The appeal of having a mobile app for your radio station is obvious. An app has the potential to increase the reach of your station and increase engagement with your listeners. It’s impossible to do everything right at first, but there are some common mistakes that you can avoid.
6 Common Mistakes Radio Stations Make with Mobile Apps
- Not aligning it with your strategy
If your app isn’t aligned with your overall strategy (both programming and sales), you will almost certainly fail. What you’re doing on-air, on your website, and in your app, should all support your overall goal and strategy in the same way. - Too much stuff
Don’t overwhelm your audience with a too many features. This makes the user experience confusing, especially since they will only grasp about two or three features at a time. One of the things we recommend to clients with a lot of content is to put a few things on the app at a time. Then, in a few weeks, come back and add more. That way you have a refreshed reason to promote your app and a new reason for people to come back and check it out. People who started using one or two features as habit are now offered something new that hopefully they’ll make a habit as well. - Not promoting the app
Promote your mobile app. All the time. In lots of different ways. Through multiple channels. You should promote your app in a way that connects to users so that they’ll want to open it right at that moment for a specific reason. - Poor or confusing branding.
Make sure you get your branding right. Over the years, we’ve noticed that it’s very easy to let your app become generic or to update something on your website and forget to update it on the app. The goal is to keep your branding as synchronized as possible. - Poor usability
Test, test, test! Make sure your app’s functions are clear and easy to find because an app that’s tough to use almost always gets deleted. The items in your navigation should be in an order that makes sense to the user. Everything within your app should align with how you’re talking about it so that when people go to look for a certain item, they can easily find it. - Not having the right support
Making sure your app is supported is a must. Your app provider should be keeping it up-to-date with the latest OS versions and devices. As you track traffic patterns within your app, keep a close eye on what things are working and, more importantly, what things are not.
At jācapps, it’s all about the end user and that is why we work to understand your consumer. We specialize in helping radio stations find the mobile intersection of your brand and your consumer. Our apps are fully customizable and we always support what we sell.
Don’t make a mistake that you don’t have to. Click here to set up a conversation about your station’s mobile strategy. You can also give us a call at 248-353-9030 or shoot us an email.
