We’re delving into all things digital in the wake of our brand new Digital for Radio Diploma which will kick off Tuesday 3rd October. This course has been carefully put together over the past three months by Learning Waves Skillnet and Lorcan Kinsella from Brand Nova Digital, in order to meet the needs of the radio industry. In the wings we had industry representatives, in the making of a sub-committee, to ensure that this course was specific and relevant to all our members.
Joanne Sweeney Burke from the Digital Training Institute will be one of many industry experts joining the team on our Digital for Radio Diploma. Joanne is the CEO of the Digital Training Institute, Podcaster, Digital Influencer and life-long learner with a total of 11 academic and professional qualifications including a Masters in both Journalism and Digital Marketing. She also appeared on the Apprentice and made it as a finalist – impressive! During the 8 week course Joanne will be presenting modules such as ‘Writing for the Social Web’, ‘Content Creation for Radio’ and ‘Digital Insights for the Radio Sector’.
Joanne believes that when it comes to digital, you need to change your mind-set. You need to “adopt a mobile first mind-set”. The content being delivered on-air is “ripe for re-purposing”, in radio, the natural storytelling talent is already present and what better place to reinvent it than on the ever growing digital platform. “Know your audience more than they know themselves so you can step into their micro moments”. Research has shown the web traffic on smartphones in Ireland is almost 3 times the EU average and as smartphone users, we are likely to look at our smartphones up to 150 times daily – your audience is out there in this digital space – let’s give them what they want!
Joanne advises that “personality is everything online – turn listeners into social fans”. Personality is equally important on-air, every station has loyal on-air listeners who tune in day-in, day-out. As content creators, you have the opportunity to use digital platforms to attract listeners online as well as on-air. “Consider your online platforms like you consider your radio schedule”. Think about competitions, social media, banner ads and content specific to certain shows. They translate smoothly from on-air to online. Extending on-air offerings is essential!
If as an industry, we acknowledge the power of digital, we can then in turn open a window of opportunities and revolutionise radio in this digital age.
Feel free to check out Joanne's work on digitaltraininginstitute.ie.