Blog from NAB - Philadelphia

Radio Today colleague and owner of Radio Scilly Keri Jones is blogging from the NAB Radio Show at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia. Visit this page regularly for updates to this content over the next couple of days.

DAY 1

Here we are at the NAB in Philly.

It's going to interesting to see how the U.S radio market is bearing up with the global economic downturn and whether any mention of the cancelled NAB Europe convention will be made. It was always a strange affair and I had the impression that people were parachuted in with a view of a generic, homogenous Europe. I remember the sniggers in the 2005 session in Rome where the lunch was sponsored by a US HD radio firm whose spokesperson started a full-on sales pitch over the din of lunch being served, despite no HD availability in the U.S format.

I'm sure there will be the big pitches and sales flannel here. I'll try and bring you that and the overview of developments in 2009, particularly in relation to small markets.

Session one. Time for Radio Scilly to take on Youtube!

How radio can do video economically and profitably:

John Potter, training VP with the Radio Advertising Bureau, is going to tell us about it all in 75 mins.

Is there money to be made? He asks. Guess what the answer will be!

"If I were selling TV I'd be taking about my wife" He says.

"She looks at static pics of the family, smiling. But when she watches the old VCR recordings of the kids playing, she cries." He wouldn't want this to get out of this room (whoops) but their is an emotional connection with video.

134 Million Americans watch online video in 1 month. 15 Million watched on a mobile and that's up 70 per cent.

Online video viewing has 120 million viewers.

My Space has 48 million viewers averaging 10 per video.

Users are expecting video on line. He says.

Advertisers want online video according to the NAB. Sales i getting rid of something we have, marketing is giving people what they want.

You don't need a video camcorder for online video.

He talks of a $260 camera and asks the room who has a flip camera. Around a quarter of the attendees put their hands up.

Editing software for video? John suggests Abode Premier Pro which he says is very expensive as $699 and not as good as Vegas Video - the Lite version is fine and starts at $59.

Picasa is good as it lets you take stills from the video and lets you create a movie with zooms and pans.

Producing - This is the sequence you need to follow. You need to write a script/storyboard. Then come stills, audio and video. John has recorded a live voiceover and video recorded the attendees in the room. Then mixed it on the overhead projector. He is talking about the sites to use for video - Youtube Blip.tv, Facebook and TubeMogul - that uploads your video to 20 sites in a row.

Now lots of providers are rushing up to the mic to sell their wares with video streaming solutions. And all of a sudden it's turned into QVC.

Who do you approach to make video ads for?

Existing advertisers..

TV Wannabees..

People with egos! We all have clients like that!

Video Ideamania: These are examples on how you can wrap banner ads into your online video

1570 am in Twin Cities has "in banner video". See that at kycr.com/. 963kklz.com Las Vegas Has a video player, which John likes.

He gives examples of stations with branded players too with a client who has bought a video ad. Video ad insertion- the video service of a stream opens a video ad when the audio ad is on Indie 103.1's website.

Could we allow our audience to put up news clip? What about not-for-profits populating the website. Put your videos on our website and we'll sell the ads around. Mojo is mobile journalism. John used a flip to video a snowstorm he was driving in and upload it and his wife saw how bad it was before he got home. That is using the IT for mobile journalism.

KMOO does telecontests and karaoke contests on the site. Could you get punters to send pics of the ugliest bathroom in Philly. Get their address and sell the list to companies that could go in and sort it out for them if they don't win on the radio. Maybe you could have Philly's biggest hooter and sell it to a plastic surgeon. My idea, not his!

Ad overlay. 98.7 Kiss TV In NYC do this. This is when they put banners on the bottom of the page. When you click on the banner you get another ad.

The Sony Vegas video system has a green screen option that allows jocks to walk onto the start of the video. Expandable banners on WBBM - what looks like a leader board at the top of the page. You click on and it gets bigger and video and audio displays. It shrinks down when done.

Live production? Have a radio newsreader set to present the news on screen with a virtual set generated by computer. It looks a bit ITN. Minus the bongs. John has shown a virtual news set that Tricaster Pro costs $8000. You can put three diffrent cameras into a video stream. The newsreader sits in front of a green screen.

E Newsletters:

The U.S Sailing Association has a monthly newsletter that opens the video player when you click on a link. An ad runs before the newsletter starts.

Pricing: How do you charge?

1- Flat Rate Sponsorship: This is the usual radio model, per week or month.
Create demand by limiting the supply. 1 ad client per day?

2- Cost Per Thousand Impression.

3- CPA- Cost Per action/click/Pay Per Click
That is something most stations don't do and NAB don't like it as it takes radio salesman ship out of the equation.

RAB Says Local banners are selling for $10-$20. This is generally targeted to a geography and should be attractive to advertisers. Rich media ads $20 CPM, Audio $10, Video $20-35. You can buy AOL globally for 50c per 1000 impressions globally but that is more general. Radio stations can deliver local.

Presenting:

7 steps to selling success:

1- Prospecting
2- Getting Appointments
3- Research
4-Client Needs Analysis
5- Writing Proposal
6-Presenting Proposal
7- Closing

So often video can be a sales afterthought.

