Branded social media posts from radio stations are more effective than if the posts were done by the advertiser.
In the first quarter of the year, ListenFirst, a social analytics tool, analyzed more than 4,000 branded social media posts by radio stations for 510 sponsors including Toyota, Sprite, and local restaurants and retailers. These posts accumulated more than 100,000 likes, reactions, comments, and shares across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok – a 51% increase from the same period last year.
“Yes, both this engagement volume and year-over-year growth is too large for both radio stations and advertisers to ignore,” Riley Genua, Director/Sales Engineering, ListenFirst wrote in a blog post for the RAB. “But how exactly does this type of post benefit the radio station and sponsor?”
ListenFirst examined a partnership between GrubHub and iHeartMedia hip-hop/R&B “Power 105.1” WWPR New York to share content around the 2022 iHeartRadio Music Awards that aired on March 22. “Power 105.1” published seven Instagram posts on March 22, which averaged 3,572 engagements (likes and comments) per post.
“If GrubHub had published these posts on their own, based on the data, they likely would not have achieved the same results,” Genua writes. “In Q1 2022, GrubHub averaged 15X fewer engagements per post than from the branded posts above.” The station itself averaged 1,043 engagements per Instagram post in Q1 2021, three times less than what it garnered with the Grub-Hub branded posts.
Another branded partnership between Audacy modern rock KROQ Los Angeles (106.7) and the San Diego Credit Union featured interviews with System of the Down’s Shavo Odadjian and actor Steve-O. The sponsored posts on Facebook averaged 64% more engagements per post than that of the Credit Union’s normal reach in Q1 2022.
Similar results occurred with Good Karma Brands sports “98.7 ESPN New York” WEPN-FM and their partnership with Tullamore DEW, with a 35% increase in brand mentions for the stations and the client compared to their normal reach on Twitter. Brand mentions are defined as users including official brand handles and hashtags in their personal tweets and/or responding to brand tweets through replies or retweets.
“Radio-branded content as part of any advertiser’s social media strategies will increase each brand’s engagement, followers, and brand interest – and is projected to continue bringing success for each party in the future,” Genua concludes.