WAGA, the Fox O&O in Atlanta, leads all media outlets in Atlanta by about 8 million social media actions over the last six months according to data from audience insight firm Shareablee. WAGA has almost 22 million actions on social, 41% of the total engagement generated by the DMA (No. 10), with more than 53.8 […]
WAGA, the Fox O&O in Atlanta, leads all media outlets in Atlanta by about 8 million social media actions over the last six months according to data from audience insight firm Shareablee.
WAGA has almost 22 million actions on social, 41% of the total engagement generated by the DMA (No. 10), with more than 53.8 million social actions.
WAGA is also ahead in actions per post with 1,724.
WSB, the Cox-owned ABC affiliate, leads on Instagram with just over 350,000 actions and also leads on Twitter with more than 675,000 actions.
So what is WAGA doing that might explain its 8 million action lead?
Facebook Live posts every day and “wow” stories, according to Mike McClain, WAGA’s news director, who says the station uses a balanced approach to Facebook.
“We are covering breaking news, but we are also doing several live Facebook streaming events every day, live events. We call that effort Fox Five Live, that’s live on Facebook and those are events that could be local or national where we bring in someone to talk with folks and get their opinion and respond to comments.”
McClain says there’s an enormous appetite for Facebook Live, not just for local events, but when big news breaks anywhere.
One of the reasons users gravitate towards Facebook Live, says Jeffrey Zellmer, WAGA’s regional creative services director, is that it’s easy and convenient to consume.
“It pops up immediately on people’s phones,” says Zellmer, “it alerts them. “It’s easy to view and if you are going for convenient and easy, Facebook Live is shown right now as one of the top tools.”
What kind of topics do well on Facebook Live?
Live events and missing people, according to McClain.
“Last week we had the Martin Luther King Jr. statue that was unveiled here at the Georgia capital,” says McClain, “and we carried the whole event live on Facebook.”
That event garnered more than 2 million views on WAGA’s Facebook page, generated more than 10,000 comments, and was shared almost 32,000 times.
Facebook Live’s popularity with WAGA’s users is so acute, the station has had to add equipment and personnel to produce them.
“We had a situation where a girl was kidnapped in Tampa several months ago,” says McClain, and WAGA was carrying the press conferences about her search there on Facebook Live.
“It draws people together as a community when they want to help, I mean especially if you are in events like the hurricane in Houston.”
“Wow” stories also are part of WAGA’s success in getting engagement on Facebook, whether it’s local or national.
One recent example story McClain cites happened during the eclipse, when the station found a pregnant woman who wanted her pregnancy photos taken during the eclipse.
“The pictures were dramatic. Our digital team reached out to her, found her story, talked with the photographer and got permission for the photos, and shared that story out on Facebook. Not only did it do well here, it did well for our stations all over the country.”
McClain says that according to tools the station uses to identify breaking stories on social media, that post was “83 times more engaging than our average post.”
When a story or topic gets high engagement on Facebook, says McClain, the station might work those into their television news broadcasts, providing news viewers with more meaningful and relevant content, like what was happening in Houston recently.
“Over the last couple of weeks, you have seen hundreds of photos of animals being rescued and animals that have been stranded. Those posts have been getting a great amount of engagement over the past week. Early this morning, we had several animals arrive from Houston to our Atlanta humane society overnight. They are going to be up for adoption. That engagement that we have seen this week about animals on social media directly led us to put a live reporter on that this morning. We know there is enormous interest in that and that was a big part of our broadcast this morning for Good Day Atlanta.”
That interplay between Facebook and the television news broadcasts has become part of WAGA’s DNA, says Zellmer.
“We do an editorial series called Like It Or Not where we have local commentators raise different issues that are important to them. We post them on Facebook first to get the viewers and our users to respond, but then we air those stories and that response back in our newscast.”
Zellmer makes an interesting point about marketing WAGA and its news operation that suggests a station’s Facebook page might be a more effective place for station marketing than its over-the-air television signal.
“I am obviously on the creative services side so I love making a really awesome looking 30-second spot that is going to catch your attention. Everybody loves the big promos, but even as much as I love to produce, there are times now where a really good content story on Facebook does a better job marketing our station if it’s in front of the right people than a great looking spot.
“It’s a new day,” says McClain.
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