8y uevon SmlLh

ulrecLor of 8esearch and Analysls

?ale 8eperLory 1heaLre
!anuary 8, 2010
1heatre &
Soc|a| Med|a
|n 2009



by Bevon Smith 2
Lxecut|ve Summary

As Lhe ulrecLor of 8esearch and Analysls aL ?ale 8eperLory 1heaLre (and avld soclal medla fan),
ln CcLober of 2009 l was Lasked wlLh developlng ?81's soclal medla sLraLegy for 2010. 1he work
plan l assembled lncluded:
1. 8evlew ?81's currenL efforLs ln soclal & dlglLal
2. updaLe (and/or expand) measuremenL meLrlcs creaLed prevlously by Lhe MarkeLlng
deparLmenL
3. Summarlze fleld's use of soclal & dlglLal medla efforLs, lmpacL, and measuremenL
Lechnlques
4. Compare how ?81 measures up" compared Lo our peers
3. 8ecommend ?81's soclal & dlglLal medla sLraLegy for Lhe comlng year

1hls reporL focuses on SLep 3-aLLempLlng Lo capLure LC81 LheaLres efforLs and lmpacLs ln
soclal medla. lL assumes Lhe reader already knows a falr amounL abouL each of Lhe soclalmedla
plaLforms, and lnsLead sklps sLralghL Lo my flndlngs. Pere are Lhe mosL lmporLanL concluslons l
drew from my research abouL each plaLform:
lacebook-everyone's uslng lL, and some LheaLres are geLLlng an exLraordlnary amounL
of user engagemenL on Lhelr pages. lL may be Lhe besL way Lo keep fans lnLeresLed |n
between performances.
1wlLLer-has become a greaL way Lo engage fans ln lnformal conversaLlons, wlLh a focus
on Lhe ldea LhaL 1wlLLer ls Lhe ulLlmaLe Lwo way sLreeL. lans are already Lalklng abouL
your LheaLre onllne, why wouldn'L you wanL Lo respond?
?ou1ube-ls an lncredlbly cheap way Lo reach a very large, very dlverse populaLlon, lf
you have Lhe vldeo producLlon skllls Lo pull lL off. And forgeL everyLhlng you've heard
abouL vldeos havlng Lo be 30 second pollshed commerclal spoLs ln order Lo go vlral.
MySpace-ls over. Leave lL Lo Lhe muslclans, because few LheaLres, or Lhelr fans, have
any remalnlng lnLeresL.
lllckr-ls promlslng, buL no one's found a greaL use case for lL, yeL. unLll Lhen,
lacebook's phoLo albums should probably cover all your needs.
8logs-seem Lo me Lo be noL worLh Lhe efforL, lf all you're blogglng abouL ls an lnslde
look aL your LheaLre company. AlLhough Lhere are a Lhousand (ok, maybe a dozen)
Loplcs l Lhlnk LheaLres could be blogglng abouL, whlch mlghL be greaL aLLenLlon
grabbers.

l've been mosL surprlsed LhaL LheaLres have Lhus far focused 99 of Lhelr aLLenLlon for soclal
medla on markeLlng. WhaL abouL Lhe developmenL offlce? WhaL abouL as a way Lo organlze a
producLlon Leam? WhaL abouL as a way Lo demonsLraLe LhoughL leadershlp Lo Lhe resL of Lhe
arLs admlnlsLraLlon fleld?

l also wanLed Lo noLe LhaL Lhls research ls very superflclal-fuLure research could (and should!)
aLLempL Lo uncover how Lo besL dlssemlnaLe soclal medla knowledge LhroughouL Lhe
organlzaLlon, puL sharper LeeLh on 8Cl meLrlcs, address Lhe problems LhaL organlzaLlons are
by Bevon Smith S
already faclng ln uslng soclal medla, and develop more lnnovaLlve buslness cases for soclal
medla ln Lhe LheaLre.

Cn Lhe whole, LC81 LheaLres are dedlcaLlng Llme and efforL almosL exacLly proporLlonal Lo Lhe
resL of Lhe counLry's use of soclal medla. 1he below charL shows LhaL 1wlLLer ls used by more
LheaLres Lhan lLs slze would acLually warranL, and blogs are a blL underused. 8uL slnce Lhere are
only 76 LC81 LheaLres, as a fleld we are surprlslngly on Lrack.



WhaL follows ls a compllaLlon of Lhe research l've done over Lhe pasL 3 monLhs. 1he Lone ls a blL
more colloqulal Lhan a formal research paper, and Lhe conLenL and Lheory may be a llLLle
haphazard, buL on Lhe whole lL should be valuable.

MeLhodology
lrom CcLober-uecember 2009 l conducLed orlglnal research on 6 ma[or soclal medla plaLforms:
lacebook, 1wlLLer, ?ou1ube, lllckr, MySpace, and 8logs, and conducLed an onllne survey abouL
soclal medla sLafflng hours. l used Lhe 76 League of 8esldenL 1heaLres (LC81) as a bounded
populaLlon of peer LheaLres Lo ?ale 8ep. Where posslble, l've llsLed conLrlbuLlons made by
everyone from classmaLes Lo colleagues, professlonal bloggers Lo publlshed books. Apologles
for any broken llnks, repeLlLlve sLaLemenLs, or sweeplng generallzaLlons. All of Lhe raw daLa
collecLed has also been posLed Lo my blog aL hLLp://devonvsmlLh.Lumblr.com/
by Bevon Smith 4
IACL8CCk

LxecuLlve Summary
All buL 3 LC81 LheaLres malnLaln a presence on lacebook. numbers of fans range from 129-
6,623. Some LheaLres are posLlng conLenL more Lhan 13 Llmes per week, and generaLlng up Lo
100 wall commenLs per week from Lhelr fans. CLher Lhan wall posLs, phoLo albums and evenL
pages are Lhe mosL wldely used conLenL by LheaLres.

ln Lhls sLudy, l have Lrled Lo use as many daLa polnLs as posslble Lo capLure Lhe full range of Lhe
fleld's use of lacebook, as well as fan's responses. 1hls qulckly compllcaLed any poLenLlal
measuremenLs of efforL, lmpacL, and reLurn on lnvesLmenL. Powever, based on Lhe (far Loo)
compllcaLed lndexlng meLhod LhaL follows, compared Lo Lhe average LC81 LheaLre:
11 LheaLres have achleved slgnlflcanLly hlgher lmpacL relaLlve Lo Lhelr efforLs. LaLer
drafLs of Lhls sLudy wlll lnclude a more ln depLh look aL Lhese LheaLres.
4 LheaLres achleved hlgher lmpacL Lhan Lhelr peers, buL wlLh above average efforL
42 LheaLres exerLed less efforL Lhan Lhelr average peer, and also found less lmpacL
16 LheaLres have unforLunaLely exerLed greaLer efforL Lhan Lhelr peers, buL found less
lmpacL

lacebook eneLraLlon
When LheaLres malnLalned mulLlple group, fan, and/or personal proflles, l used Lhe mosL
generous lnLerpreLaLlon of Lhelr prlmary" page by selecLlng Lhe Lype wlLh Lhe hlghesL number
of fans/members and mosL recenL acLlvlLy. Slmllar Lo Lhe 1wlLLer flndlngs, many LheaLre's
webslLes dld noL lnclude a llnk Lo Lhelr lacebook page. lL should also be noLed LhaL many
LheaLres are currenLly rebulldlng Lhelr lans from Lhelr Members (due a change ln lacebook
archlLecLure), Lhereby cloudlng Lrue usage, efforLs, and lmpacL.

n=76


Fan Page
89%
uioups Page
7%
Not on FB
4%
!"#$ $&'()*'+ ,- .(/'0,,1
by Bevon Smith S
uaLa CapLure
lacebook offers a hlgh degree of flexlblllLy ln Lerms of Lhe Lype of conLenL a LheaLre wlshes Lo
lnclude on Lhelr page, and how a fan mlghL lnLeracL wlLh Lhe slghL, oLher Lhan slmply vlewlng lL.

l found 7 daLa polnLs LhaL measure a LheaLre's acLlvlLy on lacebook.
upload phoLo albums, dlsregarded dlfferenL slzes of phoLo albums, and wheLher albums
were lnLegraLed lllckr sLreams.
LvenLs creaLed, dlsregarded efforLs of lndlvldual evenLs.
Weekly wall posLs, capLured for Lhe 7 days prlor Lo measuremenL daLe (week of
november 11, 2009), prlmarlly used as a proxy for frequency of efforLs slnce mosL wall
posLs come from uploadlng phoLos, vldeos, noLes, eLc.
uploaded vldeos, dlsregarded vldeo lengLh, and wheLher vldeos were lnLegraLed
?ou1ube sLreams.
ages favorlLed.
noLes wrlLLen, dlsregarded wheLher noLes were lnLegraLed 8SS feeds.
Llnks shared, dlsregarded wheLher llnks were lnLegraLed 8SS feeds.

CLher lnLeresLlng efforLs l observed (buL dld noL use ln Lhe sLudy) lncluded:
CuLhrle lord's 1heaLre have speclal 8uy 1lckeLs" secLlons of Lhelr pages
A81 hlghllghLs LheaLre merchandlse for purchase
A81 and llorlda SLage boLh use a splash page" funcLlon for users Lo land on
Alllance has Lhelr own lacebook AppllcaLlon
kansas ClLy 8ep has a muslc player on Lhelr page
Many LheaLres have separaLe pages for alums and/or lnLerns
Several LheaLres embedded LwlLLer & blog feeds on Lhelr lacebook pages

l found 10 daLa polnLs LhaL measure a fan/member's lnLeracLlon wlLh a LheaLre's page. ln all
cases, l dlsregarded LhaL a LheaLre's fans/members llkely lnclude some small number of pald
sLaff members.
lans or members.
Weekly wall commenLs, capLured for Lhe 7 days prlor Lo measuremenL (week of
november 11, 2009), dlsregarded dlfference beLween llke, reply, and commenL.
hoLo commenLs, summed commenLs from LheaLre and fan uploaded phoLos.
eople dlscusslng, summed number of people LhaL posLed Lo a dlscusslon forum,
dlsregarded LhaL sLaff and/or LheaLre could be posLlng Lo open forum, dlsregarded
number of commenLs per person.
lan phoLos uploaded.
8evlews wrlLLen, dlsregarded senLlmenL and lengLh of revlew.
Members of a LheaLre's lacebook Cause."
1oLal conLrlbuLlons Lo a LheaLre's lacebook Cause."
uonors conLrlbuLlng Lo a LheaLre's lacebook Cause."
lan vldeos uploaded.
1he followlng fan's lnLeracLlons were deemed Loo Llme consumlng Lo capLure
accuraLely: commenLs on vldeos, noLes, llnks, all lnLeracLlons on LvenLs pages.
by Bevon Smith 6
1he followlng charL summarlzes Lhe above menLloned daLa polnLs for all LC81 LheaLres. noLe
LhaL Average" ls per LheaLre, and lncludes Lhose LheaLres/fans !"# uslng Lhe feaLure.

