ByDevonSmithDirectorofResearchandAnalysis

YaleRepertoryTheatreJanuary8,2010

Theatre&SocialMedia

in2009

byDevonSmith 2

ExecutiveSummaryAstheDirectorofResearchandAnalysisatYaleRepertoryTheatre(andavidsocialmediafan),inOctoberof2009IwastaskedwithdevelopingYRT’ssocialmediastrategyfor2010.TheworkplanIassembledincluded:

1. ReviewYRT’scurrenteffortsinsocial&digital2. Update(and/orexpand)measurementmetricscreatedpreviouslybytheMarketing

department3. Summarizefield’suseofsocial&digitalmediaefforts,impact,andmeasurement

techniques4. ComparehowYRT“measuresup”comparedtoourpeers5. RecommendYRT’ssocial&digitalmediastrategyforthecomingyear

ThisreportfocusesonStep3—attemptingtocaptureLORTtheatreseffortsandimpactsinsocialmedia.Itassumesthereaderalreadyknowsafairamountabouteachofthesocialmediaplatforms,andinsteadskipsstraighttomyfindings.HerearethemostimportantconclusionsIdrewfrommyresearchabouteachplatform:

• Facebook—everyone’susingit,andsometheatresaregettinganextraordinaryamountofuserengagementontheirpages.Itmaybethebestwaytokeepfansinterestedinbetweenperformances.

• Twitter—hasbecomeagreatwaytoengagefansininformalconversations,withafocusontheideathatTwitteristheultimatetwowaystreet.Fansarealreadytalkingaboutyourtheatreonline;whywouldn’tyouwanttorespond?

• YouTube—isanincrediblycheapwaytoreachaverylarge,verydiversepopulation,ifyouhavethevideoproductionskillstopullitoff.Andforgeteverythingyou’veheardaboutvideoshavingtobe30secondpolishedcommercialspotsinordertogoviral.

• MySpace—isover.Leaveittothemusicians,becausefewtheatres,ortheirfans,haveanyremaininginterest.

• Flickr—ispromising,butnoone’sfoundagreatusecaseforit,yet.Untilthen,Facebook’sphotoalbumsshouldprobablycoverallyourneeds.

• Blogs—seemtometobenotworththeeffort,ifallyou’rebloggingaboutisaninsidelookatyourtheatrecompany.Althoughthereareathousand(ok,maybeadozen)topicsIthinktheatrescouldbebloggingabout,whichmightbegreatattentiongrabbers.

I’vebeenmostsurprisedthattheatreshavethusfarfocused99%oftheirattentionforsocialmediaonmarketing.Whataboutthedevelopmentoffice?Whataboutasawaytoorganizeaproductionteam?Whataboutasawaytodemonstratethoughtleadershiptotherestoftheartsadministrationfield?Ialsowantedtonotethatthisresearchisverysuperficial—futureresearchcould(andshould!)attempttouncoverhowtobestdisseminatesocialmediaknowledgethroughouttheorganization,putsharperteethonROImetrics,addresstheproblemsthatorganizationsare

byDevonSmith 3

alreadyfacinginusingsocialmedia,anddevelopmoreinnovativebusinesscasesforsocialmediainthetheatre.Onthewhole,LORTtheatresarededicatingtimeandeffortalmostexactlyproportionaltotherestofthecountry’suseofsocialmedia.ThebelowchartshowsthatTwitterisusedbymoretheatresthanitssizewouldactuallywarrant,andblogsareabitunderused.Butsincethereareonly76LORTtheatres,asafieldwearesurprisinglyontrack.

WhatfollowsisacompilationoftheresearchI’vedoneoverthepast3months.Thetoneisabitmorecolloquialthanaformalresearchpaper,andthecontentandtheorymaybealittlehaphazard,butonthewholeitshouldbevaluable.MethodologyFromOctober‐December2009Iconductedoriginalresearchon6majorsocialmediaplatforms:Facebook,Twitter,YouTube,Flickr,MySpace,andBlogs,andconductedanonlinesurveyaboutsocialmediastaffinghours.Iusedthe76LeagueofResidentTheatres(LORT)asaboundedpopulationofpeertheatrestoYaleRep.Wherepossible,I’velistedcontributionsmadebyeveryonefromclassmatestocolleagues,professionalbloggerstopublishedbooks.Apologiesforanybrokenlinks,repetitivestatements,orsweepinggeneralizations.Alloftherawdatacollectedhasalsobeenpostedtomyblogathttp://devonvsmith.tumblr.com/

byDevonSmith 4

FACEBOOKExecutiveSummaryAllbut3LORTtheatresmaintainapresenceonFacebook.Numbersoffansrangefrom129‐6,623.Sometheatresarepostingcontentmorethan15timesperweek,andgeneratingupto100wallcommentsperweekfromtheirfans.Otherthanwallposts,photoalbumsandeventpagesarethemostwidelyusedcontentbytheatres.Inthisstudy,Ihavetriedtouseasmanydatapointsaspossibletocapturethefullrangeofthefield’suseofFacebook,aswellasfan’sresponses.Thisquicklycomplicatedanypotentialmeasurementsofeffort,impact,andreturnoninvestment.However,basedonthe(fartoo)complicatedindexingmethodthatfollows,comparedtotheaverageLORTtheatre:

• 11theatreshaveachievedsignificantlyhigherimpactrelativetotheirefforts.Laterdraftsofthisstudywillincludeamoreindepthlookatthesetheatres.

• 4theatresachievedhigherimpactthantheirpeers,butwithaboveaverageeffort• 42theatresexertedlesseffortthantheiraveragepeer,andalsofoundlessimpact• 16theatreshaveunfortunatelyexertedgreatereffortthantheirpeers,butfoundless

impactFacebookPenetrationWhentheatresmaintainedmultiplegroup,fan,and/orpersonalprofiles,Iusedthemostgenerousinterpretationoftheir“primary”pagebyselectingthetypewiththehighestnumberoffans/membersandmostrecentactivity.SimilartotheTwitterfindings,manytheatre’swebsitesdidnotincludealinktotheirFacebookpage.ItshouldalsobenotedthatmanytheatresarecurrentlyrebuildingtheirFansfromtheirMembers(dueachangeinFacebookarchitecture),therebycloudingtrueusage,efforts,andimpact.

n=76

FanPage89%

GroupsPage7%

NotonFB4%

LORTTheatresonFacebook

byDevonSmith 5

DataCaptureFacebookoffersahighdegreeofflexibilityintermsofthetypeofcontentatheatrewishestoincludeontheirpage,andhowafanmightinteractwiththesight,otherthansimplyviewingit.Ifound7datapointsthatmeasureatheatre’sactivityonFacebook.

• Uploadphotoalbums;disregardeddifferentsizesofphotoalbums,andwhetheralbumswereintegratedFlickrstreams.

• Eventscreated;disregardedeffortsofindividualevents.• Weeklywallposts;capturedforthe7dayspriortomeasurementdate(weekof

November11,2009);primarilyusedasaproxyforfrequencyofeffortssincemostwallpostscomefromuploadingphotos,videos,notes,etc.

• Uploadedvideos;disregardedvideolength,andwhethervideoswereintegratedYouTubestreams.

• Pagesfavorited.• Noteswritten;disregardedwhethernoteswereintegratedRSSfeeds.• Linksshared;disregardedwhetherlinkswereintegratedRSSfeeds.

OtherinterestingeffortsIobserved(butdidnotuseinthestudy)included:

• GuthrieFord’sTheatrehavespecial“BuyTickets”sectionsoftheirpages• ARThighlightstheatremerchandiseforpurchase• ARTandFloridaStagebothusea“splashpage”functionforuserstolandon• AlliancehastheirownFacebookApplication• KansasCityRephasamusicplayerontheirpage• Manytheatreshaveseparatepagesforalumsand/orinterns• Severaltheatresembeddedtwitter&blogfeedsontheirFacebookpages

Ifound10datapointsthatmeasureafan/member’sinteractionwithatheatre’spage.Inallcases,Idisregardedthatatheatre’sfans/memberslikelyincludesomesmallnumberofpaidstaffmembers.

• Fansormembers.• Weeklywallcomments;capturedforthe7dayspriortomeasurement(weekof

November11,2009),disregardeddifferencebetweenlike,reply,andcomment.• Photocomments;summedcommentsfromtheatreandfanuploadedphotos.• Peoplediscussing;summednumberofpeoplethatpostedtoadiscussionforum,

disregardedthatstaffand/ortheatrecouldbepostingtoopenforum,disregardednumberofcommentsperperson.

• Fanphotosuploaded.• Reviewswritten;disregardedsentimentandlengthofreview.• Membersofatheatre’s“FacebookCause.”• Totalcontributionstoatheatre’s“FacebookCause.”• Donorscontributingtoatheatre’s“FacebookCause.”• Fanvideosuploaded.• Thefollowingfan’sinteractionsweredeemedtootimeconsumingtocapture

accurately:commentsonvideos,notes,links,allinteractionsonEventspages.

byDevonSmith 6

ThefollowingchartsummarizestheabovementioneddatapointsforallLORTtheatres.Notethat“Average”ispertheatre,andincludesthosetheatres/fansnotusingthefeature.73LORTTheatres %Usage Total AverageEFFORTS PhotoAlbums 99% 772 11Events 86% 1,032 14Weeklywallposts 78% 313 4Videos 74% 568 8FavoritePages 67% 269 4Notes 51% 1,245 17Links 34% 1,634 22IMPACT FansorMembers 100% 84,183 1,153Weeklywallcomments 78% 847 12PhotoComments 74% 913 13PeopleDiscussing 42% 153 2FanPhotos 33% 217 3Reviews 14% 23 0Causes‐#Members 7% 706 10Causes‐$Donated 7% 1,932 26Causes‐#Donors 7% 44 1FanVideo 5% 8 0Thus,onaverage:

• Theatresareaddingpagecontentaboutonceperbusinessday• Awallpostbyatheatregenerates2.7fancomments• Aphotoalbumuploadedbyatheatregenerates1.2fancomments• Causesdonorsgive$43.90

MeasuringEffortTobeginthinkingaboutpossibleReturnonInvestment,Ifirstneededtoestimatethe“investment”involvedinpostingcontenttoFacebook.Ibelievethecleanestmeasureofthisistime.Ideally,IwouldliketoknowtheaveragenumberofminutesthatatheatreispostingcontenttoFacebook,andusethatinformationtoscaleefforttoaverageamountofcontentpostedperweek.Unfortunately,Facebookdoesn’tgiveaclearindicationofapage’stimeinexistence,thusleavingmewithoutadenominatorinthe“totalcontent/weeksinexistence”equation.Therefore,Iassumedthefollowingaveragenumberofminuteseachofthefollowingactivitiestook,basedonmyownexperience.Scorecanalsobeinterpretedasrelativescaleofeffort(sothatonaverageittakesatheatre10timesaslongtocreateandmanageaneventasitdoestopostsomethingtotheirwall).NotethatalldatapointscapturelifetimeactivityonFacebook,

byDevonSmith 7

exceptforwallpostsandfan’scommentsthataremeasuredweekly.However,wallpostslikelyoccurfarmoreoftenthantheothertypesofactivities,hopefullynullifyingtheinconsistency.Ingeneral,thisignoresthedifferencesincreatingoriginalcontent,andinsteadfocusesonthetimespenttotransferthecontenttoFacebook,undertheassumptionthatmuchofthecontentisbeingusedacrossmultipleplatforms(theatre’swebsite,blog,Twitter,etc).Thisalsoignoresautomatedfeeds(forexample,manytheatresseemtousetheNotesfunctionasanRSSfeedfortheirblog),howeveritstilllikelytooksomeamountoftimetocreateandmaintainthatautomatedfunctionality.Efforts Score TypeEvents 10 BuildPhotoAlbums 10 UploadVideos 5 UploadWallposts 1 WriteNotes 1 WriteLinks 1 WriteFavoritePages 0.25 ClickMeasuringImpactEverytheatreisusingFacebooktowardsdifferentends:

