The Importance of Feedback During the Creative Process

I'm a theater director, but I was also an actor.  One of the biggest needs I felt as an actor and observe as a director of actors is a hunger for positive and constructive feedback.  Interestingly enough, I don't think this is an actor/artist thing.  I think this is a hunger from my entire generation.


Author and entrepreneur Daniel Pink writes about the feedback cravings of Millennials and states it well:


"Consider a typical 28 year-old. From the moment she was born, her world has been rich in feedback. When she presses a button, something happens. When she plays a video game, she gets a score. When she sends a text message, she hears a sound that confirms it went out. She's lived her whole life on a landscape lush with feedback"


Because I also worry that micromanaging actors with too much feedback could paralyze their creative process, a better directing style may be to encourage more self-management and to increase their engagement with outside sources of feedback.  Let's bullet-point this out.


Self-Management for Creative People

• DIY evaluation.  Every so often, take a step back to evaluate your goals and the progress you're making to meet them.  In school, actors are encouraged to keep daily journals as they explore their characters, make new discoveries and experiment with tactics that either succeed or fail.  Journals allow them to take stock of their progress and figure out how to proceed.  Eventually, the school of thought states, they will notice a pattern and begin to hone their creative process.
• Stay on track with a visual display.  I highly recommend drawing up a road map for achieving your goals with enough flexibility to keep you from quitting if you fail to meet a self-imposed deadline.  When I'm working on something particularly challenging, I also like to keep a journal of daily accomplishments.  This helps me keep a good perspective on how I'm doing and helps me evaluate my process constructively rather than negatively.

Increase Engagement

• Allow for peer review.  Working as an ensemble, actors have to have a high amount of trust and support for one another.  This allows for the perfect environment for collaboration where actors can get together and decide what worked on stage and what didn't.  Since actors require objective observers to reflect on the whole picture, directors work well as facilitators for the collaborative circle of review. 
• Bring in the audience!  Always keep in mind the people for whom you are creating.  While I have blogged about models for bringing audience members into the rehearsal room to welcome them into the creative process, I have not highlighted how valuable their feedback may be for the actors.  Just hearing that audience members liked something they saw on stage will do wonders for an actor's confidence and allow them to continue trying new and exciting things.
• Use technology.  Since we're discussing live theater, technology (like recordings of live performances) can get a bad rap.  Still, I encourage theaters to engage their audiences online as well as in person.  Rather than trying to recreate performances for the camera, keep it casual.  Allow viewers a chance to be a part of the behind-the-scenes culture and contribute their own ideas; most importantly, let them contribute their feedback.

Gold Star Stickers photo courtesy of http://www.glitterglossgarbage.com

Google Social Search or How I learned to Stop Worrying and Love SEO

He's excited about SEO.
Image courtesy of makefive.com

This week, in my efforts to collect web marketing tips for theater companies, I realized that one of the most important items was one I knew very little about.  Boy was I intimidated.  Knowing virtually nothing of algorithms and hearing phrases I didn't understand (FYI, "living in a post-Panda world" has nothing to do with the availability of delicious orange chicken) left me determined to figure out this all-important acronym.


What is it, you ask?  Why, SEO of course!


SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization.  Basically, SEO is the method you use to get your website to appear at or near the top of the page when people search for you (or when they search for things that describe you, like "entertainment near <your city>").  While you can certainly hire an SEO expert to help you with boosting your website to the top of the search rankings, here are a few basic tips I've picked up to help get you started.


7 SEO Tips for Your Theater Website:

1. First and foremost: decide the content of your site based on what is best and most relevant for your audience.  Ultimately, you're going to be found by the right people if you are providing the content they're looking for.  A theater company's website may not be found very easily by potential audience members if they only refer to themselves as a "performance collective," for example.
   
   
2. Do try to include words and phrases in the content of your website that you think potential audience members will use to describe you in a search.  Make a short list of phrases you would use to find a theater like yours and then ask your coworkers, friends and family to do the same.  If you see big similarities in these lists, you'll have found some great key words and phrases to include on your website.
   
