Performing Arts and Social Media

For anyone interested in my final paper for the MBA 6800 course --

          Theater and the performing arts have been around for centuries providing entertainment to royalty and the masses alike but in the twenty-first century drawing in new audience has become a challenge for many arts companies.  With the expansion of social media over the last decade, performing arts companies are catching on to the business practice.  As most companies are non-profits the financial resources for large marketing campaigns are not always available, social media can be an affordable and effective way to engage with patrons, donors, and community members.

          Of course when it comes to social media marketing techniques, everyone has an opinion and a list of best practices to follow.  One of the more interesting lists comes from SoldOutRun.com which suggests over eighty different tactics for theatre marketing including the following:

1. Strap a GoPro camera to an actor during rehearsal for an intricate dance, fight, or flying scene and share on social media
2.   Record a video tour backstage showing how any dramatic scene changes, costume changes, or other technical elements of the show are pulled off
3.   Give people a free drink when they tweet a picture of themselves from the lobby during the show
4. Create video postcards from the cast thanking donors and VIPs

Each technique allows the performing art company to use their social media channels to promote the show, season, or other events in an interesting manner.  Is a follower more likely to attend an event where they have seen a quick tour backstage?  Does a patron tweeting for a free drink at intermission help draw in others to see the show?

          In 2012 Pew surveyed 1,244 arts organizations that received funds from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and found that a majority of participants believe that technology is "very important" to their organization, even helping to make art a more participatory experience (Mlot, 2013).  In 2011, Theatre Bay Area commissions a Social Media Audit of the over 200 arts organizations and found similar findings to the 2012 Pew survey.  Both surveys found that the most used social media platforms for arts organizations are Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube which Pew citing 99%, 74%, and 67% use respectively.  Theatre Bay Area’s research also found that “arts and cultural organizations that tweet more than four times per day and do not replicate Facebook content on their Twitter feed have more followers and a higher rate of engagement than others” and “venue pages on Yelp and Foursquare that have been claimed by an organization have more user engagement than those that have not.” (Lord, 2011). 

When looking at why arts organizations are using social media the top reason is to boost the organization’s public profile (Mlot, 2013).  And while social media can increase attendance at events and bring in more donors, many organizations are using social media “to engage, to have conversations, to make people remember your organization” (Lord, 2011).  Kristin Thomson, Pew research consultant and report co-author, said “many survey respondents reported clever ways they are using social media to not only promote their work, but also to involve audiences in programming decisions and art-making itself" (Mlot, 2013).

          Performing arts companies have welcomed in the new wave of technology with many interesting tactics including “tweet seats.”  A tweet seat is “a seat, or one of a block of seats, reserved in cinemas, theaters and sporting events for those who wish to send tweets to Twitter followers about the event while it's in progress,” according to techopedia.com (techopedia, 2016). These specially reserved seats started popping up at the end of the 2000’s predominately in the United States.  As an audience member, you can purchase a special tweet seat ticket, typically in the back of the theater where the cell phone glow will not be seen, and are able to live tweet the production you are enjoying.  This perk is meant to encourage audience interaction and to create a buzz about the company’s production (The Huffington Post, 2012).

          However, much controversy erupted in the arts community about whether tweets seats are a viable option.  Rupert Christiansen of The Telegraph refers to tweet seats as “reserved for those sad souls who simply can’t spend a nanosecond away from their smartphones and who want to send their Twitter followers a blow-by-blow account of the progress of the show” (Christiansen, 2014). He goes on further to say that many “regard this as yet another concession to barbarity and further evidence of a catastrophic decline in the etiquette of audience behavior” (Christiansen, 2014).  But it is important to remember that the way we experience theater today with dimming houselights, assigned seating is from the late Victorian era and even then there was still cat-calling allowed during productions. 

          According to a poll done by Ben Hewis in 2014 three-quarters of poll participants hate the idea of tweet seats (Hewis, 2014). This dislike for tweet seats can be seen in many comments left on articles discussing the topic.  One unhappy commenter stated, “So we spend weeks/months learning our parts, make sure each carefully perfected expression portrays exactly what we're feeling and every single move we make has a purpose...however small. THEN, as we attempt to convey our story to the audience, they look into their laps and tweet to their mates about a performance they can't even be bothered to watch. No...don't think so!!” (Netburn, 2011).  While it is understandable that audience distraction could lead to a different experience at a performance, is it not up to the discretion of the audience member to balance their engagement between Twitter and the live performance? Arts administrator Howard Sherman, former executive director of the American Theatre Wing, weighs in with “I do worry that people get so engaged in live tweeting that they miss the actual event, so while I don't oppose it, I do wonder if it undermines the experience of the event itself. But that's a matter of personal choice,” (Judkis, 2011).

          Although some find tweeting during a show a distraction, many companies are using it as an additional layer of interaction with the community.  In 2009, the Lyric Opera in Kansas one hundred tweet seats were reserved for its final performance of Gilbert and Sullivan's "HMS Pinafore.”  In these reserved seats audience members could use their phones to tweet about the production as well as follow content sent by the theater's artistic director about the production, the scenery, and whatever was happening on stage (Netburn, 2011).  The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (CSO) has taken a similar approach to their performances creating a specific hashtag for patrons who participate in the company’s tweet seats.  According to Chris Pinelo of CSO, “Basically, it functions like interactive program notes. You have an assistant or associate conductor backstage giving some insights into the music you're experiencing, and then you're able to respond, and it's like a digital conversation," (Ahmed, 2011).

          On the other hand, certain types of performance and venues find it difficult to offer tweet seats.  Smaller venues worry that audience members will be distracted by others tweeting in the intimate environment.  Metropolitan Playhouse in New York City, a three-quarter thrust state and only three rows of seats, cannot consider introducing tweet seats without thinking of the disastrous effect the glowing screens would have on the lighting design (Ahmed, 2011).  Opera companies, like the Palm Beach Opera in Florida, worry about audience “whiplash” as they divide their attention between phones, the actors, and the supertitles projected above the stage providing translations for shows performed in other languages (Ahmed, 2011).  

