Presentation on trends and best practices for use of social media by arts organizations, specifically symphony orchestras. Delivered july 2014 to the Association of California Symphony Orchestras conference. See accompanying pdf for additional notes and links.

1. 
Join the Party! Social Media for Orchestras
Nancy Roberts, MBA
Sustainable Communication Strategies
nancy@leapingotter.com
ACSO Conference August 1, 2014
Session sponsored by Bruce Kiesling

2. Who AreYou?
 Social Media comfort level, 1 to 5
1. Novice
2. Got the basics
3. Use regularly (for work)
4. Comfortable, constantly looking to do more
5. Power user

3. Today: Social Media
 What is it?
 Why do it?
 How to make it work for you?
 Channels
 Strategy & Measurement
 Checklists & Resources

4. Social Media Defined
Technology + Interaction = VALUE
• “The use of technology combined with social
interaction to create or co-create value.”
• “Forms of electronic communication (such as Web
sites for social networking and microblogging)
through which users create online communities to
share information, ideas, personal messages, and
other content.”

5. What Social Media is Not:

6. A few facts…
>>>

7. It’s not just the youngsters…

8. You’re invited...
 To be part of the Hive mind
 Daily, 24/7
 RSVP

9. Try to be a “good guest”
 You are host of your channel, but a guest in the
supersystem.
 Don’t hide in a corner.
 Be amusing.
 Introduce others.
 Don’t be a bore.

10. Why do it?
 It’s not going away.
 Well suited to community-based organizations.
 All ages participating.
 Flexible, inexpensive and rewarding.

11. Why do it?
“Over the next five years, every industry will have to
redesign itself around social.”
Mark Zuckerberg in 2011

12. Why do it?
 Deepen relationship with fans/donors/community
 Drive traffic to your website
 Raise awareness of your product and org
 SEO (Search Engine Optimization, i.e. findability)
 Monitor attitudes

13. Top 3 Barriers
 Paralysis:
 Resources:
 Control Issues:
Incremental steps.
Get over it.
Replace other
expenses.

14. Prioritize
High
Impact,
Hard to Do
High
Impact,
Easy to Do
Low
Impact,
Hard to Do
Low
Impact,
Easy to Do
Ease (Resources)

15. SocietalTrends
 Shorter attention spans
 Emphasis on visuals
 Expectation of transparency and interaction
 Changing relationship to authority;
importance of peer to peer
 And…

16. Don’t forget mobile!
Don’t forget mobile!
A majority of Americans – 56% now own smart phones

17. Who DoesWhat?

18. Social Media Channels
Facebook:
Deepen the fan experience,
Promote referrals and testimonials;
Gain feedback.
Twitter: Put your organization in context;
Send timely or urgent messages;
Conduct impromptu “meetings”
YouTube:
Showcase your product;
Find new audiences.
LinkedIn:
Find staff and volunteers;
Post to interest groups.
Blogging:
Personalize your organization’s voice. Provide background.
Maintain contact during non-performance times.

19. Facebook

20. Turn a concert into a party

21. More app options

22. Beginning of the End, or End of the
Beginning?
Younger users are looking beyond Facebook…

23. Facebook’s profile
 1.2 billion users, of which 757 million log on daily
 Over 10% of American’s online time is spent on
Facebook.
 53% of Facebook’s revenue comes from mobile ads
(q4 2013)
 Coming up: rapid messaging, wearables, VR…

24. Ideas for Posts
 Pop culture comparisons
 Behind the scenes glimpses
 Milestone recognitions
 Human interest stories
 Community connections

25. Facebook –Who SeesWhat
 Edgerank score determined by:
 Affinity – closeness of relationship
 Weight – 1. visuals 2. link 3. text
 Recency - the newer the better

26. Boost posts

27. Facebook ads -

28. YouTube
It’s the #2 search engine

29. YouTube

30. YouTube Can Be an Outpost of Your Orchestra’s Brand

31. Twitter

32. Twitter
 16% of U.S. adults online (doubled since 2010)
 135,000 new accounts each day
 40% are “lurkers”
 9,100 tweets per second
 Only 24% of tweets use #hashtags
 208 followers for average account