Presenting to clients:

Specs - take video of the front of store and, when you make a sales call, present it. Do it as a speculative measure. Play on laptop, or iPhone or put it on Blip.TV and show the client. Then try and get them to buy on the basis that you can do the whole thing properly using a url extension - www.radiostation.com/electricalstore.

Imagine walking into a florist and saying "how would you feel about this online"?

RAB doesn't agree in a 1 call close as it doesn't cement the relationship.

Some good ideas. Love the virtual news set idea. Does that mean I can now have a clothing budget? Dan O'Day next on Twitter. We use that an Facebook extensively at Radio Scilly so I am interested to see what he comes up with!

NEXT UP, TIME FOR TWITTER.

I like Dan O'Day. He's tetchy, outspoken, wonderfully sarcastic in an un-American way and he cares about radio. His sessions have taught me a lot. He won't like me saying it but, after years of attending his PD grad school I thought he'd become stale. I haven't been for the last 2 years after I got little from previous event.

Anyway, Dan's back and on form. At Radio Scilly we have had a Facebook and Twitter strategy for months amd I was interested in hearing what he had to say.

This whole conference is about social networking and Twitter. I have had lots of newsleads by stalking local movers and shakers on Twitter. Dan is ahead of the game on this and has told me more than I have learned from reading 3 Twitter books, the most recent bought at Barnes and Noble here yesterday. If you are interested in this area, I'd recommend his longer sessions if they are as good as this hour.

Here is the stream of consciousness blog from his session on Twitter.

Dan O'Day is doing his usual "turn your cellphones off or I give them away as a prize" speech. He is allowing phones on for tweeting though! A big turn out. His Twitter session was 4 hours, this is cut to 1 and is mostly tactical no strategy. Guess you have to pay for that!

He is going to maxmise the impact of Twitter. If you use Twitter use it as part of your overall multi channel strategy. If you are on Twitter professionally, you need to ask what you want to accomplish. You should never forget that. Make sure it all fits that brief.

Be careful about what you put in a bio. One guy has a bio that refers to him as a "radio turd". It got laughs. Dan doesn't think the punters would get that. Dan says your bio should be provocative. You need to keep people with you. Your bio is your advert for your Twitter page.

"Dan's original bio said he was highly opinionated radio ad and radio talent/morning show coach". He changed it to "highly opinionated ad guru and radio talent coach waging war at bad commercials and despised by mediocre radio pros worldwide".

Make it engaging.

Engineers should tweet too!

A Promo Director could say: "I think up the contest , put together prizes and the DJs take all the credit". "Finder of new revenue sleuth fo Frecon business owners-Day job Radio Advertising sales of 106.7 FM" is better for a sales exec.

"106.7FM Morning DJ- Win $10,000 if I announce your birthday, Thursday at 7.20" is powerful.

Don't brag about radio in general. Dont , if you are in sales, sound "desparate" and talk about how great radio is. Your PD could have a fictious bio that sounds like a listener and follow your competitiors. See how they engage with you.

30 per cent of people on Twitter follow everyone who follows them. Journos shoud follow politicians and sales people should follow all business owners. Some very U.S examples. The TSA employees, at the airports in the US are tweeting. It is interesting to see the other side.

How you write them:

Don't assume that you have the Old Facebook is currently introduction... "is compiling a list" is not the way to start. It's style is proper English and is older than text messaging language style. It is written to be scanned so no shortened lingo.

If you use a URL shortener for links, make it customisable. So not one that says http://tinyurl/com/189jjff but http://tinyurl.com/britneypics

Make the shortener appealing. Intriguing tweets should entice.

If the DJ was talking about their plumbing attempt you need a shortened link that doesn't give anything away but attracts. http://tinyurl/com/disaster

Make sure you have a house style for tweeting. Exclamation marks make you look immature. Don't have 1 person use caps, the next, not. Twitter is not a place for bad station imaging. Not just straplines. Don't try and cram too much in.

Check your spelling. It's your showcase. Don't create a page design that distracts from information in your tweets. Their default design is ok. Twitter is "all about your words". Dan has repeated this mantra.

Joegangwish has a stunning design. It doesn't pull your eye away from the tweets. It is clean, distinctive and personal but does not "get in the way of the words". That's his slogan. I can see it on tee shirts!

What should you tweet?

Dont beg for $'s if you are in sales. Dan has seen them saying "looking for radio ads at bargain rates" Yes, he says, I buy it from a guy that has a stall!

If you are in sales, pre-sell. Get them interested before you sell. "My sales manager called a meeting. Something's brewing". Make it a drama almost, is what I think he is saying. Don't bend the truth but build it up. "Not always easy saying no when the the other client is waving money in your face".

Dan says the clients will know about it all when they read that and then, when you have built up the story you can mention the sales element.

"Just came out of the meeting about the boat show. Let me know if you'd like to be the only sponsor in the niche"

OB's or, as they say, remotes. Twitter links to pics of celebs, not the store manager. Nobody cares. He shouted that and the woman in front spilled her coffee.

