A: Even if you don’t already use it, a recent study from Dewynters showed that the majority of theatre audiences use Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. What’s that?! FREE (did I say FREE?!) marketing platforms you can use to promote your show to a direct audience… for FREE?!
If you’re already using social media, have you considered all the factors that will make your campaign more successful? There isn’t any solid evidence to suggest an ideal time to posting your content but a few tips I’ve read include emailing asking for money at 9am on a Monday morning because people are more likely to not want to tackle their workload after their weekend and will want to give you £10 towards your fun run instead! Or posting during lunch times or rush hours when people are on their phones anyway. Golden rule from Hannah Petts at Dewynters is “stay away from posting on a Friday evening” (if you don’t know by now posting on a Friday evening can be summed up as everyone is in a pub drunk on a Friday, meaning people get a bit rowdy online or might actually be in a pub on a Friday and therefore not looking at your posts online).
Posting the same content is also not going to help sell tickets. The audience want an exclusive backstage view of the show – so keep this in mind whenever you post. Take a look at the content Jim Glaub and the team have been putting together for @london_theatre or look at what other shows are doing to get some inspiration. When posting for Stage One I make sure a range of content is on offer – like quotes, videos, job advertisements, helpful reads & workshops. You could run competitions, audience reactions, exclusive insights to exclusive events, interviews… the possibilities are endless. As Matt Hamm from Dewynters points out, your cast is key to assisting with your content – just take a look at the Book of Mormon’s twitter feed.
Get out there online and start inventing but most importantly don’t forget your hashtags! #Hashtag