Skip to content
Latest
Posted Tobin Communications, Inc.

Attention PR Industry — Radio Reaches More Americans Than Any Other Platform

By Maury Tobin

The popular narrative that older technologies are destined to die is being turned on its head in the case of at least one type of media — radio.

While reaching consumers on their smartphones continues to be a top priority for PR professionals and other marketers, data from a recent Nielsen report shows why the radio in your car should remain a target for savvy communicators. According to Nielsen, 93% of Americans listen to radio on a weekly basis. TV came in second place and smartphones came in third.

The data in Nielsen’s report makes sense when you consider the amount of time we spend in our cars during our daily commutes to work. There just isn’t that much you can do while driving (other than texting, which is illegal). The question for PR pros is whether they are seizing the opportunity to reach these consumers with their messages and campaigns. I suspect many are not.

LISTEN to a soundbite from our recent interview with Kevin Geddings of radio station WSOS in St. Augustine, Florida, who discusses the staying power of radio.

Learn more about Radio Media Tours.

 

Posted Radio Media Tour

No Media Relations = Less Credibility for Your Campaigns

By Maury Tobin

Let’s me say it clearly. I believe in the power of social media because I’ve seen how it can propel our clients’ campaigns.

But as traditional outreach (media relations) gets left out of many communications plans and discussions, I’m convinced that a social media-only strategy can be a big problem for organizations that want their messages to be taken seriously. In many cases, social media-only campaigns tend to look, for lack of a better term, “fake,” because these efforts are often self-serving and they lack the authenticity of independent stories produced by journalists.

Since creating believable content is so crucial today, it’s worth considering a tried and true tactic such as a Radio Media Tour (RMT) to gain credibility. An RMT is a series of phone interviews conducted by radio journalists with an organization’s spokesperson. The news coverage generated from interviews is usually more valuable than focusing solely on self-produced content. After an RMT campaign is completed, we glean audio soundbites from the interviews so our clients can share them through their social media channels.

I’ll Leave You with This

Despite all of the new tactics that are available to PR pros, we continue to believe that fostering a dialogue between journalists and the clients we serve is important, not only to our industry and clients, but also to our democracy.

Learn more about Radio Media Tours.