Social Media Marketing for the Arts

SOCIAL MEDIA
MARKETING
FOR THE ARTS

Presented to Boston University, December 6, 2012

from Charles McEnerney
Principal, Layers Marketing
http://layersmarketing.com
charlie@layersmarketing.com

Monday, December 10, 12

Charles McEnerney

My background includes 25 years in marketing positions at:
ArtsBoston
Fast Company magazine
HBO
MovieMaker magazine
Seattle International Film Festival
WGBH
in TV, ﬁlm, and audio production


Current + recent clients at
Layers Marketing include
Appsembler
The Arts Fuse
Boston University’s College of Fine Arts
The Eliot School of Fine & Applied Arts
Future of Music Coalition
The Haven restaurant
Jamaica Plain Music Festival
Over My Shoulder Foundation
Yoko Miwa Trio
Zebigo.com


Well-Rounded Radio

Since 2002, I have hosted and produced Well-
Rounded Radio, an online music interview podcast
series that features in-depth interviews with musicians
from every genre and music industry thought leaders.

Have conducted more than 70 interviews to date.


Emerson College

Teach marketing courses at Emerson College
including, “Marketing and The Internet,” “Building
The Publicity Buzz,” and “Mobile
Marketing” (summer 2013).


How much do you already use
social media?
Do you read blogs? Have you ever made an edit on
Wikipedia?
Do you watch videos on
YouTube? Do you have a page for your
personal brand?
Have you shared a photo taken
on your mobile phone? Have you answered questions
on LinkedIn Answers or
Quora?
Do you tweet?
Have you contributed to a
Do you use Pinterest? Kickstarter campaign?


What is the Long Tail?

The concept (attributed to Wired magazine’s editor and
the book’s author, Chris Anderson) that there is a larger
audience in all the niche interests in the world vs. the
subjects and content that have a mainstream appeal.

The concept truly comes to life with Web 2.0 or social
media, where there is an audience for every interest, no
matter how big or small.


Web 1.0

While the consumer-friendly Internet of 1994 to 2003
was about companies and organizations using the platform
to publish information about themselves, social media has
put true social interactivity into the equation.

Since 2003, the way companies are using the Web to
market products and services has changed
dramatically...and it’s likely to continue.


Web 2.0 or
Social Media
Social media is about active and dynamic conversations between
companies and customers, between groups, and between individuals.

It’s also about using the tools and technologies that arrived with high-
speed broadband access.

Now the Web is delivering audio, video, multi-media, and realtime
communications and the proverbial playing field has been flattened for
companies and citizens.

It may cost less cash, but it does require human capital.


Using online tools, what do your customers
want to get out of interacting with you?

information

education

to provide feedback

to be a part of the conversation

to be a part of your community

to be a part of the creative process


The lines between editorial, marketing,
and engagement have blurred

we are using the internet to find out information

we are using the internet to educate ourselves before
making purchases

we are using the internet to feel more connected


Social media works best when
used to...
educate consumers

listen and converse

provide a sampling opportunity

give the audience a chance to contribute

offer exclusive or advance access or deals


Social media enables you to...

humanize your brand

“tell your story” directly to consumers, without relying on
traditional media outlets

find your specific audience for programming, products, or
services vs. using broad channels like print, television, and
radio

use each activity to promote the other



let your customers help you do your marketing
(e.g., TripAdvisor’s Cities I’ve Visited)

build community

be more transparent and open



Listen!

Never in our history has there been such an easy
way to listen in to what citizens are talking about,
asking for, complaining about, or looking for.

Social media allows us to listen to existing and
prospective customers and jump in to help them
solve their problems and answer their questions.


Editorial content as marketing

Social media can also help to intersect with people who are
searching for related content and questions, by using search
functions from within social media itself, letting your brand
reach out and follow, friend, or engage with social media
users.

While social media marketing can be time consuming, search
technology helps businesses to more easily find and engage
with people who are talking about issues that relate to them.


Tracking mentions on the web

Google Alerts provides a free service to monitor the
Internet and send you an email update whenever that word
or phrase appears.

While helpful, Google Alerts tend to miss a significant
number of mentions and should be used as a secondary
tool for monitoring all web mentions. Services like
Radian6 or Collective Intellect do a far better job.


How do you track success?
Site analytics from entry to conversion (purchasing,
viewing, commenting, sharing, etc.)

Promotional codes

Using bit.ly to track clicks

Growth of the number of your fans, friends, or followers
(and your reach influence)

Frequency/volume of people “talking” about your
organization


It may cost less cash, but it
does require human capital

There are dozens of options of ways to use the Web to
promote your organization, but social media can be time
consuming.