          Others have found an alternative use for audience engagement during a show, “Twittermission.”  The Huntington Theatre in Boston has introduced Twittermissions where artists, designers, stage managers, or other faces behind-the-scenes will field questions from the audience and answer them in real-time during intermission (Dunn, 2013).  This practice allows for audience engagement without the disruption that can be caused by tweeting during the show.  Huntington Theatre also projects the Twitter feed in the lobby during intermission (The Associated Press, 2013).  By projecting the tweets in the lobby it increases the visibility of the social interaction.  While mingling in the lobby, those without Twitter accounts are able to follow along with the discussion and learn any insider information an artist might be sharing while those with Twitter accounts have an added thrill of seeing what they have posted on the big screen.

          Beyond tweeting before, during, and after performances, performing arts companies have also introduced social media takeover days sometimes tagged as #TakeoverTuesday.   The most popularly used social media platform for takeover days is Instagram with photos being pushed over to Facebook, Twitter, and other sites, like the company’s blog page.  As a marketing technique, takeovers allow a company to broaden its reach by letting another user take over the account, providing followers with new content and possibly expand the company’s audience thanks to the guest user.  In many theatres, the star of the show or lead actors will take over the theatre company’s account for a day posting about their day leading up to the show, getting ready, and maybe one or two images form backstage during the performance.  In the image to the left, Amanda Jane Cooper, performing as Glinda in the national tour of Wicked, posted a recap of her #InstagramTakeover for the Segerstrom Center for the Arts account.  Her followers have now been exposed to the @segerstromarts account and may follow it, expanding the theatre company’s audience reach. 

          As stated on the TheatreMama blog, “Takeovers are perfect for theatre, because it is essentially changing the perspective of the storytelling” (theatreMAMA, 2016).  Companies are able to give a glimpse on the behind-the-scenes side of theatre that many patrons do not know about.  For a young person interested in pursuing a career in theatre, these small looks into the life of an actor or other member of the theatre community can be extremely valuable.  It can also open up the dialogue by commenting on the images wanting to learn more about the person, the company, and the art.  For theatre-goers, a takeover may pique the interest of some to attend a show they may not otherwise go to.  While a takeover day may seem like a supplement to other social media marketing campaigns, it can be an important one to the audience and community around a certain show or theatre.

          Regardless of the social media platform chosen, a performing arts company can benefit from the technology.  While in business it may be more apropos to sell, sell, sell, in the arts world audience engagement and development are key.  Ticket sales are of course important and a possible way to measure the impact of a social media marketing campaign, it is not the only reason to be part of a social media platform.  Engaging in conversations, posting interesting content, and other tactics as mentioned previously will entice users to follow a company’s media and see a production or even donate.  When a company is deciding where to spend their time (and money) on social marketing, Facebook and Twitter are the winners, but not the only options.  Each company should use what works for them as long as they are engaging with their community. 

  

Works Cited

Ahmed, B. (2011, 12 12). 'Tweet Seats' Come To Theaters, But Can Patrons Plug In Without Tuning Out? Retrieved from NPR: http://www.npr.org/sections/monkeysee/2011/12/12/143576328/tweet-seats-come-to-theaters-but-can-patrons-plug-in-without-tuning-out

Christiansen, R. (2014, 10 17). Why theatre seats for Twitter junkies is a #goodidea. Retrieved from The Telegraph: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturenews/11169040/Why-theatre-seats-for-Twitter-junkies-is-a-goodidea.html

Dunn, T. (2013, 1 28). INTRODUCING: #TWITTERMISSION. Retrieved from Huntington Theatre Company: http://www.huntingtontheatre.org/blog/Thoms-Blog/Dates/2013/1/Introducing-Twittermission/

Hewis, B. (2014, 9 11). What are your views on 'Tweet Seats'? Retrieved from What's On Stage: http://www.whatsonstage.com/london-theatre/news/tweet-seats-poll_35673.html

Judkis, M. (2011, 12 05). Theater “tweet seats”: Good idea, or bad etiquette? Retrieved from The Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/arts-post/post/theater-tweet-seats-good-idea-or-bad-etiquette/2011/12/05/gIQAODTcWO_blog.html

Kanter, B. (2010). Social Media and the Performing Arts: Engagement First, Ticket Sales Second. Retrieved from Beth's Blog: Nonprofits and Social Media: http://beth.typepad.com/beths_blog/2009/10/social-media-and-the-performing-arts-engagement-first-ticket-sales-second-2.html

Lord, C. (2011, 6 14). Social Media and the Arts: a groundbreaking new study. Retrieved from Arts Jounral: http://www.artsjournal.com/newbeans/2011/06/social-media-and-the-arts-a-groundbreaking-new-study.html

Mlot, S. (2013, 1 4). Social Media Helps Boost the Arts, But at What Cost? Retrieved from PC Mag: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2413832,00.asp

Netburn, D. (2011, 12 6). Theaters set aside tweet seats for Twitter users. Retrieved from Los Angeles Times: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2011/12/theaters-tweet-seats-twitter.html

Sold Out Run. (2016). The Big List of Theatre Marketing Tactics. Retrieved from Sold Out Run: http://soldoutrun.com/theatre-marketing-tactics/

techopedia. (2016). What is a Tweet Seat? - Definition from Techopedia. Retrieved from Techopedia: https://www.techopedia.com/definition/28507/tweet-seat

The Associated Press. (2013, 1 27). Providence theater experiments with 'tweet seats'. Retrieved from The Associated Press: http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2013/01/27/theater-tweet-seats/1868693/

The Huffington Post. (2012, 12 28). Minnesota Theater Offers ‘Tweet Seats’ To Smartphone Addicts. Retrieved from The Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/28/theater-offers-tweet-seats-to-smart-phone-addicts_n_2375447.html

theatreMAMA. (2016). Follow Me: Are Instagram Takeovers Good Business for Broadaway? Retrieved from theatreMAMA: http://theatremama.com/follow-me-are-instagram-takeovers-good-business-for-broadway/

Wrap Up

Thank you for following along my blog this summer! As a reminder this blog has been dedicated to my online summer course MBA 6800 Special Topics - Social Media.

Over the course of the last six weeks while reviewing many different social media platforms I have learned a great deal about how businesses can utilize each as well as a little bit of the history for each site.  Most surprising for me is how old many of the platforms are in comparison to when I personally began using them seriously.  I also found that for almost all of these social media platforms for a business to be successful, the company needs to post interesting content and/or pay for ads.