   
3. Just make sure you try to get 2 or 3 of those key words on the home page of your site.  This will help the search engine direct users to the correct starting page.  To gauge success of these keywords, keep an eye on your site ranking in search results and see if there is movement.
   
   
4. Write a page or blog post on your site that’s dedicated to each of your top keywords.  This is also a good way to show your customers you know all about the specific product or service in which they are interested. Picture yourself explaining to a friend or relative in five minutes what you do in that specific area.  The write up need not be more than 200–300 words and should list the target keywords no more than two or three times. Remember this should be as natural and easy to read as possible, but have the keywords mentioned in a way that makes sense.
   
   
5. Post links to your site (or relevant updated pages) on your social networks.  Link it to your theater's twitter feed and facebook page.  Some of what helps a site earn a high search ranking has to do with the amount of traffic the site is generating.  At the very least, it will be easier for friends to share with one another.
   
   
6. Ask your friends and colleagues to post something about your theater company on their website, and return the favor.  Ideally, when they mention your theater's name, they can highlight it as a link back to your main website.  When done in a relevant way that provides value to the reader, this sort of link exchange makes good business partnerships and helps boost both sites.  Consider yourself an amateur concierge helping fans of your work reach something else they might like (much like Amazon.com does with purchases).
   
   
7. Also, search engines tend to favor sites with more external links pointing to them from a variety of sources over websites with few back links (if any).  In other words: search engines view relevant links to a website as a vote of confidence.

Google Social Search: Social Networks to the Rescue! 

Maybe you just can't seem to crack the right keywords to get your site out front and center.  After all, nearly every theater company's website has the words "theater," "theatre" (which is the British spelling that Americans still seem to love), or "play."  If you get TOO specific, your audience won't know how to find you.  

Don't worry, your friends and colleagues will now be able to help in an even bigger way.  A darling video from Google explains how:

Though Social Search was launched in 2009, the new updates have an effect on webpage rankings.  Like the video explains, if a friend of yours has linked to your page, Social Search will move that page up in rankings since the search engine will deem the page more relevant to you.  The more people in your local network who recommend or link to your page, the more likely potential audience members for your theater (aka locals) will find you when they search.

So as all these tips seem to sum up, know your fans and treat them well.  Good deeds on the internet are usually rewarded.

Fun and Games with Mobile Marketing (for your Theater)

Photo courtesy of digitaltrends.com

I know my posts have been a little more businesslike than artistic as of late, so I'm going to explain a little bit about why my marketing-themed blogging is important.

• First, when the Chairman of the National Endowment of the Arts says that the problem with theater non-profits in America is that there is an over-supply of theaters and not enough audience demand while data shows that the majority (51%) of the NEA's support in the form of grant money goes to only three out of fifty states (and nearly 35% of all NEA grant money is going exclusively to New York, Chicago and LA), there are some problems with representation in the theater funding world.  We need all the advantages we can get.

• Second, theaters are having trouble adapting to the culture change brought on by newer generations who are exposed to less arts education and generally are not suited to the traditionally passive activity of attending live theater.  While many theaters ARE adapting to cultural shifts and are managing to do it outside of NY, Chicago and LA, they're not marketing themselves well enough to get the word out about their fabulous innovations.

• Finally, much of this marketing information (with respect to social networks and mobile ads) is so new that NO ONE is an expert.  This makes learning and writing about these marketing strategies fresh and fun!

The Growing Importance of Mobile Ads

This data was released by Google at the end of a colorful video only a few weeks ago:

“71% of us search because we saw an ad both on traditional media (43% search after seeing a TV ad) and on our phones (17% search after seeing an ad on a mobile device).  And we’re acting: 9 out of 10 mobile users have taken action all thanks to a smart phone search.  The simple fact is: Mobile Ads work.

