How to Get Into Fan Conversations

by Tracy Johnson

If you’re active on social media, you know how valuable it is to get into fan conversations. Being relevant is important to a radio show, but so is being relatable. If you can be both, it gets your personality into fan conversations. And that’s exactly what this show did in a small, yet brilliant way.

First, a quick review:

Relevant is what your target audience is already interested in. The things they’re talking about.

Relatable is how you project your personality through any content to impact the audience.

Both are important, though relatable is more valuable. The ultimate goal is to be both relevant and relatable.

Relevant + Relatable=Get Into Fan Conversations

When you nail it, you can get your personality between the audience and their interest. And that’s exactly what Turk, Rachel and Amateur Alex have managed to do at Virgin Radio/Halifax.

In Canada, Tim Horton’s is a massive fast-food restaurant. I wish we had them in the U.S. Tim Bits are terrific! A couple of times a year, the company launches a high profile promotion called Roll Up the Rim. It’s a game to “roll up” the rim of the lid of a drink. When you do, they reveal prizes ranging from free coffee to $10,000 in cash.

Everyone knows about it and talks about it. It’s not unusual to see people on the street going through trash looking for cups that haven’t been rolled yet.

How Turk Does It: Get Into Fan Conversations

Turk took advantage of the promotion’s popularity in a simple way. Every morning, he buys a large coffee on the way in to perform his show. He then promotes “another chance to win $10,000 this morning at 8:50 (when the show ends).”

At the end of the show, he gives away his empty coffee cup. He solicits his contestant, and on the air rolls up the rim to reveal the prize. Most often, the message is, “Sorry, you didn’t win. Try again”. But they still win Turk’s cup, signed by the whole show.

Conclusion

It costs nothing, adds personality and creates a positive benchmark that puts the show into the midst of the conversation. Any station could do this. It’s just a matter of being alert and creative to take advantage of the opportunity.