How our TikTok ads consulting supercharged this radio station’s digital presence

Who is Q Radio

Q Radio is one of Northern Ireland’s leading commercial radio networks, recognised for its high-energy programming, “big” personality-led content, and extensive regional reach. Headquartered in the Fountain Centre in Belfast, the station has evolved from a collection of local independent broadcasters into a unified, province-wide media brand.

The position

While Q Radio held a somewhat dominant position on the Northern Irish RAJAR, there was a significant recognition gap in the digital space.

The station’s presenters were the familiar voices of the morning commute, but they were not yet household names with strong digital visibility. On social media, their personalities were not yet translating into the thumb-stopping content required for platforms like TikTok and Instagram.

Q Radio’s audience across Northern Ireland was diverse, ranging from urban professionals in Belfast to rural communities across the country. To resonate and grow, the station needed to move beyond being just a frequency. It needed to become a collection of relatable, funny, and local personalities – enticing more listeners and followers. For this, Q Radio requested Digital 24’s services to help their existing digital marketing team to grow their online presence in 3 core areas:

Build presenter profiles: Establish the talent as local celebrities and digital influencers.
Drive competition ROI: Convert passive listeners into active participants for premium competitions.
Community acquisition: Aggressively scale the follower base on TikTok to ensure long-term brand loyalty.

The strategy

Through our Consultancy service, we guided the Q Radio marketing team to lean into the ‘human’ side of Q Radio. After intense testing, we replaced traditional studio graphics with short-form comedy snippets and real-world interactions. By leveraging vox-pop style content and highlighting the natural chemistry of our presenters, we met the audience where they spend their time, delivering the quick-witted, authentic content that drives social engagement.

Leveraging humour for TikTok

When comedian Andrew Ryan joined the lineup, we saw a massive opportunity to pivot and lean into his specific, quick-witted, self-deprecating humour style, which is the gold standard for TikTok’s short form algorithms.

Based on Digital 24 testing strategy results, instead of traditional radio promos, Q Radio created comedy-first content that felt native to the platform. It was key to note that this style of comedy was particularly unique from any competition. This was important to differentiate the station. By the later stages of the campaign, his humour had become a core pillar of the Q Radio digital identity.

By the time the campaigns concluded, Andrew was not just a voice; he was a viral personality.

From the booth to the street

We challenged the status quo of radio advertising, which relied on clips of presenters sitting behind microphones. We found that content featuring presenters like Declan Wilson interacting with the public (the Decky on the street series) dramatically outperformed studio footage with this same presenter.

Follower acquisition

By analysing our comprehensive ad data across 23 separate campaigns, we identified the exact sweet spot for spend and engagement across the station’s roster.

TikTok proved to be our most potent weapon for building a community from scratch in Northern Ireland.

We managed to drive followers for a fraction of the cost of traditional media. The Breakfast Queues campaign delivered a massive 432 paid followers and 1,412 paid likes from a £960.42 investment.

Presenter awareness

We used awareness campaigns to keep the presenters’ faces in front of the public. These were incredibly cost-effective. For example, the “Sack Me Then” from The Breakfast Show awareness ad drove 435 clicks and 209 paid likes for just £42.09.

While TikTok was for personality, Facebook remained the king of action. We used Facebook to drive premium competitions, such as the Spin2Win (S2W) campaigns. In February 2023, these campaigns reached a peak of 6,131 text entries, proving that once the audience recognised and trusted the face of the presenter, they were far more likely to enter the competition.

The results

3.8k

followers generated

2.5m

impressions

£6.2k

total cost

14.5k

post likes/reactions

The verdict

By moving the budget towards high engagement platforms like TikTok and prioritising humour-led and real-world content, we did not just meet Q Radio’s KPIs; we redefined their digital presence. Q Radio is no longer just a station you listen to; it is a brand you follow, laugh with, and engage with every single day.

In the competitive landscape of Northern Irish media, authenticity is the new frequency. The more real the presenters appeared, the more loyal the audience became.

If you’re interested in hearing more about how we could help your business optimise your ads channels – chat to one of our friendly specialists now. Please note, we have a waiting list of brands looking to work with Digital 24. If we have limited availability, we will be able to add you to our list.