Purpose of Social Media in the American Orchestra Field - Part 5 - Recommended Strategies

To be successful with social media applications, social media interactions should be treated the same as face to face interactions.   When it comes to successful strategies for Web 2.0 applications, various experts and sources (i.e.: Bauman, Fost, Gillin, Kanter, Sernovitz, etc.) agree with these ten main points:

1. Organizations should be active and regular but not excessive
2. Use techniques that start conversations and ask questions.
3. Allow an organization’s personality to show.
4. Do not only post when and where events are.
5. Ask for it the actions that are wanted from fans / friends / followers.
6. Present materials in a fashion that is specific to the arts medium.
7. Link Web 2.0 applications together to form unity when possible.
8. Match off line branding and online image.
9. Employ Word-of-Mouth-Marketing strategies as often as possible.
10. Know who the audience is.

As the name suggests, one of the main goals of social media is to interact.  While interacting with fans the message should not be forceful therefore organizations should be active and regular but not excessive.  The statistical survey showed that over 50% of respondents were posting either several times a week, daily, or several times a day while less than 1% were posting hourly or more than once an hour.  The survey results also showed that all organizations would like people to interact with their various organizational sites more.  The question that this causes to be posed is: Are the organizations giving their fans / friends / followers a reason to interact with their sites? 

Social media actions should be thought of as similar to how a conversation or plans would be started or formed with friends in person.  If starting a conversation with a new friend, simple questions would be asked.  For example, an organization should post questions on possible topics of interest and reply to those who comment the same as a person would ask a question, listen, and respond to someone in person. 

If a negative comment occurs in a face to face conversation, blocking a comment is not an option.  Likewise, on various Web 2.0 applications do not block comments or people.  Doing so shows an organization avoiding a topic or censoring the public from voicing opinions that may foster a negative public image.  Incidents like these are an organization’s opportunity to respond, to explain, or to turn a situation around.  For example, someone posts “I really didn’t like Rouse’s Infernal Machine on last night’s concert.”  The organization could respond with a question “Was there something specific you did not enjoy?  Did you enjoy the rest of the concert?”  By responding the organization has now shown their fans / friends / followers several things including that they are actively listening to them.  No one wants to think they are socializing with someone that does not care about their opinion.  By asking questions to find out if there is a specific issue the organization has not only given that individual a response, but has also now given others the chance to join in a conversation.  By participating in the conversation, the organization is able to learn more about what their fans like and how they can serve or educate them better.  The knowledge an organization can gain from these types of activities causes the potential for increased sales and donations, in addition to creating a fan base who feels a part of the organizational conversations.

People make friends with individuals whose personalities they enjoy.  Therefore allow an organization’s personality to show.  Use pictures or video that highlight people interacting with others and the organization.  On the Erie Philharmonic’s Facebook page, the insights show that pictures of the conductor giving school assemblies are something the audience hits the like button for in abundance.  Fans of the Erie Philharmonic also like seeing pictures of themselves as shown by the number of views and interactions after concert and event attendee pictures are posted.  When an organization has a concert or event and posts pictures of the attendees, people will like these photos and will also share the pictures on their own site.  When individuals like photos or share them, these actions then show up in the streams of their friends, thus expanding the viral reach of an organization.  Likewise, running contests or participating in contests will foster group activity and expand viral reach. 

From the survey results regarding posting, orchestra responders indicated that 93.6% of their posts were to inform followers / fans / friends of events or sales.  To tell followers / fans / friends when events are should not be the only time an organization posts.  Posting an event is important so information can be gained on when and where it is but posting event details does not help to start conversations.  Supplement an event posting with comments or questions about the event that foster conversation.  The survey also found that posting information / stories / links related to artistic programming was the next most frequent use of social media with an 85.6% response rate.  The third reason orchestras posted information was to aid in increasing follower / fan / friends musical knowledge; 44.9% posted for this reason. 

The survey also showed a disparity between the results wanted from orchestras and the types of information and requests they were actually posting.  While 31.3% of orchestra answered a survey question indicating they felt a purpose of social media was to increase donations, but only 17.1% were actually asking for donations with their various Web 2.0 applications.  Social media informs of events and sales, can be used to ask questions, can be used to inform and educate, can increase awareness, and can be used to ask for a donation, but in order for an organization to be successful with those goals a call to action needs to be included.  Web 2.0 applications should be treated the same as any other aspect of an orchestra’s business strategies.   Social media has the abilities to achieve many goals of an organization if they have a plan that is executed properly.