Moving forward I now have a better understanding of where businesses should focus their time and energy when they participate in social media.  As the VP of Marketing and Communications for the Women in Business Leadership organization on BGSU's campus I now have a whole arsenal of new ideas and uses for social media for next year.  Since I only have so much time for this organization I will likely stay to only a few media sites, namely Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.  It would be interesting to add others, but for the content needed to run other sites like LinkedIn or Snapchat may be more difficult to generate. Something to keep in mind as I move forward and begin generating content for the organization this school year.

Again thank you for reading! Happy summer to you!

pinterest ponderings

Pinterest is a photo sharing web and mobile application. Users can upload, save, sort, and manage images (known as pins) and other media content like videos through collections known as pinboards. Pinboards are typically organized around a common theme or topic.  Pinterest was launched in 2010 and was an invite only platform.  In 2012 you no longer needed an invitation to join and the mobile apps were launched. Nowadays, businesses can also sign up for their own Pinterest page to begin sharing pins and creating pinboards.

Pinterest offers businesses a unique demographic as 79% of Pinterest users are female and a majority of users are between 24-34 years old.  According to the article, 10 Amazing Facts About Pinterest Marketing That Will Surprise You, "The beauty about Pinterest ads is that they don’t look like ads. They aren’t treated as ads either. Pinterest users are smart and shun any blatant advertising. Retailers acknowledge this and adapted to the artsy look of the platform, doing away with traditional advertising and just hinged on the viral ability of the photos."  Pinterest allows for some creativity in marketing by adapting to the style of pinterest to share your businesses products with consumers.

According to Jim Dougherty on Cision.com, the most pinned categories are Food & Drink, DIY & Crafts, Home Décor, and Holidays & Events while the most browsed categories are Food & Drink, DIY & Crafts, Home Décor, and the user's home feed.  Jim also mentioned that Millennials use Pinterest as much as Instagram and that Pinterest is one of the fastest growing social platforms among millennials. On the other hand, Jim found that Europe has been slow to adopt Pinterest
Europe with only 8 percent of European Internet users having a Pinterest account.

Additionally, Ashley Zeckman from Search Engine Watch found that the the top domains ranked by number of repins include: Etsy.com, Urbanoutfitters.com, Williams-sonoma.com, Westelm.com, Reykjavikcornerstore.com, Poketo.com, and Brides.com.  She notes that "Etsy is the clear dominator of the number of repins by site. Surprisingly, only 8 percent of the total pins are coming directly from Etsy. A whopping 67 percent are pinned using the Pinterest bookmarklet." Looking at William-Sonoma's page there are a variety of different boards showcasing products and recipes. Each board looks appealing and gives the user a lot of great topics to dive into.

When looking up tips for businesses for market using Pinterest I came across Kevan Lee's article We Tried All the Best Pinterest Marketing Tips. Here’s What Worked. This article looks at the best tips, shown in the image to the right and which work and which didn't. What was found? Below are some of the interesting findings.

• Schedule your pins, having 5 to 30 pins posted each day
• Use Rich Pins -- Article, Product, Recipe, Movie, and Place pins 
• Vertical images work best with the best aspect ratio for Pinterest images is 2:3 or 1:3.5, with a minimum width of 600 pixels.
• Write better descriptions -- 100 words or fewer, use keywords, be positive, no hashtags is better, use shortened buff.ly links, and no promotional or "buy now" shout outs
• Create pins with text on them -- use programs like Photoshop or Gimp or an online tool like Canva to add text overlay on images. 

As for my experience, I have been using interest on and off since 2012. My Pinterest page is a like many other female users featuring recipes, inspirational quotes, crafting/DIY projects, and many boards for planning my wedding. In 2012 I mostly used Pinterest as a way to see funny photos and recipes. Over the course of the four years my tastes have changed and so new boards pop up like cross-stitching.  Last year as I was planning my wedding I made a number of wedding boards to keep ideas sorted.  For example, I made a board called Wedding Photo Samples to share with my photographer of possible shots to take during the day. In terms of interacting with businesses, I have not done a lot of it, or at least to my knowledge.  I do not follow a lot of large business companies, but do repin cute outfits or delicious looking recipes that likely began at a business. After learning more about businesses in Pinterest I will definitely keep an eye out to see how large companies implement the tips and tricks described above. 

instagram impressions

Instagram is an online mobile photo and video sharing social networking service that allows the user to post privately or publically on the app as well as push them to a variety of other social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Swarm, and Flickr.  Instagram was first launched in October 2010 with the app only allowing users to post in 4:3 ratio. In 2011, hashtags were introduced to help users find specific topics more easily. Facebook acquired Instagram in April 2012. With an update in August 2015, users can now post any ratio photo as well as 15 second videos.

Many of the facts listed on the image to the left businesses should consider using to improve their Instagram page. Photos are more engaging than videos and photos with faces will get more likes then without.  The use of at least one hashtag increases the amount of engagement for the post. Posts with a location tag also perform better.  Posting daily is also listed as a key to success. All actions businesses should keep in mind when uploading content to Instagram. Ideally a company should post an image with a hashtag and location every day, even better if the image includes someone's face.

Not sure where to start? Instagram has a help site for businesses which includes tips on how to get started, inspiration, advertising, and brand resources.  To get started, Instagram reminds business users to have a profile picture that represents the brand, interact in the community by commenting and liking, use tagging to your advantage by tagging other users or locations as well as including hashtags. The inspiration page, showcases users to follow and what they do well on their pages as well as popular hashtags to watch. To advertise with Instagram, there are three options available: photo ads, video ads, or carousel ads.  Carousel ads allows users to swipe through additional images and reach a call to action button which takes them to a website to learn more. Brand resources page showcases the Instagram brand logos and guidelines.