• Marketingproductionsandmaintainingbrandawareness• Empoweringuserstocreatetheirownproductionrelatedcontent• Engagingdirectlywithusers• Raisingmoney

Undertheassumptionthattheatresdesireandbenefitmostfromuserengagementthatrequiresmoretime,effort,and/orfinancialresourcesonthepartofthefan/member,I’veconstructedarelativeindex,asfollows.Scorecanalsobeinterpretedasthenumberofminutes(orrelativeimpact)atheatreearns(orsaves)perunitofimpact.Soforexample,atheatreearns20minutesofstafftimeperdollarraisedonline,andsaves10minutesof(PR)stafftimeperreview,etc.Impact Score Type UseCauses‐$Donated 20 Give Raise$Causes‐Donors 10 Give Raise$Reviews 10 Compose EmpowerFanVideo 5 Upload EmpowerFanPhotos 5 Upload EmpowerWallcomments 2 Write EngagePhotoComments 2 Write EngagePeopleDiscussing 2 Write EngageCauses‐Members 1 Click Marketing

byDevonSmith 8

Fans/Memb10ers 1 Click MarketingMeasuringROI/EfficiencyClearly,theideathat“Return”shouldbemeasuredstrictlybyusereffortand“Investment”shouldbemeasuredsolelyinstafftimeisfraughtwithissues.Intheory,it’sthroughalloftheseeffortsthatfans(atsomepointdowntheline)aremoresatisfiedwiththeirtheatricalexperience,buymoretickets,donatemore,andintroducenewconsumerstothetheatre.Additionally,whenmultiplestaffmembersfromacrossdifferentdepartmentsareupdatingFacebookcontent,noteveryone’stimeshouldberepresentedasequally“expensive.”Finally,I’monlyabletomeasurepublicallyavailabledata,insideFacebook’swalledgarden.Therefore,inabsenceofallofthatdata,I’vecreatedmyownmeasurementofefficientreturnoneffort.First,eachofthevarioustypesofeffortsandimpactshavevaryingdegreesofprevalencethroughouttheLORT+Facebookcommunity.So,Iscoredeachtheatre’seffortsandimpactsasanorderofmagnitudeindexcenteredtotheaveragecase.Forexample,ifatheatrepostedtotheirwall30timesthisweek,andthecommunityaveragewas15,thetheatreearnsascoreof+1(=(30‐15)/15)forthatfactor.Ifadifferenttheatrepostedonly5timesthisweek,thetheatreearnsascoreof‐.66(=(5‐15)/15)forthatfactor.This(somewhatfalsely)assumesthatthefield’saverageeffortisidealeffort.Second,eacheffortandimpactwasweightedaccordingtothescorelistedintheabovetables.Soforexample,atheatrewithaVideoEffortFactorIndexof2(meaningtheyhavepostedthreetimesasmanyvideosastheaveragetheatre)hasaVideoEffortScoreof10(=2*5).Similarly,atheatrewithaFansImpactFactorIndexof‐1(meaningtheydidnotengageintheactivityatall)hasaFansImpactScoreof‐1(=‐1*1).Third,atheatre’s7EffortScoresaresummed(soanaboveaveragenumberoffansmaymakeupforabelowaveragenumberofvideosposted)foraTotalEffortScore,andtheir10ImpactScoresaresummed(soanaboveaveragenumberoffanvideosmaymakeupforabelowaveragenumberoffans)foraTotalImpactScore.Forexample,aTotalEffortScoreof10meansthatatheatreexpends10timestheamountofeffortastheaveragetheatre,whileaTotalImpactScoreof‐10meansthatatheatre’sfansare10timeslessactivethantheaveragetheatre’sfans.Fourth,ROIismeasuredas:(Impact–Effort)/Effort.Becausetheimpactandeffortscorescanbepositiveornegative,I’veadjustedROI(multiplieditby‐1)sothatanytimeImpact>Effort,theROIscoreispositive.Thetablethatfollowssummarizesthe3keyindices,andeachtheatre’srankwithinthatindex.

byDevonSmith 9

Theatre

TotalEffortScore

TotalImpactScore ROI

HardestWorkingRank

EngagedUsersRank

EfficiencyRank

ACTTheatre 10.66 1,578.38 147.06 20 1 1KansasCityRep 29.22 604.42 19.68 11 2 2ClarenceBrownTheatreCo (21.93) 218.66 10.97 68 3 3CenterStage 15.16 146.21 8.64 16 5 4ActorsTheatreLouisville 12.99 86.85 5.69 17 7 5AmericanConservatory 2.13 11.98 4.63 26 11 6DenverCenterPA 38.46 168.97 3.39 6 4 7BerkeleyRep 30.37 110.70 2.65 9 6 8CenterTheatreGroup 12.48 20.66 0.66 18 8 9AlabamaShakes (13.07) (6.26) 0.52 51 14 10ShakespeareTheatreCo 29.77 14.18 (0.52) 10 10 11Guthrie 40.92 18.06 (0.56) 4 9 12GevaTheatre (14.35) (22.84) (0.59) 54 17 13AmericanRepertoryTheatre 48.78 (0.39) (1.01) 3 12 14PortlandCenterStage (20.23) (41.44) (1.05) 62 22 15TrinityRep (26.04) (54.00) (1.07) 73 46 16VirginiaStage 73.73 (10.84) (1.15) 1 15 17SignatureTheatre 19.28 (4.66) (1.24) 14 13 18LongWharf (24.11) (56.99) (1.36) 71 64 19RoundaboutTheatre (23.98) (57.03) (1.38) 70 65 20LagunaPlayhouse (24.26) (57.72) (1.38) 72 71 21ArkansasRep (18.74) (47.92) (1.56) 60 26 22ManhattanTheatreClub (21.41) (55.78) (1.60) 67 55 23Northlight (21.99) (57.74) (1.63) 69 73 24CityTheatre (20.33) (53.65) (1.64) 63 41 25LincolnCenterTheatre (21.35) (57.72) (1.70) 66 72 26SyracuseStage (20.40) (56.40) (1.76) 64 60 27AsoloRep (20.52) (57.49) (1.80) 65 69 28RoundHouse (19.53) (54.79) (1.81) 61 50 29HuntingtonTheatre 38.55 (34.40) (1.89) 5 20 30CapitalRepNY (16.53) (49.84) (2.01) 58 32 31MilwaukeeRep 48.97 (52.27) (2.07) 2 39 32CourtTheatre (18.32) (57.29) (2.13) 59 67 33IndianaRep (16.05) (51.38) (2.20) 57 36 34CincinattiPlayhouse (15.52) (55.52) (2.58) 56 53 35ArenaStage 30.64 (48.90) (2.60) 8 29 36TheatreforaNewAudience (15.51) (57.64) (2.72) 55 70 37RepTheatreofSt.Louis 31.51 (56.48) (2.79) 7 61 38FloridaStage (13.90) (53.70) (2.86) 52 42 39SeattleRepertory (12.67) (49.25) (2.89) 49 31 40

byDevonSmith 10

ArizonaTheatreCo (14.29) (55.71) (2.90) 53 54 41MaltzJupiter (12.65) (49.94) (2.95) 48 33 42HartfordStage 23.86 (48.20) (3.02) 12 27 43BarterTheatre (12.95) (52.21) (3.03) 50 38 44IntimanTheatre (12.59) (51.28) (3.07) 47 35 45YaleRep/Drama (12.20) (53.86) (3.41) 46 45 46SouthCoastRep 22.31 (54.99) (3.47) 13 51 47GreatLakesTheatre (11.15) (50.48) (3.53) 44 34 48AlleyTheatre (11.78) (57.24) (3.86) 45 66 49FordsTheatre 6.52 (22.21) (4.40) 22 16 50MarinTheatre (10.11) (54.77) (4.42) 43 49 51OldGlobe 15.61 (53.70) (4.44) 15 43 52AllianceTheatre (9.53) (54.00) (4.67) 42 47 53People'sLight (8.52) (55.89) (5.56) 41 58 54TheatreWorks (7.32) (48.79) (5.66) 37 28 55PasadenaPlayhouse (4.47) (29.86) (5.68) 34 18 56Floridastudio (8.23) (55.82) (5.78) 39 57 57PhiladelphiaTheatre (8.43) (57.41) (5.81) 40 68 58PittsburghPublic (8.00) (55.10) (5.89) 38 52 59McCarterTheatre 10.97 (54.69) (5.99) 19 48 60TwoRivers (7.29) (56.54) (6.76) 36 62 61MerrimackRep 9.42 (56.80) (7.03) 21 63 62DelawareTheatre (5.15) (55.79) (9.83) 35 56 63LaJollaPlayhouse (2.91) (32.29) (10.09) 32 19 64ClevelandPlayHouse 5.66 (53.25) (10.41) 23 40 65WilmaTheatre (3.31) (53.75) (15.23) 33 44 66GeorgeStreet (2.02) (35.61) (16.60) 30 21 67PlayMakersRep 2.98 (47.44) (16.93) 24 24 68SanJoseRep (2.48) (51.94) (19.91) 31 37 69Geffen 2.31 (49.12) (22.28) 25 30 70GeorgiaShakespeare 1.21 (47.81) (40.51) 27 25 71ArdenTheatre 0.97 (46.17) (48.55) 28 23 72GoodmanTheatre 0.72 (56.08) (79.04) 29 59 73FinalNote:AnEasierMethodIrealizethatthisindexingmethodislikelytoocomplicatedtooperationalize.Thus,IwantedtogiveaquickbackoftheenvelopemethodforpotentiallycalculatingROI:SimpleROI=#fancomments/#theatrewallpostsThisreducesthenoiseofFacebookdowntoasingleelement.It’sclearlynotacompletepicture,itdoesn’taccountforahugevarietyoffactors,butit’ssimpleandashorthandforshowingwhetheryourfansareengagedwiththecontentyou’reposting.Measurethisovertime,andyoucanbegintogetasenseofhowyoucangetthebest“bangforyourbuck”online.

byDevonSmith 11

KansasCityRepertoryTheatre:theStoryofaFacebookProfileFacebookInsightsisonlyavailabletoPageAdmins.Intheabsenceofpublicdata,Idecidedtodoalittledatacollectingofmyown.KCRTmadethe#2spotonmylistofFacebookPageswithhigheraveragereturnsrelativetotheirLORTpeers—inKCRT’scase,thiswasdrivenbyahighnumberofusercomments,andtheirusageofFacebookCausestoraisemoneyonline.Severalkeyfindingsfromthepast14days:

1. Fan’s“like”twiceasoftenas“commenting”2. Askingquestionsgeneratesthehighestlevelofuserengagement3. Fansseemtobeslightlymoreinterestedinadministrative(ratherthanartistic)driven

posts4. Whileonly56fansengaged,KCRTreached17,600+people5. While70%ofengagedfansarewomen,mentendtoengagemorefrequently6. Only24%ofengagedusersarestudents,thosestudentstendtoengagelessfrequently

thanothersIt’schallengingtoteaseoutthecollectiveeffectofalloftheseefforts.We’veseenonamacrolevelthattheatresthatpostmoreoftenandwithgreatervarietyofmediatendtohavehigherlevelsofengagement.Soaquickwordofcautionaboutrelyingtooheavilyonjustonetypeofmedia(wallposts,photos,videos,links,etc)orjustonetopicofconversation,regardlessof“howeffective”itseemstobe.First,ageneralideaofKCRT’sactivitylevel.Severallessons:

• Fans“like”itemsmoreoftenthantheycomment• Dialoguetakeseffort(notonlypostinganoriginalitem,butfollowingupalso)• Somepostsseemtobegeneratingmorelikesorcommentsthanothers.• Weekendsarefairlyquiet

0

5

10

15

20

25

DailyActivity

KCRTEfforts FanLikes FanComments KCRTFollowup

byDevonSmith 12

NowadeeperdiveintowhatexactlyKCRTisposting.There’snosecretformulaforhoweachoftheseactivitiesshouldbeallocatedeachweek,butkudostoKCRTforusingmanydifferentkindsofmedia.

