Social Media + Theatres: International Peer Review

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A look at the social media practices of large and small theatres in UK, Australia, and US as of Sept/Oct 2014. The key message: just because you're big doesn't mean you're good! Although we love what The Australian Ballet and The Met Opera are doing.

Transcript of Social Media + Theatres: International Peer Review

Social Media + Theatres:

International Review

8 October 2014

“Wrong is wrong even if everyone is doing it.

Right is right even if no one is doing it…”

National Theatre Wales 5,550 fans

11.1 k followers 246 followers

207 subscribers 3522 photos

https://www.facebook.com/nationaltheatrewalesLikes 5,550PTAT 23PTAT/likes 4.1%New likes per week ?Apps Timeline | About | Photos | Likes | Reviews |

Events|YouTube

Mainly Promotional Posts

• Average: 1 post every 2-3 days

• Not a lot of engagement – average 5 likes/post

Noteworthy:Silly Kings Facebook Competition• Well promoted with

images and video• Great engagement• Prize of tickets

Noteworthy:• Live video streams of

current productions• Fair use of YT with

interviews, behind the scenes, etc• Plus video links to

debates

Crowd Source Ideas For The Assembly

• Looking for content ideas from fans• People can vote for

finalists

It’s Not All Good…

•No image. No punctuation. Spelling mistake. •Little engagement

National Theatre Of Wales: Twitter

Twitter Activity

• Average 4 tweets per day

• Promotional content activity

• Interact with industry people

Note Worthy: Use of Lists

Followers vs. Following

Followers vs. Tweets

Engagement

• Often get 2-8 retweets from industry people or drama students

Use of hashtags:

National Theatre Of Wales: Pinterest

• Mix of promotional and non-production boards

• Pinning from other boards too

Most Popular Pin:

Added by NTW, to board Silly Kings (production)

Storify• Curates

social media posts to tell a story•1 per

production since August

2013• 64 followers,

low views

Flickr:Large amount of behind the scenes pictures

NTW is making an effort

But relies too heavily on promotional posts in Facebook and Twitter

Activity on Pinterest and Storify is much more focused, but with tiny audience

National Theatre Of Wales Summary

National Theatre of Scotland 1 10,005 fans

19.3k followers 1,128 followers

572 subscribers

PTAT 249PTAT/likes 2.4%Apps Timeline | About | Photos

| Likes | Events | Instagram

Erratic Posting Activity

• Before September, 1 post every 2-3 days• Sept: more frequent,

almost 1 per day• Image posts perform better (40 likes) than videos/links (max 25)

Noteworthy:

Spotify/ Soundcloud playlists of the set list of finished productions

Noteworthy: Dear Scotland

• Link to micro site community page•Users post

messages to Scotland•Huge engagement

Noteworthy:

Live streaming to provide free or more accessible theatre

National Theatre Of Scotland: Twitter

Doing a good enough job. Talking to people. RT’ing and using pictures not text.

TIP: Set up searches using our names and those of competitors. Daily responding to conversations happening.

Followers vs. Following

Followers vs. Tweets

National Theatre Of Scotland: Instagram

Increasing Popularity •4-6 pics per month

• Average 30 likes per image post (numbers

seem to be increasing recently)•Video posts get

significantly less likes

Mainly Promotional •Always promoting a show - hyping up

rehearsals or interviews• Never starting

conversation or promoting community, trivia, etc.

The Australian Ballet 1 107,982 fans 1,417

followers

24.8k followers 19,770 followers

15,383 subscribers

PTAT/likes

9.5%

Frequency of Posts

•Erratic – some days (mainly leading up to WBD) 4-5 posts• At other times only

posting once every 2-3 days

Engagement

• Posts seem to either get very high responses (1,000+ likes and multiple comments/shares)

• Or they hit 20 likes and 1-2 comments

• Promotional posts usually do better than others

World Ballet Day

•Campaign across FB, Twitter,

Instagram and YT• Inviting fans to see

behind the scenes, join discussions and more

#Whatisbeauty

•Encouraging fan submission and conversation•Gets recognition

across all Australian Ballet social media platforms

Australian Ballet: Twitter

•Mix of promotional and conversational posts• 3-4 per day•Increased amount in build up to World

Ballet Day•Encouraging

conversation whilst promoting what’s on

Respond to mentions and retweet a lot of industry people

Frequent Use of Hashtags

Followers vs. Following Ratio

Tweets vs. Followers Ratio

Australian Ballet: Instagram

Instagram

Repost images from FB, often with same text

•Mostly promotional images•Encourage conversation

with similar Twitter questions

•Use of themes – Tutu Tuesday, etc.•Huge

engagement, many posts hit

the 1,000 mark

Australian Ballet: Pinterest

Mix of promotional pins directly from site and inspiration for different shows from other sources

Sydney Theatre Company 29,082 fans

20.4 k followers

54 subscribers

PTAT/likes 2.7%

New likes per week 0.8%

Apps Timeline | About | Reviews | Photos | Likes

Erratic posting activity

• 5 posts in August• Sept: Mon-Fri only• 1 – 3 per day• Not a lot of engagement• No promotions• No ad spend

Most Popular:• Picture of a seal! • Launch party pics• Beckett to UK

Noteworthy:• Free tickets to

rehearsals• Weekly archive

Content Posting Formula:

• Production pics 2 nights before opening

• Opening night pic• Reviews after

Sydney Theatre Company: Twitter

Following: Follower Ratio

Tweets: Followers

Formula:

• Proliferation of tweets on Mondays!

