In July & August 2010, The Nest was commissioned by national & international touring agency, Performing Lines, to conduct social media training in regional performing arts venues across five states. The project assisted venues in marketing a national tour of Red Stitch’s acclaimed production of ‘Red Sky Morning‘ (pictured above), helping both marketing and management staff get to grips with, and genuinely leverage, social media to help sell the show to local audiences.
Throughout the training tour – which visited venues in Bendigo, Toowoomba, Newcastle, Adelaide, Hobart, WaggaWagga, Lismore & Bathurst – we examined the concepts behind social media marketing, and why it differs from traditional arts marketing. However, understanding the concepts only gets us half way there – we also got ‘hands on’, offering practical assistance in setting up Facebook, Twitter and YouTube profiles and literally getting many venues off the starting block. Critically, in all cases, we looked at developing a timetable and strategy for interaction right across social media – rather than simply posting an irregular series of disconnected ‘updates’.
Some venues had already made the leap and established their social media presence – and in those cases we delved deeper, looking at tools for working with photos, audio and video; monitoring results; ‘selling’ social media internally and developing sensible policies. We also looked into RSS feeds, embedding & content sharing; designing content for Search Engine Optimisation and dealing with difficult or critical feedback.
If you’re interested in getting up to speed with social media, or diving deeper and taking your presence to the next level, The Nest can tailor social media training directly to your needs. From one-on-one sessions to large group seminars, our unique experience and understanding of the Australian arts and creative industries ensures that you’ll get pertinent advice with relevant case studies – and that your next steps in social media will achieve real results. Contact us to find out how we can help.