It’sthusfaruncleariffansengagemorewithcertainkindsofmedia,orifit’smoreaboutthetopicofthepost.Thisisclearlysubjective,butIdefinedasfollows.

• Promotion—linktoafeaturestory,ticketdiscount,reminderaboutdates/time/priceofupcomingproduction,etc.

• Administration—oftena“behindthescenes”lookatwhat’sgoingonintheoffice:photosofthemarketingteamsettingupthelobby,aquestionaboutsatisfactionwitheating/drinkinginsidethetheatre,etc.

• Artistic—oftena“behindthescenes”lookatwhat’sgoingoninrehearsal:a“makingof”webisode,apostabouttech,etc.

• Observation—anythingthatdoesn’tmentiontheproduction,theatre

15

2

18

KCRTEfforts(Mode)

Link

Photos

Video

WallPost

Promotion23%

Administration31%

Artistic42%

Observation4%

KCRTEfforts(Intent)

byDevonSmith 13

ThenItriedtoclassifytheintentoffan’sposts.Again,subjective.Definedas:• Comment—Commentingonapost(ieKCRTpostsaphoto,afancomments)• Response—answeringaquestionaskedofthem• Question—askingaquestionofKCRT• Thanks—shouldbeobvious• Likes—shouldbeobvious• Posts—Makingan‘unmotivated’comment,notinreferencetoaKCRTpost(thisdidnot

occurinthe2weeksofthestudy,butdidappearonday15)

Asmentionedpreviously,KCRTdoesagreatjobfollowingupafterFanshavepostedonline.Definitionssameasabove.

28

16

41109

Fan'sActivityontheWall

Comment

Response

Question

Thanks

Likes

1 1

15

16

KCRTFollowUp

Comment

Question

Response

Thanks

byDevonSmith 14

Nowthatwe’vegotasenseofactivitylevel,Itriedtomakeaguessatcause/effect.Importantlessonlearned:Askingaquestionengagesfans(surprise!)andrequireslessaveragefollowup.Ideally,thisdatawouldbecapturedoveralongerperiodoftime.It’schallengingtobeanymorespecificwitharelativelysmalldataset. AverageResponseperPostPostsbyType # Likes Comments KCRTLink(newsarticlere:production) 1 4.0 1.0 1.0Photos(admin) 2 2.0 3.5 0.9Photos(rehearsal) 3 2.3 0.7 0.5Video(makingofwebisode) 1 5.0 2.0 1.0Video(rehearsal) 1 4.0 4.0 0.8Wallcomment(admin) 4 4.8 1.5 0.7Wallcomment(artistic) 6 3.3 0.7 1.0Wallcomment(observation) 1 7.0 0.0 0.0Wallcomment(promotion) 5 4.6 1.6 0.5Wallcomment(question) 2 8.0 7.5 0.5*notethattheKCRTcolumnreferstofollowupcomments(seepreviousgraph),andarecalculatedasanaverageperfancomment.Dofan’sengagemorewithcertainmodesofmedia?Basedonthischart(andagain,beingcautiousofthesmalldataset),fan’sseemmostengagedbywallpostsandvideos.

POSTMODE #TotalLikes

AveLikes

TotalComments

AveComments

Link 1 4 4 1 1.0Photos 5 11 2.2 9 1.8Video 2 9 4.5 6 3.0WallPost 18 85 4.7 33 1.8Butwelearnsomethingslightlydeeperwhenlookingattheintentofthepost.Itseemslikefansenjoyhearingaboutnotonlywhat’sgoingon“onstage,”butalsointheoffice.Atruesurprise.

POSTINTENT #TotalLikes

AveLikes

TotalComments

AveComments

Promotion 6 27 4.5 9 1.5Administration 8 39 4.9 28 3.5Artistic 11 36 3.3 12 1.1Observation 1 7 7.0 0 0.0

byDevonSmith 15

Sowemightask,justwhoarethesefans?Howcloselydotheymatchticketbuyers?Couldtheyjustbestaffatthetheatre?Isitthesame4peopleinconstantconversation?Woulditbebadifitwere?Howfarofa2nddegreereachdoesKCRThave?Overthepasttwoweeks,56fans(3%oftotalfans)madeatotalof150“actions”(likesorcomments),foranaverageengagementof1.3actionsperengagedfanperweek.Prettyamazingtostay“topofmind”forsomanypeopleifthisismaintainedoverthecourseofanentireseason.These56fanshaveacollectivetotalofatleast15,690friends(11fansdidnothavefrienddatapublicallyavailable).AsparticularpostsbyKCRTgaintraction(highnumberofcommentsorlikes),thosepostsbegintoappearintheNewsfeedsoftheirFan’s,andtheirfan’sfriends.Thissecondorderreachisimportantfornotonlygainingnewfans,buthopefully(downtheline)newticketbuyers.KCRTalsoobviouslyalsoreachedtheirown1,904fans.Thisassumes(naively)thatthereisnooverlapamongfans’friends.Ascanbeexpected,actionsweren’tveryevenlydistributedamongfans.Whiletheydidn’tfollowthetypical80/20rule(thetop20%offansaccountedforlessthan60%ofactivity),overatwoweekperiod:

15+Actions3%

5‐14+Actions11%

2‐4Actions36%

1Action50%

DistributionofFan'sActions

byDevonSmith 16

Similarly,differentfansengageindifferentways.Whileverydifficulttocapturegraphically,Inoticedthatfanstendtotransitionupthescaleofengagement(firstliking,thencommenting,thencommentingonmultipleitems).NotethatI’mjumpinginmid‐stream,sothisisafairlybroadgeneralization.

Similartothegenerallyheldperceptionofticketbuyers,womenfaroutnumbermen.Notethatthisisbasedonavisualinterpretationoffan’sprofilephotoandname(2fan’swereorganizationsandthusexcludedfromgenderbreakdown).

FansWhoLiked55%

FansWhoCommented

23%

FansWhoLiked&

Commented22%

Fan'sActions

male30%

female70%

Fan'sGender

byDevonSmith 17

Thegendersbehavedslightlydifferentlyaswell.Menpostedmorefrequently,weremorelikelytoboth“like”and“comment,”andwerelesslikelytobeseniors. Frequency ActivityType Age #Actions Like Comment Both Student Regular SeniorMale 3.2 50% 19% 31% 20% 80% 0%Female 2.5 61% 26% 13% 27% 64% 9%Thenextgraphisinteresting,butalso:

• Farmorepronetoerror• Basedonavisualinterpretationofafan’sprofilephotoandlistednetworks(8fansgave

noindicationandwerethusexcluded)• Brokendownbytheindustrystandardticketingcategories

Again,smalldifferencesbetweentheagegroups.Studentsarenotmoreactivethanothers(assomewouldexpect),Seniorsarelesslikelyto“like”apost(andnotalsocommentonit). ActivityType #Actions Like Comment BothStudent 2.1 58% 25% 17%Senior 2.0 0% 66% 34%Regular 3.1 64% 18% 18%

Student24%

Senior6%

Regular70%

Fan'sAge

byDevonSmith 18

Wrappingup,itwouldbegreatto:• UseFacebookInsightstosplicethedataovertime,andmoreaccurately/quickly• Deliberatelyexperimentwithdifferentmodesandintentsofcontentandtrackuser

engagement• Findifthereisaceilingofactivitylevelwhichturns(unengaged)fansoff• Identifyawaytocapturetheimpactofanoriginal"voice"totheatre'sposts

Inanodtotheever‐helpful@kerryisrael,it'salsoimportanttokeepinmindthat:

• Sometheatresmaintainproductionspecificpagesinadditiontotheir'mainpage'whichmayaccountforsomevariancebetweentheatre'sactivities

• Theatreshavethechoicetoallowfanstoengagewiththeirpageindifferentways(restrictingcertainactivities)andmayhaveverygoodreasonsfordoingso

• SinceKCRTdidn'thaveanyoriginalfanposts(onlyfansrespondingtoKCRTposts),Iwasn'tabletodelvemuchintothedifferentvaluebetweenthetwotypesofengagement

• Evenifyou'resavingtimewithanintegratedfeedforyourblog,twitter,flickr,orYouTubeonyourFacebookFanPage,it'simportanttokeeptheconversationgoingonFacebookwithorganicposts,comments,andresponses

byDevonSmith 19

TWITTERExecutiveSummary82%ofLORTtheatresareonTwitter,followinganaverageof474users,andbeingfollowedbyanaverageof631users.ThemediantheatrebeganusingTwitterinearlyMarchof2009,andtweetsjustlessthanonceperday.Inanygivenweek,theaveragetheatrewillbementionedby11otherusers(hereafterreferredtoasan@mention).

TheatresuseofTwitterreallytookoffaboutayearago

Inthattime,theatreshaveacquiredatotalofjustunder40,000followerscollectively

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

1‐Jul‐07 28‐Dec‐07 25‐Jun‐08 22‐Dec‐08 20‐Jun‐09 17‐Dec‐09

TwitterUserSince

1,000+21%

500‐99931%

100‐49937%

<10011%

Followers

byDevonSmith 20

Theyhavecollectivelytweetedcloseto15,000times

Andbyroughmeasure(daysinexistence/totaltweets),tweetaboutonceperday.Although,it’slikelythissignificantlyundercountscurrenttweetsperday(sinceit’scommonforanaccounttolaymostlydormantitsfirstfewmonths).

1,000+3%

500‐9997%

100‐49956%

<10034%

Tweets

2+8%

126%

<166%

TweetsperDay

byDevonSmith 21

Andthefansareresponding!

Thefollowinggraphshowsthedistributionofeachof62LORTtheatre’sefforts(tweets)andresults(#ofFollowers,@mentions,andlisted).Thefirstverticallinemeasuresthetop20%ofactivity;thisiswhatwe’llbefocusingon.Soforexample,thetop12theatresthatreceived@mentionsovera7‐dayperiodaccountedfor72%ofallLORT’s@mentions.Thiscomesclosetothecommonlyfound80/20ParetoPrinciplewetendtofindincause&effectevents.Meanwhile,thetop12theatresaccountedforonly42%ofliststhataLORTtheatreappearedon.

50+3%

25‐4910%

10‐2418%

1‐948%

021%

@mentionperWeek

byDevonSmith 22

Whyisthisthecase?Ithinkbecauselistsaresonewthat(asdiscussedlater),numberoffollowersisthebestpredictorfornumberoflistsyouappearon.However,asmallnumberoftheatresaredoingsomethingdifferenttograbuser’sattention,andincitingthemtointeraction.Whataretheydoingthat’ssodifferent?Mygoalistodiscover.

Whoarethey?Thetop3arequicklybecomingtheusualsuspects:@americanrep(110),@ACTtheatre(71),@pcsghost(48).

