Is the number of social media managers declining?

I do not usually comment on other blogs on this blog. I know shooting at others give them good reason to shoot back. A recent blog post, Why the decline in social media managers is a good thing got me thinking however. The article actually states that the number of social media managers grew by 50%. Thing is just that previously, the growth percentage was much higher (it does not say). Well, a 50% growth is not a decline.

I do not want to debate the issue of declining social media managers. I want to debate the trend of people trying to attract traffic to their blogs or web sites with catchy headlines - but with false information. It is clear to me that the author of abovementioned blog article either a) do not understand basic mathematics, or b) tried to use a catchy (but false) heading to attract attention. I will give the author the benefit of doubt and assume the latter.

I do not want to make this personal. Point is.

A heading in twitter grabbed my attention. I clicked on the link. First job of social media is to attract traffic to your web site or blog or whatever. The second job of social media is to convert the traffic to sales. This heading succeeded in the first job very effectivly.

Question is - did it convert my feet to a sale?

I think not. After I realised that the heading was false, I felt a bit cheated. I felt like I was tricked into following a false link. The author offer his social media services on his site. Will I make use of his services.. Most likely not. I do not feel that I can trust him. In my view this was like any spam advertising. This kind of advertising creates traffic, but the convertion ratio to sales is very low.

On the other hand, it works. If spam did not work, people would have stopped doing it. Even though convertion rates to sales is very low, clearly, people are spamming more and more every day. Here is the reason why.

One percent (1%) of a million is still more than ten percent (10%) of a thousand. Want to see it mathematically?

1% X 1,000,000 > 10% X 1,000

Proof: 1% X 1,000,000 = 10,000 and 10% X 1,000 = 100.

If you are honest you get very few clicks. Say, only a thousand. Because you are honest one in every ten people who clicked on your link will buy. You sell 100. But, by lying to people you create lots of traffic. Say you get a million clicks. Because you lied, fewer peoply fall for your trick, and only one out of every hundred who clicked on your link will buy. That is still a whopping ten thousand. That is good business.

Many do not care. In fact, people became used to it. The few of us who do care are dying out. In some country they have a law for schemes like this. It is called a "419 scheme". Soon that law will be regarded as archaic. The 419'ers will take over the world. We will all follow them, give them our money and bleed like good zombie sheep.

 

So, I am an iPad musician

I own my iPad since the iPad2 was released and have found many ways to use the iPad. Visual.ly published an interesting survey done on how musicians use the iPad. One problem I find with most app reviews on the internet, is that the apps are almost always reviewed by people who have been using the app for a day, or maybe a week, and by people who have been given the app for the review. Reviews by people actually using the apps in real life, and have been doing so for beyond the 'novelty-week', are hard to find.

I have downloaded many apps, most of which I tried out and never used again beyond the first week. Here is my list of how I use the iPad, and the apps that I actually use.

Tuner: I hate people who refuse to use a tuner. You know the type? Yes, there are still people around who believe that they can tune a guitar by ear only, and then halfway through a practice complains that everybody else is out of tune. Tuners are cheap, and often even free if you use an app on your phone. If you don't own a tuner of some sort, please give up playing guitar, or at least don't play in front of people. I have a few free tuner apps on my phone and on my iPad, but the one that I now use is the tuner built into Amplitube.

Guitar effects: Amplitube makes up the mainstay of my guitar sound, with Stompbox being used mainly for the odd clean sound. To be able to use either of these apps, you will need some hardware options to go with it. My rig consist of:

-My fender stratocaster - it all starts with a good guitar, and this is my idea of a good guitar. For acoustic work, I use my Yamaha APX.

-My guitar is plugged into an iRig Stomp.

-The iRig Stomp is plugged into my iPad2, running Amplitube or Stompbox. I also have the Audiobus app, which in theory would allow me to chain Amplitube and Stompbox, but for some reason, my iPad cuts out and go into silence mode at unexpected times when it is over-burdened.

-My iPad is held in place with the Hercules Tab Grab, which is fitted to my music stand.

-From the iRig, I have a cable plugging into my Marshall 14W amp. This requires that all the presets I use in Amplitube has the amp models switched off.

Next to my music stand, I have another music stand with my laptop. On the laptop I have Notion running as my drummer, pianist and synth. Notion on the computer has been my main composition tool for many years now and have served me well for all these years. I have the iPad app as well, but only use it to make small adjustments or compose melody lines and sound effects, etc.

For lyrics and set lists, I use a nifty little app called Songsheet. There are many apps around doing lyrics tabs and set lists, but I have settled on this app. It allows my to enter my lyrics and chords and transpose the chords to a new key and move verses around as the musical director change the arrangements. The only problem here is that I use my iPad to play live and in rehearsals for guitar effects - therefore I still need to print the lyric sheets and use my flip files on the music stand.

When it comes to staying in touch, I use the usual social media apps, like Blogsy, twitter, Facebook and Youtube.

To stay organized I mainly use Goodreader for all pdf needs and Evernote to keep notes of all meetings. There are also the usual office apps like Numbers for speadsheets and Pages for writing letters. For keeping track of income and expenses, I use Bookkeeping3.