Outside of Instagram itself, there are many other articles that can help a business make the most of their instagram page.  How To Use Instagram For Business: A Beginner’s Guide provides a 5 best practices list for business which includes: The unique qualities of your brand’s audience are still important on Instagram, Tell a story with your caption, Instagram is a great platform for contests, Consider collaborating with a popular Instagrammer or influencer in your field or industry, and Instagram is progressively rolling out its advertising platform. The most interesting to me is the idea of using Instagram for contest.  "Contests can ask users to comment on your photo, share it, mention a certain number of friends, or even share their own photo with a specific hashtag." Don't worry about borrowing users, many expect to see contest.  Once you set up a contest on your page, don't forget to track the analytics and see how it benefits your brand!

I began using Instagram in January 2015 which feels very late after learning the history of the app. I follow many friends, a few celebrities, nonprofits and causes I am interested in, and very few businesses.  As with many other social media networks, I find businesses to be more annoying then they are worth. However, if you consider nonprofits as businesses I do follow many such as @RotaryInternational. Rotary International (RI) does a great job following many of the tips and tricks mentioned above.  RI posts mostly images with many hashtags and provides the user tags for who took the photo or who is in the photo.  RI also does a great job of commenting back on posts and engaging in the Rotary community of clubs and Rotarians. The photos are always high quality, tell a story, and are visually appealing.  While not a business trying to sell a product, Rotary International is trying to attract new members and donors and a great social media campaign can help accomplish this tasks.

One downside to Instagram is that it is a mobile app, meaning you can only post from a mobile device. For some businesses this could be problematic depending on the content you wish to post and who runs the platform for your company.  There are some websites and downloadable computer applications that can assist with posting from your laptop, Instagram is a mobile app.  One option that works for both iOS and Windows is Gramblr.  Another potential headache for businesses using Instagram is that many third party apps are not allowed to post to Instagram, such as Hootsuite cannot auto-post to Instagram but instead can help prep a post for you that you will need to upload yourself. While potential headaches, these small issues can be overcome for a great way to engage with consumers.

snapchat scrutinized

Snapchat is an image messaging and multimedia mobile application created in 2011. Created by two college students, Snapchat was created as a way to communicate using images that were explicitly short-lived according to Wikipedia. Snapchat has gone over many changes since it's inception allowing users to now share messaging as well as images.

After reviewing a number of articles including The Quick Guide to Using Snapchat for Business in 2016, 5 Ways to Use Snapchat for Business, How To Use Snapchat: A Small Business Guide, there are a number of ways for businesses to use Snapchat. A few ways that businesses can engage with consumers on Snapchat are as follows:

• Go Behind the Scenes. Snapchat allows businesses to film 10 second videos or post images that would not be broadcast otherwise. Many sports networks and teams are posting warm up, locker room, and other behind the scenes images that would not normally be available to the public. For many businesses, this can be a chance to reveal some of the magic that goes into the creation of the product or allow a look into the lives of the people performing the service. 
• Access to Live Events. Not every company is broadcast on tv or the internet, anyone is able to provide a live look at their event via Snapchat for 24 hours.  Maybe your company is hosting a gala event and wants to highlight certain points of the evening, Snapchat can allow you to do so!
• Special Offers.  According to the Social Media Examiner, "you could offer promo codes or discounts to the fans who watch your entire Snapchat story, or ask them to take a snap while holding your product."  The followers of the business could take a screenshot of the promo code and bring it in for a discount helping to get customers in the door. This is a great way to allow for customer engagement with your business and product. 
• For example, I follow BGStudents on Snapchat and recently they posted about free popsicles on campus in their story and then featured people enjoying the popsicles. 
• Tell a Story.  Consumers are more likely to remember a great story then just random photos. Since Snapchat includes video, a business has 10 seconds clips to string together and make a story, whether the story is any of the above ideas or something different.

For businesses it's also important to keep a couple of other ideas in mind.  First, keep the content PG, you never know who is on Snapchat these days and a number of young teens may be following you.  While other social medias may allow for crude humor, as a business try to keep it clean.  Second, it can be difficult to add followers as the consumer needs to know your handle and follow you.  One suggestion on adding followers is to include your Snapchat QR code on your website, flyers, and other distributions so people are aware of your account. An example of the snapchat QR code (my personal account) can be seen to the left.  Feel free to follow, many updates from my travels around France currently.

Personally, I did not begin using Snapchat until just over a year ago as a way to stay in touch with friends all over the world.  I mostly follow friends, a few local news outlets, and campus groups, like BGStudents.  Otherwise I am not actively following any large company or business. However, if I knew that there were special offers I could be accessing by following a certain company I may consider following them.  But, if they are not providing me with interesting videos and pictures I will likely unfollow them as to not waste my time on their story.

UPDATE (6/20/16) Over the weekend I attended the Le Mans 24 Hour race and there were posters (as shown on the right) around the entrance of the track informing attendees to follow the Ford Story Snapchat story. While waiting in line to get to the track you could take a picture of their QR code and beginning interacting with Ford's story. I decided to follow them and enjoyed some behind the scenes looks at the race, but will likely unfollow the account now that the race is over.

facebook findings

Facebook is one of the largest social media networks available to businesses today with more than 1.6 billion users around the globe. From it's original creation as Facemash, an online "face book" or photo directory for college students, the company now called Facebook has come a long way allowing anyone over the age of 13 to create a pages. Today, 50% of 18-24 year olds checking Facebook when they wake up and every second five new profiles are added.

As a business using Facebook, there are many resources and helpful tips to keep in mind. Facebook offers a variety of sites to assist with running an account and tips on how to post as references for businesses.  Beyond Facebook itself, many blogs and news sites provide helpful information.  Some of the articles that could be helpful to a business working to make their Facebook business page better are 5 Content Tips For Your Facebook Business Page, 4 Facebook Business Page Tips That Are Total No-Brainers, 10 Advanced Facebook Tips and Tricks, and 6 Small Business Facebook Posts: Critiqued with Tips for You. From these articles some of the best tips and tricks include:

• Use Images but Be Strategic.  It's important to have a great profile picture and banner (kudos if they mesh into each other like Corona's) so the users can recognize your brand.  Posts including photos are twice as engaging as text or links so choose the photo wisely and consider showcasing happy customers.  And remember to make it easy for the consumer to share their photos back by uploading to your page or sharing with a specific hashtag.
• Experiment with the Time of Day.  When starting out post at different times and track the engagement.  While most 18-24 year olds check first thing in the morning, other demographics check might check later in the day or at lunch. Figure out when your businesses target market is on Facebook and post accordingly. 
• Buy Facebook Ads. If your company has the financial resources, Facebook ads provide your business with exposure to more users.  Ads can be targeted to specific groups of people to aid in engagement and retention of new likes. Post Planner suggests to "treat your Facebook ad budget as you would a utility bill -- a necessary cost of doing business!"
• Offer Value.  Like any social media platform, a business needs to offer value to the user. Interesting content that is not too lengthy is a great start.  Try a monthly feature or even a new pinned post each week.  Perhaps showcase a special coupon for your followers to bring with them the next time they visit your business. 