Recall seeing a mobile ad?  You’re not alone: 82% of users notice mobile ads yet 79% of top advertisers don’t have a mobile optimized website.  It’s important to build a good mobile user experience because if we see a mobile ad we tend to click on the ad (42%), visit the advertiser’s site (35%), make a purchase (49%), or call the business (27%).  Don’t miss the mobile movement; mobilize your marketing to reach the new Smartphone consumer.”  

Is this relevant to your theater?  Certainly, because Google also released that a huge percentage of users (95%) are searching for local businesses to meet their needs and 49% of local searches done by users are looking for entertainment.  They could be searching for you; are you putting yourself out there?  If so, is your website's  mobile experience pleasant for the user (meaning, do you have a mobile optimized website)?

In the same report, Google discusses how inseparable Smartphone users are from their mobile devices, including the fact that

• 93% use their phones at home (where their laptops and desktops are accessible).
• 72% use their phones while "consuming other media." A third of that use is while watching TV.
• 39% use their phones while they're in the bathroom .
• 20% would rather give up their cable TV before giving up their phones.

With this in mind, it may be more of a sacrifice for audiences than you think when you ask patrons to turn off their cell phones before a performance. What I propose is that theaters begin to embrace the mobile habits of their audience.  

Fun and Games for the Smartphone Crowd

Louis Vitton QR Code created by Takashi Murakami for SET.
Courtesy Engadget.com

Pimp Your QR Codes

• I love QR Codes, those magical barcodes that can be scanned by a smartphone to launch an offline-to-online experience.  Now there is technology to personalize QR codes to include colors, pictures, even your logo.  Use it.  Be artsy with it.  More people will scan your codes and reach your website.

Wait, how am I using QR Codes?

• I'm glad you asked, because the possibilities are numerous.  I've been using them for years to create scavenger hunts for my friends and family (looks like others have finally started following suit).  If anyone wants the birthday present I got them, they have to scan the QR codes I've placed around the house, neighborhood or city and crack the riddles that appear when scanned.  Each riddle leads to the next QR Code location which ultimately leads the player to their birthday gift.  Obviously too many codes can make the game tiresome, so you should balance having enough clues to make the game worth playing, but not so many that they want to quit.  I stick with 9-12.
• Maybe it's because I watched Legends of the Hidden Temple too much as a kid, but I also set up obstacle courses and games which ultimately reward the user with a QR Code.  Also, users can earn special items (like my old baseball bat) to help them with the next challenge (breaking the piñata to find the QR Code hidden within).
• To get back to the point, QR Codes can link users from everything to text, pictures, music, youtube videos, your website... whatever you can think of.  You could put codes on the part of the theater ticket that the audience member will keep, in your programs, on refreshments (McDonald's monopoly taken to the next level?) or set up your own pre-show events with QR Code style fun and games that are on theme with your performance.  This would be great for murder mysteries, for example.
• Just remember: a QR is kind of like a scratcher card, it takes a bit of effort to uncover, so there should be a payoff!

By the way, there are Smartphone applications in existence to help you design and customize your own QR Codes, but I haven't tested them.  Other people have written how-to blogs for a DIY technique using a Photoshop-styled picture editor and trial and error.  The possibilities are Googlable!

Identifying and Creating True Fans (to Market Your Theater)

I’m going to try to keep up with my bullet point format on this one, but first, a little bit of background.

The concept of true fans is not new.  One of the most prominently blogged about opinions for what defines a “true fan” comes from Kevin Kelly, who suggests that individual artists need only maintain 1,000 true fans in order to make a living.  Kelly writes:

Example of a True Fan of Rubik's Cubes
courtesy of Hardware Sphere

“A True Fan is defined as someone who will purchase anything and everything you produce. They will drive 200 miles to see you sing. They will buy the super deluxe re-issued hi-res box set of your stuff even though they have the low-res version. They have a Google Alert set for your name. They bookmark the eBay page where your out-of-print editions show up. They come to your openings. They have you sign their copies. They buy the t-shirt, and the mug, and the hat. They can't wait till you issue your next work. They are true fans.”