Present materials in a fashion that is specific to the arts medium of the organization.  If the organization creates audio recordings then audio clips should be incorporated.  If the organization is visual then artwork / pictures would be included, etc.  Include YouTube videos when possible of events and also of personalities to add to a friendly image and is humanistic to the fans.

By linking a non-profit’s Web 2.0 applications together, this forms unity of organizational image.  Organizations should share YouTube clips on Facebook and MySpace, Tweet status updates, advertise a Blog with various applications, etc.   In addition, match off line branding and online imagery.  If an organization is successful online, for example, they have many followers and a variety of interactions, it enables them to capitalize on that knowledge simulating the items fans / followers / friends relate to with off line media.  If an organization’s online image is friendly and warm with pictures of supporters, school visits, helpful information etc.  But if the off line marketing materials are only pictures of the guest artists coming to visit, the organization is not showing an understanding of the knowledge their fans have given them through their social media interactions.

Organizations should employ word of mouth marketing and start conversation as often as possible.  Fans can be one of an organization’s greatest assets.  Examples of ways fans can influence others would be fans telling others about how fantastic a concert was, fans inviting their friends to come with them to an event, fans asking others to help support their favorite organizations, etc.  Organizations should enable their fans to share event links, to invite their friends to events, and to leave recommendations and reviews on social media sites.  Whenever possible, the organization should make sure to thank fans for doing all of these things, reinforcing being an organization that is listening to their followers’ opinions. 

All organizations should take the time to know who their audience is.  All Facebook pages have the option to view what the applications label as insights.  The insights page provides valuable information about the organization’s fan base.  The percentage comparison of male vs. female fans, the age demographics of fans, what links or statuses engage the most users, how many fans are talking about each status update, the cities in which the fans live, and much more data can be found on this page.  Knowing this information helps to identify what activities organizations should continue and what should be changed.  These statistics give insight into activities and information that the audience likes.  By knowing the tastes of an organization’s fans, it can aid them in starting conversations and activities to benefit the non-profit even more.

A literature source that discusses many of the above topics and strategies and also summarizes many other sources is Beal and Strauss’s Radically Transparent (2008).  Radically Transparent is a conversation on practical strategies that show how the power of social media can be used with proven tactics and also includes strategies for various phases of online management.  Two strong supplements for more focused ideas involving Word of Mouth Marketing are Andy Sernovitz’s Word of Mouth Marketing: How Smart Companies get People Talking (2009) and www.womma.org, the official site of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA).  Both of these sources focus on optimizing marketing dollars by starting conversations and include tactics that translate to in-person and online that include many of the above mentioned recommendations.

Many experts have also started blogs on the subject of strategies pertaining to Web 2.0 applications.  Chad Bauman’s blog specifically focuses on strategies in arts marketing (www.arts-marketing.blogspot.com, 2009); while Andy Sernovitz’s Blog, Damn, I Wish I Thought of That (www.damniwish.com, 2009), focuses on word of mouth strategies that often includes proven tactics for Social Media sites.  Eugene Carr, founder of Patron Technologies, has his company include a Blog and online webinars with how-to topics and best practices.

Carr also has two texts focusing on Web 2.0 applications including the use of emails.  Sign-Up for Culture (2004) focuses on specific strategies to enhance an arts organization’s email list while Wired for Culture (2007) then focuses on best practices of how to use your email lists.  Both texts include case studies citing success stories and successful tactics.

 For advanced topics of social media interaction, Beth Kanter and Allison Fine’s The Networked Nonprofit: Connecting with Social Media to Drive Change (2010) is an excellent resource.  The book discusses not only social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, but goes on to discuss online and virtual meetings and other extended topics.  A large part of the focus is about relinquishing control in some ways and allowing your audience to have more of a say in the direction your organization will go, going forward.  This goes beyond responding to comments and posts as a way of communicating and gives the fans / followers / friends even more involvement in the focus and activities of the organization.