Be strategic: think about what your goals are first and then
prioritize which of these activities will be the best use of your
time to achieve them.


What are your strategic goals?
Increased viewership
Customer acquisition and retention
Deeper engagement between customers and organization
Web site traffic
Increased posts in the blogosphere
Collect email addresses/RSS subscriptions
Get people talking/buzzing about your organization
Increased content contributions from customers
Create new ways to touch customers


What are the current “hottest”
social media channels?

Twitter

Facebook

YouTube

Pinterest

Mobile


Social media now has a lot of
channels you can use


A Few Geek Definitions
Metadata are terms or words assigned and embedded by content
creators to help content be found or crawled by search engines and
rank higher.

Tags are words assigned by Web visitors to pages and media that are
they tracked by disparate Web applications to help others discover it.

Feeds are URLs that you can subscribe to and receive data or media
and receive updates in text, video, or audio.

Flash is an animation application (now owned by Adobe) that has
become the leading standard for encoding video.


Really Simple Syndication
(RSS)
RSS (Really Simple Syndication) or XML (Extensible
Markup Language) feeds give people a way to subscribe to
content (text, audio, or video) without having to give away
their email address.

RSS/XML feeds help users subscribe to blogs and
podcasts. The technology is increasingly being integrated
into email applications, is a part of such applications as
iTunes, or can be used with desktop and web-based RSS
aggregators such as Sage for Firefox or Google Reader.


Blogging
Text-based entries much like a diary documenting your
personal or professional life and passions. Subscribed to
through RSS (Real Simple Syndication) or XML
(Extensible Markup Language) feeds.

Main blogging software services for citizen bloggers
include Blogger (Google), Tumblr, Typepad, and
WordPress. Blogs from companies often live on their own
sites. Sites that track subjects and content on blogs include
Technorati and Bloglines.


Microblogging

Short text messages (140 characters or less) that go out to those
subscribed to your microblog so they can see what you’re doing, what
you’re thinking, or links to text, video, or audio.

All the competitors have fallen away; Twitter has won.

Twitter makes the most sense when accessed via desktop apps like
Twitter, Tweetdeck, Nambu, Seesmic, Hootsuite, etc.

To see what people are “tweeting” about around the world, visit
Twittervision.


Tags
Tags are metadata or words that citizens assign to web
pages, text, images, audio, or video on the web so that
others can find things that are relevant and useful to them.
The better they get tagged, the higher they return in
searches. As these accumulate, you have a tag cloud.

With Twitter, citizens can assign a hashtag to their tweet,
so people watching TV could use the hashtag of #survivor
or #treme so that others can follow that thread and interact
with each other, even if they are not connected with each
other on any other social networking platform.


An example of a tag cloud


Location-based tools
Building upon the Twitter ecosystem, location-based tools
like foursquare, scvngr, and Facebook let users check-in
when they are out at events, restaurants, stores, parks, etc.
and serve as discovery services.

The idea is for friends to let each other know what they are
doing, where they are, but brands are also using it as a way
to connect users and fans or incorporate into their web site
or broadcast programming, such as Bravo or Zagat to
“unlock” unique experiences.


Media Consumption
A variety of sites also allow you to “check in” when you’re
watching television or a film, letting others know about
your taste. Sites will also award you a badge that is related
to the show/film you’re watching and, as many people log-
in using Facebook account, it’s all shared onto Facebook.

These sites ultimately analyze what you’re watching and
then make recommendations about other programs or
films you might like.

Sites include Get Glue, Miso, and Clicker.


Podcasting
Downloadable (and often streamable) audio and video files
that users can subscribe to an RSS/XML feed and update
automatically in your podcast player.

Files can be played on a computer or transferred to an mp3
player (such as an iPod) for playback.

The main place for subscribing to podcasts is iTunes.
There is also Podcast Alley and open source options like
Miro or Juice.


Social Networking
Social networking sites enable individuals or companies to
create profiles, make friends or contacts, and share their
passions, likes, dislikes, career history, etc.

Sites with most members or traffic include Facebook,
Google+, Linkedin, Myspace, Orkut, Gather, Plaxo, 43
Things, and Eons.

Services where you can create your own social networks
(either open or closed) include Ning, Kit Digital, Your
Membership, and OneSite. Brands are also creating their
own online networks, such as No Depression magazine.


Social Networking
In addition to individuals belonging to social networking
sites, organizations can create Pages on Facebook where
users can become a “fan.”

Organizations or brands can also have Groups, though
these are being phased out by Facebook to some degree.

