Arts organizations and Social Media
(Online presentation in English.)

The past 30 years have seen a significant proliferation of arts organizations and activities throughout the country. But art and culture are not the only things that have evolved to unprecedented size and complexity. In the 1990s, the number of brands on the grocery store shelves tripled from 15,000 to 45,000. More choices also mean more noise. There are currently 13,500 radio stations (4,400 in 1960), 17,300 magazines (8,400 in 1960) and more than 82 television channels per home (5.4 in 1960). And let’s not forget the billions of Web pages. In 1965, 34 percent of adults could name a brand advertised in a television show they had just watched. Only 35 years later, this number had shrunk to barely 9 percent.

What is the answer? Brian Reich and Dan Solomon, in their book Media Rules!, write “organizations must embrace the relationships they have with their customers and work twice as hard to make sure the information customers are using to form their opinions comes from the organization […]You must be their steward.” Traditionally, arts organizations could depend on the media to help them steward their audience. But while cultural participation is up, resource allocation to the arts at metropolitan newsrooms is down. Arts critics are disappearing left and right. Already in 1999, the Cluetrain Manifesto proclaimed that “a powerful global conversation” had begun. “Through the Internet, people are discovering and inventing new ways to share relevant knowledge with blinding speed.” In the past decade, the Internet has moved to more participation (encouraging contributions), openness (no barriers to content and feedback), conversation (listening, not just broadcasting), community (gathering around a common interest), and connectedness (sharing content).

Seeing the decline in traditional arts coverage and the proliferation of culture, brands and media, the inevitable, it seems, is an increase in participation, openness and connectedness with your community, invigorating the conversation about the arts. And social media is here to help. We are past the point of needing to explain what Facebook, Twitter and blogging are and how to set up accounts for your organization. Now it’s time to ask the serious questions. Usually, these questions boil down to “what’s the business model” or “how can we increase ticket sales.” There is a lot of pressure in marketing and public relations departments of arts organizations to sell tickets. In the performing arts, fewer subscriptions bought and more single tickets to sell mean more and harder selling. It’s not surprising that a lot of managers look to social media as an addition to their marketing and sales efforts. But social media and social networking is not “a business model.” It is a tactic or tool in your strategy. Most managers will want to see dollars coming in from social media in the short term. But that is exactly the wrong approach. Social media is not a short term solution. To think so is short-sighted. Sure, it is okay to think about monetizing these market opportunities to strengthen your financial base, but more importantly, you should start thinking about how they can help your organization’s core mission.
Measuring results, however, especially return on investment, is important for any business or organization. Social media has the reputation of being difficult to measure in terms of results, but it is far from impossible. First, an organization needs to find out what it is trying to accomplish. Are you spreading a message, building a community, raising awareness, forging relationships? From there, find out what to measure.

The last step is to determine what impact these results have on your organization and the future actions of your organization. From a detailed SWOT analysis, the following recommendations ensued: use your strengths as cornerstones for strategy (content, brand, audience and infrastructure); pursue market opportunities best suited to your strengths (maintaining strong relationships; extending the life of a performance; other geographic and demographic markets; and collaborations and partnerships); and correct weaknesses that impair pursuit of market opportunities or heighten vulnerability to external threats (budget for new media; hire or train staff; review limitations of media contracts and copyrights; and keep track of changes in technology).

Dutch native Marc van Bree is a public relations practitioner with more than 5 years of experience communicating—on and offline—in the non-profit environment. Marc is currently employed as public affairs associate at Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago. At Chapin Hall, he implements and enhances research dissemination strategies, putting child and family policy research in the hands of those who need it, including policy makers and legislators, service providers and practitioners, advocates and the media. Marc joined Chapin Hall from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, one of the world’s premier orchestras, where he served as public relations coordinator and later as publicist. At the Chicago Symphony, he took on an active role in the organization’s online communications strategy. Marc has worked closely with the Chicago media and cultural sector, pitching and placing stories, interviews and artist lectures. Prior to his position at the Chicago Symphony, he worked as assistant account executive at Carol Fox & Associates, Chicago’s largest marketing and public relations firm. Marc is currently enrolled in the Integrated Marketing certificate program at the University of Chicago’s Graham School for General Studies. In 2005, Marc graduated cum laude from Columbia College Chicago, the nation’s largest arts and communications college, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Marketing Communication and a concentration in Public Relations. During his course of study, he received the Columbia College Chicago 2004/05 Academic Excellence Award Scholarship in recognition of his academic achievements.

Schlagworte: arts organizations, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Marc van Bree, Social Media