Afewcaveats:I’vecollecteddataoverthecourseofasingleweek—maybethesetheatreswererunningtwittercontests,maybeyourtheatrewasdarkthatweekanddidn’thavealottotalkabout.Moreimportantly,maybe@mentionsaren’tthebestmeasureofuserengagement…

byDevonSmith 23

TwitterIndexInordertobetterunderstandwhothebestandthebrightest(theatres)wereonTwitter,Icreatedaquickindexthatvaluedbothdemonstratedimpact,andbestpracticesinthefield.Category Points Notes@mention

0 01‐9 10

10‐50 2050+ 30

Numberof@mentionsinthe7dayspriortoOct27,2009

Followers

1‐499 0500‐999 101000+ 20

AsofOctober19,2009

Frequency

<1/day 01+/day 20

'=Totaltweets/timeinexistence

TotalTweets

0‐99 0100‐299 3300‐999 51000+ 10

AsofOctober19,2009

TimeinExistence

lessthan1year 01year+ 5

AsofOctober19,2009

WebBadgeLocation

None 0Other 3

HomePage 5

Basedoncurserysearchoftheatre'swebsitefortheirTwitterusername

TwitterName

Non‐Branded 0Branded 5

SubjectivelybasedonhowcloselyTwitterusernamematchedtheatrenameand/orweburl

Client

Facebook 0Web 3

DesktopApp 5

Includedundertheassumptionthattheatresusingdesktopapplications(likeTweetDeck)areabletobettermanagetheirTwitterpresence

byDevonSmith 24

Basedonthosequalities,here’showeveryonestackedup:Theatre Username Score RankACTTheatre ACTtheatre 93 1PortlandCenterStage pcsghost 83 2AmericanRepertoryTheatre americanrep 80 3ArenaStage arenastage 78 4CincinattiPlayhouse CincyPlay 70 5ManhattanTheatreClub MTC_NYC 68 6SouthCoastRep SouthCoastRep 68 6LagunaPlayhouse Lagunaplayhouse 68 6AllianceTheatre alliancetheatre 65 9KansasCityRep KCRep 63 10OldGlobe TheOldGlobe 63 10CenterTheatreGroup CTGLA 58 12HuntingtonTheatre huntington 58 12DenverCenterPA DenverCenter 56 14TrinityRep trinityrep 55 15RoundaboutTheatre RTC_NYC 55 15Guthrie GuthrieTheater 54 17AsoloRep AsoloRepTheatre 53 18PasadenaPlayhouse PasPlayhouse 51 19FordsTheatre fordstheatre 48 20PlayMakersRep playmakersrep 48 20ClevelandPlayHouse ClevePlayHouse 48 20FloridaStage floridastage 46 23RepTheatreofSt.Louis repstl 45 24LincolnCenterTheatre LCTheater 43 25MilwaukeeRep MilwRep 43 25ArizonaTheatreCo ArizonaTheatre 41 27SeattleRepertory seattlerep 41 27CapitalRepNY CapitalRepNY 40 29TwoRivers TwoRiverTheater 36 30SignatureTheatre sigtheatre 35 31AmericanConservatory ACTSanFrancisco 35 31BerkeleyRep berkeleyrep 35 31GeorgiaShakespeare GAShakespeare 33 34ActorsTheatreLouisville ATLouisville 33 34HartfordStage HartfordStage 33 34GoodmanTheatre GoodmanTheatre 33 34LaJollaPlayhouse ljplayhouse 31 38WilmaTheatre TheWilmaTheater 31 38ArkansasRepertory TheRep 30 40ShakespeareTheatreCo shakespeareindc 28 41

byDevonSmith 25

ArdenTheatre ArdenTheatreCo 28 41IntimanTheatre IntimanTheatre 28 41CenterStage CENTERSTAGE_MD 26 44AlabamaShakes AlabamaShakes 26 44SanJoseRep Sjrep 23 46McCarterTheatre mccarter 23 46IndianaRep IRTlive 21 48RoundHouse RHT_roundhouse 20 49GevaTheatre gevatheatre 18 50MerrimackRep Merrimack_Rep 15 51People'sLight peopleslight 13 52MaltzJupiter JupiterTheatre 13 52GeorgeStreet georgestreet 13 52AlleyTheatre club615 13 52ClarenceBrownTheatreCo clarencebrown 10 56SyracuseStage syracusestage 8 57GreatLakesTheatre GLTFCleveland 8 57LongWharf Long_Wharf 5 59VirginiaStage VAStage 5 59YaleRep yaledrama 3 61BarterTheatre BarterInsider 0 62

byDevonSmith 26

TwitterListsArelativelynewadditiontoTwitter,Iwantedtobetterunderstandwhatthedriverswerebehindatheatrebeing“listed.”Themostlikelysuspectswouldbe:

• engagedusers(asmeasuredinnumberofrecent@mentions)• usernetworksize(asmeasuredinnumberoffollowers)• prolificpostings(asmeasuredinnumberoflifetimetweets)

Ofthe59theatrestweeting,EVERYSINGLEONEwasbeingfollowedbyatleastonelist,withtheaveargetheatrebeingfollowedby20lists!Interestingly,@GuthrieTheaterhasthehighestnumberlisted(71).Basedonthefollowinggraphs,Itlookslike#offollowersisthebest(single)predictorofthenumberoflistsfollowingyou.

byDevonSmith 27

TwitterMetricsSowe'veseenwho(someof)theleadersinthefieldare,basedonmy(explicitlysubjective)index.Nowlet'stakeadeeperdiveintoafewcasestoseewhatwecanfind...@pcsghostfromPortlandCenterStageisprolific,experimentingconstantly,andhas2,000+followers.Let'sassumethatthey'reagoodtestcasetoseehowsocialmediabestpracticescanleadtoROI.First,anadmission:I'masnoop.Ilovecheckingoutwhatotherpeoplearedoing,andcopyingmethodsandpractices.Nosenseinrecreatingthewheelright?So,I'mpostingwithoutpermissionfrom@pcsghost,andhopingforthebest!Checkoutthis(free,andavailabletoanyone)datafromTweetStats:

Monthlyaveragetweetshavebeengrowingfairlyconsistentlyforoverayearnow.Ithinkwecanassumefromthisthat@pcsghostispostingwhenthetheatre'sdark,aswellaswhenthere'sashowrunning.WonderwhatwasgoingoninJanuary?

byDevonSmith 28

ThisismeasuredinEST,andthey'rePST,socountbackwardsby3hoursforeverything.ItlookslikeNatalie'stweetingwhenshegetsintowork,thendoingotherthingsforafewhours,andthenrampsupagaininthelunchtimehour.Incessenttweetingisexhausting.BethKanterhasagreatpostabouthowtodealwithsocialmediainformationoverload.

Whoarethesefolksthat@pcsghostistweetingwithmostoften?Lookslikeafewotherportlandtheatres,theirownindividualshowaccounts,andafewthoughtleadersinthefield.Twitter'snotjustaboutconnectingwithyouraudience,it'salsoagreatwaytofaciltatecommunicationinternally,andtolearnfrompeersandothersmartfolks.Noticethatreplyingtoothertweetersaccountsfornearly1/3oftheiractivityonline!

byDevonSmith 29

ReTweetingembodiesoneoftheunderlyingprinciplesofsocialmedia:giveandyeshallreceive.Whenyounoticeaninterestingtweet,andyouthinkyourfollowersmightbeinterested,ReTweet.Embracethepowerofnetworks‐‐it'scalled"social"mediaafterall,not"post‐my‐press‐release"media.

Thisisatagcloudof@pcsghosttweets.Thebigger&bolderawordisthemoreoftenthey'veusedit.IthinktagcloudsaremostusefulasanoverviewsummarytoremindmewhatI'vebeentalkingaboutlately.Itlookslike@pcsghostisafanofportland,tickets,andafewspecificproductions.Oneofthewaysfollowerswillfindyouisbysearchingforwordsthey'reinterestedin.Infact,asGoogleandBingbeginincorporatingrealtimesearchintotheirsearchengines,itwillbecomeevermoreimportanttotagyourpostsasrelatedtotheatreinyourcity.Anddon'tforgetthaturlshortenerslikebit.lycanhelpsaveyouvaluablecharacters(insteadofwww.blahblahblah.org).

byDevonSmith 30

XefershowsmuchthesameinformationatTweetStats,butincludes@mentions(replies)intheiranalysis.Thiscanhelpgiveyousomeindicationofnotonlywhenyourbesttweetinghouris,butalsowhenyoutendtogetthemostreplies.Twitterexistsmostusefullyinrealtime;ifyoufindyourselftweetingonsaturdayafternoon,andnoone'sresponding,yourtimemightbebetterspentelsewhere.

Foller.meshowsyouwhereyourfollowersarefrom.Socialmedia'sclearlybecomeaglobalphenomenon.True,afewofthesefollowersmightbespambots,butmostarerealpeople,whoarereallyinterestedinwhat@pcsghosthastosay,andhastheirownnetworkoffriendsaroundtheworldwhomightonedaybeticketbuyers.Especiallyusefuldataforthoseofyouwhotour(inter)nationally.

byDevonSmith 31

TwitterCounterallowsyoutocomparethefollowrateofupto3differenttwits,andgivesyouafewniftytoolstopredicthowmanynewfollowersyoushouldbeexpectingintheupcomingmonth.Muchinthewaythatyoucanmatchticketsalesgraphstomarketingactivities,experimenttoseeifyoucanproducespikesinfollowratesbasedonwhat/when/howyoutweet.

byDevonSmith 32

Ok.Sothisone'salittleoutthere.Twitalyzerattemptstomeasurethe5keymetricstheythinkaremostimportantontheweb.Ifnothingelse,thisisagoodreminderaboutsomeoftheissuesyoushouldbethinkingabout.Fornow,paylessattentiontotherawnumbers.

byDevonSmith 33

UsingAmericanRepertoryTheatretoTrack@mentions

Twitterhasmanyuses,notallofthemrightforeverybody;BrandEspressodescribesthemas:

1.PublicRelations2.CustomerService3.LoyaltyBuilding4.Collaboration5.Networking6.ThoughtLeadership7.CustomerAcquisitionSince@americanrephasbeengeneratingatonof@mentions,Iwantedtodelvealittledeeper.First,areviewofthepast9days.

Thisisagraphofthepast9daysofactivityby@americanrep.Itwasanunfortunatelytimeintensiveprocess,andperusual,subjective.Here'sthecriteriaItriedtouse:

• RT:@americanrepretweetingsomeoneelse'stweet.Inalmostallcases,those(original)tweetsmention@americanrep.

• Response:@americanrepandsomeoneelsehavingaconversation.Attimes,difficulttodistinguishfromtheRT.

• Commentary:@americanreptalkingaboutinternalgoingson(staffmeetings),non‐theatreevents(happyhalloween),orsimilar.

• Promotion:@americanreppromotingtheirshow,orofferinglinkstoadditionalphotos/video

• FollowFriday:@americanreprecommendingfolkstofollow.

Whatdowelearn?@americanrepisdoingGREATworkatfacilitatingatwowayconversation,notjustbroadcastingticketdiscounts.

byDevonSmith 34

Sameidea,nowappliedtoasearchof"@americanrep."Slightlydifferentcriteria:• RT:someoneRToneof@americanrep'spost.OftenthiswasoneofthePromotionposts

above.• Response:someonetweetingbackandforthwith@americanrep.• Mention:someonetweetingabout@americanrep(whothenusesthisgreat

opportunitytoreachouttofolks)• FollowFriday:someonerecommendingtotheirfollowerstofollow@americanrep.In

mostcases,thiswasanothertheatre

Whatdowelearn?There'sawholelotoffolksouttherejustchattingaboutARTwiththeironlinenetwork.Talkaboutanincrediblyrichopportunityfordirectmarketing!