From my use of Facebook, the businesses I follow are typically nonprofits, small businesses, education, or sports related.  I do not follow many large companies like Target or Owens-Illinois.  Instead I want to see what local businesses like Grounds for Thoughts has happening or what news articles Rotary International is posting about this week.  Large businesses for me are often a turn off as they often seem to be pushing their products at the consumer instead of engaging in conversation.  Which is not to say some large companies don't provide a human side. For example, some businesses use Facebook as their customer service page allowing for discussion on things that have gone or need improving.

As someone who runs a Facebook page for an organization, generating intriguing content can be a difficult task.  The time of day, whether the post is text only or includes a photo, if there are hashtags or not, can all affect the visibility and effectiveness of the post.  As a Facebook page administrator, there are many insightful analytics provided to help a company see where to adjust their strategy.  For the Women in Business Leadership page, I am able to see which posts are most engaging by reach or views and adjust accordingly.  Since it is summer and students are not as engaged with the page many of the statistics are a little sad this month, but I am confident come September the page will be showing growth and great engagement!

reddit reflections

Reddit is an entertainment, social news networking service, and news website created by community members who submit content, such as text posts or direct links, according to Wikipedia. Users register for a free account and become part of the community and are able to vote and comment on previous submissions as well as submitted links and other content. Reddits topics are broken down into subreddits or topic categories and anyone is able to make a new topic.  Subreddits act as forums where people can post about topics of interest with others. Reddit's most popular subreddit or "claim to fame" are AMAs (Ask Me Anything) and IAMAs (I Am A) where users can interact similar to a press conference, but online, by commenting questions and answers.

But how could a business get involved in Reddit? And do so effectively?  Luckily there are many resources available to businesses looking to start out on Reddit.  A few articles that I referenced include: 4 Great Ways to Use Reddit for Your Business, 6 Ways to Use Reddit to Grow Your Business, The Marketer’s Guide to Reddit, and The Ultimate Guide to Using Reddit for Marketing Your Business. Another resource for learning about using Reddit is Reddit itself, there is a thread How do you use reddit to promote your business? where users have discussed this topic. From these sites the biggest hints for successfully marketing your business on Reddit include:

• Create a Network or Community.  Businesses can create their own corner of Reddit devoted to their product or industry.  In order to draw users you, the business needs to provide interesting content. Utilize subreddits related to your business topic.
• Content Suggestions. Allow users to make suggestions for changes in the business, new products/service, or other topics. Hold an AMA or interview members of the business executive team. Post visual content such as photos and videos. Calendar or important dates for your business. 
• Drive traffic to your business's website. Share blog posts or other information from your website.  Provide interesting content from the business website not just company updates. Be wary of just dropping your web address in every post, you could get marked as spam. It all comes back to creating interesting content, not just posting to post. 
• Customer Service. Reddit allows businesses to set up a forum to discuss customer service issues whether by resolving the issue or pointing users to the correct resource. Users can help each other answer questions or the business can step in when there is a larger problem needing to be addressed. 

In addition to acting as a user, businesses can participate in Reddit Advertising.  This allows businesses to create ads to reach more users of Reddit.  An easy to use platform is provided to upload content for an ad, select target markets, and schedule when the ad appears.  Of course there is a cost to placing an ad but for larger businesses the cost may be worth the reach of the ad. When creating an ad Reddit provides many help resource to walk a company through what is needed to post an ad. Reddit also provides information on the traffic to your ad, specifically data on impressions and clicks.

As a consumer, Reddit is one of the last social media sites that I use.  The idea of voting up and down conversations drives me crazy and I find the layout of content difficult to read.  Additionally, having to open new tabs for comments and the article or content itself and then having to close out or go back to get to the original thread makes me crazy.  I prefer scrolling through content and comments all in one view not in a new tab for each, which is why I prefer Tumblr. There are just too many things to click on that open new tabs which makes it take more effort to get through content for me.  While I see the appeal for some and for a business to be part of the communities available, I prefer other medias over Reddit.

prezi possiblities

Prezi is a cloud-based presentation software based on a software as a service model, according to Wikipedia. Prezi has four user levels, the Public or free version, Enjoy, Pro, and Prop Plus.  Each level has added features such as making presentations private, offline service, amount of storage and more.  Prezi features a zooming user interface (ZUI), which allows users to zoom in and out of their presentation media as well as navigate through information in a variety of dimensions.

Prezi provides individuals with an alternative to PowerPoint and Google Slides for their presentation needs. There are many proponents for choosing Prezi over others including Clare Sutton who wrote an article 5 Reasons to Use Prezi Rather Than PowerPoint written in 2014.  In this article, the reasoning to use Prezi include the following:

• More dynamic and captivating
• Better suited for the digital age
• Cloud based 
• Audience gets a better presentation overview
• Over 40 million people are using it

Since this article is a couple years old it should be noted that PowerPoint and Microsoft Office now offer cloud based storage as well. However, Prezi still has other presentation services beat with its "dynamic and captivating" style.  

For some examples of what Prezi can do for you or any business, check out PreziBlog's 6 Best Prezis of 2015! This list of Best Prezi's highlights the best overall design and the best in business as well as a few other categories.  These Prezi's all utilize the zooming and panning features extremely well and include great graphics.

Businesses can learn from these "Best of's" and strive to include similar features for their business pitches or other presentations. Prezi's website offers helpful hints and tips including a series of workshops a series of videos and training sessions.  Spending a little extra time learning about a new presentation software could help any business stand out when pitching new ideas.

