Like it or not, we now live in a content driven world. The fastest way for radio groups to outperform their terrestrial and digital competition is to produce a higher volume of content and better-quality content than those competitors. Then push all of that content out across every available platform to drive traffic back to their assets, the radio station, the station website, their apps and their podcasts. Unfortunately, for the most part radio isn’t doing that. Here are five steps we can take to make that happen consistently and supercharge our digital content creation.

1. Acknowledge the problem. We all know that posting once a day on social media isn’t enough. It’s also not enough to have a station website that nobody (or 1 person) posts to and at this point all on-air talent should be podcasting. Not doing so is a huge, missed opportunity to utilize a skillset they already have to create digital content. To course correct we have to start by recognizing where we’re falling short and committing to changing that and developing an ambitious but achievable content strategy.
2. Invest in digital. On season 2  episode 44 or Radio Influencers I talked about the massive discrepancy in the amount we spend producing terrestrial content versus digital content. Yet we expect to get 50% of our revenue from digital. That’s never going to happen until we allocate real dollars to that side of the business. Luckily, thanks to the creator economy boom most of the things required to crank out high quality digital content are cheaper than ever. So, a little bit goes a long way. With even a limited budget allocated to cameras, software, hardware, recording platforms like Riverside, AI tools like Radio Content Pro, AI clip programs and lighting, stations can significantly upgrade. Then hopefully their video content will stop looking like a hostage video filmed in front of a wrinkled station banner.
3. Capture everything we’re already doing. Most morning shows create anywhere from 36 to 48 minutes of on-air content every morning, even more on talk formats. Roll cameras in the studio and any number of affordable AI tools will easily turn that into 15 to 30 reels to spread across social media and YouTube.  Keep the cameras on for the off-the-air content and we’ll likely get an additional 5 or 10 more reels and we can bank that content for a ‘when the mics are off’ style podcast. Same thing applies to every station event, which are untapped content goldmines.
4. Get inspiration from other creators. Content creators have been stealing ideas from radio for years; it’s time we return the favor. One of the hacks all successful content creators I know use is this. They watch what’s working for others and they emulate it. Sometimes making it their own. Other times just blatantly ripping it off. Another tool that’s easily accessible to radio is our ability to use our stations to crowdsource content creation and let our listeners do some of the work for us.
5. Play the long game. One of the main things that discourages anyone, especially broadcasters, from creating digital content is the initial results. I get it. When we post a video on YouTube everyone can see the low view count and on social media people can see the engagement, or lack there of. But remember, every podcast started with zero downloads and all new YouTube channels struggle to get attention in an incredibly saturated market. It takes time, and consistency, to start getting traction. However, short form clips are currently getting good organic results pretty quickly right now. Which is why they are a point of emphasis for all content creators. Plus, radio has a cheat code. We can use our megaphone to promote everything we’re doing. Obviously, we won’t convert all of that audience.  But, even getting a fraction of them will start to move the needle in the right direction. It also helps to set aside boost money to amplify anything that’s already getting traction organically (even if it’s just a couple bucks).

What do you think? What steps have you taken to increase the volume of your digital content creation? Comment below or email me at Andy@RadioStationConsultant.com.

Pic designed by GoldenDayz for Envato Elements.