As I look at the apps on my iPad, I see plenty more, including Garageband, Symphony Pro, Band-in-a-box, Sheetmuse, Progression etc. Most of these apps have never been used beyond the initial 'novelty-week'.

So there you have the list of apps that has proven themselves as being of real value. Let me know what you use in the comments or by email.

Until next week.

 

Theater marketing - those who care

Last week I introduced my theory in marketing for theater productions.

Let's explore this theory in a little bit more depth by looking closer at one area of this theory, i.e. zone C. These are the people who care, but not yet knowing. To get them to buy a ticket, you need to simply inform them about the show. If you want to exploit this target market to the fullest, you must understand it better, know what they care about and where to find them. Then you can figure out how you can communicate to them.

So, exactly who are those people that care? What do they care about, and why would they want to come watch your show?

What you can assume now for the sake of this article, is that they do not care about the show itself (yet). This is evident from the mere fact that they are placed in the zone of "caring, but not knowing". In this zone you will find the fans. There are different ways to communicate to them, depending on who they are fans of. I want to look at them one by one.

Before we explore them further, I must just state the obvious. In this discussion I will assume that the show is good. Not only good, but great. If you do not have a show of the best quality, then you must go back and get the show up to highest standard before we worry about getting people to watch it.

Fans of the production company

These are people who know the production company. They are either connected with the company in some way, or have seen previous shows of this company. They are likely to come and watch your show because they trust that anything the company do will be good. As a writer / composer for musical theater you may want to find a company who has such a good reputation to produce your show. If the company has a good following, you have already sold a few tickets without spending any money on advertising. Most production companies will have a mailing list, email database, or SMS database of their regular patrons. Make sure you get permission from the chairmain or regulating committee to speak to their fans, obtain a copy of that list and exploit it. Many companies will have a facebook page and / or a twitter account. Make sure the company put an advert for your show on their web site.

If you are with a company who do not have any of the above, now is a good time to start. The best place to start collecting names for a mailing list is at the shows itself. Find out what the company schedule for the year is and help them to start the database at the earliest show on their schedule. By the time your show comes up, you may have a handy list of names to your disposal. At each show, mingle with the patrons at the front of house before the show and during intervals. Don't just put a pen and paper down in a corner. Actively pester people (in a resectful and friendly way) for their names and email adresses. Be sure to follow this up with a welcome email and an invite to like the company's (and your own) facebook page.

Fans of the director / musical director

Most directors who has been around for some time will have a following. Not many of them keep a mailing list, but some do. Some may even have a web page. Everything said about exlpoiting the production company's mailing lists above applies here as well. When sending an invite to the director's fans, make sure you mention in big letters that he or she is directing your show. Make sure the names of the directors and musical directors are clearly visible on all posters and advertising. Directors like to have their names visible and in bright lights, but make sure that you clear all advertising with them, as well as with the production company.

Fans and friends of other creative crew members

It is not very common for other crew members (set designers, stage managers, sound & lighting engineers, etc) to have a fan club or mailing list. To exploit their fan clubs, you need a slightly different approach. Ask them to sell some tickets to their friends and family. It is always a good idea to give each crew member at least one extra complimentary ticket for their trouble.

Fans of the cast

If you have a famous cast member, you must make sure that you capitalise on that fact. Ask your singers and actors if they have fan mailling lists. If they are not famous yet, make them famous. Include cast member's names on posters and advertising. I am always surprised by how few shows actually bother to advertise the cast. Newspapers like to write news stories about people. You can make stories newsworthy by including some personal fact and stories. Newspapers are more likely to place stories like "single mother with three jobs star in new musical". Those personal stories are more likely to catch the eyes of the readers, who will care to come watch the show. Ask the cast to sell tickets to their friends and family. If a cast member is connected in any way to a local art school, you have a direct line to another gold mine. Make sure you exploit it.

Fans of the songwriter / composer

Everything said above applies. I have to admit that I will go watch any show if I see Stephen Sondheim or Andrew Lloyd-Webber on the advertising. I know I am not alone. Songwriters and composers accumulate fans very quickly. If you are a songwriter or composer, start to build up your fan database from your first show and keep on adding to the database.

Fans of the show

Famous shows like Phantom of the opera and Les Miserables have huge followings. Fans will go watch these show, no matter who puts it up. If you put up a newly developed show, it is unlikely to have a dedicated fan club yet. Be sure to start building up that fan list from the very start. People who attended the first readings are likely to come to the show to see how the show has developed. People who saw the first show in a community hall is likely to watch it again when it comes up in a large profesional theater. Make sure you start collecting the names from the start. Dedicated fans will watch revivals whenever they have the chance.

Fans of theater

There are many people who will watch any musical just because they like to watch musicals. I know, I'm one. Make sure you inform them about your show. Theater fans are likely to read blogs and other dedicated theater news sites like artslink or broadway.com. Some of these sites offer free listings for newly developing shows or community shows. Make sure you do not miss out on these opportunities.

Talk to other theater companies in your area (professional and amateur). Ask them if they would mind sharing their mailing lists, or give you a mention in their newsletter in exchange for a mention in your newsletter. Ask them if you may advertise at their shows.

Hope this gave you some ideas on how to sell more tickets. This is not the only way, but it surely is the most effective way to start. We will look at more ideas some time.

Till then!