73 LC81 1heaLres usage 1oLal Average
LIICk1S
hoLo Albums 99 772 11
LvenLs 86 1,032 14
Weekly wall posLs 78 313 4
vldeos 74 368 8
lavorlLe ages 67 269 4
noLes 31 1,243 17
Llnks 34 1,634 22
IMAC1
lans or Members 100 84,183 1,133
Weekly wall commenLs 78 847 12
hoLo CommenLs 74 913 13
eople ulscusslng 42 133 2
lan hoLos 33 217 3
8evlews 14 23 0
Causes-#Members 7 706 10
Causes-$ uonaLed 7 1,932 26
Causes-#uonors 7 44 1
lan vldeo 3 8 0

1hus, on average:
1heaLres are addlng page conLenL abouL once per buslness day
A wall posL by a LheaLre generaLes 2.7 fan commenLs
A phoLo album uploaded by a LheaLre generaLes 1.2 fan commenLs
Causes donors glve $43.90

Measurlng LfforL
1o begln Lhlnklng abouL posslble 8eLurn on lnvesLmenL, l flrsL needed Lo esLlmaLe Lhe
lnvesLmenL" lnvolved ln posLlng conLenL Lo lacebook. l belleve Lhe cleanesL measure of Lhls ls
Llme. ldeally, l would llke Lo know Lhe average number of mlnuLes LhaL a LheaLre ls posLlng
conLenL Lo lacebook, and use LhaL lnformaLlon Lo scale efforL Lo average amounL of conLenL
posLed per week. unforLunaLely, lacebook doesn'L glve a clear lndlcaLlon of a page's Llme ln
exlsLence, Lhus leavlng me wlLhouL a denomlnaLor ln Lhe LoLal conLenL/weeks ln exlsLence"
equaLlon.

1herefore, l assumed Lhe followlng average number of mlnuLes each of Lhe followlng acLlvlLles
Look, based on my own experlence. Score can also be lnLerpreLed as $%&'#()% scale of efforL (so
LhaL on average lL Lakes a LheaLre 10 Llmes as long Lo creaLe and manage an evenL as lL does Lo
posL someLhlng Lo Lhelr wall). noLe LhaL all daLa polnLs capLure &(*%#(+% '-#()(#. on lacebook,
by Bevon Smith 7
excepL for wall posLs and fan's commenLs LhaL are measured weekly. Powever, wall posLs llkely
occur far more ofLen Lhan Lhe oLher Lypes of acLlvlLles, hopefully nulllfylng Lhe lnconslsLency.

ln general, Lhls lgnores Lhe dlfferences ln -$%'#(!/ orlglnal conLenL, and lnsLead focuses on Lhe
Llme spenL Lo #$'!0*%$ Lhe conLenL Lo lacebook, under Lhe assumpLlon LhaL much of Lhe conLenL
ls belng used across mulLlple plaLforms (LheaLre's webslLe, blog, 1wlLLer, eLc). 1hls also lgnores
auLomaLed feeds (for example, many LheaLres seem Lo use Lhe noLes funcLlon as an 8SS feed
for Lhelr blog), however lL sLlll llkely Look some amounL of Llme Lo creaLe and malnLaln LhaL
auLomaLed funcLlonallLy.

Lfforts Score 1ype
LvenLs 10 8ulld
hoLo Albums 10 upload
vldeos 3 upload
Wall posLs 1 WrlLe
noLes 1 WrlLe
Llnks 1 WrlLe
lavorlLe ages 0.23 Cllck

Measurlng lmpacL
Lvery LheaLre ls uslng lacebook Lowards dlfferenL ends:
MarkeLlng producLlons and malnLalnlng brand awareness
Lmpowerlng users Lo creaLe Lhelr own producLlon relaLed conLenL
Lngaglng dlrecLly wlLh users
8alslng money

under Lhe assumpLlon LhaL LheaLres deslre and beneflL mosL from user engagemenL LhaL
requlres more Llme, efforL, and/or flnanclal resources on Lhe parL of Lhe fan/member, l've
consLrucLed a relaLlve lndex, as follows. Score can also be lnLerpreLed as Lhe number of
mlnuLes (or relaLlve lmpacL) a LheaLre earns (or saves) per unlL of lmpacL. So for example, a
LheaLre earns 20 mlnuLes of sLaff Llme per dollar ralsed onllne, and saves 10 mlnuLes of (8)
sLaff Llme per revlew, eLc.

Impact Score 1ype Use
Causes-$ uonaLed 20 Clve 8alse $
Causes-uonors 10 Clve 8alse $
8evlews 10 Compose Lmpower
lan vldeo 3 upload Lmpower
lan hoLos 3 upload Lmpower
Wall commenLs 2 WrlLe Lngage
hoLo CommenLs 2 WrlLe Lngage
eople ulscusslng 2 WrlLe Lngage
Causes-Members 1 Cllck MarkeLlng
by Bevon Smith 8
lans/Memb10ers 1 Cllck MarkeLlng

Measurlng 8Cl/Lfflclency
Clearly, Lhe ldea LhaL 8eLurn" should be measured sLrlcLly by user efforL and lnvesLmenL"
should be measured solely ln sLaff Llme ls fraughL wlLh lssues. ln Lheory, lL's Lhrough all of Lhese
efforLs LhaL fans (aL some polnL down Lhe llne) are more saLlsfled wlLh Lhelr LheaLrlcal
experlence, buy more LlckeLs, donaLe more, and lnLroduce new consumers Lo Lhe LheaLre.
AddlLlonally, when mulLlple sLaff members from across dlfferenL deparLmenLs are updaLlng
lacebook conLenL, noL everyone's Llme should be represenLed as equally expenslve." llnally,
l'm only able Lo measure publlcally avallable daLa, lnslde lacebook's walled garden.

1herefore, ln absence of all of LhaL daLa, l've creaLed my own measuremenL of efflclenL reLurn
on efforL.

llrsL, each of Lhe varlous Lypes of efforLs and lmpacLs have varylng degrees of prevalence
LhroughouL Lhe LC81 + lacebook communlLy. So, l scored each LheaLre's efforLs and lmpacLs as
an order of magnlLude lndex cenLered Lo Lhe average case. lor example, lf a LheaLre posLed Lo
Lhelr wall 30 Llmes Lhls week, and Lhe communlLy average was 13, Lhe LheaLre earns a score of
+1 (=(30-13)/13) for LhaL facLor. lf a dlfferenL LheaLre posLed only 3 Llmes Lhls week, Lhe LheaLre
earns a score of -.66 (=(3-13)/13) for LhaL facLor. 1hls (somewhaL falsely) assumes LhaL Lhe
fleld's average efforL ls ldeal efforL.

Second, each efforL and lmpacL was welghLed accordlng Lo Lhe score llsLed ln Lhe above Lables.
So for example, a LheaLre wlLh a vldeo LfforL lacLor lndex of 2 (meanlng Lhey have posLed Lhree
Llmes as many vldeos as Lhe average LheaLre) has a vldeo LfforL Score of 10 (=2*3). Slmllarly, a
LheaLre wlLh a lans lmpacL lacLor lndex of -1 (meanlng Lhey dld noL engage ln Lhe acLlvlLy aL all)
has a lans lmpacL Score of -1 (=-1*1).

1hlrd, a LheaLre's 7 LfforL Scores are summed (so an above average number of fans may make
up for a below average number of vldeos posLed) for a 1oLal LfforL Score, and Lhelr 10 lmpacL
Scores are summed (so an above average number of fan vldeos may make up for a below
average number of fans) for a 1oLal lmpacL Score. lor example, a 1oLal LfforL Score of 10 means
LhaL a LheaLre expends 10 Llmes Lhe amounL of efforL as Lhe average LheaLre, whlle a 1oLal
lmpacL Score of -10 means LhaL a LheaLre's fans are 10 Llmes less acLlve Lhan Lhe average
LheaLre's fans.

lourLh, 8Cl ls measured as: (lmpacL - LfforL) / LfforL. 8ecause Lhe lmpacL and efforL scores can
be poslLlve or negaLlve, l've ad[usLed 8Cl (mulLlplled lL by -1) so LhaL any Llme lmpacL > LfforL,
Lhe 8Cl score ls poslLlve.

1he Lable LhaL follows summarlzes Lhe 3 key lndlces, and each LheaLre's rank wlLhln LhaL lndex.
by Bevon Smith 9