Overall@americanrepistweetingabout10+timesperday,drivenprimarilybyinteractionswithothertweeps.

byDevonSmith 35

Matchingthesetwographsoveranextendedperiodoftimecouldtellussomeprettyinterestingthings.Forexample,@americanrepisseeinganexplosionofresponsesonNovember5becauseofaquestiontheyaskedtheirfollowers:What'syourfavoriteShakespeareplay?DependingonwhatyourgoalsareforusingTwitter,thiscanbeagreatwaytogetyourbrandinfrontofabunchofeyeballs(notonlythepeoplewhofollowyou,buttheirfollowerstoo),andengageyourfollowersintopicsthatinterestthem.

Sohere'swherethingshavethepotentialtogetreallyinteresting.Thisgraphsdailytweetsby@americanrepversustoorabout@americanrep.Onmostdays,youwouldexpectthelinetomatchup(foracompanythat'stryingtoreallyengageonline).Ondayswherethebluelineisabovethered,itmightfeellikeyou'retalkingtotheether.Inthiscase,alackofchatteronHalloweenmakesalotofsense.Ondayswhentheredlineisabovetheblue,you'regetting

byDevonSmith 36

goodtractiononsomething;thekeywillbefiguringoutwhatthatis...intoday'scase‐‐duh!TheShakespearequestion.Nowthatwe'veseenthenumbers,backtomyoriginalintent...publicrelations

customerservice

loyaltybuilding

Collaboration

byDevonSmith 37

Networking

ThoughtLeadership

CustomerAcquisition

Finalthoughts:I'mstartingtothinkaboutif#FF(FollowFriday)tagsshouldbeincludedinmyTwitterIndexasameasureofinfluence.Certainlyifotherfolksarerecommendingyoutotheirfollowers,you'redoingsomethingright.Also,someoneneedstobuildatool(andquick!)thatcountstweetsandsortsthemintovariousbuckets.Seriouslyfolks,I'mafulltimestudent.Whoelseisgoingtohavethetimeorpatiencetohandcountthisstuff??

byDevonSmith 38

YOUTUBEExecutiveSummary

• Only9LORTtheatresdon’thavetheirownYouTubechannel• Viewersengagealmostentirelyonthe“pervideo”basisratherthanonatheatre’s

YouTubechannel• Onaverage,theatreshaveuploaded28videostotheirchannel• Videosdon’thavetobeshort,includeproductionfootage,orbeaboutamusicaltobe

incrediblypopular• Menage45‐54werethesinglelargestdemographicwatchingtheTop20(most

watched)videos• RelatedvideosarethetopreferralsourcesfortheTop20videos• Thevastmajorityofviewsoccurmorethan2monthsafterthevideohasbeenposted

(somewhereintheneighborhoodof80%)First,alittleperspectiveononlinevideos:AccordingtoComscore,84.4%ofU.S.InternetuserswatchedatleastoneonlinevideoinOctober2009,andtheaveragepersonwatched10.8hoursofvideoforthemonth.Facebook’suniqueviewersroseby25%fromthemonthprior,whileeveryoneelse’sviewershipwasrelativelyflat.Overall:

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

0

20,000

40,000

60,000

80,000

100,000

120,000

140,000

VideosperViewer

UniqueViewers(000)

October2009(Comscore)

byDevonSmith 39

AsofDecember1,2009:88%ofLORTtheatreshavetheirownYouTubechannel.GeorgiaShakespearewasthefirsttheatreonboard,andCityTheatreisthemostrecent.Thelatterhalfof2007andtheearlyhalfof2009wereparticularlybusytimesfortheatrestoentertheworldofonlinevideo.

Theaveragetheatrehas27subscriberstotheirchannel,whileCenterTheatreGroup,DenverCenterTheatre,andtheRoundaboutTheatreallhavemorethan100subscribers.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

4‐Apr‐06 4‐Apr‐07 4‐Apr‐08 4‐Apr‐09

(LORT)TheatresonYouTube

0‐934%

10‐4943%

50‐9918%

100+5%

SubscribersperTheatre

byDevonSmith 40

Theaveragetheatre’schannelpage(therepositoryforallofthosevideos)hasbeenviewed1,770times,withPortlandCenterStageandArenaStagehavingthehighestnumberofviews.

Theaveragetheatrehasuploaded28videostotheirchannel,withDenverCenter,Ford’s,Huntington,McCarter,andPortlandCenterStagebeingthemostprolific.

0‐99949%

1,000‐1,99919%

2,000‐3,99918%

4,000‐5,99911%

6,000+3%

ChannelViewsperTheatre

0‐934%

10‐4949%

50‐9915%

100+2%

UploadedVideosperTheatre

byDevonSmith 41

Channelcommentswerevirtuallynon‐existentformosttheatre(onaveragelessthan1,atmost7).Thisleadsmetobelievethatusersaren’tengagingatthechannel(brand)level,butratheronindividualvideos.However,subscribersseemtohaveamoreconcentratedimpactonchannelviewsthannumberofuploads(thoughtbotharepositivelycorrelated).

So,let’stakeacloserlookatindividualvideos.Thetop5mostpopularvideosforeachtheatreaveragedatotalof14,622views,orjustunder3,000viewspervideo.CenterTheatreGroup,withnearly110,000viewswonnearlytwiceasmany“Top5Videos”viewsastheirnextmostpopularcolleaguesatART.

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000

ChannelViews

DriversofChannelViews

Uploads

Subscribers

<5K39%

5‐15K30%

15‐50K24%

50K+7%

Top5Videos'Views

byDevonSmith 42

Outofthose335videos(67theatresxtop5videosfromeach),Imorecloselyexaminedthetop20.Therewere11theatresrepresentedintheTop20:

Andtheactualnumberofviewspervideo:

Buthere’swhereIranintoabitofaproblem.These20videosdon’thaveawholelotincommon,andcertainlynothingclearlydistinguishesthemfrom(forexample)theleastwatched20videosofthesample.

ART(4)

CTG(3)

Cleveland(2)

LCT(2)

PCS(2)

SCR(2)

Alabama(1)

Arena(1)

Berkeley(1)

St.Louis(1)

Roundabout(1)

#VideosinTop20

‐ 10,00020,00030,00040,00050,00060,000

SouthPaci_icTonyPerformanceNoisesOffattheClevelandPlayhouse

MikeDaiseyAudienceProtestCultureClashinAmerica

TheHistoryBoysTheImportanceofBeingEarnest

AdaptingOliverTwistfortheStageSleepNoMoreProductionPhotos

TheGlassMenagerieattheClevelandFencesbyAugustWilson

AbouttheRitzAChristmasCarolTrailer

CurtainsCommericalfortheNewBroadwayTheDonkeyShowPromoAmericanIdiot‐theTrailer

Cabaret:StormLargeTVSpotJerseyBoysOpeningNightinLA

NexttoNormalSouthPaci_icVideoMontage

TheColorPurpleOpeningNightinLA

ViewsforTop20

byDevonSmith 43

OneofthemostcommonrulesofthumbI’veheardisthatinorderforavideotobe“watchable,”ithastobeshort.Butnearly1/3oftheseTop20werelongerthan3minutes:

Morewordsofwisdom:“videoshavetobeaboutxyz.”Eventhough60%oftheTop20constitutedwhatIconsidered“Trailers”(clipsofashowwithacalltoactiontobuytickets),thatprobablyunderrepresentsthepercentageofalltheatres’videospostedwhicharetrailers.

<1min20%

1‐3min50%

>3min30%

VideoLength

Trailer60%

Interviews20%

NewsClip10%

Slideshow5%

AudienceResponse

5%

VideoType

byDevonSmith 44

Nobodywouldwatchavideoaboutaplay,right?Wrongagain.AlthoughitisworthwhiletonotethateveryvideointheTop20wasdirectlytiedtoaproduction.

Maybethesevideoswerealljustproducedalongtimeagoandviewshavebeenaccumulating?Nope.Butwewillreturntothisideamomentarilyforfurtherinvestigation.

Play55%

Musical45%

ProductionGenre

‐

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

50,000

60,000

1‐Jul‐0617‐Jan‐075‐Aug‐0721‐Feb‐088‐Sep‐0827‐Mar‐0913‐Oct‐09

TotalViews

VideoUploadDate

byDevonSmith 45

OnlyyoungpeoplewatchvideosonYouTube,sowhybother?Actually,2/3ofviewersareover45:

It’slongbeennotedthatwomendominateboththetheatregoingaudience,andtheticketbuyingdecisions.Butapparently,YouTubeisaprettygoodwaytoreachmen:

Notethatingeneral,mentendtodominatetheonlinevideowatchingpopulation,sothisgraphisn’tallthatsurprising.Folksinterestedinwatchingonlinevideoabouttheatreseemsfairlyrepresentativeofthegeneralonlinepopulation.

13‐1715%

18‐242%

25‐344%

35‐4416%

45‐5446%

55‐6417%

AgeDemosforTop20Videos

Male57%

Female43%

GenderDemosforTop20Videos

byDevonSmith 46

Infact,Malesage45‐54arethelargestsingledemographicoftheseTop20videos.Coulditbethatpartners/spousesareusingvideotoconvincethesementoattendthetheatrewiththem?

Howareallofthesepeoplefindingthesevideos?1/3ofthetimesimplyaspeoplebrowseothervideosonYouTube(meaningthemorecontentyouhaveonline,themorelikelysomeonewillhappenuponyourvideo),and¼ofthetimeviewersarewatchingthevideoonasiteotherthanYouTube(soit’simportanttoembedvideosonyourtheatre’swebsite,andyourothersocialmediasites).

Male45‐5428%

Female45‐5418%

Female13‐1713%

Male55‐6413%Male35‐44

11%

Female35‐445%

Female55‐644%

Male25‐344%

Female18‐242%

Male13‐172%

DemosforTop20Videos

Relatedvideo33%

Embeddedonothersite26%

YouTubesearch20%

Other/viral8%

Googlesearch7%

Referralfromothersite4%

Viewfrommobiledevice1%

Viewedonchannelpage1%

SourceofViews

byDevonSmith 47

OneofthemostsurprisingthingsInoticedwasthatthevastmajorityofviewsoccursfarafterthevideoisfirstposted.Sowhat’sthevalueinavideowith50,000viewsif40,000ofthemoccuraftertheproductionhasclosed?Myguessisincreasedbrandawarenessforthetheatre,andexposuretopotentialnewaudiences.Theselaterviewsmayalsobethecaseof“mistakenidentity,”(forexample,Imightbesearchingforadifferenttheatre’sproductionwiththesamename).Nearlyeveryvideo’sviewershipovertimefollowedthesamelinearrelationship:

Finally,viewersareinfactengagingmorewithindividualvideosascomparedtothechannelasawhole.Onaverage:

• 17commentspervideo(ART’sMikeDaiseytopsat96)• 39favorites(Arena’sNexttoNormaltopsat169)• 18ratings(again,NexttoNormaltopsat63)• 4.64stars(only1videohadlessthana4starrating)

byDevonSmith 48

MYSPACEIwasallpreparednottoresearchtheatresuseofMySpace.Allindicatorspointtothe(quick)declineofMySpace’simportanceintheSocialMediarealm.SincethepurposeofallofthisresearchistoinformYaleRep’songoingsocialmediastrategy,itdidn’tmakealotofsensetospendtimeonadyingplatform.Andthensomeone(wishIcouldgiveahattiptosomebodyspecific,butthatparticulartweethasbeenlosttothetwitterspere),remindedmethatcomparedtoothersocialmediaplatforms,MySpaceisyounger,lesswhite,andlesswell‐off.Weren’tthosejustthekindsofaudiencediversitymeasurestheatreshavebeenlookingfor?CouldMySpaceturnouttobeTHEplacetoreachthesefolks?WhatIfound:

• Only8%oftheatresloggedintoMySpacesometimeinthepastweek• Only4%oftheatreswithMySpacepageshadfanscommentingsometimeinthepast

week• TheaveragetheatregetsthesamenumberofcommentsonFacebook(or@mentions

onTwitter)inaweekastheydoovertheentirelifeoftheirMySpacepage• FacebookandTwitterbothhavelarger(theatre)fancommunitiesthanMySpace• NumberofMySpacefriendsisnotanindicatorfornumberofFacebookfans,Twitter

followers,orYouTubesubscribersSoIstarteddigging.FacebooksurpassedMySpaceintermsofuniquevisitorsoverayearago.Sincethen,evenTwitterisapproachingMySpace’sdecreasingsize(compete.com)

byDevonSmith 49

SohowmanytheatresarestillusingMySpace?Ifby“using,”youmeanloggedinsometimeinthepastweek(aneternityinsocialmediatime),lessthan8%.However,nearly50%ofLORTtheatreshaveloggedinsometimein2009.

