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IHeartMedia rocks mobile engagement, fans with live events

 
The company?s  recent fourth annual iHeartRadio Music Festival generated five billion social media impressions, more than double last year?s total, and on par with the Academy Awards. The numbers reflect how the company leverages its diverse media platforms to engage consumers and build its brand.

?Social Media plays a critical role in how we are able to have instant conversations and connections with our listeners,? said Chris Williams, senior vice president, programming, iHeartRadio.

?iHeartRadio has a massive national reach and social media allows us to hear directly from our audiences, helping us to identify the content and stations we create or retire as well as helps us to identify the experiences our fans love and those that may need improvement within iHeartRadio,? he said.  

Luring Millennials 
During the iHeartRadio Music Festival, more than 80 percent of social media posts came from Millennials, the 18-34 year old demographic.

Getting aggressive on social.

?We were very aggressive with this year?s iHeartRadio Music Festival, which is our listeners? most-anticipated event of the year,? Mr. Williams said.

?The conversation starts live on-air and socially at the local station level across the country where our talent engages with their listeners to build anticipation for the festival. That conversation is joined by the artists performing and amplified by iHeartRadio during the event.  

?Social allows us to instantly capture fan excitement, unforgettable moments and exclusive event photos and videos that get live posted on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and more, simultaneously while the event is being broadcast nationwide,? he said. ?This allows even more fans to experience the event as though they are right there in the arena even if they don?t have a ticket.?  

iHeartRadio also worked with Snapchat to create Our iHeartRadio Story, allowing mobile festival-goers to tell the story of the event live from their point of view.  

?By actively engaging our fans through social, it really makes them feel as though they are part of the action,? Mr. Williams said.

On top of nearly 30,000 fans who experienced the Sept. 19-20 event in person in Las Vegas, the festival was broadcast live to millions across iHeartMedia?s broadcast stations, the iHeartRadio app, as well as via the Yahoo Live stream. The CW Network also aired the concerts as an exclusive two-night TV special Sept. 29-30.

?Engaging with the fan armies prior to the event is critical because it helps to eliminate the lag time of waiting for them to hear about the event in real-time, engage and then making it go viral,? Mr. Williams said. ?It?s important to have fans engaged at the start so that when a viral-worthy moment arrives they are prepared to engage and share simultaneously.  

?Keeping festival-goers, at-home listeners and social followers all engaged throughout the weekend is what led us to more than 5 billion social impressions,? he said.

Viral-readiness is a strength.

The iHeartRadio app is available on 46 platforms ? including mobile, tablets, automotive partners, smart TVs, gaming devices and wearables.

IHeartRadio?s upcoming concerts include ?iHeartRadio Fiesta Latina,? aimed at Latin music fans nationwide, featuring Pitbull, Ricky Martin, Roberto Tapia and Alejandra Guzmán, at the Forum in Los Angeles on Nov. 22. 

Another live event will be the annual iHeartRadio Jingle Ball 2014 tour, which celebrates the holiday season across 13 cities. Taylor Swift, Maroon 5, Sam Smith, Ariana Grande and other top recording artists will lead all-star lineups in major U.S. cities, including New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Boston and Chicago.

iHeartMedia is nothing if not nimble in its ability to engage advertisers and partners  across its various platforms.

?Content is our currency and we pride ourselves in being able to organically connect brands with artists and their fans,? Mr. Williams said.

A prime example was its recent Ultimate 1989 Fan Party with Taylor Swift and Diet Coke, part of the singer?s new-album promotion. 

Seamless access
Ms. Swift did a radio takeover in-studio with iHeart on-air talent. Fans had the opportunity to win access to one of Taylor Swift?s performances, get exclusive Diet Coke merchandise and gain access to intimate meet and greets.

Content is currency.

Fans also were able to celebrate the album launch via a live feed to Clear Channel Outdoor?s billboard in Times Square, which was taken over by Swift and Diet Coke branding.

?Our goal is to provide seamless and simplified access to our content, events and stations everywhere our listeners are,? Mr. Williams said. ?We are constantly keeping an eye out for the next big social platform, like Snapchat, and next widely used platform like wearables and connected cars. 

?We pride ourselves in being innovators and giving our listeners a product they love no matter what platform they are engaging with us.? 
   
Final Take
Michael Barris is staff reporter on Mobile Marketer, New York.