Given that more than 900 million people are now on
Facebook, it is hard to ignore it as a marketing vehicle, but
you can test how much of your audience is already using it
and how much you can convert them into more regular
customers using Pages, Events, or Groups.


Contests and Sweepstakes
It used to be to get people to enter a contest, they would
have to mail a postcard, call a number, or fill out a paper
form.

Now, entering a contest or sweepstakes is as easy as filling
out and submitting a web form. Social networks turn it into
viral marketing, allowing you to post that you entered it on
Twitter, Facebook, et al.

Services like Wildfire are inexpensive to use and easy to
implement, helping increase your “likes” or followers
while giving people a chance to win something.


Crowdfunding

While sites like Wikipedia have long relied on
crowdsourcing for contributing and editing content, a
more recent form of crowdsourcing is crowdfunding,
where businesses or individuals ask for friends, family, and
strangers to donate toward a project to help fund and
complete it.

The best known sites for crowdfunding include
Kickstarter, IndieGoGo, and others.


Knowledge Exchanges
Several sites have made it easy for web users to ask
questions and get answers from friends, acquaintances, or
complete strangers.

People who answer questions can increase their value in
the knowledge marketplace and many use for client
acquisition, to show others how much they know about
specific topics.

With some variations among them, these include Quora,
LinkedIn Answers, Mahalo, Askville (owned by
Amazon.com), and Curiosity (owned by Discovery
Communications), and Formspring.

Infographics
Infographics are visual representations of information,
using graphics, illustrations, and/or photographs to help
tell the story in a more dynamic or fun way than plain text
could.

Any company, organization or individual can create and
distribute an infographic. In addition to posting on your
own site and promoting, they can sometimes be picked up
by news sites, furthering its reach.

Some good examples at Good, Visual.ly, and
Coolinfographics, but there are many others.
18


Personal Branding

As the number of platforms where each of us can have a
presence have grown at an exponential rate, the need to
have one page where someone can find out about you has
increased, so several platforms have launched where you
can host a free site that lets you explain yourself briefly and
link off to other online platforms.

These include about.me (AOL) and flavors.me.


Group Buying

Group buying sites allow retailers to discount or make
special offers if a large enough group purchases their
goods or services, usually within a short time frame.

The biggest of these are Groupon and Living Social, but
there are hundreds of these services available around the
US, sometimes run by local newspapers or community
sites or specializing in specific retailers.


Social Bookmarking
Web sites/services where users can publicly bookmark
their favorite sites and add tags (or keywords) to the sites so
that others can discover new Web sites that might be of
interest to them.

Dozens of sites exist in this space, but the main players are
Del.icio.us, Digg, Furl, Google, Newsvine, Reddit,
Stumbleupon, Technorati, and Yahoo. Some of these sites
also perform hybrid services, such as Technorati and
Stumbleupon.


Social News

Web sites/services where users can vote or “digg” a story
to show their interest in a story as well as comment on the
link to the piece, which usually resides on a third-party site,
often a news site. The rank of stories will rise and fall
throughout the day.

Top sites include Digg, Fark, Reddit, Stumbleupon, and
Slashdot.


User/Consumer/Citizen
Generated Content
Content created by citizens and posted on the web, ranging
from text reviews to audio, video, and multi-media. These
include blogs, podcasts, digital arts, writing (news, gossip,
political analysis, diaries, fiction) etc. Most sites do not
approve this content, though this is or can be an added
function.

Examples of sites that rely on citizen generated content for
their success include Flickr, Wikipedia, Tripadvisor,
Epinions, ebay, YouTube, DailyMotion, Lulu, eHow, etc.


Photosharing

Photosharing sites allow users to create accounts, post
photos, tag them (and allow others to tag them), and
organize and create albums to share with anyone or just a
select list of users.

Leadings sites include Flickr, Fotolog, Photobucket,
Picasa, Slide, Fotki, Snapfish, etc.


Organizational Tools
Given the volume of information on the web, there are now a
number of new ways for people to attempt to organize all this
information. Some are public and shareable (and build upon
social networking), while others are private.

Public organizational platforms include Pinterest,
Springpad, Gentlemint, Juxtapost, Wookmark, Clipix, and
Fancy.

Private organizational platforms include Evernote,
Simplenote, and Catch.


Video Sharing
Web sites where commercial + non-commercial
broadcasters along with citizens post short video (usually
in a Flash-encoded format) that can be shared with friends,
commented on, tagged, and searched for based on specific
topics of interest.

Top sites include YouTube, Google Video, Yahoo! Video,
Myspace, Howcast, Vimeo, Viddler, Bing Video, Veoh,
Our Media, Miro, Crackle, Metacafe, Daily Motion, and
One World.