1heatre
1ota|
Lffort
Score
1ota|
Impact
Score kCI
nardest
Work|ng
kank
Lngaged
Users
kank
Lff|c|ency
kank
AC1 1heaLre 10.66 1,378.38 147.06 20 1 1
kansas ClLy 8ep 29.22 604.42 19.68 11 2 2
Clarence 8rown 1heaLre Co (21.93) 218.66 10.97 68 3 3
CenLerSLage 13.16 146.21 8.64 16 3 4
AcLors 1heaLre Loulsvllle 12.99 86.83 3.69 17 7 3
Amerlcan ConservaLory 2.13 11.98 4.63 26 11 6
uenver CenLer A 38.46 168.97 3.39 6 4 7
8erkeley 8ep 30.37 110.70 2.63 9 6 8
CenLer 1heaLre Croup 12.48 20.66 0.66 18 8 9
Alabama Shakes (13.07) (6.26) 0.32 31 14 10
Shakespeare 1heaLre Co 29.77 14.18 (0.32) 10 10 11
CuLhrle 40.92 18.06 (0.36) 4 9 12
Ceva 1heaLre (14.33) (22.84) (0.39) 34 17 13
Amerlcan 8eperLory 1heaLre 48.78 (0.39) (1.01) 3 12 14
orLland CenLer SLage (20.23) (41.44) (1.03) 62 22 13
1rlnlLy 8ep (26.04) (34.00) (1.07) 73 46 16
vlrglnla SLage 73.73 (10.84) (1.13) 1 13 17
SlgnaLure 1heaLre 19.28 (4.66) (1.24) 14 13 18
Long Wharf (24.11) (36.99) (1.36) 71 64 19
8oundabouL 1heaLre (23.98) (37.03) (1.38) 70 63 20
Laguna layhouse (24.26) (37.72) (1.38) 72 71 21
Arkansas 8ep (18.74) (47.92) (1.36) 60 26 22
ManhaLLan 1heaLre Club (21.41) (33.78) (1.60) 67 33 23
norLhllghL (21.99) (37.74) (1.63) 69 73 24
ClLy 1heaLre (20.33) (33.63) (1.64) 63 41 23
Llncoln CenLer 1heaLre (21.33) (37.72) (1.70) 66 72 26
Syracuse SLage (20.40) (36.40) (1.76) 64 60 27
Asolo 8ep (20.32) (37.49) (1.80) 63 69 28
8ound Pouse (19.33) (34.79) (1.81) 61 30 29
PunLlngLon 1heaLre 38.33 (34.40) (1.89) 3 20 30
CaplLal 8ep n? (16.33) (49.84) (2.01) 38 32 31
Mllwaukee 8ep 48.97 (32.27) (2.07) 2 39 32
CourL 1heaLre (18.32) (37.29) (2.13) 39 67 33
lndlana 8ep (16.03) (31.38) (2.20) 37 36 34
ClnclnaLLl layhouse (13.32) (33.32) (2.38) 36 33 33
Arena SLage 30.64 (48.90) (2.60) 8 29 36
1heaLre for a new Audlence (13.31) (37.64) (2.72) 33 70 37
8ep 1heaLre of SL. Louls 31.31 (36.48) (2.79) 7 61 38
llorlda SLage (13.90) (33.70) (2.86) 32 42 39
SeaLLle 8eperLory (12.67) (49.23) (2.89) 49 31 40
by Bevon Smith 1u
Arlzona 1heaLre Co (14.29) (33.71) (2.90) 33 34 41
MalLz !uplLer (12.63) (49.94) (2.93) 48 33 42
ParLford SLage 23.86 (48.20) (3.02) 12 27 43
8arLer 1heaLre (12.93) (32.21) (3.03) 30 38 44
lnLlman 1heaLre (12.39) (31.28) (3.07) 47 33 43
?ale 8ep/urama (12.20) (33.86) (3.41) 46 43 46
SouLh CoasL 8ep 22.31 (34.99) (3.47) 13 31 47
CreaL Lakes 1heaLre (11.13) (30.48) (3.33) 44 34 48
Alley 1heaLre (11.78) (37.24) (3.86) 43 66 49
lords 1heaLre 6.32 (22.21) (4.40) 22 16 30
Marln 1heaLre (10.11) (34.77) (4.42) 43 49 31
Cld Clobe 13.61 (33.70) (4.44) 13 43 32
Alllance 1heaLre (9.33) (34.00) (4.67) 42 47 33
eople's LlghL (8.32) (33.89) (3.36) 41 38 34
1heaLreWorks (7.32) (48.79) (3.66) 37 28 33
asadena layhouse (4.47) (29.86) (3.68) 34 18 36
llorlda sLudlo (8.23) (33.82) (3.78) 39 37 37
hlladelphla 1heaLre (8.43) (37.41) (3.81) 40 68 38
lLLsburgh ubllc (8.00) (33.10) (3.89) 38 32 39
McCarLer 1heaLre 10.97 (34.69) (3.99) 19 48 60
1wo 8lvers (7.29) (36.34) (6.76) 36 62 61
Merrlmack 8ep 9.42 (36.80) (7.03) 21 63 62
uelaware 1heaLre (3.13) (33.79) (9.83) 33 36 63
La!olla layhouse (2.91) (32.29) (10.09) 32 19 64
Cleveland layPouse 3.66 (33.23) (10.41) 23 40 63
Wllma 1heaLre (3.31) (33.73) (13.23) 33 44 66
Ceorge SLreeL (2.02) (33.61) (16.60) 30 21 67
lay Makers 8ep 2.98 (47.44) (16.93) 24 24 68
San !ose 8ep (2.48) (31.94) (19.91) 31 37 69
Ceffen 2.31 (49.12) (22.28) 23 30 70
Ceorgla Shakespeare 1.21 (47.81) (40.31) 27 23 71
Arden 1heaLre 0.97 (46.17) (48.33) 28 23 72
Coodman 1heaLre 0.72 (36.08) (79.04) 29 39 73

llnal noLe: An Lasler MeLhod
l reallze LhaL Lhls lndexlng meLhod ls llkely Loo compllcaLed Lo operaLlonallze. 1hus, l wanLed Lo
glve a qulck back of Lhe envelope meLhod for poLenLlally calculaLlng 8Cl:
Slmple 8Cl = # fan commenLs/# LheaLre wall posLs

1hls reduces Lhe nolse of lacebook down Lo a slngle elemenL. lL's clearly noL a compleLe
plcLure, lL doesn'L accounL for a huge varleLy of facLors, buL lL's slmple and a shorL hand for
showlng wheLher your fans are engaged wlLh Lhe conLenL you're posLlng. Measure Lhls over
Llme, and you can begln Lo geL a sense of how you can geL Lhe besL bang for your buck" onllne.
by Bevon Smith 11
kansas C|ty kepertory 1heatre: the Story of a Iacebook rof||e

lacebook lnslghLs ls only avallable Lo age Admlns. ln Lhe absence of publlc daLa, l declded Lo
do a llLLle daLa collecLlng of my own. kC81 made Lhe #2 spoL on my llsL of lacebook ages wlLh
hlgher average reLurns relaLlve Lo Lhelr LC81 peers-ln kC81's case, Lhls was drlven by a hlgh
number of user commenLs, and Lhelr usage of lacebook Causes Lo ralse money onllne. Several
key flndlngs from Lhe pasL 14 days:
1. lan's llke" Lwlce as ofLen as commenLlng"
2. Asklng quesLlons generaLes Lhe hlghesL level of user engagemenL
3. lans seem Lo be sllghLly more lnLeresLed ln admlnlsLraLlve (raLher Lhan arLlsLlc) drlven
posLs
4. Whlle only 36 fans engaged, kC81 reached 17,600+ people
3. Whlle 70 of engaged fans are women, men Lend Lo engage more frequenLly
6. Cnly 24 of engaged users are sLudenLs, Lhose sLudenLs Lend Lo engage less frequenLly
Lhan oLhers

lL's challenglng Lo Lease ouL Lhe collecLlve effecL of all of Lhese efforLs. We've seen on a macro
level LhaL LheaLres LhaL posL more ofLen and wlLh greaLer varleLy of medla Lend Lo have hlgher
levels of engagemenL. So a qulck word of cauLlon abouL relylng Loo heavlly on [usL one Lype of
medla (wall posLs, phoLos, vldeos, llnks, eLc) or [usL one Loplc of conversaLlon, regardless of
how effecLlve" lL seems Lo be.

llrsL, a general ldea of kC81's acLlvlLy level. Several lessons:
lans llke" lLems more ofLen Lhan Lhey commenL
ulalogue Lakes efforL (noL only posLlng an orlglnal lLem, buL followlng up also)
Some posLs seem Lo be generaLlng more llkes or commenLs Lhan oLhers.
Weekends are falrly quleL



u
S
1u
1S
2u
2S
2(345 6/)373)5
KCRT Effoits Fan Likes Fan Comments KCRT Followup
by Bevon Smith 12
now a deeper dlve lnLo whaL exacLly kC81 ls posLlng. 1here's no secreL formula for how each of
Lhese acLlvlLles should be allocaLed each week, buL kudos Lo kC81 for uslng many dlfferenL
klnds of medla.



lL's Lhus far unclear lf fans engage more wlLh cerLaln klnds of medla, or lf lL's more abouL Lhe
Loplc of Lhe posL. 1hls ls clearly sub[ecLlve, buL l deflned as follows.
romoLlon-llnk Lo a feaLure sLory, LlckeL dlscounL, remlnder abouL daLes/Llme/prlce of
upcomlng producLlon, eLc.
AdmlnlsLraLlon-ofLen a behlnd Lhe scenes" look aL whaL's golng on ln Lhe offlce:
phoLos of Lhe markeLlng Leam seLLlng up Lhe lobby, a quesLlon abouL saLlsfacLlon wlLh
eaLlng/drlnklng lnslde Lhe LheaLre, eLc.
ArLlsLlc-ofLen a behlnd Lhe scenes" look aL whaL's golng on ln rehearsal: a maklng of"
weblsode, a posL abouL Lech, eLc.
CbservaLlon-anyLhlng LhaL doesn'L menLlon Lhe producLlon, LheaLre




1
S
2
18
89#$ :;;,*)+ <=,>'?
Link
Photos
viueo
Wall Post
Piomotion
2S%
Auministiati
on
S1%
Aitistic
42%
0bseivation
4%
89#$ :;;,*)+ <@-)'-)?
by Bevon Smith 1S
1hen l Lrled Lo classlfy Lhe lnLenL of fan's posLs. Agaln, sub[ecLlve. ueflned as:
CommenL-CommenLlng on a posL (le kC81 posLs a phoLo, a fan commenLs)
8esponse-answerlng a quesLlon asked of Lhem
CuesLlon-asklng a quesLlon of kC81
1hanks-should be obvlous
Llkes-should be obvlous
osLs-Maklng an 'unmoLlvaLed' commenL, noL ln reference Lo a kC81 posL (Lhls dld noL
occur ln Lhe 2 weeks of Lhe sLudy, buL dld appear on day 13)



As menLloned prevlously, kC81 does a greaL [ob followlng up afLer lans have posLed onllne.
ueflnlLlons same as above.



28
16
4
1
1u9
.(-A+ 6/)373)5 ,- )&' B(44
Comment
Response
Question
Thanks
Likes
1
1
1S
16
89#$ .,44,C DE
Comment
Question
Response
Thanks
by Bevon Smith 14
now LhaL we've goL a sense of acLlvlLy level, l Lrled Lo make a guess aL cause/effecL.
lmporLanL lesson learned: Asklng a quesLlon engages fans (surprlse!) and requlres less average
follow up. ldeally, Lhls daLa would be capLured over a longer perlod of Llme. lL's challenglng Lo
be any more speclflc wlLh a relaLlvely small daLaseL.

