“When you can sync your online monitoring efforts with offline measures, one calibrates the other – and the true ROI of social media can be measured, understood and appreciated. “
I just read this. Tom Webster wrote it in his blog, Brandsavant. My take? When you combine virtual and human contact, you will really understand the power of all these tools.
Available Light Theatre gets it. And at the bottom of this entry, I offer their pointers for success.
For those who haven’t (yet) had the pleasure of enjoying a show, some background: AVL was founded in 2006 by local actors and directors, chiefly Matt Slaybaugh, who now is artistic director.
The theater company utilizes local talent to present classics that we all love (i.e., “Pride and Prejudice”, “To Kill a Mockingbird”) and to stage original plays and works that might not get a showing here or anywhere (i.e, “God’s Ear,” “Killadelphia” and “Dirty Math.”)
Audiences at the door “pay what you want” to keep live theater accessible for all. The official philosophy is to present theater that’s “healthy, organic and locally grown.” Or, as Artistic Director Slaybaugh explained to me, theater should be good for you, and feed your soul.
Amen.
If you’ve been to a show (the company uses various venues, including the Riffe Center), you know they attract hundreds of people. “Mockingbird,” the last show, drew a full house. But you might not know this:
ALV does it without any direct mail, with very little paid advertising and not much traditional media coverage.
Their strategy? Sure. Put up a lot of posters and fliers and hand out business cards. But mainly: Use social media to connect, and face-to-face contact to cultivate.
I make a point of this, because I’ve noticed that many organizations establish social media tools. Then they wait, hoping for a “friend” or a “like.”
Then when not much happens, they declare the tools a waste of time.
AVL has realized that without a strategy, these tools are, well, just sitting in the box. So it has devised a method that has grown organically: The tree is the Website (avltheatre.com) with information, subscription tools, previews, links, etc. The branches are tools such as the “feedback” button that allows direct communication with AVL, and icons linking you to Twitter, Facebook, You Tube and other utilities.
However: virtual contact is but a portal.
During each show, someone appears on stage (I’ve seen Matt do this) and says hello, in person, on behalf of AVL. The ambassador asks everybody to please tweet about the show, post comments on their Facebook pages, talk about the performances to friends — whatever they can do to provide word of mouth if they liked what they saw.
And to take that a step further: AVL staffers watch to see who has participated, who’s coming to the shows, and they make an effort to find them and talk to them. This happened spectacularly when a group of fans planned a “Tweetup” (that is, they agreed to meet) at a performance of “Dirty Math” last year. Emily Rhodes, the theater’s development manager, and Slaybaugh met up with the group in person and made some lasting theater friends.
Result? The company is, as Slaybaugh describes, “well in the black,” with a $150,000 budget (up from $45,000 a mere two years ago), one full-time and three part-time employees, and more than 40 volunteers (and growing). Folks who have never acted before, and many who have never seen a live show, have joined the list of participants. Artie Isaac’s mom even occasionally bakes her famous candy for sale (correction: distribution free) at the company’s fundraisers. (see Artie’s post below.)
And now what you’ve been reading for. Here is Available Light’s best advice for using social media as a promotional tool:
- Be yourself. Tweet and communicate with your personal identity and don’t hide behind your organization’s persona. People love to know you as a human.
- Empower everyone in your organization to communicate on your behalf. Available Light has given some 25 interested people (so far) the tools to spread the word about the company’s activities. So far, it has worked wonderfully, says Slaybaugh, and it gives everyone a sense of ownership.
- Recognize there is an actual human being at the other end of the social media connection. Real people are reading your posts and your tweets. These are people “who will care about you and you care about them,” said Rhodes.
- Meet your virtual friends. When you notice someone whom you’ve seen online, say hello. Make “live” friendships.
- Let it storm. Take on new ideas. One of AVL’s strengths is its brainstorming capacity and flexibility. Involve your board, your volunteers, your spouse, your mother. You never know. For instance, as a result of open dialogue, Available Light is trying stuff that isn’t totally about stage performance. Stay tuned for the upcoming “Food Show,” a You Tube-based dialogue about eating and saving the planet.
Pretty cool, huh?
July 24, 2010 at 6:32 am
This is great, Ruth.
As you see, AVLT isn’t a theatre company adding social networking to its marketing mix. It’s a company firmly built on social networking by a generation that thinks and behaves in social networking terms.
One correction: my mother has indeed made thousands of candies for our audiences, but has prohibited their sale. They have been given free to every member of opening night audiences at select (fundraiser) performances.
July 25, 2010 at 11:50 am
Artie, that’s a great way to put it! And it’s going to take some time, I think, for many organizations to catch up. As with all change and innovation, probably the next generation of leaders will significantly alter the field.
About the candy: Ahhh. I see. Easy to misunderstand, I suppose. Maybe it’s because I wasn’t eating sweets (then)!