Video Search Engines
Given the growing volume of video on the net, the need for
search engines that can specifically search and categorize
the metadata associated with these files has evolved to help
users find more relevant content. Video posted on the net
must be properly tagged in order to be crawled by these
search engines.

Top and developing sites include: AOL Video, Google,
Blinkx, Yahoo!, Truveo, Digitalsmiths, and Clipblast.


Keeping on top of it
There are a handful of sites that can help you stay on top of
news and developments in the social media world,
including Mashable, Allfacebook, HubSpot, and Social
Media Jungle.

For the arts, there are several well-followed people worth
following, including Beth Kanter and John Haydon (for the
non-profit world) and Katie Paine (for return on
investment from public relations and social media).


Not quite social media, but...
Consumer e-mail, which can be sent out daily, weekly, or
monthly to keep your customers informed (MailChimp,
Constant Contact, Blue Sky Factory, Convio, Vertical
Response, etc.)

Online consumer surveys so you can find out more about
your customers, ask them about what they seek from you,
engage them more deeply. (SurveyGizmo, Constant
Contact, Survey Monkey, Vertical Response, etc.)


Mobile/Handheld

With the rise of cell and smart phones, citizens can also
interact with each other via text messages and mobile apps.

Apps allow users to interface with a brand’s web site and a
subset of its content to access via an iPhone, Android,
Windows, or other smart phones.


SMS Text Messages
SMS (Short Message Service) or “text” messages are a
protocol to send and deliver messages to mobile phones
and devices. Consumers can also subscribe to such
delivery systems, asking for updates, educational snippets,
or reminders.

Services for acquiring and delivering SMS messages
include g8wave, Mobilestorm, Clickatell, Message Media,
EZ Texting, etc.


QR Codes

QR Codes are small, square pieces of art (generated for
your site alone) that, when scanned with QR Code software
on a smartphone, will take the user to a web site where they
can learn more, enter a contest or sweepstakes.

It looks like...

35


A QR code in action


Some sites that are not
yet mobile ready


Some mobile ready sites


Tips on how to make your site
mobile ready

have a fast-loading site; use images sparingly

create clickable icons

don’t use Flash

have an easy to navigate site; use bullet points

avoid horizontal scrolling


Mobile Photography

With the rise of smart phones, apps have been developed that let you
take photos with your phones and add a variety of effects to the image,
so you can make it look vintage, with special effects, etc.

Top mobile photo apps include Instagram (bought by Facebook ) and
Toy Camera.


Analytics

Analytics programs help tell you where your Web site
traffic is coming from, how much time they are spending
on your site, what pages or links they are traveling to, and
if they are converting to paid customers.

Google’s Analytics is free to implement and use; other
paid services with more in-depth features exist with
WebTrends, Omniture, NetIQ, HubSpot, and Compete.


Search Engine Optimization
(SEO)
Search Engine Optimization relies on assigning that the
correct keywords are found by search engines that crawl
the site and help your site’s ranking by search engines
(Google or Bing (who also manages Yahoo! search) via
their organic or natural search results.

These results help consumers find the information they are
seeking, resulting in qualified in-bound traffic and sales,
which is becoming a cornerstone of success.


Pay Per Click (PPC)

Pay Per Click is for advertisers who purchase keywords
through Google Adwords or Bing for paid search results or
sponsored results.

These can range from pennies for words that are not
popular to many dollars for those words that are popular.
These clicks from consumers are then trackable and help
tell you which PPC campaigns are most successful.


Facebook Advertising

Facebook and other sites offer low-cost advertising that
can be targeted to users by city, state, gender, education
level, age, marital status, and interest areas.

Facebook’s ads start at a minimum of $5/day, but you
don’t have to commit to a long-run of ads.


Display Advertising
Online advertising has come into its own in the last five
years as analytics have enabled advertisers to know where,
who, and when consumers are clicking through on their
ads, greatly increasing their value in the paid media world.

Hundreds of agencies now exist to help advertisers place
ads on sites, including Boston companies such as Burst or
MRW and national companies Google, DoubleClick, and
Clickable.


Some results from social media
Greater Web site traffic
Increased customer acquisition and retention
Deeper brand engagement
Increased sales/revenue
Increased posts in the blogosphere
Collect email addresses/RSS subscriptions
Get people talking/buzzing about your product or service
Increased content contributions from citizens
Create new ways to touch customers


Thank you!

You can also find me at:

linkedin.com/in/charlesmcenerney

facebook.com/charlesmcenerney

twitter.com/wellroundedradi


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