Average 8esponse per osL
osts by 1ype # L|kes Comments kCk1
Llnk (news arLlcle re: producLlon) 1 4.0 1.0 1.0
hoLos (admln) 2 2.0 3.3 0.9
hoLos (rehearsal) 3 2.3 0.7 0.3
vldeo (maklng of weblsode) 1 3.0 2.0 1.0
vldeo (rehearsal) 1 4.0 4.0 0.8
Wall commenL (admln) 4 4.8 1.3 0.7
Wall commenL (arLlsLlc) 6 3.3 0.7 1.0
Wall commenL (observaLlon) 1 7.0 0.0 0.0
Wall commenL (promoLlon) 3 4.6 1.6 0.3
Wall commenL (quesLlon) 2 8.0 7.3 0.3
*noLe LhaL Lhe kC81 column refers Lo follow up commenLs (see prevlous graph), and are
calculaLed as an average per fan commenL.

uo fan's engage more wlLh cerLaln modes of medla? 8ased on Lhls charL (and agaln, belng
cauLlous of Lhe small daLa seL), fan's seem mosL engaged by wall posLs and vldeos.

CS1 MCDL #
1ota|
L|kes
Ave
L|kes
1ota|
Comments
Ave
Comments
Llnk 1 4 4 1 1.0
hoLos 3 11 2.2 9 1.8
vldeo 2 9 4.3 6 3.0
Wall osL 18 83 4.7 33 1.8


8uL we learn someLhlng sllghLly deeper when looklng aL Lhe lnLenL of Lhe posL. lL seems llke fans
en[oy hearlng abouL noL only whaL's golng on on sLage," buL also ln Lhe offlce. A Lrue surprlse.

CS1 IN1LN1 #
1ota|
L|kes
Ave
L|kes
1ota|
Comments
Ave
Comments
romoLlon 6 27 4.3 9 1.3
AdmlnlsLraLlon 8 39 4.9 28 3.3
ArLlsLlc 11 36 3.3 12 1.1
CbservaLlon 1 7 7.0 0 0.0


by Bevon Smith 1S
So we mlghL ask, [usL who are Lhese fans? Pow closely do Lhey maLch LlckeL buyers? Could Lhey
[usL be sLaff aL Lhe LheaLre? ls lL Lhe same 4 people ln consLanL conversaLlon? Would lL be bad lf
lL were? Pow far of a 2
nd
degree reach does kC81 have?

Cver Lhe pasL Lwo weeks, 36 fans (3 of LoLal fans) made a LoLal of 130 acLlons" (llkes or
commenLs), for an average engagemenL of 1.3 acLlons per engaged fan per week. reLLy
amazlng Lo sLay Lop of mlnd" for so many people lf Lhls ls malnLalned over Lhe course of an
enLlre season.

1hese 36 fans have a collecLlve LoLal of aL leasL 13,690 frlends (11 fans dld noL have frlend daLa
publlcally avallable). As parLlcular posLs by kC81 galn LracLlon (hlgh number of commenLs or
llkes), Lhose posLs begln Lo appear ln Lhe newsfeeds of Lhelr lan's, and Lhelr fan's fr|ends. 1hls
second order reach ls lmporLanL for noL only galnlng new fans, buL hopefully (down Lhe llne)
new LlckeL buyers. kC81 also obvlously also reached Lhelr own 1,904 fans. 1hls assumes
(nalvely) LhaL Lhere ls no overlap among fans' frlends.

As can be expecLed, acLlons weren'L very evenly dlsLrlbuLed among fans. Whlle Lhey dldn'L
follow Lhe Lyplcal 80/20 rule (Lhe Lop 20 of fans accounLed for less Lhan 60 of acLlvlLy), over
a Lwo week perlod:




1S+ Actions
S%
S-14+ Actions
11%
2-4 Actions
S6%
1 Action
Su%
23+)*30F)3,- ,; .(-A+ 6/)3,-+
by Bevon Smith 16
Slmllarly, dlfferenL fans engage ln dlfferenL ways. Whlle very dlfflculL Lo capLure graphlcally, l
noLlced LhaL fans Lend Lo LranslLlon up Lhe scale of engagemenL (flrsL llklng, Lhen commenLlng,
Lhen commenLlng on mulLlple lLems). noLe LhaL l'm [umplng ln mld-sLream, so Lhls ls a falrly
broad generallzaLlon.




Slmllar Lo Lhe generally held percepLlon of LlckeL buyers, women far ouLnumber men. noLe LhaL
Lhls ls based on a vlsual lnLerpreLaLlon of fan's proflle phoLo and name (2 fan's were
organlzaLlons and Lhus excluded from gender breakdown).




Fans Who
Likeu
SS%
Fans Who
Commenteu
2S%
Fans Who
Likeu &
Commenteu
22%
.(-A+ 6/)3,-+
male
Su%
female
7u%
.(-A+ G'->'*
by Bevon Smith 17
1he genders behaved sllghLly dlfferenLly as well. Men posLed more frequenLly, were more llkely
Lo boLh llke" and commenL," and were less llkely Lo be senlors.

lrequency AcLlvlLy 1ype Age
# AcLlons Llke CommenL 8oLh SLudenL 8egular Senlor
Male 3.2 30 19 31 20 80 0
lemale 2.3 61 26 13 27 64 9


1he nexL graph ls lnLeresLlng, buL also:
lar more prone Lo error
8ased on a vlsual lnLerpreLaLlon of a fan's proflle phoLo and llsLed neLworks (8 fans gave
no lndlcaLlon and were Lhus excluded)
8roken down by Lhe lndusLry sLandard LlckeLlng caLegorles



Agaln, small dlfferences beLween Lhe age groups. SLudenLs are noL more acLlve Lhan oLhers (as
some would expecL), Senlors are less llkely Lo llke" a posL (and noL also commenL on lL).

AcLlvlLy 1ype
# AcLlons Llke CommenL 8oLh
SLudenL 2.1 38 23 17
Senlor 2.0 0 66 34
8egular 3.1 64 18 18


Stuuent
24%
Senioi
6%
Regulai
7u%
.(-A+ 6H'
by Bevon Smith 18
Wrapplng up, lL would be greaL Lo:
use lacebook lnslghLs Lo spllce Lhe daLa over Llme, and more accuraLely/qulckly
uellberaLely experlmenL wlLh dlfferenL modes and lnLenLs of conLenL and Lrack user
engagemenL
llnd lf Lhere ls a celllng of acLlvlLy level whlch Lurns (unengaged) fans off
ldenLlfy a way Lo capLure Lhe lmpacL of an orlglnal "volce" Lo LheaLre's posLs

ln a nod Lo Lhe ever-helpful [kerrylsrael, lL's also lmporLanL Lo keep ln mlnd LhaL:
Some LheaLres malnLaln producLlon speclflc pages ln addlLlon Lo Lhelr 'maln page' whlch
may accounL for some varlance beLween LheaLre's acLlvlLles
1heaLres have Lhe cholce Lo allow fans Lo engage wlLh Lhelr page ln dlfferenL ways
(resLrlcLlng cerLaln acLlvlLles) and may have very good reasons for dolng so
Slnce kC81 dldn'L have any orlglnal fan posLs (only fans respondlng Lo kC81 posLs), l
wasn'L able Lo delve much lnLo Lhe dlfferenL value beLween Lhe Lwo Lypes of
engagemenL
Lven lf you're savlng Llme wlLh an lnLegraLed feed for your blog, LwlLLer, fllckr, or
?ou1ube on your lacebook lan age, lL's lmporLanL Lo keep Lhe conversaLlon golng on
lacebook wlLh organlc posLs, commenLs, and responses

by Bevon Smith 19
1WI11Lk

LxecuLlve Summary
82 of LC81 LheaLres are on 1wlLLer, followlng an average of 474 users, and belng followed by
an average of 631 users. 1he medlan LheaLre began uslng 1wlLLer ln early March of 2009, and
LweeLs [usL less Lhan once per day. ln any glven week, Lhe average LheaLre wlll be menLloned by
11 oLher users (hereafLer referred Lo as an [menLlon).
1heaLres use of 1wlLLer really Look off abouL a year ago

ln LhaL Llme, LheaLres have acqulred a LoLal of [usL under 40,000 followers collecLlvely

u
1u
2u
Su
4u
Su
6u
7u
1-}ul-u7 28-Bec-u7 2S-}un-u8 22-Bec-u8 2u-}un-u9 17-Bec-u9
$C3))'* D+'* I3-/'
1,uuu+
21%
Suu-999
S1%
1uu-499
S7%
<1uu
11%
.,44,C'*+
by Bevon Smith 2u
1hey have collecLlvely LweeLed close Lo 13,000 Llmes

And by rough measure (days ln exlsLence/LoLal LweeLs), LweeL abouL once per day. AlLhough,
lL's llkely Lhls slgnlflcanLly undercounLs -1$$%!# LweeLs per day (slnce lL's common for an
accounL Lo lay mosLly dormanL lLs flrsL few monLhs).




1,uuu+
S%
Suu-999
7%
1uu-499
S6%
<1uu
S4%
$C'')+
2+
8%
1
26%
<1
66%
$C'')+ E'* 2(5
by Bevon Smith 21
And Lhe fans are respondlng!

1he followlng graph shows Lhe dlsLrlbuLlon of each of 62 LC81 LheaLre's efforLs (LweeLs) and
resulLs (# of lollowers, [menLlons, and llsLed). 1he flrsL verLlcal llne measures Lhe Lop 20 of
acLlvlLy, Lhls ls whaL we'll be focuslng on. So for example, Lhe Lop 12 LheaLres LhaL recelved
[menLlons over a 7-day perlod accounLed for 72 of all LC81's [menLlons. 1hls comes close
Lo Lhe commonly found 80/20 areLo rlnclple we Lend Lo flnd ln cause & effecL evenLs.
Meanwhlle, Lhe Lop 12 LheaLres accounLed for only 42 of llsLs LhaL a LC81 LheaLre appeared
on.

Su+
S%
2S-49
1u%
1u-24
18%
1-9
48%
u
21%
JK'-)3,- E'* B''1
by Bevon Smith 22
Why ls Lhls Lhe case? l Lhlnk because llsLs are so new LhaL (as dlscussed laLer), number of
followers ls Lhe besL predlcLor for number of llsLs you appear on. Powever, a small number of
LheaLres are dolng someth|ng d|fferent Lo grab user's aLLenLlon, and lnclLlng Lhem Lo
lnLeracLlon. WhaL are Lhey dolng LhaL's so dlfferenL? My goal ls Lo dlscover.
Who are Lhey? 1he Lop 3 are qulckly becomlng Lhe usual suspecLs: [amerlcanrep (110),
[AC1LheaLre (71), [pcsghosL (48).
A few caveaLs: l've collecLed daLa over Lhe course of a slngle week-maybe Lhese LheaLres were
runnlng LwlLLer conLesLs, maybe your LheaLre was dark LhaL week and dldn'L have a loL Lo Lalk
abouL. More lmporLanLly, maybe [menLlons aren'L Lhe besL measure of user engagemenL.
by Bevon Smith 2S
1w|tter Index

ln order Lo beLLer undersLand who Lhe besL and Lhe brlghLesL (LheaLres) were on 1wlLLer, l
creaLed a qulck lndex LhaL valued boLh demonsLraLed lmpacL, and besL pracLlces ln Lhe fleld.

