Breaking news alerts come in an array of forms. Limiting the delivery method means your business can only reach the people who like and use that format. It may be wiser to spread out and offer a few or more of them.
News doesn’t have to mean local or world headlines. Concert ticket announcements, sports or anything that interests the people who watch or listen to your station constitutes news. Alerts can drive traffic to your website no matter what the focus happens to be.
Twitter Delivers News in Short Bites
Social media alerts reach your audience in some of the most popular platforms. Twitter, for example, is an ideal vehicle for quick, concise alerts that pop up on users’ Twitter feeds or go directly to their Twitter phone app. Add a TinyURL link to your website in every Tweet to drive in traffic.
With Twitter, ”signup” is more about followers. Add a Twitter button or widget on the website. Grow a bigger Twitter following with mentions on the company radio or TV station, or from one of the station’s other social media platforms, such as Facebook. Find more followers by searching similar businesses and following some of their followers. Twitter users often check out their most recent followers, and will sometimes follow them back.
Facebook Alerts are in the News Feed
Facebook alerts work a bit differently from Twitter, and alerts aren’t necessarily short. News alerts aren’t sent directly to users, but they do land in their news feeds. The target audience can read the alert on their feed, but clicking on it takes them to your Facebook page. From there, driving traffic to the main website is just another click away.
Getting users to sign up for Facebook alerts means adding a Facebook button or widget on the website and gaining a Facebook following with page ”likes.” Shoutouts to viewers and listeners is as simple as, ”Like our page on Facebook!” which brings more fans to your page.
Email News Alerts Invite Creativity
Email has several things going for it. The breaking news alerts can be as short or long as you like, email messages can contain links to video clips, and more importantly, you can add links to your website, blog or both.
Users sign up for email alerts on your blog or website. Blogs usually have an email signup widget that you can add, or your web designer can add that feature to the website.
Text Alerts Reach Subscribers Immediately
Text alerts go directly to users’ phones, and signup is another feature you can add to your website or Facebook page. Some text alerts let users opt in by dialing a number, which generates a text back to the user. As with Facebook posts and Tweets, add a link to your website in every text to drive in traffic.
Few things are as annoying as messages that you don’t want to see or hear, so don’t forget to allow users a way to opt out. Facebook and Twitter platforms make it simple, but email and text alerts need a function that lets people unsubscribe.
News updates are an important value-added feature that sets some companies above others. Any radio or television station can offer the news, but alerts bring in traffic and assist with audience development every time there’s something new to report.