According to new data, more than 40 million adults tune into digital radio every week. There has been strong growth across different digital stations as more listeners tune in via apps and other digital means. This can be attributed to the convenience as listeners do not have to worry about losing signal or finding a particular frequency. If you don’t have a mobile app as a broadcaster or station, you are missing out. So, how can you do this? Read on to find out.
Why Do You Need a Mobile App for Your Radio Station?
At a time when over 6.84 billion people have smartphones, you must ensure your business is accessible online. Traditional radio stations are facing competition from streaming services as well as other types of audio entertainment. Let’s look at three reasons you need a mobile app.
1. Increase Engagement
With a radio app, you can easily interact with listeners in real-time. Most platforms have live chat segments and song requests where listeners feel more connected. Even better, listeners can give instant feedback without having to call or text you.
2. For Promotions
Besides increasing your engagement, an app will be instrumental in promoting your sponsors and events. For instance, if you have a concert, you can sell the tickets and merchandise via the app. Don’t forget to incorporate push notifications and inform your listeners regarding upcoming events and new products.
3. Analytics and Demographics
Using an app gives you valuable insights regarding the listeners. You get analytics and demographics on your audience. If you know their listening habits, location, and preferences, you can tailor your content and programmes to suit their needs. All this results in more engagement.
3 Steps to Make Your Radio App
With modern tools and technology, you do not need to hire a developer or be a coding master to create your radio app. These tools have templates that you can use to design and customise your apps without any prior knowledge of coding. Here is how.
1. Design the App
Begin by checking out the available templates and selecting the most ideal one for your radio app. It should have your preferred colour scheme and segmentations. Most tools such as RadioKing allow you to fully customise and take full control of how your application looks like. It must entirely match your station’s branding.
2. Curate It
Curation involves the addition of your radio station’s news feeds (RSS), and podcast feeds among other features. You can incorporate push notifications to alert the listeners about your upcoming events. The schedule will also come in handy in helping them know the presenters and discussions coming up next.
3. Publish
The two biggest application stores are the Apple App Store (iOS) and Google Play Store (Android devices). Once your radio station is complete, ensure you submit for development before going live on these two app stores. This is because the two app stores require that all the applications be submitted via developer accounts.
Conclusion
As you can see, having a radio station app plays a vital role in keeping your station afloat and relevant. You competitively stand out while still reaching a wider audience. With technological advancements, you don’t have to worry about having coding or programming knowledge to create a radio mobile app. Simply use the radio app builder and customise the available templates. Don’t forget to curate it before hitting the publish button. After this, the developers take over and ensure your app gets on the App Store and Google Play Store.