Category o|nts Notes
[menLlon
0 0
1-9 10
10-30 20
30+ 30
number of [menLlons ln Lhe 7 days prlor Lo CcL 27, 2009

lollowers
1-499 0
300-999 10
1000+ 20
As of CcLober 19, 2009

lrequency
<1/day 0
1+/day 20
'=1oLal LweeLs/Llme ln exlsLence

1oLal 1weeLs
0-99 0
100-299 3
300-999 3
1000+ 10
As of CcLober 19, 2009

1lme ln LxlsLence
less Lhan 1 year 0
1 year + 3
As of CcLober 19, 2009

Web 8adge LocaLlon
none 0
CLher 3
Pome age 3
8ased on cursery search of LheaLre's webslLe for Lhelr 1wlLLer
username

1wlLLer name
non-8randed 0
8randed 3
Sub[ecLlvely based on how closely 1wlLLer username
maLched LheaLre name and/or web url

CllenL
lacebook 0
Web 3
ueskLop App 3
lncluded under Lhe assumpLlon LhaL LheaLres uslng deskLop
appllcaLlons (llke 1weeLueck) are able Lo beLLer manage
Lhelr 1wlLLer presence
by Bevon Smith 24
8ased on Lhose quallLles, here's how everyone sLacked up:

1heatre Username Score kank
AC1 1heaLre AC1LheaLre 93 1
orLland CenLer SLage pcsghosL 83 2
Amerlcan 8eperLory 1heaLre amerlcanrep 80 3
Arena SLage arenasLage 78 4
ClnclnaLLl layhouse Clncylay 70 3
ManhaLLan 1heaLre Club M1C_n?C 68 6
SouLh CoasL 8ep SouLhCoasL8ep 68 6
Laguna layhouse Lagunaplayhouse 68 6
Alllance 1heaLre alllanceLheaLre 63 9
kansas ClLy 8ep kC8ep 63 10
Cld Clobe 1heCldClobe 63 10
CenLer 1heaLre Croup C1CLA 38 12
PunLlngLon 1heaLre hunLlngLon 38 12
uenver CenLer A uenverCenLer 36 14
1rlnlLy 8ep LrlnlLyrep 33 13
8oundabouL 1heaLre 81C_n?C 33 13
CuLhrle CuLhrle1heaLer 34 17
Asolo 8ep Asolo8ep1heaLre 33 18
asadena layhouse aslayhouse 31 19
lords 1heaLre fordsLheaLre 48 20
lay Makers 8ep playmakersrep 48 20
Cleveland layPouse ClevelayPouse 48 20
llorlda SLage florldasLage 46 23
8ep 1heaLre of SL. Louls repsLl 43 24
Llncoln CenLer 1heaLre LC1heaLer 43 23
Mllwaukee 8ep Mllw8ep 43 23
Arlzona 1heaLre Co Arlzona1heaLre 41 27
SeaLLle 8eperLory seaLLlerep 41 27
CaplLal 8ep n? CaplLal8epn? 40 29
1wo 8lvers 1wo8lver1heaLer 36 30
SlgnaLure 1heaLre slgLheaLre 33 31
Amerlcan ConservaLory AC1Sanlranclsco 33 31
8erkeley 8ep berkeleyrep 33 31
Ceorgla Shakespeare CAShakespeare 33 34
AcLors 1heaLre Loulsvllle A1Loulsvllle 33 34
ParLford SLage ParLfordSLage 33 34
Coodman 1heaLre Coodman1heaLre 33 34
La!olla layhouse l[playhouse 31 38
Wllma 1heaLre 1heWllma1heaLer 31 38
Arkansas 8eperLory 1he8ep 30 40
Shakespeare 1heaLre Co shakespearelndc 28 41
by Bevon Smith 2S
Arden 1heaLre Arden1heaLreCo 28 41
lnLlman 1heaLre lnLlman1heaLre 28 41
CenLerSLage CLn1L8S1ACL_Mu 26 44
Alabama Shakes AlabamaShakes 26 44
San !ose 8ep S[rep 23 46
McCarLer 1heaLre mccarLer 23 46
lndlana 8ep l81llve 21 48
8ound Pouse 8P1_roundhouse 20 49
Ceva 1heaLre gevaLheaLre 18 30
Merrlmack 8ep Merrlmack_8ep 13 31
eople's LlghL peoplesllghL 13 32
MalLz !uplLer !uplLer1heaLre 13 32
Ceorge SLreeL georgesLreeL 13 32
Alley 1heaLre club613 13 32
Clarence 8rown 1heaLre Co clarencebrown 10 36
Syracuse SLage syracusesLage 8 37
CreaL Lakes 1heaLre CL1lCleveland 8 37
Long Wharf Long_Wharf 3 39
vlrglnla SLage vASLage 3 39
?ale 8ep yaledrama 3 61
8arLer 1heaLre 8arLerlnslder 0 62



by Bevon Smith 26
1w|tter L|sts
A relaLlvely new addlLlon Lo 1wlLLer, l wanLed Lo beLLer undersLand whaL Lhe drlvers were
behlnd a LheaLre belng llsLed." 1he mosL llkely suspecLs would be:
engaged users (as measured ln number of recenL [menLlons)
user neLwork slze (as measured ln number of followers)
prollflc posLlngs (as measured ln number of llfeLlme LweeLs)
Cf Lhe 39 LheaLres LweeLlng, LvL8? SlnCLL CnL was belng followed by aL leasL one llsL, wlLh Lhe
avearge LheaLre belng followed by 20 llsLs! lnLeresLlngly, [CuLhrle1heaLer has Lhe hlghesL
number llsLed (71). 8ased on Lhe followlng graphs, lL looks llke # of followers ls Lhe besL (slngle)
predlcLor of Lhe number of llsLs followlng you.


by Bevon Smith 27
1w|tter Metr|cs

So we've seen who (some of) Lhe leaders ln Lhe fleld are, based on my (expllclLly sub[ecLlve)
lndex. now leL's Lake a deeper dlve lnLo a few cases Lo see whaL we can flnd...

[pcsghosL from orLland CenLer SLage ls prollflc, experlmenLlng consLanLly, and has 2,000+
followers. LeL's assume LhaL Lhey're a good LesL case Lo see how soclal medla besL pracLlces can
lead Lo 8Cl. llrsL, an admlsslon: l'm a snoop. l love checklng ouL whaL oLher people are dolng,
and copylng meLhods and pracLlces. no sense ln recreaLlng Lhe wheel rlghL? So, l'm posLlng
wlLhouL permlsslon from [pcsghosL, and hoplng for Lhe besL!

Check ouL Lhls (free, and avallable Lo anyone) daLa from 1weetStats:

MonLhly average LweeLs have been growlng falrly conslsLenLly for over a year now. l Lhlnk we
can assume from Lhls LhaL [pcsghosL ls posLlng when Lhe LheaLre's dark, as well as when
Lhere's a show runnlng. Wonder whaL was golng on ln !anuary?




by Bevon Smith 28

1hls ls measured ln LS1, and Lhey're S1, so counL backwards by 3 hours for everyLhlng. lL looks
llke naLalle's LweeLlng when she geLs lnLo work, Lhen dolng oLher Lhlngs for a few hours, and
Lhen ramps up agaln ln Lhe lunchLlme hour. lncessenL LweeLlng ls exhausLlng. 8eLh kanLer has a
greaL posL abouL how Lo deal wlLh soclal medla lnformaLlon overload.

Who are Lhese folks LhaL [pcsghosL ls LweeLlng wlLh mosL ofLen? Looks llke a few oLher
porLland LheaLres, Lhelr own lndlvldual show accounLs, and a few LhoughL leaders ln Lhe fleld.
1wlLLer's noL [usL abouL connecLlng wlLh your audlence, lL's also a greaL way Lo facllLaLe
communlcaLlon lnLernally, and Lo learn from peers and oLher smarL folks. noLlce LhaL replylng
Lo oLher LweeLers accounLs for nearly 1/3 of Lhelr acLlvlLy onllne!
by Bevon Smith 29

8e1weeLlng embodles one of Lhe underlylng prlnclples of soclal medla: glve and ye shall
recelve. When you noLlce an lnLeresLlng LweeL, and you Lhlnk your followers mlghL be
lnLeresLed, 8e1weeL. Lmbrace Lhe power of neLworks--lL's called "soclal" medla afLer all, noL
"posL-my-press-release" medla.

1hls ls a Lag cloud of [pcsghosL LweeLs. 1he blgger & bolder a word ls Lhe more ofLen Lhey've
used lL. l Lhlnk Lag clouds are mosL useful as an overvlew summary Lo remlnd me whaL l've been
Lalklng abouL laLely. lL looks llke [pcsghosL ls a fan of porLland, LlckeLs, and a few speclflc
producLlons. Cne of Lhe ways followers wlll flnd you ls by searchlng for words Lhey're lnLeresLed
ln. ln facL, as Coogle and 8lng begln lncorporaLlng real Llme search lnLo Lhelr search englnes, lL
wlll become ever more lmporLanL Lo Lag your posLs as relaLed Lo LheaLre ln your clLy. And don'L
forgeL LhaL url shorLeners llke blL.ly can help save you valuable characLers (lnsLead of
www.blahblahblah.org).




by Bevon Smith Su

kefer shows much Lhe same lnformaLlon aL 1weeLSLaLs, buL lncludes [menLlons (replles) ln
Lhelr analysls. 1hls can help glve you some lndlcaLlon of noL only when your besL LweeLlng hour
ls, buL also when you Lend Lo geL Lhe mosL replles. 1wlLLer exlsLs mosL usefully ln real Llme, lf
you flnd yourself LweeLlng on saLurday afLernoon, and no one's respondlng, your Llme mlghL be
beLLer spenL elsewhere.

