from Jacobs Media conducted Techsurvey 7 from late March through mid-April, 2011, utilizing the listener databases and social media pages of 70 Rock, Classic Rock, Alternative, and Triple A formatted radio stations in the U.S. and Canada. The study is comprised of 20,783 respondents. Here are some of the key findings that caught my attention:
Radio station websites are still important: Listener’s still want to find out about your radio station, and the most popular way to do this, other than listening to your radio station, is to visit the radio station website. 30% of respondents to this survey access a radio station website frequently (which means your content has to be updated and relevant!). 35% said they would like a deeper connection with their favourite radio station and are more likely to sign up for your the Listener Club. They are interested in receiving information from the radio station via a newsletter or email blast. Females are more interested in this than males. Listening to your stations on-line stream has also grown over the past 12 months with 24% saying they listen on-line with regularity.
Email is still king: The first electronic thing most people do each day is check their email, and most do it on their computer. This creates a wonderful opportunity for your radio station to build a database and communicate with your P1 audience on a frequent basis. Remember 80% of your hours tuned comes from 20% of your cume. But you need to be sure that the content is relevant or your drop out rate will increase. The email club is also the tool that creates the strongest bond between the broadcast station and the listener, more so than a station’s Facebook page or Twitter activity. Facebook is the next most popular form of communication by the way.
Most listeners have a Social Profile: 81% said they have a profile on one of the Social Networks. No surprise but Facebook is the 500 pound gorilla with 70% market share, followed by Linked in at 20% and Myspace at 18%. Twitter may be getting a lot of talk in the media, but only 15% of those who said they have a social media profile actually have an account at this point. 60% of the sample say they are using Facebook more often today than one year ago.
Other key findings:
36% of households are cell phone only homes and no longer have a landline.
61% of respondents have the ability to connect a mobile device to their car audio system
46% said they own a smartphone which is a 56% increase over the past year. Apple iPhones have a 45% share of the market, Andriod has 35%, Blackberry is dropping with 21% and others have 21%. Blackbeery looks to be in trouble, Android is on the rise but most Apple iPhone owners intend to purchase a new iPhone in the future. So if you are considering building a app for your radio station it should be on Apple then Android and perhaps Blackberry because Blackberry still has a larger share in Canada than the USA where most of the 20,000 respondents are from.
88% of smartphone users download fee or paid apps, but iPhone and iPad owners are more likely to have more apps on their devices.
Tablets are emerging as a trend to watch with 7% say they now own a tablet. iPad dominates this segment of the market.
73% say they now send text messages on a regular basis.
Satellite Radio subscription is flat at 13% and has not grown in the past three years, so unless something major changes we cannot see Satellite being much of a threat to terrestrial radio.
HD Radio is growing slowly (in the USA) at 5% but it looks like it has missed the boat and will be left behind by other technology.
Conclusion: If you want to build a better relationship with your listeners use your website, then email and then Facebook in that order. You can learn more about this study here.