-Kevin Kelly, “1,000 True Fans,” The Technium

An Apple True Fan.
Courtesy internetevolution.com

The math is simple, if a True Fan will spend $100/year on your work, and you net 1,000 true fans, an income of $100,000 per year will certainly allow you to live comfortably off of your art.  Sadly, the math is actually a little TOO simple.  I recommend that artists who consider this route for success read Kelly’s follow-up post, The Reality of Depending on True Fans, which crunches real numbers from a prolific musician who has used this strategy.  The short answer is that you may need more than 1,000 true fans if you aren’t making enough high-valued art to get $100 out of them each year.

But the original point of this post was about identifying and creating true fans to help you market your theater, so let us take a look at the strategies from the world’s best marketed brand: Apple.  Bullet points commence!

Applying Apple’s Strategies to Identify and Create True Fans

Apple Strategy 1: Don’t Sell Products.  People buy what other people have.  Sell membership.

•          Remember in the last blog entry where I was bemoaning vague facebook posts that repeat the same, “come see our show” every few months?  Stop focusing on selling tickets.  If I never again see the term “butts in seats” in a blog about increasing audience, it will be too soon. 

•          Instead, focus on what people do at your shows.  Theater is an experience-based art form that is best shared with other artistically-engaged people.  Help people feel that their ticket buys them access to a very special experience with an exclusive group of like-minded people.

•          Follow through with that promise.  MAKE your shows a very special experience and allow opportunities for your audience to be a part of your theater’s unique artistic culture.  Accompany shows with mixers, VIP events and use online social networks to foster and participate in conversations between your fans.

Side Bar: Identify Early Adopters

•          If you run a volunteer theater company like me, the early adopters are the volunteers themselves.  No one is investing more than your volunteers, and since they have already chosen to invest in your theater, they’re going to be eager to help you win (since a win for your theater is a win for them).

•          If you don’t run a volunteer theater company, certainly don’t discount the potential your actors, crew and staff have as potential early adopters to help you win.  Similar to volunteers, these individuals are still investing a great deal in your success and will take every opportunity to promote your brand to their friends and families.

Apple Strategy #2: Empower Early Adopters: Help Fans Help You

•          Those first fans/early adopters (employees, volunteers, your friends and families) want to help you promote, so make it easy on them.  Give away stickers of your logo with every product/ticket you sell.  Sell T-Shirts from your website so owners can proudly display your brand and endorse it.

•          Make part of your website embeddable and make it easy to cut and paste your HTML code anywhere.  This way fans will be able to associate themselves with you on their blogs, social networks and personal web pages.  Make your embedded stickers, badges or feeds look stylish and keep them subtle so they don’t clash with the designs of your fans' websites.

•          Reward early adopters by giving them exclusive offers.  A great example of this is when Alicia Keys offered her new album a full week in advance to people who became fans of her facebook page.  Can you give sneak previews to your early adopters and true fans?  What else can you give them?

Apple Strategy #3: Make Your Message Memorable

•          Marketing isn’t what you do to reach your first customers; it’s what you do to help your first customers reach the rest.  Marketing success is achieved when prospects easily repeat your message to others.

•          Take a look at my post Theater and the Big Why to identify your theater’s message.  Truth spreads faster than empty-but-shiny-sounding slogans.

•          However, do try to keep messages brief.  People can’t memorize more than a sentence or two unless you’re setting it to music and rhyme.

Apple Strategy #4: Surprise and Delight Your Fans

•          If you are trying to create true fans, start with the all-important first impression and make their first experience memorable.  To quote Apple Marketing guru, Steve Chazin, “Start with packaging.  The relationship with the customer really starts after they buy from you.”