Io||er.me shows you where your followers are from. Soclal medla's clearly become a global
phenomenon. 1rue, a few of Lhese followers mlghL be spam boLs, buL mosL are real people,
who are really lnLeresLed ln whaL [pcsghosL has Lo say, and has Lhelr own neLwork of frlends
around Lhe world who mlghL one day be LlckeL buyers. Lspeclally useful daLa for Lhose of you
who Lour (lnLer)naLlonally.

by Bevon Smith S1

1w|tterCounter allows you Lo compare Lhe follow raLe of up Lo 3 dlfferenL LwlLs, and glves you a
few nlfLy Lools Lo predlcL how many new followers you should be expecLlng ln Lhe upcomlng
monLh. Much ln Lhe way LhaL you can maLch LlckeL sales graphs Lo markeLlng acLlvlLles,
experlmenL Lo see lf you can produce splkes ln follow raLes based on whaL/when/how you
LweeL.






by Bevon Smith S2

Ck. So Lhls one's a llLLle ouL Lhere. 1w|ta|yzer aLLempLs Lo measure Lhe 3 key meLrlcs Lhey Lhlnk
are mosL lmporLanL on Lhe web. lf noLhlng else, Lhls ls a good remlnder abouL some of Lhe
lssues you should be Lhlnklng abouL. lor now, pay less aLLenLlon Lo Lhe raw numbers.

by Bevon Smith SS
Us|ng Amer|can kepertory 1heatre to 1rack Qment|ons
1wlLLer has many uses, noL all of Lhem rlghL for everybody, 8rand Lspresso descrlbes Lhem as:
1. ubllc 8elaLlons
2. CusLomer Servlce
3. LoyalLy 8ulldlng
4. CollaboraLlon
3. neLworklng
6. 1houghL Leadershlp
7. CusLomer AcqulslLlon

Slnce [amerlcanrep has been generaLlng a Lon of [menLlons, l wanLed Lo delve a llLLle deeper.
llrsL, a revlew of Lhe pasL 9 days.

1hls ls a graph of Lhe pasL 9 days of acLlvlLy by [amerlcanrep. lL was an unforLunaLely Llme
lnLenslve process, and per usual, sub[ecLlve. Pere's Lhe crlLerla l Lrled Lo use:
81: [amerlcanrep reLweeLlng someone else's LweeL. ln almosL all cases, Lhose (orlglnal)
LweeLs menLlon [amerlcanrep.
8esponse: [amerlcanrep and someone else havlng a conversaLlon. AL Llmes, dlfflculL Lo
dlsLlngulsh from Lhe 81.
CommenLary: [amerlcanrep Lalklng abouL lnLernal golngs on (sLaff meeLlngs), non-
LheaLre evenLs (happy halloween), or slmllar.
romoLlon: [amerlcanrep promoLlng Lhelr show, or offerlng llnks Lo addlLlonal
phoLos/vldeo
lollowlrlday: [amerlcanrep recommendlng folks Lo follow.
WhaL do we learn? [amerlcanrep ls dolng C8LA1 work aL faclllLaLlng a Lwo way conversaLlon,
noL [usL broadcasLlng LlckeL dlscounLs.
by Bevon Smith S4

Same ldea, now applled Lo a search of "[amerlcanrep." SllghLly dlfferenL crlLerla:
81: someone 81 one of [amerlcanrep's posL. CfLen Lhls was one of Lhe romoLlon posLs
above.
8esponse: someone LweeLlng back and forLh 2(#3 [amerlcanrep.
MenLlon: someone LweeLlng '4"1# [amerlcanrep (who Lhen uses Lhls greaL
opporLunlLy Lo reach ouL Lo folks)
lollowlrlday: someone recommendlng Lo Lhelr followers Lo follow [amerlcanrep. ln
mosL cases, Lhls was anoLher LheaLre
WhaL do we learn? 1here's a whole loL of folks ouL Lhere [usL chaLLlng abouL A81 wlLh Lhelr
onllne neLwork. 1alk abouL an lncredlbly rlch opporLunlLy for dlrecL markeLlng!

Cverall [amerlcanrep ls LweeLlng abouL 10+ Llmes per day, drlven prlmarlly by lnLeracLlons
wlLh oLher Lweeps.
by Bevon Smith SS

MaLchlng Lhese Lwo graphs over an exLended perlod of Llme could Lell us some preLLy
lnLeresLlng Lhlngs. lor example, [amerlcanrep ls seelng an exploslon of responses on
november 3 because of a quesLlon Lhey asked Lhelr followers: WhaL's your favorlLe
Shakespeare play? uependlng on whaL your goals are for uslng 1wlLLer, Lhls can be a greaL way
Lo geL your brand ln fronL of a bunch of eyeballs (noL only Lhe people who follow you, buL Lhelr
followers Loo), and engage your followers ln Loplcs LhaL lnLeresL Lhem.



So here's where Lhlngs have Lhe poLenLlal Lo geL really lnLeresLlng. 1hls graphs dally LweeLs 4.
[amerlcanrep versus #" "$ '4"1# [amerlcanrep. Cn mosL days, you would expecL Lhe llne Lo
maLch up (for a company LhaL's Lrylng Lo really engage onllne). Cn days where Lhe blue llne ls
above Lhe red, lL mlghL feel llke you're Lalklng Lo Lhe eLher. ln Lhls case, a lack of chaLLer on
Palloween makes a loL of sense. Cn days when Lhe red llne ls above Lhe blue, you're geLLlng
by Bevon Smith S6
good LracLlon on someLhlng, Lhe key wlll be flgurlng ouL whaL LhaL ls...ln Loday's case--duh! 1he
Shakespeare quesLlon.

now LhaL we've seen Lhe numbers, back Lo my orlglnal lnLenL...

pub||c re|at|ons

customer serv|ce



|oya|ty bu||d|ng

Co||aborat|on
by Bevon Smith S7

Network|ng

1hought Leadersh|p


Customer Acqu|s|t|on

llnal LhoughLs: l'm sLarLlng Lo Lhlnk abouL lf #ll (lollow lrlday) Lags should be lncluded ln my
1wlLLer lndex as a measure of lnfluence. CerLalnly lf oLher folks are recommendlng you Lo Lhelr
followers, you're dolng someLhlng rlghL. Also, someone needs Lo bulld a Lool (and qulck!) LhaL
counLs LweeLs and sorLs Lhem lnLo varlous buckeLs. Serlously folks, l'm a full Llme sLudenL. Who
else ls golng Lo have Lhe Llme or paLlence Lo hand counL Lhls sLuff??

by Bevon Smith S8
CU1U8L

LxecuLlve Summary
Cnly 9 LC81 LheaLres don'L have Lhelr own ?ou1ube channel
vlewers engage almosL enLlrely on Lhe per vldeo" basls raLher Lhan on a LheaLre's
?ou1ube channel
Cn average, LheaLres have uploaded 28 vldeos Lo Lhelr channel
vldeos don'L 3')% Lo be shorL, lnclude producLlon fooLage, or be abouL a muslcal Lo be
lncredlbly popular
Men age 43-34 were Lhe slngle largesL demographlc waLchlng Lhe 1op 20 (mosL
waLched) vldeos
8elaLed vldeos are Lhe Lop referral sources for Lhe 1op 20 vldeos
1he vasL ma[orlLy of vlews occur more Lhan 2 monLhs afLer Lhe vldeo has been posLed
(somewhere ln Lhe nelghborhood of 80)


llrsL, a llLLle perspecLlve on onllne vldeos: Accordlng Lo Comscore, 84.4 of u.S. lnLerneL users
waLched aL leasL one onllne vldeo ln CcLober 2009, and Lhe average person waLched 10.8 hours
of vldeo for Lhe monLh. lacebook's unlque vlewers rose by 23 from Lhe monLh prlor, whlle
everyone else's vlewershlp was relaLlvely flaL. Cverall:




u
1u
2u
Su
4u
Su
6u
7u
8u
9u
u
2u,uuu
4u,uuu
6u,uuu
8u,uuu
1uu,uuu
12u,uuu
14u,uuu
L
3
>
'
,
+

E
'
*

L
3
'
C
'
*

D
-
3
M
F
'

L
3
'
C
'
*
+

<
N
N
N
?

"/),0'* ONNP <9,K+/,*'?
by Bevon Smith S9
As of uecember 1, 2009: 88 of LC81 LheaLres have Lhelr own ?ou1ube channel. Ceorgla
Shakespeare was Lhe flrsL LheaLre on board, and ClLy 1heaLre ls Lhe mosL recenL. 1he laLLer half
of 2007 and Lhe early half of 2009 were parLlcularly busy Llmes for LheaLres Lo enLer Lhe world
of onllne vldeo.




1he average LheaLre has 27 subscrlbers Lo Lhelr channel, whlle CenLer 1heaLre Croup, uenver
CenLer 1heaLre, and Lhe 8oundabouL 1heaLre all have more Lhan 100 subscrlbers.



u
1u
2u
Su
4u
Su
6u
7u
4-Api-u6 4-Api-u7 4-Api-u8 4-Api-u9
<!"#$? $&'()*'+ ,- Q,F$F0'
u-9
S4%
1u-49
4S%
Su-99
18%
1uu+
S%
IF0+/*30'*+ E'* $&'()*'
by Bevon Smith 4u
1he average LheaLre's channel page (Lhe reposlLory for all of Lhose vldeos) has been vlewed
1,770 Llmes, wlLh orLland CenLer SLage and Arena SLage havlng Lhe hlghesL number of vlews.



1he average LheaLre has uploaded 28 vldeos Lo Lhelr channel, wlLh uenver CenLer, lord's,
PunLlngLon, McCarLer, and orLland CenLer SLage belng Lhe mosL prollflc.


u-999
49%
1,uuu-1,999
19%
2,uuu-S,999
18%
4,uuu-S,999
11%
6,uuu+
S%
9&(--'4 L3'C+ E'* $&'()*'
u-9
S4%
1u-49
49%
Su-99
1S%
1uu+
2%
DE4,(>'> L3>',+ E'* $&'()*'
by Bevon Smith 41
Channel commenLs were vlrLually non-exlsLenL for mosL LheaLre (on average less Lhan 1, aL
mosL 7). 1hls leads me Lo belleve LhaL users aren'L engaglng aL Lhe channel (brand) level, buL
raLher on lndlvldual vldeos. Powever, subscrlbers seem Lo have a more concenLraLed lmpacL on
channel vlews Lhan number of uploads (LhoughL boLh are poslLlvely correlaLed).