As for being social media, Prezi allows for up to ten users to work on the presentation in different sections at the same time, which Prezi refers to as co-editing.  Here is a helpful video for anyone interested in trying it out. With Prezi you can work as a group from one version eliminating the confusion of multiple drafts.  It is also stored in the cloud so you can access it from anywhere there is internet. Prezi also allows you to "present as a team, remotely handing over the lead to anyone, anywhere" which sounds like an excellent feature for global businesses.

My use of Prezi for presentations has been limited.  I tried to use the product once in 2012 according to my dashboard on the site, but ended up abandoning the presentation halfway through due to a time constraint.  As I recall, it took me a lot of time to set up a visually appealing template and presentation and I had other items to attend to while in my undergraduate studies then creating a dynamic presentation.  In my graduate career, I had forgotten about Prezi and trying to use it again. Perhaps if I took the time to set up an easy to use template for myself I might be more inclined to use the platform for presentations. Admittedly it has been four years since my last use and likely the site has worked out many bugs and issues since my original attempt.  Prezi is definitley something to think about as the next round of group projects approaches. 

tumblr teachings

Tumblr, created in 2007, is a microblogging platform and social networking website now owned by Yahoo!. Tumblr hosts over 290 million blogs and has over 555 million monthly visitors according to wikipedia.com. Tumblr is a popular media for teens and college aged students with most users under 25 years old. Users on the site follow others and see those blog posting on their dashboard.  Users are able to tag their postings and queue them for future postings.  Tumblr allows users to post images, gifs, links, chats, quotes, text, videos, and audio as well as send chat messages to one another privately.

For businesses, the best way to get your content in front of the users is through sponsored posts.  While businesses and brands can generate their own content, users have to follow these businesses to see the post or follow someone who has reposted the content.  With a sponsored post, the video or image will appear for a large portion of users without them following the company. Tumblr also provides a lot of data back to the companies to assist in their marketing including analytics and case studies.

As a user of Tumblr, I very rarely follow big businesses such as Coca-Cola or similar.  Most of the blogs I follow are random people who share a common interest with me such as theatre, cross stitching, favorite television shows, political movements I am interested in, similar health issues, grad school students, librarians, people I know, and other random ones.  The businesses I follow would include companies like Buzzfeed, NPR, the National Park Services, Broadway.com, some Etsy shop owners, and some television shows run by the actual company like Food Network.

Most of the businesses that I follow are pushing content from their home websites onto tumblr. For example, NPR often posts article thumbnail and headlines as their tumblr posts.  On occasion they will post longer content such as the entire article with pictures or reblog what someone else has written with an added comment.  For some businesses this is the best use of tumblr.  For bigger businesses with money it is better to buy the sponsorship and have more direct advertising.  For example, Game of War which has a short video of the game being advertised as a sponsored post. Some companies like Nike or Starbucks will even do a Sponsored Day where they are the only sponsored ad that will come up on tumblr that day.

The trick for the businesses is to generate content that is interesting enough that someone will want to reblog.  If a post is reblogged it will stay on that user's blog until deleted, which creates a catch-22.  Content must be able to last a long time as it could be reblogged around the internet for months if not years.  If your company posts about a specific product and provides a link and that gets reblogged for months, the consumer will want to be able to click the link and still buy the product not find a dead end or no webpage. You don't want to make potential customers upset by not having working links.

Personally, I try to keep my dashboard free from "purchase me" postings and stick to the companies that are generating interesting content such as news articles or stunning photos.  Often I will even unfollow others if they begin posting too much about "buy this" or "buy that." But I could be far from the norm as I am an older user to the site and maybe those younger than me really are using tumblr to purchase products.  For larger companies that can afford the sponsored posts, it is a great way to keep the name in front of an audience since it cannot be deleted just scrolled past. For individuals looking for a quick and easy blogging site mostly made up of photos, tumblr is something you should check out. For businesses, I am not sold it is something worth the time and money for marketing your product, perhaps just keeping your brand in a positive light.

linkedin lessons

LinkedIn is a business oriented social media platform.  Created in late 2002, LinkedIn has been a resource for job seekers and employers for well over a decade to provide a place for professional networking online. LinkedIn is now available in more than 200 countries, 24 languages and has over 400 million users according to wikipedia.com.  Throughout the company's history, LinkedIn has acquired 16 other sites to make their site better and add new features.

LinkedIn provides a number of services depending on what side of the business scale you fall on. For job seekers and employees there are numerous advice columns and blogs about how to make the best most hirer-able profile.  Forbes.com offers hints like make a findable and visually appealing profile, use linkedin to showcase what doesn't fit on your resume, strategically connect with others, snoop once you have a valuable network, and stay active on the site.  Most recommendations follow this same idea, be professional, connect wisely, stay current, and be professional.  LinkedIn provides a place for individuals to make contact with potential future employers before they are looking for a job and for job seekers to have one more place to turn during the job hunt.

On the other end of the spectrum, employers and recruiters have their own advice blogs to listen to.  Companies can create their own unique page to represent their brand in an appealing way to attract job seekers. Recruiters for the companies can also have their own individual pages to build a network of future employees for their current company as well as their own personal network.  Companies are recommended to post updates about what it happening to keep the audience interested and coming back to their page.  If you can post interesting articles or updates on activities within the company, it is likely more people will pay attention and be interested. It is also important that companies provide details on their product and services as well as reviews.  This helps create klout for the company and extend the brand image in a (hopefully) positive way.

LinkedIn provides a lot of great resources for those just starting out and those with questions on how to improve their page.  From small businesses to the largest in the world, LinkedIn can help them all create strong networks to assist with hiring and business to business interactions.  The image to the left provides a list of some of the FAQ's LinkedIn provides to help businesses use the services provided.

I have been a part of LinkedIn since about 2011 or 2012 and have used it as my "website" when applying to jobs as it gives a little more detail than my resume provides. Over the years I have experimented with layout and order of contents as well as what jobs I highlight or hide.  Currently, my page is in a weird middle ground between the theatre world and the business world as I try to make each job relevant to the other and my career aspirations. It may not be the best page, but it has gotten me a consulting job for Creative Conners the automation company I have worked with before to assist others in the region with programing or other questions.