•          To repeat from strategy #1, "help people feel that their ticket buys them access to a very special experience with an exclusive group of like-minded people.”  How can you do this by sending special advanced tickets to people who buy ahead of time?  Will you include a sticker?  Spend a little more on the postage by including some exclusive publicity photos of your show in rehearsal?  Add a special mobile tag that can be scanned to reveal a secret YouTube video with a thank you from the cast?

•          Be creative in marketing to your fans, treat them with respect and communicate how much they are valued in every interaction you have with them.  Remember, you are counting on your fans to help spread the word – and they need positive experiences to share.

Apple Strategies adapted from Steve Chazin’s ebook Marketing Apple, available on www.MarketingApple.com

Theater Marketing Using 3 Social Networks: Proudly Presented in Bullet Points!

Hey there!  Dramatic Dissemination is back with more big Idea Blogs.  Today's topic covers ways to use three social networking sites to market your theater.  Off we go!

Facebook

•          You have to create a page for your theater on facebook.  With over 500 million users, the website’s population is larger than every country except for India and China.  If you want to be seen, you have to be there.
•          However, when you make your page, keep in mind that the number one reason (at 40%)  facebook users “like” pages is for the purpose of obtaining exclusive promotions and discounts.  You have to give away a little on your facebook page to earn loyalty from your fans.  See the graph below for more reasons people will “like” you.

•          Work to create true fans.  This means building a relationship with your fan base that allows them to identify with your brand.  Do not use your page for the sole purpose of impersonal updates like “come to our next show!”  or “great job everybody!”  Use your status updates to engage in a conversation with your fans, respectfully discuss their feedback and build a sense of identity between your fans and the culture of your theater.
•         Set up a store on your facebook page. True fans want every chance they can get to show that they are a part of your theater.  Use that loyalty to promote your brand and bring more like minds into the fold.  Facebook stores typically secure 1-10% of a business’ fan base.  For a little perspective: in the 4th quarter of 2010, online sales were a record breaking $43.4 billion, +11% versus one year ago, according to comScore.

Twitter

•          Over 40% of the time that people are on Twitter, they are learning about products and services or providing opinions about brands.  If you aren’t on Twitter, they won’t be tweeting about you.
•          Shocker: People actually spend a little over 20% of their time on Twitter BUYING products or services.  Again, if you aren’t on Twitter, the tweeters aren’t spending that purchasing power on you.  You’re missing out on ticket sales.  For other interesting ways that people are spending their time on Twitter, check the graph below.

YouTube

•        YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world.  Do you have a product or service that can be featured in front of a camera?  If you’re a theater, I have a feeling you do.  Get a YouTube channel for your theater, but read the Terms of Service agreement so that you understand what can happen to your content. 
•          Content ownership technically belongs to the users, but YouTube's Terms of Service allows YouTube the licensing rights to use your content as they please until you delete it from the site.  So rather than uploading complete performance recordings that you are trying to sell, give samples and trailers.  Use Youtube for informational webcasts, behind-the-scenes bonuses, interviews with the artists and teasers for upcoming events.  Feature highlights from VIP parties for those valuable loyal fans and allow fans to upload their own footage from these events. 
•          Always link these videos back to your main website, where you can feature/sell/rent your exclusive content.
•          BONUS: A great idea that has yet to be used by a theater (at least to my knowledge) is a play, scene or passage done in the style of Virtual Choir.  I’ve certainly toyed with the idea of using this technique to produce an online version of Hamlet… or use it for an original play!

There are certainly more social networks to cover, but I’ve decided to keep my posts briefer in order to get them posted more frequently.  Speaking of social networks, why not connect with me on LinkedIn if you’d like to continue the conversation?  http://www.linkedin.com/in/danielleloebs

(Graph of “What has motivated you to “like” a company, brand or association on facebook?” courtesy of ExactTarget.  Chart of “Percent of Monthly Twitter Users Using Twitter To…” courtesy of Silicon Alley Insider from data collected by Edison Research.)