HowdoesthiscomparetotheMySpacefriends?Thelasttimetheylefta“comment”(andforthebenefitofthedoubt,I’mincludingspammycommentsinheretoo):

Lastmonth14%

1‐3months17%

earlier200917%

20088%

20075%

20067%

NoMySpacepage32%

LastLoggedintoMySpace

Lastmonth13% 1‐3

months15%

earlier200924%2008

19%

20074%

20062%

Nocomments23%

LastCommentPosted

byDevonSmith 50

Butfanswereneverallthatengagedby(theatreson)MySpace.Overtheentirelifetimeofatheatre’sMySpacepage,nearly¾oftheatresfailedtogetatleast50comments.

Butwait—thisisn’tacondemnationoftheatres.NewerSocialMediaplatformshavefiguredoutmoreandbetterwaysforfanstoengageonacompany’spage,fansaremoreinterestedincommenting,andtheatresaredoingabetterjobatengagingfans.Onthefollowinggraph,theoutsideringisMySpace,themiddleringisFacebook,andtheinnerringisTwitter.Butthekeytointerpretationisthatthesecommentshappenedover1WEEKinFacebookandTwitter,comparedtoYEARSonMySpace.NotonlyarecommentsmorevoluminousonFacebookandTwitter,butthey’realsomorevaluable—byshowingupinFacebook’sNewsFeed,andTwitter’spublicstream.

100+17%

50‐9914%

1‐4946%

023%

Fan'sLifetimeCommentVolume

Comments

100+

50‐99

1‐49

0

byDevonSmith 51

Iwassurprisedtofindsubstantialcommunitiesoffansontheatre’sMySpacepages.OfthosethatstillhadaMySpacepage,15%hadmorethan1,000fans(thoughtheyweren’tnecessarilyamongtheusualsuspectsfromtopperformingFacebookandTwitterusingtheatres).

Buildingacommunityof1,000fansisnothingtosneezeat.Butthesedays,TwitterandFacebookbothoutpaceMySpaceintermsof(theatre)fancommunitysize.Asbefore,MySpaceistheouterring,Facebookisthemiddlering,andTwitteristheinnerring.TheaveragetheatreonMySpacehaslessthan100fans,whileonTwittertheyhave100‐499,andonFacebookmorethan500.ButevenTwitterhasmoretheatreswithverylargefollowerbases(1000+)thanMySpace.

1000+15%

500‐99919%

100‐49931%

<10035%

MySpaceFans

Friends/Fans/Followers

1000+

500‐999

100‐499

<100

byDevonSmith 52

Muchlikewe’veseenonothersocialmediaplatforms,thesizeofyourcommunityisagoodindicationofthevolumeofengagementyoucanfindonyoursite.Thesearelikelymutuallyreinforcingprinciples(morefansleadstomorecommentswhichleadtomorefans).

Anoteabouttheonetheatrewithveryfewfriendsandawholelotofcomments—Ichecked.Thosecommentswerealmostentirelyspambots.Soafterallofthat,who’sstillloggingin?Unsurprisingly,it’sthosetheatreswiththemostfriends.Thosefriendsaremorelikelytocontinueleavingcomments,whichdrivestheatrestologintotheirpagestocheckcomments.

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byDevonSmith 53

Myconclusions:Ithinkthere’snotalotoffanengagementonMySpacebecausethere’snotalottoDOonMySpace.OnFacebook,Icanuploadphotosandvideo,Icanshareinterestingarticles,andIcanplayanendlessnumberofgamesandquizzes.Ican’tdoanyofthatonMySpace.OnTwitter,IcanstalkanyoneIwant(withapublicprofile),Icancommentonorganizations/products/peoplewithouthavingto“friend”them,andIcanlisteninonotherscommentingonthesame.Ican’tdoanyofthatonMySpace.Sothequestionbecomes:what’syourexitstrategyifyou’vegotasolidpresenceonMySpace(I’mlookingatyouVirginiaStage,andCenterTheatreGroup)—meaning:

• you’veloggedinsometimeinthepastmonth• atleastoneofyourfriendsmadeacommentonyourpageinthepastmonth• you’vegotmorethan1,000fans• yourfanshavecommentedmorethan100timesonyourpage

It’slongbeenmyhypothesisthatoneofthemostimportantreasonsforatheatretobeusingasocialmediaplatform,issothattheyunderstandhowtobesttakeadvantageofthenextplatformthatcomesaround.SothequestionaboutwhetherTwitterisgoingtotakeofflikeFacebook,orgothewayofFriendsterisirrelevant;what’smoreinteresting(andstrategic)istoexperimentonTwitternow,andusewhatyou’velearnedtobuildanevenbettercommunitywhentheTwitteroftomorrowlaunches.Intheory,itshouldbethecasethatatheatrethatwasgoodatbuildingacommunityonMySpaceshouldbegoodatbuildingacommunityonFacebook.Iftheaudienceswererelativelysimilar(massmarket,beganwiththeyoungs,expandedolder),ifthecontentpostedwasrelativelysimilar(predominatelytextbased),andiftheatreswerelearningastheygo.Butthatdoesn’tseemtobethecase.ThenumberoffriendsatheatrehasonMySpacehasnopredictivepoweroverhowmanyTwitterfollowers,Facebookfans,orYouTubesubscriberstheyhave.What’sthedeal?

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byDevonSmith 54

FLICKR

InOctober,the4billionthphotowasuploadedtoFlickr.Impressive.ButFacebookusersupload2.5billionphotostothatsiteeverymonth.Traditionally,thequalityandpurposeofphotosonthesetwosocialmediaplatformsareprettydifferent.Exceptifyou’reatheatre.There’safewgreatpostsI’verunacrossthatdescribehowothernonprofitsareusingFlickr:http://bit.ly/5mF5DU

1. TheHoustonBallet:GivingFansa“BackstagePass”2. MassMOCA:AddingDimensionstoCurrentProgramming3. TheLuceFoundationCenterforAmericanArt:UsingFlickrforCrowdsourcingDecisions

AndsomebestpracticesfromarecentTechSoupchat;http://bit.ly/57DgKB

1. Upload4‐5imagesatatime(insteadof30+)2. Focusonquality,notquantity3. Timeofdayyouuploadhasacorrelationwithhowmanycontactswillultimatelyview

yourphotos4. Crossreferenceyourphotosinblogsandotherplatforms5. HavingapresenceonFlickrmeansviewingothers’photosaswellaspostingyourown

Flickr’ssearchengineisalittletricky,butfromwhatIcouldfind,only1/3ofLORTtheatresareusingFlickr.They’vecollectivelyuploadedcloseto4,000photostothesite.

05%

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byDevonSmith 55

OfthosetheatresusingFlickr,morethan½havenoFlickrcontacts;meaning,Flickrisprobablybeingusedasarepositoryofphotosratherthananopportunityforatrulysocialengagement.

ButFlickruserscanfindphotosthrough3othermethodsaswell:

• Favorites(outerring,19%with)—whenyoufavoritesomeoneelse’spage,they’remorelikelytocheckoutyourphotos

• Groups(middlering,27%with)—joiningagroupcreatesmorefrequentandconcentratedopportunitiesforengagement

• Tags(innerring,62%with)—ensuresthatanyonesearchingFlickrforyourtermsmighthappenuponyourphoto

054%

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byDevonSmith 56

TheatreshavebeenjoiningFlickrforthepast3years,withearly2009usheringinarenewedinterestinthesite.

Theatreswho’vehadFlickrmembershipsformorethanayeardotendtohaveahighernumberofphotosposted(althoughrememberthatquality>quantityonFlickr).

AsI’vementionedpreviously,noteverySocialMediaplatformisworththeeffort.Flickrmayjustbeagoodplacetostorephotosthatcanbeembeddedonwebsiteselsewhere,oraconvenientplacetosendoutpressmaterials.SeveraltheatreshadFlickrprofilesusedbytheirscenic/propsdepartments,butonly1theatrereallystoodouttomeasbeingaparticularlyaviduser:PortlandCenterStage.

• MembersinceAugust,2007

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• Uploaded596photosinto45differentsets• 136contacts• Memberof25groups• Photosincludeeverythingfromproductionshots,toseasonartwork,toeducation

events.Withthevastmajorityoftheatresprohibitingthetakingofphotosinsidethetheatre(perunionregs),it’shardtoimaginefansuploadingmanyoftheirownproductionphotostoatheatre’sgroupprofile.ButIcouldimagineacasewhereatheatrewould:

• Askfanstocontributephotosthatremindthemofthecurrentshow(ChristmasfamilyphotosforAChristmasCarol?)

• Sendfansonaphotoscavengerhunt• Usephotostosellorrentcostume/set/propspiecestoothertheatres• Usephotostopromotegalaauctionitemstodonors• Askfanstoprovideinsightonearlydesigndrawings/images• UseaFlickrgroupforinternalcollaboration/sharingofstaff’slivesoutsideoftheoffice

MyproblemwithmostofthesepotentialopportunitiesisthatitwouldprobablybeeasiertocoordinateanddrivetrafficonFacebookratherthanFlickr.SoI’veyettofindareallygoodindicationthatYaleRep(mytrueclientforallofthesereports)shouldspendtimeandefforttryingtobuildafollowingonFlickr.Hasanyoneouttherefoundacompellingcasefortheatreaudiences(orotherconstituents)wantingtoengageonaphotosharingsite?

byDevonSmith 58

BLOGSI’mfindingblogsabitmorechallengingtowrapmyheadaround,comparedtotheatresuseofTwitterandFacebook.Evenafterreadingtheexcellent“SayEverything:HowBloggingBegan,Whereit’sHeaded,andWhyitMatters,”it’suncleartomewhyapotentialaudiencememberwouldbededicatedenoughtoaparticulartheatretowanttoreadaboutthemonaregularbasis.Personally,IdependonblogsfordeeperinsightsintotopicsI’minterestedin,ratherthananaffiliationforaparticularorganization.None‐the‐less,IforgedaheadtoseewhatIcoulddiscover.Unfortunately,thereweresofewusercommentsperpostacrossalltheatresthatitdidn’tevenmakesensetokeeptrackofthem.Almostalways,noone’scommenting.Occasionally,1‐2respondtoapost.IhavenowayofknowinghowmanyRSSsubscribersanytheatrebloghas,butit’shardtoimagineit’sanywhereclosetothenumberofFacebokFans(orevenTwitterfollowers)manyofthesetheatresalreadyhave.Aspotcheckofgoogleconfirmedthatveryfewotherbloggersarelinkingbacktothesetheatreblogs.Sowhat’sthepoint?Goodquestion.I’mbaffled.ButIwasabletofind38LORTtheatresthatbelieveenoughinittocontinueposting.TheearliestLORTtheatreblogs(thatIcouldfindatleast)datebacktoAugust,2005(VirginiaStage).Intriguingly,2009seemstohavebroughtarenewedinteresttoblogging—seehowsteepthelinegetsbeginninglastfall.

note:5blogsdidnotincludeanArchiveordidnotlistdatesandarethusnotincludedinthetimeline.

