#WeLoveRadio Case Study - How Radio Bolstered the Visit Belmullet Brand On-Air and Online with iRadio.
The #WeLoveRadio series is a series of case studies showcasing the power or radio and social media for clients, brands and the stations themselves. The series is created by Learning Waves in partnership with the Digital Training Institute. The current series features a wide range of stations from across the sector who have beneffited from participating in the Social Media Diploma for Radio with Learning Waves. The series will showcase the benefits of combining on-air and on-line campaigns, how a social media strategy can bring benefits to your station and how social media can increase your stations brand, your presenters brands and increase the longetivity of your content.
Station Profile
iRadio is iRadio is a regional radio station spanning 15 counties along the Border, the West, the Mid-East and Midlands regions of Ireland. iRadio began broadcasting in 2008, originally as two individual stations - i102-104FM and i105-107FM and both stations were merged in 2011. The integrated radio broadcasts from its Athlone studios, and is available in 15 counties of Ireland. The broadcaster is in the ownership of iRadio Ltd. Reaching 347,000 weekly listeners, iRadio is one of Ireland’s most recognisable media brands. A further 500,000+ people visit iRadio.ie each month and they boast over 750,000 social media followers.
Case Study
The Visit Belmullet campaign was an integrated multi-media campaign which aimed to create a strong branding on-air combined with digital
content creation and amplification. The campaign sought to promote what the Belmullet area had to offer families, couples, groups
or friends when in research mode for a staycation or weekend away.
Staff Profile
Elaine Fahy is a Senior Sales Executive with iRadio and has worked with the company for 10 years. Her role has changed dramatically in the past number of years as the demand for digital integration increases.
Learning Waves Course
Elaine is a graduate of the Diploma in Social Media for Radio course delivered by Joanne Sweeney of Digital Training Institute. The 10-module course provides students with strategy, tactics and measurement frameworks to support client and station campaigns.
The Challenge
The local Chamber of Commerce wanted to launch a campaign to promote Belmullet as a first-choice summer holiday destination in Mayo. They contacted Elaine and explained their four core marketing challenges, which were :
- Brand awareness of Belmullet as an attractive staycation destination is low
- Committee struggle to complete with high-profile Mayo destinations such as Westport, Achill, Clare Island and routes along the Western Greenway
- Short timeframe to build up momentum due to Covid19 restrictions and shorter season
- No dedicated in-house digital marketing team or agency to spearhead a campaign
Strategy
With extensive experience in the field of integrated on-air and online campaigns, Elaine’s first tactic was to undertake brand and customer research with the core Chamber team. From this initial work she developed a robust strategy to crystalise the campaign message and define the audience calls to action.
Her strategy was five-fold:
- Campaign hook to drive awareness, interest and action
- On-air schedule of spot advertising bringing voice and exposure to the North Mayo town
- Social media strategy to maximise audience reach
- Website article to deepen engagement levels and provide legacy content footprint post campaign
- Competitions to entice prospective tourists to the area by giving away 7 holiday experiences, 5 on-air and 2 on social media
Tactics
On-air was supported by two radio ads developed by the iRadio creative department.
- Ad #1 Message Let yourself go wild in Erris this year
- Ad #2 Message Visit Belmullet, breathe in the coastal air and let time stand still
Website Marketing
- Visit Belmullet article and competition landing page: https://www.iradio.ie/
- Blog post title: Here’s why Belmullet in Mayo should be your next staycation
Results
The campaign saw a massive increase in traffic to the clients website as a result of the campaign! The total clicks to VisitBelmullet.ie website went from 93 in early June to 3,880 at the end of campaign in late July.
In addition to this, there was significant reach and click through rate on client’s own social media channels and website.
“I’m very selective of the prizes that I post on our social channels. We value our social media audience and will only promote brand competitions that are appealing and unique. Go big or go home when it comes to social media competitions.” Elaine Fahy, iRadio
Learnings
- The campaign lead-in time was short and it would have benefitted from more time for the planning phase but also to build extra momentum.
- The ideas and practical tactics taught in the Diploma in Social Media for Radio were invaluable in structuring the Visit Belmullet integrated campaign strategy.
- The high-value competitions on Facebook converted awareness to engagement and is a reminder that selling an experience is attractive on social media.
- The 6-part video series where we bring the activities to life would have worked well, but this will hopefully be implemented in 2022.
Advice to Radio Colleagues
"Don't be afraid to educate your clients on the power of integrated campaigsn even if they are not digitally savvy. It's our role and responsibliy to provide that insight to our clients and after all, our clients need to be where their customers are. Test campaign ideas and be honest with your clients about your approach and never over-promise on the results. But a well-structured camapign backed by knowledge of the customer and a strong tactical approach will gain results. You will learn by doing". Elaine Fahy, iRadio
Listen to the Case Study
https://www.learningwaves.ie/podcasts