As I have not worked at a company where I have had access to the company page I am curious to see how different if at all it is from the generic users page.  I would be curious to know what the time commitment is to the LinkedIn page typically by a company to maintain and post updates and how it compares to other sites.

Overall, LinkedIn provides an excellent way for businesses and individuals to network with one another in a professional environment away from pictures of cats, kids, and food that is prevalent on other social media platforms.  In the business world it is highly recommended that everyone have their own personal page as it is an easy way for recruiters to find you and evaluate your qualifications.  As employable people it is important to keep your page up to date and appealing. For businesses the same is very true with the added task of keeping job listings current and present on the page.

google drive gets described

Google Drive is a cloud based storage system created by Google that allows users to store, share, and edit files with collaborators. Google Drive includes Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Google Slides which are the online Google equivalent of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint respectively. Google Drive allows users to create documents, invite others to collaborate with them on a single document all at the same time, save items in the cloud storage, and edit documents created in Word, Excel, or PowerPoint online easily.

I began using Google Drive since the beginning of it's inception in 2012 for projects in my undergraduate career.  At the time many of the features that Microsoft had on their versions were not yet available on Google's and it created quite the disputes among my classmates when trying to work on projects.  For example, many of the formulas you use in Excel did not exist at the beginning of Google Sheets, they had to be added over time.

For businesses, Google Drive offers a special version just for businesses. When Google Drive for Work first came out in June 2014, many were concerned about what it would mean for businesses. According to an article on readwrite.com, companies need to be careful of what they upload because of intellectual property laws surrounding hosting files on cloud services and who retains the rights to the documents. What makes Google Drive for Work so special based on the wikipedia article is that it "features unlimited storage, advanced file audit reporting and eDiscovery services, along with what Google calls "new fine-grained controls that let admins customize the Drive experience, such as which employees can install the desktop sync client". Users can upload files as large as 5 TB. For companies with less than 5 users, the storage limit is fixed to 1 TB per user. A press release posted on Google's Official Enterprise Blog assured businesses that Google will encrypt data stored on its servers, as well as information being transmitted to or from them. Google will deliver round-the-clock support to premium users and has guaranteed 99.9% uptime for its servers."

However, Google Drive is not your only option when it comes to cloud storage options. Many users are also turning to Dropbox, Amazon Cloud, Box, Apple iCloud, and many more. Each of these alternative comes with their own pros and cons.  It is up to the user or the company to decide what is best for them and their needs. The biggest issue around many of these cloud services is who owns the content and can the service "steal" the ideas that have been uploaded or stored there by users.

The nice thing about Google Drive compared to some of the other services is that it allows you to edit the documents online without downloading and reuploading. Additionally, multiple users can be editing a single document at the same time.  This can come in handy when working on group projects in the classroom or in the business world.  You can even have multiple users working on the same document without all being logged into their respective Google accounts. As the image shows, Google will identify each participant with an animal character to distinguish who is editing where.  I particularly enjoy the fact that one was a chupacabra.

Overall, Google Drive is a great way to bring many people together over creating and editing documents.  Logged in or not, anyone can be granted access to the Google Doc, Sheet, or Slide via an email or given access address once the document is created.  Google Drive is also a great cloud storage device that allows the average user 15 GB of storage for all types of files. When collaborating on a project or all needing to look at one document while it is edited, Google Drive makes it easy.

twitter thoughts

Twitter is an online social networking service that allows users to send and read short 140-character messages (which can include photos, links, gifs, or text only) called tweets. You do not need a twitter account to read messages of other users but need to register if you wish to publish your own tweets. Twitter was created in 2006 and has over 500 million users with 332 million actively tweeting as of May 2015. Twitter allows users to retweet or repost what others have tweeted to your own twitter feed. You can also “like” or favorite the tweets of others which complies into a list on your page. 

Twitter, like many other social media networks, has a strong presences of hashtags (#) within the 140-characters to group topics together. According to the Wikipedia.com article on Twitter, “San Antonio-based market-research firm Pear Analytics analyzed 2,000 tweets (originating from the United States and in English) over a two-week period in August 2009 from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm (CST) and separated them into six categories: Pointless babble – 40%, Conversational – 38%, Pass-along value – 9%, Self-promotion – 6%, Spam – 4%, News – 4%. ”  This data can be seen in the graph to the right.

I find it interesting to note that the most likely reason for a tweet is pointless babble as this is not what a business would want to use Twitter for.  It is hard for me to figure out what category businesses might fall into.  My first insticnt is to say Spam as that is often what I think businesses are really doing although they are more likely under self-promotion or news, depending on what they are tweeting. Business could also be part of the conversational piece of the pie when they are dealing with customer service issues or speaking directly with a customer rather than just adding their latest ad to the mix of babble on Twitter.

From a consumer end there are many great ways to use twitter, namely to complain when something goes wrong. When things go wrong the first thing people want to do is complain and twitter gives people that opportunity with the probable chance the company will respond within a day to make it better. This has been true for me with a number of companies including my cable/internet providers, Fitbit, and even Creative Conners. When working at Long Wharf Theatre we had a show with an automated turntable as part of the set. Creative Conners is the company that made the software and automation equipment we were using. During the technical rehearsal process we were having some trouble so I jumped on twitter to contact the company to help us trouble shoot. As displayed they offered some assistance in a very timely manner greatly aiding in our process.

Twitter has allowed companies a new way of completing customer service. Many companies have added secondary accounts that are strictly customer service help lines. For example, Travelocity has two twitter feeds, @Travelocity and @TravelocityHelp. The help account is specifically towards helping those who are having problems or who have had problems. The company responds to those that have tweeted at them specifically and even those that just use the company name. Depending on what the problem is the company can offer an apology or assistance with resolving the problem, most often by switching the to Direct Messaging (DM) service. As consumers we should also remember to thank companies for their excellent service, not just crush them with complaints.