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byDevonSmith 59

HowlongagoatheatrebeganblogginggivesnoindicationtohowfrequentlyitwasupdatedinNovember—showingthatit’spossibletosustaineffortsovermanyyears,andrampupquicklyevenintheearlydaysofblogging.

Whilefrequentpostingisusuallyconsideredbestpracticeinthesocialmediaworld,onlyhalfofalltheatreblogswereupdatedonceaweekormoreinNovember.PortlandCenterStageandArenaStagepostedonaverageonceper(business)day.

Therewasquiteawidevarietyofbloggerspostingfortheatres.Themostpopularoptionwasforeachposttocomefromadifferentstaffmemberorguestartist.Thislikelydecreasestheworkloadforeachblogger,andgivestheaudiencefreshinsightsintomanydifferentrealmsofthetheatre,buttendstobeachallengetocoordinateschedulingandcontent.

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byDevonSmith 60

Thesecondmostpopularchoicewasforthemarketingorcommunicationsofficetodriveposts.Whileafewtheatresfellvictimtothe“usemypressreleasesasblogcontent”syndrome,byandlargethesestaffmembersdidagoodjobusinganoriginalonlinevoicewithinterestingcontent.Whoeverwaswriting,theirjobtitletendedtobeagoodindicatorofthetopicstheywerewritingabout.Artistsgaveaninsidelookintolifebackstageandintheshop,dramaturgesgavepostsaliterarybent,andinternsincludedaquirkypeekattheinnerworkingsoftheatreadministration.Similartofoundingdates,therewasnocorrelationbetweenwhowasposting,andhowoftentheywereposting.

Oneofthefirstchoicesatheatremustmakewhenbeginningtheirblogiswheretohostthecontent:integratedwiththeirownwebsite,orinsteadwithadedicatedbloggingplatform.

Unknown32%

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5%

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OwnWebsite66%

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byDevonSmith 61

Afewfinalobservations:• AswithTwitterandFacebook,analarmingnumberoftheatresdon’tlinktotheirblog

fromanywhereontheirwebsite,muchlessinaneasilyfindablespotontheirhomepage.Whywhywhy.

• 1/3ofbloggingtheatresalsointegratedtheirFacebook,Twitter,YouTube,orFlickrfeedsintotheirblogs.Theexperts(well,Mashable)saysthisincreasesuserengagement.Ithinkitmakesthebloglookcluttered.Decideforyourself.

• DenverCenterforthePerformingArtsallowedafantoguestpostontheirblog(thoughalittledeeperdiggingseemstosuggestthepostwasoriginallywrittenforacollegenewspaper?).Atanyrate,gettingyouraudiencetodeliverapassionateexplanationofwhytheyabsolutelyloveanupcomingshow—talkaboutawesomeuserengagement.

• ActorsTheatreofLouisvillehasaprettystellarlookingblog(confession:Iinternedtheretwoyearsago,soImightbealittlebiased).There’sadedicatedsectionforaudiencereactions,theylinktootherstaffandguestartists’blogs,thepropsdepartmenthastheirownFlickrfeed,allpostsaretaggedandarchivedinalogicalway,andmostimportantlythepostshaverealpersonality.Niceworkapprentices&interns.

byDevonSmith 62

SOCIALMEDIASTAFFINGLORTTheatresonaverageareusingtheequivalentofjustunder1fulltimestaffmembertoengageinsocialmedia.Themostinterestingfindings:

• Totaltimespentonsocialmediaplatformsandpreparationrangefrom1‐142hoursperweek.

• Aswe’veseenpreviously,theatresarespendingthemosttimeandeffortonFacebookandTwitter

• Theatresarespendingmoretimelearningaboutsocialmediathanmeasuringtheirimpactinit.

• NewcustomeracquisitionisthemostpopulargoalofsocialmediaThereareimportantcaveatshere:

• Thesehoursareprobablyspreadbetweenseveralstaffmembers• The9.5hoursbeingusedto“creatematerial”wouldprobablybehappeninganyway,

evenifatheatreweren’ttobeusingsocialmedia• Thetheatresmostlikelytorespondtothissurveyarelikelyheavierthanaverageusers

ofsocialmedia

4.8Facebook

4.4Twitter

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byDevonSmith 63

Therewasofcoursevariabilityamongrespondents,soit’svaluabletoidentifytherangesofhoursspenteachweekoneachactivity.Thefollowinggraphsaysforexamplethatwhile100%ofrespondentsuseFacebook,lessthan60%useFlickr.Theseresponselevelsmatchrelativelywelltheoverallfield’suseofeachoftheseplatforms.Interestingtonotethatmoretheatresspendmoretimelearningaboutsocialmediathanmeasuringtheirimpactinit.Additionally,moretheatresuseYouTubethanblogs,butmoretimeisspentonoverageonblogsthanYouTube.

Thisnextgraphisalittlemorecomplicated.Theredbarsshowtherangeofactivityforthemiddle50%oftheatres.Thegreenlineshowstheaveragetimespentbythosewhospendtime.Soforexample,mosttheatresspendbetween2‐5hoursperweekonFacebook.OfthosetheatresthatuseFacebook,onaverage4.2hoursarespentperweek.Whenthegreenlineisabovetheredboxes,thereareafewtheatresspendingmuchmoretimethantherestofthepopulationonthatactivity.

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byDevonSmith 64

Only3theatreshaveastaffpersonworking(theequivalentof)atleasthalf‐timestrictlyonsocialmediaplatforms.Alsointerestingtonotethevarianceofratiooftimespentonthesesites(platform)tothetimespentcreatingmaterial,learning,andmeasuring(preparation).

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byDevonSmith 65

Nowforthequalitativefindings.AsI’vesharedpreviously,EspressoMarketingfabulouslyenumeratedpotentialusesofsocialmediaintheirpresentation‘WhattheF**KisSocialMedia’as:

1.Publicrelations2.Customerservice3.Loyaltybuilding4.Collaboration5.Networking6.Thoughtleadership7.Customeracquisition

Unsurprisingly,theatresaremostinterestedintherevenuegeneratingaspectsofsocialmedia.Butseveraltheatresarealsousingsocialmediaforfurtherafieldpurposeslikevolunteeroutreach,audienceresearch,customerservice,andthoughtleadership.

Notethatthecodingoftheseanswerswassubjective,andlikelyswayedbytheactualwordingofmyquestion:Whatareyourmajorgoalsinusingsocialmedia?(customeracquisition,fundraising,customerservice,internalcollaboration,thoughtleadership,justexperimenting,etc.)

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TurningcustomersintoadvocatesFundraising

BuildingloyaltyExperimenting

TicketsalesAudienceresearch

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EngagementBrand/productawarenessNewcustomeracquisition

Whatareyourmajorgoalsforsocialmedia?

Mentions Firstmention

byDevonSmith 66

Therejustwasn’tanyotherwaytodescribethefollowingresponsesotherthantolistthem.Thestoriesofsuccessesandfailuresarebothincrediblyuseful—socialmediaisn’tinstantaneous,doesn’tworkineverysituation,isnotacureall,andcanbeusedforawidevarietyofpurposes.Ithoughtsomeofthemostinterestinginsightswere:

• Valueofempoweringdialoguebetweenaudiencemembers• Importanceofanalyzing“fit”betweentheatreandsocialmediaplatform• Staffengagementasameasureofsuccess• “Withsocialmediawehavebeenabletocutdownourmarketingbudgetandreach

nearlythesameamountofindividuals.”• “Wetracksocialmediaparticipationthoughaudiencesurveys.”• “Enhancingourownwebsitewithvideoimprovesthesitesplacementonsearch

engines”6.Howhaveyoubeenabletodemonstratethevalueofsocialmediatoothersinyourtheatre?Whatdoyoumeasure?Howdoyoudefinesuccess?What'schangedatyourtheatresinceyou'vebegunusingsocialmedia?

TextResponse

Wehavehadsomesuccessshowingthevaluegiventhepositiveresponsesfromotherstowhatwehavebeendoing.Wewanttomeasurequalitativesuccessaswellasquantitative(whattheyaresaying,notjusthowmanyaretalking).Successisbeingshownbythedialoguewearehavingwithourcommunity,andeventhedialoguesIseethemhavingwitheachother‐itshowsaninvestmentinourwork.Sincewe'vebegunusingSMwe'veallowedphonesinoneofourspaces‐tweetingduringtheshow.It'sradicallychangedtheatmosphere,andisagreatwaytoengagepeopleinadifferentmanner.

workingonit

wehaveseensomesuccessinsalesbytrackingwithpromocodes,butit'sstillearlyinoureffortsbeabletoseesignificanteffects

Currently,wedefinesuccessbyrawstats‐howmanypeopleviewedourprofile,RT'duse,mentionedusintweets,howmanyviewsvideoshavereceived,howmanycommentspostshavereceived.Wejudgethisagainstourselvesandotherculturalorgsofsimilarsize.Socialmedia,combinedwithotherefforts,hasincreasedtheamountofyoungeradultsinourtheatres.Wehavealsonoticed,throughpatroncomments,thatpatronsfeelmoreconnectedandengagedwithwhatgoesonbehindthecurtain.OurArtisticDirectoracknowledgesthatsocialmediasupportsourmissionasitengagesaudiences.

notyet....juststartingout

Idonotmeasurethevaluesinceoureffortsarelimitedonthissubject.IdomeasuretheticketsalesandsurveytheaudiencesoIknowhowtheyarehearingaboutus.Notmuchhaschanged.Wearenowmoreavailabletocommunicatewiththepublicinaoneononesituation,e‐mailblastsaremostpopular,wegainedayoungeraudiencebylaunchingtheFB,andTwitterbutstillneedmorefriends.

byDevonSmith 67

Idon'tknwothatwecancallitasuccessjustyet.Wehavejustover400fans.We'vetriedofferingarushticketiftheycallataparticulartime("For2hourswehave20ticketsavailableat$20each!"),butthat'sgonenowhere.However,wedidmarketabustriptoNYCtoseeaplayandwewereabletofillhalfthebuswithoutevensendinganemailouttoouremailsubscribers.Ithinkit'sgoodthatwehaveapresenceonFacebook,butIwouldn'tthrowallmymarketingintothesocialmediabasket.Thecommunitywe'reinisalittleoddandbuyslastminuteaswellasstill"listening"tothelocalnewspaper.I'vestoppedusingmypersonalMySpaceaccountandneverfoundittobeagoodfitwithourtheatre.TwitterisstillnewandI'mnotsurethatittooisagoodfit.Plus,I'mamarketing/PRofficeofone,somytimeisalreadystretchedtothemax.IfwehadmoremarketingsupportIwouldconsiderusingsocialmediamore.

Otherthanthenumberoffansonfacebookandthenumberofviewsofourvideosonyoutube,theresultsaresomewhatanecdotal.Nothinghasreallychangedatthetheatreasofyet‐justonemorethingtodomarketing‐wise.