If you have celebs, ask on Twitter "What is the ONE question you want me to ask him" Use Twitter to get contacts."Hey I'm looking for an experts on Dutch Elm Disease". Ask contest winners if they are on twitter and tweet congrats in winning.

Include station name in your tweet. When they tweet back, they promote your station to friends. If you have a celeb in, ask them to tweet that they are in and going to be on the radio station to their followers! If the celebs tweet a thank you, that goes on their twitter page. Entertainment figures are more likely to follow you as they want a big fan base.

The listeners you tweet are writing your promo copy for them if you ask, "WHY would you want to go there?"

"Should I add the new Kelly Clarkson record" Start a chat. "Getting lots of twitters people want the new Kelly Clarkson" "Morning show guys say it is getting old, I'm not sure"

Programe Interns can be used to say " dont tell anyone but I know the secret sound will be on in 15 minutes"

PDs should use it to engage people in conversation. So what if you ask a question and no one responds? No one will know! If you are a sales guy, you are a resource. Don't use twitter to flog your wares.

Don't get into a fight on Twitter. If you respond to a tweet that someone sends in anger, you give them access to your database of followers. If you are a radio guy you will programme Twitter. Not a whole day of music or contest teases. You know you need a flow, you build a story and have tactics.

Make sure it is a 301 redirect not a 302 in a shortening service. A 302 is a temp redirect and search engines won't find. The search engine will find a 301 - a permanent shortened URL as far as search engines are concerned. A 302 redirect won't be found by search engines. Just look online. Tiny URL is a 301. So is Budurl.

Increase your database with Twitter. You an autoresponse. Social Oomph is one. It means that if you follow Dan you get a direct message saying "thanks for following". It creates instant personal contact and is giving you stuff for free.

You can increase your database on Twitter by giving a MP3 of morning show best bits. If you have a home show have tips on cutting costs in utilities.
Make it free. No ads. Find out who your important people on twitter are following and follow them.

If you are in sales, find the best H.R people and follow them.

Twellow.com is like the Yellow Pages of Twitter. If you have a court case and someone is done from handwriting evidence you could get an expert on your show by using Twelloe.

Twitseeker can help you find sales prospects. All a bit American this.


11.45

Popped into a session on text messaging. I am in the last 15 minutes but it seems a bit commercial. A company called Hipcricket always comes to these things and it can be a bit informerically. Should chuck in a George Foreman grill and something that gives me abs of steel, too. They are talking about their text package bundles and shortcodes.

I think Britain is ahead of the game here.

You can text your questions to the presenters and they come on the presentation screen.


1.12pm

After a nice curry (Bradford or Leicester standard-good) at the Redding Market next door, more social networking.

"I saw it on the radio", a multimedia presentation has kicked off 13 mins late after the embarressing thumb twiddling you have when the presenters of a session realise not enough people have turned up. Anyway, we kick off, 1/6 full.

Sarah Van Mosel has started ans say mobile, social networks,web, on air, email, on site and other media all should link.

Rick works for ESPN. They have 5 radio station and do sport but syndicate some stuff. They have added "digital assets". Basically they bung stuff of their telly service on the net.

They wanted to create daily content to get people on the site.

EPSNMADISON.COM shows their video content, updated every hour. It's all a bit garish to be honest and doesn't have the style of BBC or even Channel 4's web content considering they are tv backed.

Ok. He is just guiding us through his website.

This is dull. Over. Good. His 10 minute piece basically said you need to be professional , look good and hire pros if needed. Nothing usable.
The guy needs Twitter. Ge could have said that in 140 characters.

Drake Donovan (with a name like that he should be wearing tights and a cape) says CBS Pittsburgh has done their own version of The View (Loose Women) with a jock and punters yakking away. Good idea. They have also filmed local singers in session in the studio. They are showing a montage of it now. They have also filmed some in-studio stunts for web. One contest where people are having to eat vile stuff to win prizes. Why do they do this in America. That said, I ate at Denny's yesterday. Do I win a condo in Cancun?

Anyway, for best quality audio, Drake matches up video from the studio with audio from the logger.

He has made video pre-rolls for streaming, the stuff that goes first. How does he make it look like TV or movies?
He has tried to visual sweepers.

Sarah wants to talk Youtube. She says most punters are ok with youtube quality. They are worried about ads on Youtube. Fourth Panelist, Rhodes Mason of Internet Video Arcive asks what happens if an ad comes up for a rival station? What if Clear channel have placed ads. You are control of your ads if it is on your site, not you tube.

Now will we get something interesting out of this? We're moving onto revenue. Rick says you need a good website and the sales team need to know how to sell it. Obvious. Have a web poll. Surely these people know lots of really cool stuff but just don't want to share their secrets. But why aren't they telling us any useful stuff. Dan was great this morning.

Two of these guys run companies. I wouldn't hire either on this. The room is lobotomised. Nobody is writing stuff down.

So, final onscreen bullet points- Ways to drive website visits.
1- Create a social networking account
2-Set up Dj blogs for everyday use
3-Solicit user generated content

5-mins a day-get a poll
15-a blog
30-social networls
1 hr- upload a video
3hrs- review and upload user generated content


More soon from the NAB Radio Show. Found this useful? Pass it on to your colleagues.