3 Ways radio stations can engage their listeners using SMS

Popular media platforms like YouTube and Spotify offer hundreds of hours of free entertainment online. They can be accessed whenever and wherever you want. If your listeners have no reason to stick around, they will simply go elsewhere. That’s why you need to find new ways to keep them engaged with your radio station.

Text messaging makes it easy for your listeners to engage with your station. No more frustrating misdials, busy signals, and dropped calls.

1) Music Requests

Let your listeners make music requests through text messaging. It’s quicker, easier, and creates a more enjoyable experience for your customers than a phone call. When they request a song, they are more likely to stick around and listen to your station until they have heard their request. They will be more likely to make more requests in the future, which can help you build a loyal audience.

For example, a listener can request a song by texting “Coldplay - Yellow” to your station’s virtual number or shortcode. From here, all music requests will be automatically placed in an order from newest to oldest in your keyword responses, which will display inside your SMS dashboard. Your DJ can even choose to respond back to the request, by giving the song requester a time estimate on how long it will take before their song is played.

2) Contests

Announcing a contest on your radio station is going to attract attention, however no one wants to wait on hold and hear the same song playing in the background over and over again. Choosing to use text messaging rather than the traditional call-in method will naturally improve your user experience and increase your response rate.

Try using SMS to allow your listeners to enter contests for:

Sponsored prizes from your advertising partners
A pair of concert, movie, or event tickets
Products like a mobile device
An all-inclusive trip
Cash or giftcard prizes

3) Voting

Do you have a hot topic and want to start a conversation? Ask listeners to join in by allowing them to vote through SMS. It’s gives them an easy way to share their opinion, and it lets you collect data in real-time. You will also have the opportunity to respond back to select opinions - inviting them to elaborate, making them feel more involved in your community.

Examples of topics that listeners can submit their votes on: