Greater Media’s Jennifer Williams. Very Influential.

1

On Monday we release our most recent and one of our most popular issue’s which featuring radio’s 100 Most Influential Women. In our continuing series focusing on some of those superstars who made the list, we bring you our extended interview with Greater Media’s Director of Interactive Marketing Jennifer Williams. Exactly what does a Director of Interactive Media in Radio do? We asked Jennifer that question and how she became one of Radio’s Most Influential Women.

RI: Tell us what you do every day?
Williams: In my role as Director of Interactive Marketing for Greater Media, Inc., I’m fortunate to work with the Programming, Marketing, and Sales teams at our stations to help them to implement our digital tools to grow revenue and ratings, and build relationships with our audiences. In addition, I also oversee our corporate digital content strategy that focuses on the creation of Rock, Classic Rock, Pop Culture, and Human Interest content for our station’s websites and social platforms. An average day could start with reviewing editorial priorities for the day with our content creators then onto to a conference call with one of our digital sales managers to brainstorm ideas to meet a client’s marketing goals, then sitting in on a tech call with our location Interactive Directors, onto working with a Program Director on ways to drive a higher click-through rate for their station emails, followed by development of format-specific digital content programs like Guitar Month. In addition to  all of that, assisting the air talent, Marketing Directors, and Sales Managers, who reach out to me each day for help on a variety of interactive topics…and I love every minute of it!

RI: What is it about you that makes you successful?
Williams:
Each and every day I wake up knowing that there is more that I don’t know in this world than I do. Surrounding myself with smart and talented people in the personal and professional lives who can teach me something new each day, helps me in my journey to be the best person I can be.
RI: What advice can you offer readers on how to be successful today in radio?
Williams: It’s your responsibility to consistently be in “education mode” to be successful. Every day, make it a priority to learn something new about an area of our business, or another industry, and see how that lesson can help you bring about positive results for your company, station, client, and community.
RI: What steps should new broadcasters take to achieve their goals?
Williams:
One key step is to find mentors to learn from throughout your career.  Being able to turn to someone in our industry to bounce ideas off of and to be able to go to for advice can be incredibly empowering. Equally as important as having a mentor is to be a mentor. You’ll find that whether you’re mentoring a student, a new broadcaster, or someone who has been in our industry for some time, they will teach you so much more than you could ever expect.
RI: What do you want to see radio do better?
Williams: I would love to see radio continue to grow our outreach to high school and college broadcasters. These students are our industry’s future. It would be great to see us look for new ways to partner with school programs to ignite a deeper passion for radio in these students. The Michigan Association of Broadcasters Foundation’s annual Broadcasting Career Builder Conference (BCBC) is a great example this type of outreach. The day-long conference brings together students from around the state with professional broadcasters for mentoring and to learn skills to help hit the ground running as they begin their careers.
Reach out to Jennifer Williams to congratulate her on her success and influence in radio at [email protected]

1 COMMENT

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here