From a business to business perspective, Twitter can be a useful way for a business to see what is happening in their industry or in the markets their business effects. It has been said that Twitter messages can travel faster than earthquakes and other breaking news.  This can be very useful to businesses as if your product or immediate supply chain is impacted by the earthquake you can begin responding quickly having heard the news from Twitter.  A business could also use Twitter to pose a question to the great unknown for finding alternative suppliers or other resources affected by the disaster.  The immediacy of Twitter can be a great advantage to users who have a strong network. While many feel they need lots of followers sometimes it is better to know a few users really well rather than barely know anyone.  For businesses, this strategy of knowing who you follow and who follows you could help during a disaster.

foursquare facts

Foursquare is a mobile app that allows users to search, rate, and review local businesses. The service was created in 2008 and launched in 2009. In its original conception users were able to "check in" to the business/ location they were at and broadcast it to their friends/followers along with finding new places to visit. During the summer of 2014, Foursquare decided to revamp itself and created a companion app called Swarm. Swarm became the check in app and Foursquare the searching and reviewing app. You can now move easily between the two, starting by looking up restaurants near you on Foursquare and then pushing over to Swarm to check in when you have arrived at your destination. Each app has a button to push to the other app.

I have used Foursquare for over five years now and Swarm for the last two years. In the beginning businesses were able to give special discounts to those that had checked in and showed the discount code when checking out. For example, at Chili's if you checked in you received free chips and salsa with your meal. Other businesses have a percent off or their own freebie of some sort. The original Foursquare app would highlight the businesses having discounts to make it easy for consumers to find good deals. When the split came this disappeared. Foursquare also provided users with the ability to collect Mayorships of locations by checking in the most over the course of the month. This feature is now part of Swarm. Users of Swarm are also enticed with digital stickers and gold coins these days.

Businesses can use Foursquare in a variety of ways these days. Businesses are able to "claim" their listing which gives them access to various information and can allow the business to monitor reviews of their company and address any issues. They can also select what services to highlight (take credit cards, outdoor seating, etc), hours, menus and more allowing customers more information before they make a decision. Businesses can also use Foursquare to track peak traffic hours based on the number of check ins. According to wikipedia, "Claiming a venue can be done for free via mail which takes several weeks to process, or instantly with a credit card for a fee. In January 2013, Foursquare released 'Foursquare for Business', a mobile app that lets businesses manage their listing on Foursquare from their iOS device."
 For consumers, Foursquare operates mostly as a mobile site but there is a normal site available as well at https://foursquare.com/. Either way that you connect to the media, Foursquare allows users to search for very specific needs such as dinner in Strasbourg.  You can also narrow down your choices by price, specials, features, if it's open and more.  Some of this data used for filtering searches is provided by the company such as hours of operations and possibly the menu while some is provided by the users such as does this place have a nice ambiance or can you use a credit card.

Personally I use Swarm everyday to check in wherever I am visiting whether it be my home, school, work, or something social.  It is a way that my family has stayed connected while traveling around as you can figure out where the other person is to meet up with them or just know that they have arrived safely. Swarm also keeps a log of every place you have ever checked in so if you go back to the same city you can see where you have gone before and remember your journeys.  I enjoy collecting the stickers and winning the weekly battle among friends for who can collect the most coins. Mayorships and streaks are also a fun perk as they allow you to collect more coins. Below you can see screenshots of the Swarm app and some of my profile.  I am currently in the lead with 635 coins this week, I have collected 70 of 100 possible stickers and have a couple long streaks going for both mayorships and weeks in a row which will sadly be ending as I am traveling abroad currently.

 


Foursquare I use less often now that they have created the companion app Swarm.  Now I mostly use Foursquare when I am travelling to find new restaurants easily in the area or to edit information that is wrong.  Since I am traveling in Europe currently I have used Foursquare more frequently than when I am in Bowling Green since I do not know where anything is located.  Foursquare allows me to search for food, nightlife, fun things to do, shopping, and more.  It is all easy to use and the number of features accessible to consumers to find what they are looking for is incredible.  I wish I could give a comparison to Yelp but I have been using Foursquare for so long it is my go to search app. It can be a very useful app and I highly recommend it.

blogging basics

Everyone has an opinion on why blogging is important and the many benefits of blogging.  A quick google search presents you with lists upon lists of the reasons, benefits, and failures to avoid when blogging.  What appears on many "top reason to blog" lists include blogging is free, it lets you help others, it makes you a better writer, it's a marketing tool for your personal brand, it can increase your knowledge and confidence, and you can potentially make money from blogging.

So what exactly is blogging? And what is a blog? According to Merriam-Webster's Learner's Dictionary, a blog is "a web site on which someone writes about personal opinions, activities, and experiences." Blogging is "to maintain or add new entries to a blog" according to Dictionary.com. There are many ways for people to blog these days including blogger.com (which I am using), hosting their own website with a blog section, and even some social media's like tumblr can be considered a blog. With so many options it is best to pick the one that works best for you.

For this class I am using blogger.com to host this blog as it is free and relatively easy to use. Setting up your blog is also very easy and allows for a lot of customization.  You can change the format of your page, background colors, the font, and more to make it just the way you like.  When writing up blog entries the page looks similar to gmail's messaging for the text formatting options.  Blogger also provides the user with many easy to manipulate features such as adding pictures, videos, links, and page breaks.  Additionally, you are able to add labels or tags to your blog to make it more easily searchable, schedule your posts in the future, add your location or change the link for the specific blog.

Blogger.com also allows users to publicly and privately follow other blogs making it easy to stay in the know about what others are up to.  For this class I have tried to follow everyone else's blog to see what social media platforms others are choosing and what they are saying.  For businesses this could be very helpful to keep track of competition or those you buy from or sell to. Blogger also allows you to follow blogs privately so they will appear in your feed but they are not displayed on your profile.  This might be the way a company would follow competition.

For content of your blog the sky's the limit.  People blog about anything that is of interest to them, topics they are experts in, topics they wish to become experts in, random ponderings, life around them, reviews of products, or anything else they find of interest.  Many chose their blog topic based on who their target audience might be.  For this class, we are writing about social media platforms and other students in the class will be reading them.  For a business these are not as clear and may take some time to figure out who and what.

Lastly, as a social media platform Blogger works very well. Users are able to easily create and manage a blog and also interact with others through following them and commenting on their posts.  Readers of a Blogger blog do not need to be members so the reach of your blog is dependent on the individual's marketing ability and not limited to the users of the platform.  So far I have enjoyed the ease of blogging and experimenting with various formats and features. As the class continues it will be interesting to see how others are using the same platform but in unique ways.