Tracking and Rewarding Digital Performance By Andy Meadows

Ratings are no longer the only measurement of performance that matters for programming departments. We should all be tracking our performance across our various digital platforms weekly to see what’s working, and what’s not, and to create incentive programs to reward employees. 

One of the great things about this move into the digital world is that it’s very easy to track everything and you can do it yourself for little to no cost. With a few clicks you can see how many impressions you’re getting weekly across your social feeds, how many unique visitors went to your website, your stream, your app and a whole lot more. Plus, groups that haven’t been keeping track of this information can still easily go back and dig up that past data. 

Here are the main things I track on a weekly basis when I’m working with a group. Total Facebook post impressions, Total Twitter post impressions, Total Instagram Impressions, Streaming Uniques, App Active Uniques, Website Uniques and Request Line Calls (For stations using VOIP lines). I also add Youtube, Snapchat and Tik Tok if the stations are regularly using those platforms. Pulling the info manually takes about an hour a week for a couple of stations, but there are third party apps and software that can cut that time down with a small investment. 

This information helps you brag on stations that are excelling digitally. Plus, you can use it to create an incentive program to reward the employee who has the social post with the highest reach that week/month or web post with the most clicks. That incentive program will reinforce the importance of quality over quantity and encourage the staff to create clickable, shareable content. 

Not only is this information a great indicator of how much engagement your programming department is driving, over time it will also create some impressive stats for sales to share with potential clients. Especially as you increase your broader social numbers like fans and followers that are on display for everyone to see. 

If you’re interested, email me at andy@radiostationconsultant.com and I’ll send you the example form I use to track digital performance. 

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