USRN Expands Partnership with SoCast for ''Digital Playbook''

RADIO ONLINE | Friday, September 20, 2019 | 2:03pm CT

USRN

United Stations and SoCast have announced today an expansion of their partnership to join forces in the marketing of Socast's "Digital Playbook" for radio stations. The two companies have been working together since the summer of 2017 with USRN handling advertising sales for SoCast's barter inventory. In 2018, the two firms introduced the Smart Speaker V.A.L.E.T., a product for radio stations to develop and promote their presence on Smart Speakers.

Now, the two companies are enhancing their relationship that will help jointly expose the full range of digital offerings that SoCast can provide to operators of radio outlets. The announcement comes jointly from SoCast Founder/CEO Elliott Hurst Sandy Hurst and USRN Senior VP/Content & Affiliation Stefan Jones at the company's headquarters in New York.

The Digital Playbook Powered by SoCast is a suite of services for radio stations looking to grow their digital presence and their digital revenue streams. The concept for creating a "how to" package came from feedback at radio stations indicating that the digital landscape and its revenue opportunities can be difficult to navigate. Together, United Stations and SoCast will be offering radio stations with the following services:

• Digital infrastructure to manage content for web, app social, social, speakers, podcasting, listener database membership and sweepstakes

• Sales enablement; ongoing training on monetization (from webinars to in-market tutorials to 4-legged sales calls; on how stations can leverage digital assets locally and turn those assets into real revenue streams)

• Advanced revenue management solutions that enable broadcasters to offer agency services (geo-fencing, targeted display and re-targeting) as well as optimize their Owned & Operated inventory

Jones commented, "We were finding that there are still a lot of radio stations who are struggling with the best solutions to digital growth, OR that there are radio stations unhappy with their current service providers in the digital space. We can now offer a complete and superior digital experience across ALL platforms and, most importantly, connect the dots to revenue."

Hurst added, "All of us at SoCast and United Stations believe that radio has what it takes to win the battle of local as audiences and advertisers go 100% digital. This playbook combines our unique strengths to help broadcasters transform into digital businesses."