So, leL's Lake a closer look aL lndlvldual vldeos. 1he Lop 3 mosL popular vldeos for each LheaLre
averaged a LoLal of 14,622 vlews, or [usL under 3,000 vlews per vldeo. CenLer 1heaLre Croup,
wlLh nearly 110,000 vlews won nearly Lwlce as many 1op 3 vldeos" vlews as Lhelr nexL mosL
popular colleagues aL A81.



u
2u
4u
6u
8u
1uu
12u
u 1uuu 2uuu Suuu 4uuu Suuu 6uuu 7uuu
9&(--'4 L3'C+
2*37'*+ ,; 9&(--'4 L3'C+
0ploaus
Subsciibeis
<SK
S9%
S-1SK
Su%
1S-SuK
24%
SuK+
7%
$,E R L3>',+A L3'C+
by Bevon Smith 42
CuL of Lhose 333 vldeos (67 LheaLres x Lop 3 vldeos from each), l more closely examlned Lhe Lop
20. 1here were 11 LheaLres represenLed ln Lhe 1op 20:




And Lhe acLual number of vlews per vldeo:


8uL here's where l ran lnLo a blL of a problem. 1hese 20 vldeos don'L have a whole loL ln
common, and cerLalnly noLhlng clearly dlsLlngulshes Lhem from (for example) Lhe leasL waLched
20 vldeos of Lhe sample.

ART (4)
CTu (S)
Clevelanu
(2)
LCT (2)
PCS (2)
SCR
(2)
Alabama (1)
Aiena (1)
Beikeley (1)
St. Louis (1)
Rounuabout
(1)
S L3>',+ 3- $,E ON
- 1u,uuu 2u,uuu Su,uuu 4u,uuu Su,uuu 6u,uuu
South Pacific Tony Peifoimance
Noises 0ff at the Clevelanu Playhouse
Nike Baisey Auuience Piotest
Cultuie Clash in Ameiica
The Bistoiy Boys
The Impoitance of Being Eainest
Auapting 0livei Twist foi the Stage
Sleep No Noie Piouuction Photos
The ulass Nenageiie at the Clevelanu
Fences by August Wilson
About the Ritz
A Chiistmas Caiol Tiailei
Cuitains Commeiical foi the New Bioauway
The Bonkey Show Piomo
Ameiican Iuiot-the Tiailei
Cabaiet: Stoim Laige Tv Spot
}eisey Boys 0pening Night in LA
Next to Noimal
South Pacific viueo Nontage
The Coloi Puiple 0pening Night in LA
L3'C+ ;,* $,E ON
by Bevon Smith 4S
Cne of Lhe mosL common rules of Lhumb l've heard ls LhaL ln order for a vldeo Lo be
waLchable," lL has Lo be shorL. 8uL nearly 1/3 of Lhese 1op 20 were longer Lhan 3 mlnuLes:



More words of wlsdom: vldeos have Lo be abouL xyz." Lven Lhough 60 of Lhe 1op 20
consLlLuLed whaL l consldered 1rallers" (cllps of a show wlLh a call Lo acLlon Lo buy LlckeLs), LhaL
probably under represenLs Lhe percenLage of all LheaLres' vldeos posLed whlch are Lrallers.


<1 min
2u%
1-S min
Su%
>S min
Su%
L3>', !'-H)&
Tiailei
6u%
Inteiviews
2u%
News Clip
1u%
Sliueshow
S%
Auuience
Response
S%
L3>', $5E'
by Bevon Smith 44
nobody would waLch a vldeo abouL a play, rlghL? Wrong agaln. AlLhough lL ls worLhwhlle Lo
noLe LhaL every vldeo ln Lhe 1op 20 was dlrecLly Lled Lo a producLlon.




Maybe Lhese vldeos were all [usL produced a long Llme ago and vlews have been accumulaLlng?
nope. 8uL we wlll reLurn Lo Lhls ldea momenLarlly for furLher lnvesLlgaLlon.



Play
SS%
Nusical
4S%
T*,>F/)3,- G'-*'
-
1u,uuu
2u,uuu
Su,uuu
4u,uuu
Su,uuu
6u,uuu
1-}ul-u6 17-}an-u7 S-Aug-u7 21-Feb-u8 8-Sep-u8 27-Nai-u9 1S-0ct-u9
$
,
)
(
4

L
3
'
C
+

L3>', DE4,(> 2()'
by Bevon Smith 4S
Cnly young people waLch vldeos on ?ou1ube, so why boLher? AcLually, 2/3 of vlewers are over
43:




lL's long been noLed LhaL women domlnaLe boLh Lhe LheaLre golng audlence, and Lhe LlckeL
buylng declslons. 8uL apparenLly, ?ou1ube ls a preLLy good way Lo reach men:



noLe LhaL ln general, men Lend Lo domlnaLe Lhe onllne vldeo waLchlng populaLlon, so Lhls graph
lsn'L all LhaL surprlslng. lolks lnLeresLed ln waLchlng onllne vldeo abouL LheaLre seems falrly
represenLaLlve of Lhe general onllne populaLlon.

1S-17
1S%
18-24
2%
2S-S4
4%
SS-44
16%
4S-S4
46%
SS-64
17%
6H' 2'K,+ ;,* $,E ON L3>',+
Nale
S7%
Female
4S%
G'->'* 2'K,+ ;,* $,E ON L3>',+
by Bevon Smith 46
ln facL, Males age 43-34 are Lhe largesL slngle demographlc of Lhese 1op 20 vldeos. Could lL be
LhaL parLners/spouses are uslng vldeo Lo convlnce Lhese men Lo aLLend Lhe LheaLre wlLh Lhem?




Pow are all of Lhese people flndlng Lhese vldeos? 1/3 of Lhe Llme slmply as people browse oLher
vldeos on ?ou1ube (meanlng Lhe more conLenL you have onllne, Lhe more llkely someone wlll
happen upon your vldeo), and x of Lhe Llme vlewers are waLchlng Lhe vldeo on a slLe "#3%$ #3'!
?ou1ube (so lL's lmporLanL Lo embed vldeos on your LheaLre's webslLe, and your oLher soclal
medla slLes).


Nale 4S-S4
28%
Female
4S-S4
18%
Female 1S-17
1S%
Nale
SS-64
1S%
Nale SS-44
11%
Female SS-44
S%
Female SS-64
4%
Nale 2S-S4
4%
Female 18-24
2%
Nale 1S-17
2%
2'K,+ ;,* $,E ON L3>',+
Relateu viueo
SS%
Embeuueu
on othei
site
26%
YouTube
seaich
2u%
0theiviial
8%
uoogle seaich
7%
Refeiial fiom othei
site
4%
view fiom mobile
uevice
1%
vieweu on channel
page
1%
I,F*/' ,; L3'C+
by Bevon Smith 47
Cne of Lhe mosL surprlslng Lhlngs l noLlced was LhaL Lhe vasL ma[orlLy of vlews occurs far afLer
Lhe vldeo ls flrsL posLed. So whaL's Lhe value ln a vldeo wlLh 30,000 vlews lf 40,000 of Lhem
occur afLer Lhe producLlon has closed? My guess ls lncreased brand awareness for Lhe LheaLre,
and exposure Lo poLenLlal new audlences.

1hese laLer vlews may also be Lhe case of mlsLaken ldenLlLy," (for example, l mlghL be
searchlng for a dlfferenL LheaLre's producLlon wlLh Lhe same name).

nearly every vldeo's vlewershlp over Llme followed Lhe same llnear relaLlonshlp:


llnally, vlewers are ln facL engaglng more wlLh lndlvldual vldeos as compared Lo Lhe channel as
a whole. Cn average:
17 commenLs per vldeo (A81's Mlke ualsey Lops aL 96)
39 favorlLes (Arena's nexL Lo normal Lops aL 169)
18 raLlngs (agaln, nexL Lo normal Lops aL 63)
4.64 sLars (only 1 vldeo had less Lhan a 4 sLar raLlng)



by Bevon Smith 48
MSACL

l was all prepared noL Lo research LheaLres use of MySpace. All lndlcaLors polnL Lo Lhe (qulck)
decllne of MySpace's lmporLance ln Lhe Soclal Medla realm. Slnce Lhe purpose of all of Lhls
research ls Lo lnform ?ale 8ep's ongolng soclal medla sLraLegy, lL dldn'L make a loL of sense Lo
spend Llme on a dylng plaLform.

And Lhen someone (wlsh l could glve a haL Llp Lo somebody speclflc, buL LhaL parLlcular LweeL
has been losL Lo Lhe LwlLLerspere), remlnded me LhaL compared Lo oLher soclal medla
plaLforms, MySpace ls younger, less whlLe, and less well-off. Weren'L Lhose [usL Lhe klnds of
audlence dlverslLy measures LheaLres have been looklng for? Could MySpace Lurn ouL Lo be 1PL
place Lo reach Lhese folks?

WhaL l found:
Cnly 8 of LheaLres logged lnLo MySpace someLlme ln Lhe pasL week
Cnly 4 of LheaLres wlLh MySpace pages had fans commenLlng someLlme ln Lhe pasL
week
1he average LheaLre geLs Lhe same number of commenLs on lacebook (or [menLlons
on 1wlLLer) ln a week as Lhey do over Lhe enLlre llfe of Lhelr MySpace page
lacebook and 1wlLLer boLh have larger (LheaLre) fan communlLles Lhan MySpace
number of MySpace frlends ls noL an lndlcaLor for number of lacebook fans, 1wlLLer
followers, or ?ou1ube subscrlbers

So l sLarLed dlgglng. lacebook surpassed MySpace ln Lerms of unlque vlslLors over a year ago.
Slnce Lhen, even 1wlLLer ls approachlng MySpace's decreaslng slze (compeLe.com)



by Bevon Smith 49
So how many LheaLres are sLlll uslng MySpace? lf by uslng," you mean logged ln someLlme ln
Lhe pasL week (an eLernlLy ln soclal medla Llme), less Lhan 8. Powever, nearly 30 of LC81
LheaLres have logged ln someLlme ln 2009.



Pow does Lhls compare Lo Lhe MySpace frlends? 1he lasL Llme Lhey lefL a commenL" (and for
Lhe beneflL of Lhe doubL, l'm lncludlng spammy commenLs ln here Loo):



Last
month
14%
1-S months
17%
eailiei
2uu9
17%
2uu8
8%
2uu7
S%
2uu6
7%
No NySpace
page
S2%
!(+) !,HH'> 3-), =5IE(/'
Last
month
1S%
1-S
months
1S%
eailiei 2uu9
24%
2uu8
19%
2uu7
4%
2uu6
2%
No comments
2S%
!(+) 9,KK'-) T,+)'>
by Bevon Smith Su
8uL fans were never all LhaL engaged by (LheaLres on) MySpace. Cver Lhe enLlre llfeLlme of a
LheaLre's MySpace page, nearly of LheaLres falled Lo geL aL leasL 30 commenLs.