33. How to tweet?

34. How to tweet?

35. LinkedIn

36. Others?

37. Google+

39. Authentic Engagement
 Ask questions
 Encourage sharing w/ content
 Share partners’ content
 Create excitement
 Express gratitude
 Ask for what you need
 Listen and respond

40. Engaging content

42. Quotes are always popular; attach an image for greater impact.

43. Social Media Strategy
It’s a conversation…
 Establish goals and benchmarks
 Cross-promote
 Leverage all organization members
 Monitor activity
 Use to research and engage

44. What Should I Say?

45. Social Media – Integrated Strategy: Pepsi
& 1 Direction
 Sept. 2 - Pepsi tweets that 1D is filming a TV
commercial for them – Tweets explode
 Sept 6 - 1D performs at MTV Music Awards – Social
media goes crazy
 Oct 10 - Pepsi posts the ad to YouTube, before airing
it on TV (The X Factor) at a cost of $250,000
 Oct 11-17 - Ad airs only 20 times, but Pepsi is most-
discussed brand on Twitter for weeks

46. Elements of Social Media Guidelines
 Target market
 Tone & Content
 Channels (e.g, Blog, FB, Twitter…. and strategy for each)
 Frequency, timing, length of posts
 Team (who posts, approval process)
 Editorial Calendar
 METRICS

47. Social Media Management

48. Social Media Goals
 Customer communication: “top of mind”
 New audience acquisition
 Drive traffic to website
 Brand exposure
 SEO

49. When to Post?
 Mid-week, middle of
the day
 Avoid evenings,
weekends (except
Pinterest)
 Check your website
visit stats to confirm.
And….how often?

50. How Often to Post?
 Do you have something to say?

51. Measuring Social
 Engagement
 Amplification
 Attitude
 Influence

52. Metrics for Digital Marketing
 Consumption
 Sharing
 Lead Generation (e.g., email/blog subscriptions)
 Sales (and retention)
 Attitude (positive vs. negative)

53. Measuring Social Media’s Impact
 # of likes/followers/views – easy to measure, not
very significant
 Click-throughs
 Spreading your message – how often do your
followers let their followers know about you?
 Engagement – How many of your followers “talk
back” to you?
 Measure and monitor your “brand” – any negative
mentions?

54. Website Metrics

55. Look at Seasonality

56. Trends over time

57. Content Consumption

58. Resources
 SocialMediaExaminer.com
 ConvinceandConvert.com
 Mashable.com
 NTEN
 Beth Kanter’s blog

59. Imagine…
 It’s 2015
 You’re at the ACSO conference
 Someone asks you what your orchestra has been
getting out of social media lately.
 You say….

60. Thank you!

61. Spot check -Website and Social
 Do you have a set of online marketing/social media
metrics that you update regularly? (monthly, e.g.)?
 What percentage of your website traffic comes
from social media? Via mobile?
 Access your website via smart phone: How easy is it
to find the next concert date? Figure out where you
perform? Buy a ticket? Follow you on Facebook?

62. Spot check - FB
Access your organization’s Facebook page.
 How many people saw your last 3 posts?
 How many people engaged with the posts?
 Of the last six posts,
 How many were announcements or promotions?
 How many had an image attached?
 How many were shared?
 Any unanswered questions from users?

63. Spot check - LinkedIn
 Does your orchestra have a LinkedIn page?
 Are your artists, staff and board members linked to
it?
 Is the info current?
 Do you post occasional updates?

64. Spot check -YouTube
 Go to your orchestra’s YouTube channel
 Is your profile complete (Avatar, About)?
 How many subscribers/views do you have? How has
that number grown in the past year?
 Do you include keywords and a full description with
each video when you upload?

65. Spot check -Twitter
Open Twitter
 Search for a variation of your orchestra’s name (or that of a
“competitor”) - What comes up?
 Go to your profile and look at your last 12 tweets:
 What percentage are direct sell messages?
 Are hashtags being used?
 How many posts are ReTweets? (it’s nice to share)
 How many RTs and Favorites are your posts getting?