ThefirstmeasurewaslastyearwhenwesoldalargenumberofRufusWainwrightticketsthankstoFacebook.ThisseasonwenoticedalargebumpinticketsaleswhenwepostedYamatoDrummersonFacebookandTwitter.Mostrecently,wegotalotofattentionforourupcomingworldpremiereofFetchClay,MakeManwhenwepostedonTwitter.Thesearejustafewexamplesofsuccessbutwealsomeasureitbythenumberofpeoplecommenting,re‐tweetingandgenerallyengaging.ThisseasonwehavetripledourinteractionsonFacebook.

Notquitesurewhatsuccessmeansyet.Justthrowingthingsatthewallandseeingwhatsticks!Ithinkourfollowersaregrowing,andourstaffisbecomingmoreengagedinprovidingthiscontent‐andthattomemeanssuccesstoacertaindegree.

Ourtheaterhasalargernumberof"under‐30"patronsthanmostothers.Weattributethis,inpart,tooursocialmediaefforts.Ouremaillist,facebookfans,Twitter&blogfollowerseemstoincreaseproportionatelywithoureffortsandskills.

Don'treallyhaveto"sellit"‐theygetit!WehaveagreatnetworkofFBpeopleherewhoallpickupourpostsandre‐posttotheirownsites.Imeasuresuccessbyhowmuchinteractionoccursonthesite.I'mprettypleasewith"likes"andcomments.Wouldliketoseemorepatronspostingtheirownitems.

RecordonlineticketsalesforoneshowwithstrongFacebookinteraction.MeasureallinteractionsonFacebook,andRT's,@repliesandmentionsonTwitter.Wehavebecomemuchmoreresponsivetotheimmediatethoughtsofourpatrons.Ithasalsoprovidedanavenueforpatronstomarketourshowstotheirfriendsandshareviewsandfeedbackofproductions.

We'vefocusedmostheavilyonourTwitterpresenceatthispoint.We'vetrackedsuccessbasedonretweets,directmessagesandnewfollowers.

Successisextremelydifficulttomeasure,butwehavesometoolstoassist.Oneiswatchingthegrowthinfriendsandfollowersandmakingsureitisconstantlyincreasing.WealsouseGoogleAnalyticsthatshowsusthatpatonsfollowourlinkstoourwebsitetolearnmoreaboutourshows,readourblog,etc.WealsouseHootsuitetocreatelinksforourtweets.Thistoolallowsustoviewhowmanypeopleactuallyclickedonourlink.

byDevonSmith 68

Wehavebeenabletodemonstratethevaluethroughevents,andadcampaignsontwitterandfacebook,thathavebroughtinamuchbroaderdemographictoshowsthatmaynothavebeensellingasheavilythroughWashingtonPostorotherads.Beforethisyearandthestartofoursocialmediacampaignweneverhadanonlinepresence.Withsocialmediawehavebeenabletocutdownourmarketingbudgetandreachnearlythesameamountofindividuals.Alsoourdemographicandinterestthroughcontestsandeventshaschangedandwehaveexpandedtoamuchwideraudience.It'shardtodefinesuccessinsocialmediaastherearealotofhitormisseswithsomeoftheprojectswehavelaunched.However,Iwouldsayoursuccessisdefinedbybuzz.Ifwecanhavepeopletweeting,writingstatusposts,wallpostsandcommentsaboutFord'sandtheirexperiencethanwehavedoneourjobingettingthewordoutthereandkeepingitfreshandexciting.

Iliketomeasuresuccessintermsofconversations.Howmanyposts,retweets,commentsdowegeteachweek?Idon'tholdmuchvalueinhowmanyTwitterfollowerswehave,Isearchformentions.Facebookfans,however,canbeafarmoreengagedaudience.TheyalsoseemtoknowwhoweareversusourTwitterfollowers.Whathaschangedatourtheatresinceusingsocialmedia‐internalawareness,realizingemployeescancontributeintheirownwaytotheprofileofthePlayHouse.Ischedulemoretimetoattendrehearsalstogetactorfootage(withtheirpermission),ItakethecameraeverywhereandstaffknowsthepicturescanendupontheInternet(thosewhodon'twanttoparticipatearen'tmadeto).WhoorwhatisbeingsaidonFacebookisbroughtupinameetingorinconversationbetweenstaffmembers.

Wehavepromocodesthattracksalesviasocialmedia.Wetrack,retweets,followers,fans,etcviasitemetrics.Wetracksocialmediaparticipationthoughaudiencesurveys.

It'sstillverymuchaworkinprogress.We'reexperimentingtoseewhatworksanddoesn't.We'restartingtosetsomegoalsfornumbersoffollowers/fansetc.Ultimately,Ithinkweseethisasawayofengagingouraudienceandmakingthemfeellikepartofacommunity.That,wehope,willpayoffinthelongterm,butwe'renotexpectingoursocialmediaeffortstodriveticketsalesintheshortterm.

Thevalueisnoteasilymeasured,butweseespikesinsaleswhenthereisagreatdealofinteractionthroughoursocialmediasites.Wealsohearalotmoreaboutourselvesandourproductionsoutinthecommunitywhenweareinthemidstofaheavycampaign.What'schanged?Ithinkouraudiencesaremorereceptivetousandwhatwedobecauseofsocialmedia.Theyfeelliketheyarenowpartofourcommunityandhaveaccesstotheprocessofmakingtheatre.

Yes,Ihavebeenabletodemonstratethevalueofsocialmedia.WemeasurefansandfollowersonFacebookandTwitter,videoviewsonYouTube,andreviewsonYelp.OnFacebookwealsomonitorfaninteraction,fandemographics,photoviews,videoviewsandlikes.WealsoadvertiseonFBandwetrackadclick‐throughsandticketpurchaseswithourFBadcodes.Wedefinesuccessanytimeafaninteractswithusviasocialmediaandareespeciallyexcitedwhenittranslatestoanewpersonexperiencingtheater.Administrativelywe'vededicatedmorehourstoresearchingandimplementingsocialmediapractices,we'vebeenabletointeractwithourpatronsandpeopleinourcommunitymorethanever,we'vebeguntaggingsocialmedialogosinprintmaterialandwehaveintegratedsocialmediaintoourmarketingplans.

byDevonSmith 69

Thusfar,onlyFacebookhasbeendemonstrablysuccessful,andthatprimarilyatdisseminatinginformation.ThisisadifficultmediumtoshowROIon,asforusithasbeenmoresuccessful(anecdotally)inbuildingbuzzthanindrivingticketsales.

Wedemonstratevalueanddefinesuccessbyinteraction,iewhenwehavecommentsonposts.Wealsofindoursocialmediausagetobesuccessfulwhenpeoplementiontousofflinethatthey'venoticedandenjoyedourwork.Thoughwecan'tcompletelymeasureit,wefeelthatouraudiencehasabetterunderstandingnowoftheinnerworkingsoftheorganizationnowthatweareusingsocialmedia.

Iwasalittlenervousaboutincludingtoomanysurveyquestions,butseveralfolksasked:

• Howmanytheatrespayforservicesrelatedtosocialmedia?• Whattoolsareorganizationsusingtomonitorandreporttheirsocialmediause?• Howissocialmediapostingdistributedthroughoutthestaff?• Howmanytheatreshaveasocialmediapolicy?• Howaretheatresplanninginitiativesandeducatingourselvesaboutthenextbigthing?

Mycurrentresearchstudyingsocialmediaisquicklycomingtoaclose,sohopefullyotherswillpickupwiththesequestionssoon!Methodology:A5questionsurveywassenttoeverymarketingdirectorofeveryLORTtheatre,inadditiontoseveralTwitterpostson@devonvsmith,whichwereRT’edby4otherpeople.Oneweeklater,22LORTtheatreshadresponded,plus3othertheatres(excludedfromtheabovequantitativedataforlackofstatisticalsignificance—butbigthanksforthevaluableinsightsprovided).This29%responserateyieldsstatisticallysignificantresultsforthepopulation.Thesurveyquestionsaskedgenerallyaboutvarioussocialmediaplatforms;forsakeofclarity,allsimilarplatformsinthispaperweretitledunderthemostpopular(forexample,thesurveyaskedfortheatre’suseofvideosharingsightsincludingYouTube,Vimeo,etc;thepaper’sgraphslabelalloftheseresponses“YouTube”)“Other”notedsocialmediasitesincludedFlavorpill,Yelp,Goldstar,Foursquare,andPodcasts.Manythankstothefolksatthefollowingtheatresfortakingvaluabletimeoutoftheirscheduletorespondtothissurvey:ActorsTheatreofLouisville,AllianceTheatre,AmericanRepertoryTheater,ArdenTheatreCompany,BerkeleyRepertoryTheatre,CincinnatiPlayhouseinthePark,ClarenceBrownTheatre,DelawareTheatreCompany,Ford'sTheatre,GreatLakesTheaterFestival,GuthrieTheater,KansasCityRepertoryTheatre,MadCowTheatre,MaltzJupiterTheatre,MarinTheatreCompany,McCarterTheatreCenter,NewYorkCityCenter,NorthlightTheatre,PortlandCenterStage,SouthCoastRepertory,TheClevelandPlayHouse,TheDenverCenterforthePerformingArts,TrinityRepertoryCompany,YaleRepertoryTheatre,YouthTheatreNorthwest.

byDevonSmith 70

ConclusionsThestaffingsurveyconfirmedthatveryfewhoursperweekarespentonothersocialmediaplatforms.However,Iwantedtomentionafewotherplaceswhereatleastafewtheatresareengagingwiththeiraudiences:

• Del.icio.us(forsocialbookmarking)• Friendfeed(forsocialdiscussiongroups)• Foursquare(formobilegeo‐gaming)• iPhoneapps(forawidevarietyofuses)• LinkedIn(forprofessionalnetworking)• SlideShare(forprofessionalpresentations)• Yelp(forlocalreviews)

AndIwanttoleaveyouwithlinkstoafewotherphenomenalfolkswhoaredoingincredibleworkinsocial&digitalmedia:

• Mashable.comisascloseasyou’llfindtothebe‐all‐end‐allsourceforsocialmedianews• BethKanter(beth.typepad.com)isthebestexpertI’vefoundonnon‐profitsandsocial

media• ChrisAshworth(chrisashworth.org)isatheatremaker/softwaredeveloperwhooften

hassmartthingstosayabouttechnologyinthetheatre• IanMoss(createquity.com)isaformerMBAclassmatewhoawesomelyblogsaboutthe

roleofartsinacreativesociety• ChrisBrogan,GuyKawasaki,andAvinashKaushikarequitesimplybrilliant.Follow

themonTwitter,RSStheirblogs,stalkthematconferences.Areadinglistformoreindepthresearch

• ConvergenceCulture:WhereOldandNewMediaCollidebyHenryJenkins• WebAnalytics2.0byAvinashKaushik• Groundswell:WinninginaWorldTransformedbySocialTechnologiesbyCharleneLi• SayEverything:HowBloggingBegan,WhatIt'sBecoming,andWhyItMattersbyScott

Rosenberg• TheWisdomofCrowdsbyJamesSurowieck

Andfinally,eternalthanksforspreadingtheword,criticalfeedback,insightfulsuggestions,orpushingmetowardsbetterresearchmustgoto:ChrisAshworth,ThomasCott,DavidDower,NatalieGilmore,LindseyHardegree,CoryHuff,KerryIsrael,KoryKelly,EdMartenson,AnnSachs,ClaytonSmith,RachelSmith,AnneTrites,andallofmyclassmatesattheYaleSchoolofDramaTheatreManagementprogramandtheYaleSchoolofManagement.