This post about @PowerFM987, a new kid block on the block that 12 days old, is a follow-up of the first one I published earlier today. You can read Part 1 by clicking here.
Part 2 of @PowerFM987 was partly inspired by this Facebook post:
As the Facebook thread above shows, different people have different views about @PowerFM987 at this early stage. It is good that this station already has those who defend it, and every brand wishes to grow a band of “evangelists”, especially on social media where some netizens can be mean and unforgiving.
@PowerFM987’s competitor profile
My assumption was that the Facebook post above was made based on a comparison of PowerFM 98.7 with another radio station. To be honest, I am still trying to understand POWER’s format, wich will allow me to build an online competitor profile for it. However, this is what they say about themselves on their Website:
To the best of my knowledge, there are two English talk radio stations in Gauteng – @Radio702 and @SAfmRadio. If one stretches it, @Kayafm95dot9 would be included in this basket. Of the 3 stations, Radio702 and Kayafm are commercial stations, while SAfm is a public broadcaster. What I heard from the court of public opinion is that Power98.7 competes directly with Radio702. However, my view is that the programme format of this new kid on the block is closest to Kayafm’s. As they say, time will tell.
I am going to compare the 3 commercial talk radio stations in the rest of this post.
Twitter followers of @PowerFM987, @Radio702 and @Kayafm95dot9
If Twitter numbers alone are anything to go by, @PowerFM987 has done well in a short space of time.
Only a third of @PowerFM987 followers are shared with any of the two commercial talk radio stations, the remaining two thirds of followers belong to the station exclusively. This means that the total Twitter population for Gauteng’s commercial talk radio has grown by 10% overall.
While @SAfm has been left out of this comparative exercise, it is worth mentioning that growth in the Twitter population for talk radio still holds even if this station was to be added, which simply means that the extent of cannibalisation of followers has not been great with introduction of PowerFM987.
A third of @PowerFM987’s followers are shared with @Radio702. Is this the newby’s social network strategy that is in line with the overall business strategy?
The overall growth in commercial talk radio’s Twitter population should be welcome by all the 3 competing stations.
Twitter engagement rates of @PowerFM987, @Radio702 and @Kayafm95dot9
Comparing engagement rates of the 3 commercial radio stations explains why @PowerFm987’s follower numbers have grown so quickly.
See the Engagement rate in the frist graph from left above, which is calculated based on mentions, RT’s and replies. On the one hand, RT’s and replies indicate value placed by followers on published content. If they (followers) find the content valuable, they are happy to share it with their followers, and this keeps repeating itself several times within a given duration. The higher the number of active followers by a brand, the more times this content is going to be RT’d, and the more replies get posted. On the other hand, mentions can be a key derivative of brand affinity. The more a brand is entrenched in the lives of its followers, the more they mention it in their tweets.
By the way, a brand can have a high number of mentions, but that are mostly negative. Just Eskom.
According to Followerwonk, engagement rates of the 3 competing commercial talk radio stations are 70% (@PowerFM987), 77% (@Radio702) and 34% (@KayaFM95dot9). Is the engagement rate high for PowerFM987 mainly due to it being “new news”, and may come down as the novelty wears off? Well, Radio702 is the oldest of the 3 stations – see number of days on Twitter in the image above – and has managed to keep its rate high. Thus, PowerFM987 can do the same if it keeps its eye on the “Twitter ball”.
Any brand looking to gain maintain a high social share-of-voice needs to track engagement rate metric closely, and that would be my recommendation to @PowerFM987 (this is to be considered a free but valuable advice).
In closing
@PowerFM987 started well on Twitter, with key metrics looking highly encouraging. However, the jury is still out on how well this commercial talk radio station will hold its own on this social network, and I shall be keeping a close eye on its performance as time goes on.
Want to check out Part 1 of this article? Simple, just click here.
