After setting up your online radio on the socastin platform and getting some basic equipments to launch your online radio, how to get more listeners and promote your online radio station is what comes to mind next.

Marketing your Online Radio is as almost the same as marketing a business. There are a lot of proven ways through online media to promote and drive traffic to your Online Radio Station. Here are 10 tested and trusted ways to go about it:

1. Submit Your Station to Radio Directories:

There are lot of Radio Directories online, that collate large numbers of Online Radio Stations on their platform (web/app) for easy access by a wide range of listeners. Get to submit your Online Radio Stations on such platforms to get easy recognition by a wide variety of listeners.

2. Get Active on Social Media:

Social media is an important tool to identify and connect with new listeners. Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram have proven useful for stations to grow their audiences and communicate with their listeners. Knowing that, regular posting on social media requires discipline and diligence, so don’t start until you’re ready. Try to pair the right choice of social network to your audience — a jazz station, for example, might choose Facebook, but not Twitter, based on where it believes its listeners are active.

3. Have a Defined Content Strategy:

The way people communicate may have changed but radio is still a form of media. It just means that growth plans for radio stations have to take in to account messaging and content strategies across multiple platforms — not just through the air. So, active radio stations are publishing blogs, participating on Facebook, posting to Instagram, and have Whatsapp groups to message their audiences. You can create content to share with other sites in your niche, too. Create a strategy that fits your audience and stick with it.

4. Work on Your Search Engine Optimization:

SEO is a marketing strategy that tweaks the content of your website, as well as its organization and design, to maximize discovery by users in search engines and app stores. Make sure your content in your apps and website does an effective job in richly describing your station. The better your SEO, the more discoverable you can be for people searching for stations like yours.

5. Implement an influential guest strategy:

A great technique to growing a digital audience is to identify people with large overlapping audiences and invite them on a show. You’ll get great content and in turn, your guest will likely share out his interview with his audience. It’s a win-win. Don’t forget to ask your guests to share your programs on their different social media channels.

6. Target Your Audience:

Many beginner broadcasters make the mistake of aiming for too wide of an audience, rather than targeting a specific niche. Diluting your content so it appeals to as many people as possible mostly just means it won’t appeal directly to anyone. It probably also means you’re covering topics and playing music you don’t really care about, which doesn’t produce thrilling content.‌‌ Don’t waste time and resources on people that won’t tune into your station.Instead, focus your attention on your audience by playing tracks they like and discussing topics they’re interested in.

7. Write BlogPosts:

Get found online and build a presence by blogging. Write about topics that you know your listeners will be searching for and link it up with your station. For example, is there a new album out? Write about it and list the best tracks, including the ones you play regularly on your station. Blog on your own website or use platforms like Medium.‌‌ When blogging, depending on your audience, you can afford to be a bit looser with your persona and more honest with your opinions. For many people, your radio show will be where they hear the ‘professional’ you, whereas the blog is where they get to see the more informal, laid-back part of you.

8. Build Marketing List:

Who you know and how many you know define your station’s potential to grow. Marketing lists are a cornerstone and tool to mass communicate with your listeners. Services like MailChimp and GetResponse help you keep that relationship open.‌‌ To talk to your listeners you first need their details like names and emails. Do this using forms on your website which help build your lists. Before you know it you’ll have thousands of people to contact.

9. Opt For Paid Advertisement:

When done right, paid advertisements are a great way to boost your station’s listeners and brand awareness. There’s all sorts of ads you can use:

• Search Engines: Adwords on places like Google, Bing, and Yahoo are pay per click based on search terms you’re going after, for instance if you focused on “soul music” then it would list your station’s website to the top of the results.
• Banner Ads: Place a banner for your station on websites related to your shows.
• Email Ads: Emails sent out to thousands of people can mention your station or show a banner linking out to your website.
• Radio Shout Outs: Pay to get a mention on radio shows with large followers.
• Video & Audio Ads: Play ads on services like YouTube and Spotify, targeting individuals that might be interested in your shows.
• Facebook Ads: Pay extra to Facebook to boost the reach of your posts so they reach people who don’t yet follow you as ‘sponsored posts’.

10. Turn Your Online Radio Station into an Event:

Promote your radio station by hosting competitions, pub quizzes, live gigs, charity fundraisers, anything with a chance for listeners to get involved with your station on a personal level. ‌‌Offer prizes at these events to encourage people to come. Prizes can be anything like your station’s branded merchandise (t-shirts, cups, hats), gift vouchers.

These 10 strategies have proven to increase online radio listeners and also helped to make more profit for profit orientated Online Radio Stations. At Socastin.com, we help our with a lot of these strategies to ease stress off our clients. Build or start up your online radio station with Socastin today!

Editor's Picks:

Make Money Through Online Radio Start-Up Equipment for Online Radio Broadcasting Tips To Stand Out What is Online Radio and How does it work?