• No images• Love # #• They don’t talk to

anyone

Belvoir Street Theatre, Sydney 15,497 fans 233 followers

12.7 k followers 2185 followers

233 subscribers

PTAT/likes 2.3%

Content Strategy:

1-2 posts dailyReviews + picNot much Engagement

1 promotion!

Closure

Closing forum on last night’s performance

Belvoir Street Theatre: Twitter

Following: Follower Ratio

Tweets: Followers

Company B at Belvoir St Theatre makes a point of replying to everyone who asks a question on Twitter and it re-tweets any positive mentions of its productions. All tweets are printed out and stuck on a bulletin board for cast and crew to read each day.

Twitter Policy

Berkeley Repertoire Theatre 15,220 fans

7,113 followers 340 followers

275 subscribers

Posts

• Average 1 post every 2-3 days

• Average post gets around 40 likes• Some posts

jump to 150

Mixture of promotional posts, sharing others posts and water cooler

Contd.

• r

Conversation made, but no follow up as promised!

• Prefer to post a mix of styles rather than favouring one

• Appreciated by fans, resulting in steady, good engagement

• Strong use of images – could use more behind-

the-scenes, natural images

Berkeley Rep: Twitter

• They talk to people!• Retweet and favourite many fan tweets & mentions

• Good use of images

• Often industry people, community councils, etc

•Images are different from Facebook images•Mainly

promotional

Followers vs. Following Ratio

Tweets vs. Following Ratio

Berkeley Rep: Instagram

•Poor quality photos•Hasn’t been updated since April•When started 3-4 posts per month (Nov

& Dec)•Then went to 1 post per 2/3 weeks•Very low engagement•Not promoted on website

The Metropolitan Opera 307,416 fans

22.4k followers

7,822 followers

Frequency of Posts

• 1 post every 1-2 days• With exceptions:• September 10 – 15 there were

no posts• Sometimes 2 promotional posts

in 1 day• Most posts get good engagement, with

minimum 300 likes, up to as much as 3,500 likes at times

• Some of this can be attributed to the reputation of the institution

Post Types:• Promotional• Links to its other

sites• Throwbacks,

facts about the Met

• Links to livestream/listen to links

• Topical posts linked to opera

Noteworthy: Apps

• Use apps for promotions and tie ins with current show

Top Fans App:

• Ranks top fans through likes, comments, engagement

• Unclear what benefits of this system are

The Met Opera: Twitter

• Mainly retweets and promotional

• Before the summer, more engaging posts, but few images

•Throwback posts•Link to current shows•Good

engagement

• Links to ‘Last night @ the Met’•Tumblr

documents audience fashion

Followers vs. Following

Tweets vs. Followers

The Met Opera: Instagram

Instagram•Constantly linked by

Twitter and FB•Minimum 150 likes per

post• Posts erratically - five

posts on one day, then none for a week

Best Performing Instagram Posts

Best Performing Posts

Sleep No More 34,402 fans

1,127 followers

2,194 followers

Likes 34,402PTAT 817PTAT/likes 2.3%

• Posts in bursts every few days

• Engagement is good - average 45 likes per post

• Uses tweets to promote shows•Unusual design•Ties in with

themes of show

•Share links to Instagram

•Sometimes their own•Often others •Part of

#mysleepnomore campaign

Noteworthy: #mysleepnomore

• Tracks audience mentions of the show•Incorporated into a Facebook app

Promotional Posts

• Often tie in with show

• Not overtly commercial •Sometimes

present character pics with no caption•Mysterious vibe

Sleep No More: Twitter

Twitter

•Predominantly RTpraise•Sometimes linking to Instagram pictures w/o captions •Post/retweet most

days

Following vs. Followers

Tweets vs. Followers

Sleep No More: Instagram

Instagram

•Post erratically •Nothingsince July•5 times in

May•Best

performingpost:

Conclusions

• Most are doing Facebook wrong! Erratic, promotional posts, no ad spend, few competitions.

• Best: Berkeley Rep and The Met (only one using apps)• Engaging content is topical, retro,

feedback + promotional•Campaigns fare well (Scotland, ballet)

Facebook

• Most are doing better with Twitter, but largely talking to industry audiences•Best: Aussie Ballet, Belvoir•Images for own posts, RT’ing others.•Wales use of lists

Twitter

• Most are there but not using it. Toe in the water.

• Huge engagement for Aussie Ballet and The Met

• Different types of content – after party pics, view from the pit, etc.

Instagram

• Hasn’t really taken off for this audience• Tumblr for fashion• Flickr for pics• Storify

Pinterest & Other

• Spotify / Soundcloud for playlists• Live streaming video• Post show audience forums• Free tickets to rehearsals

Noteworthy