8uL walL-Lhls lsn'L a condemnaLlon of LheaLres. newer Soclal Medla plaLforms have flgured ouL
more and beLLer ways for fans Lo engage on a company's page, fans are more lnLeresLed ln
commenLlng, and LheaLres are dolng a beLLer [ob aL engaglng fans.

Cn Lhe followlng graph, Lhe ouLslde rlng ls MySpace, Lhe mlddle rlng ls lacebook, and Lhe lnner
rlng ls 1wlLLer. 8uL Lhe key Lo lnLerpreLaLlon ls LhaL Lhese commenLs happened over 1 WLLk ln
lacebook and 1wlLLer, compared Lo ?LA8S on MySpace.

noL only are commenLs more volumlnous on lacebook and 1wlLLer, buL Lhey're also more
valuable-by showlng up ln lacebook's newsleed, and 1wlLLer's publlc sLream.

1uu+
17%
Su-99
14%
1-49
46%
u
2S%
.(-A+ !3;')3K' 9,KK'-) L,4FK'
9,KK'-)+
1uu+
Su-99
1-49
u
by Bevon Smith S1
l was surprlsed Lo flnd subsLanLlal communlLles of fans on LheaLre's MySpace pages. Cf Lhose
LhaL sLlll had a MySpace page, 13 had more Lhan 1,000 fans (Lhough Lhey weren'L necessarlly
among Lhe usual suspecLs from Lop performlng lacebook and 1wlLLer uslng LheaLres).



8ulldlng a communlLy of 1,000 fans ls noLhlng Lo sneeze aL. 8uL Lhese days, 1wlLLer and
lacebook boLh ouLpace MySpace ln Lerms of (LheaLre) fan communlLy slze. As before, MySpace
ls Lhe ouLer rlng, lacebook ls Lhe mlddle rlng, and 1wlLLer ls Lhe lnner rlng.

1he average LheaLre on MySpace has less Lhan 100 fans, whlle on 1wlLLer Lhey have 100-499,
and on lacebook more Lhan 300. 8uL even 1wlLLer has more LheaLres wlLh very large follower
bases (1000+) Lhan MySpace.


1uuu+
1S%
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19%
1uu-499
S1%
<1uu
SS%
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1uuu+
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1uu-499
<1uu
by Bevon Smith S2
Much llke we've seen on oLher soclal medla plaLforms, Lhe slze of your communlLy ls a good
lndlcaLlon of Lhe volume of engagemenL you can flnd on your slLe. 1hese are llkely muLually
relnforclng prlnclples (more fans leads Lo more commenLs whlch lead Lo more fans).


A noLe abouL Lhe one LheaLre wlLh very few frlends and a whole loL of commenLs-l checked.
1hose commenLs were almosL enLlrely spamboLs.

So afLer all of LhaL, who's sLlll logglng ln? unsurprlslngly, lL's Lhose LheaLres wlLh Lhe mosL
frlends. 1hose frlends are more llkely Lo conLlnue leavlng commenLs, whlch drlves LheaLres Lo
log ln Lo Lhelr pages Lo check commenLs.



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$&'()*' !(+) !,HH'> @-
B&,A+ I)344 !,HH3-H 3-V
by Bevon Smith SS
My concluslons: l Lhlnk Lhere's noL a loL of fan engagemenL on MySpace because Lhere's noL a
loL Lo uC on MySpace. Cn lacebook, l can upload phoLos and vldeo, l can share lnLeresLlng
arLlcles, and l can play an endless number of games and qulzzes. l can'L do any of LhaL on
MySpace. Cn 1wlLLer, l can sLalk anyone l wanL (wlLh a publlc proflle), l can commenL on
organlzaLlons/producLs/people wlLhouL havlng Lo frlend" Lhem, and l can llsLen ln on oLhers
commenLlng on Lhe same. l can'L do any of LhaL on MySpace.

So Lhe quesLlon becomes: whaL's your exlL sLraLegy lf you've goL a solld presence on MySpace
(l'm looklng aL you vlrglnla SLage, and CenLer 1heaLre Croup)-meanlng:
you've logged ln someLlme ln Lhe pasL monLh
aL leasL one of your frlends made a commenL on your page ln Lhe pasL monLh
you've goL more Lhan 1,000 fans
your fans have commenLed more Lhan 100 Llmes on your page

lL's long been my hypoLhesls LhaL one of Lhe mosL lmporLanL reasons for a LheaLre Lo be uslng a
soclal medla plaLform, ls so LhaL Lhey undersLand how Lo besL Lake advanLage of Lhe nexL
plaLform LhaL comes around. So Lhe quesLlon abouL wheLher 1wlLLer ls golng Lo Lake off llke
lacebook, or go Lhe way of lrlendsLer ls lrrelevanL, whaL's more lnLeresLlng (and sLraLeglc) ls Lo
experlmenL on 1wlLLer now, and use whaL you've learned Lo bulld an even beLLer communlLy
when Lhe 1wlLLer of Lomorrow launches.

ln Lheory, lL should be Lhe case LhaL a LheaLre LhaL was good aL bulldlng a communlLy on
MySpace should be good aL bulldlng a communlLy on lacebook. lf Lhe audlences were
relaLlvely slmllar (mass markeL, began wlLh Lhe youngs, expanded older), lf Lhe conLenL posLed
was relaLlvely slmllar (predomlnaLely LexL based), and lf LheaLres were learnlng as Lhey go. 8uL
LhaL doesn'L seem Lo be Lhe case.

1he number of frlends a LheaLre has on MySpace has no predlcLlve power over how many
1wlLLer followers, lacebook fans, or ?ou1ube subscrlbers Lhey have. WhaL's Lhe deal?


-
Suu
1,uuu
1,Suu
2,uuu
2,Suu
S,uuu
S,Suu
4,uuu
u Suu 1uuu 1Suu 2uuu
=5IE(/' .*3'->+
2, 9,KKF-3)3'+ $*(7'4V
Facebook Twittei YouTube
by Bevon Smith S4
ILICkk
ln CcLober, Lhe 4 4(&&("!#3 phoLo was uploaded Lo lllckr. lmpresslve. 8uL lacebook users upload
2.3 bllllon phoLos Lo LhaL slLe %)%$. +"!#3. 1radlLlonally, Lhe quallLy and purpose of phoLos on
Lhese Lwo soclal medla plaLforms are preLLy dlfferenL. LxcepL lf you're a LheaLre.

1here's a few greaL posLs l've run across LhaL descrlbe how oLher non proflLs are uslng lllckr:
hLLp://blL.ly/3ml3uu
1. 1he PousLon 8alleL: Clvlng lans a 8acksLage ass"
2. MassMCCA: Addlng ulmenslons Lo CurrenL rogrammlng
3. 1he Luce loundaLlon CenLer for Amerlcan ArL: uslng lllckr for Crowdsourclng ueclslons

And some besL pracLlces from a recenL 1echSoup chaL, hLLp://blL.ly/37ugk8
1. upload 4-3 lmages aL a Llme (lnsLead of 30+)
2. locus on quallLy, noL quanLlLy
3. 1lme of day you upload has a correlaLlon wlLh how many conLacLs wlll ulLlmaLely vlew
your phoLos
4. Cross reference your phoLos ln blogs and oLher plaLforms
3. Pavlng a presence on lllckr means vlewlng oLhers' phoLos as well as posLlng your own

lllckr's search englne ls a llLLle Lrlcky, buL from whaL l could flnd, only 1/3 of LC81 LheaLres are
uslng lllckr. 1hey've collecLlvely uploaded close Lo 4,000 phoLos Lo Lhe slLe.







u
S%
<Su
11%
Su-2uu
9%
2uu+
9%
No Flicki
66%
S T&,),+
by Bevon Smith SS
Cf Lhose LheaLres uslng lllckr, more Lhan x have no lllckr conLacLs, meanlng, lllckr ls probably
belng used as a reposlLory of phoLos raLher Lhan an opporLunlLy for a Lruly soclal engagemenL.




8uL lllckr users can flnd phoLos Lhrough 3 oLher meLhods as well:
lavorlLes (ouLer rlng, 19 wlLh)-when you favorlLe someone else's page, Lhey're more
llkely Lo check ouL your phoLos
Croups (mlddle rlng, 27 wlLh)-[olnlng a group creaLes more frequenL and
concenLraLed opporLunlLles for engagemenL
1ags (lnner rlng, 62 wlLh)-ensures LhaL anyone searchlng lllckr for your Lerms mlghL
happen upon your phoLo



u
S4%
<1u
2S%
1u+
2S%
9,-)(/)+
I'(*/&(0343)5
Yes
No
by Bevon Smith S6
1heaLres have been [olnlng lllckr for Lhe pasL 3 years, wlLh early 2009 usherlng ln a renewed
lnLeresL ln Lhe slLe.



1heaLres who've had lllckr membershlps for more Lhan a year do Lend Lo have a hlgher number
of phoLos posLed (alLhough remember LhaL quallLy > quanLlLy on lllckr).



As l've menLloned prevlously, noL every Soclal Medla plaLform ls worLh Lhe efforL. lllckr may
[usL be a good place Lo sLore phoLos LhaL can be embedded on webslLes elsewhere, or a
convenlenL place Lo send ouL press maLerlals. Several LheaLres had lllckr proflles used by Lhelr
scenlc/props deparLmenLs, buL only 1 LheaLre really sLood ouL Lo me as belng a parLlcularly avld
user: orLland CenLer SLage.
Member slnce AugusL, 2007
-
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}an-u6 }un-u6 Bec-u6 }un-u7 Bec-u7 }un-u8 Bec-u8 }un-u9 Bec-u9
='K0'* I3-/'
S T&,),+
by Bevon Smith S7
uploaded 396 phoLos lnLo 43 dlfferenL seLs
136 conLacLs
Member of 23 groups
hoLos lnclude everyLhlng from producLlon shoLs, Lo season arLwork, Lo educaLlon
evenLs.

WlLh Lhe vasL ma[orlLy of LheaLres prohlblLlng Lhe Laklng of phoLos lnslde Lhe LheaLre (per unlon
regs), lL's hard Lo lmaglne fans uploadlng many of Lhelr own producLlon phoLos Lo a LheaLre's
group proflle. 8uL l could lmaglne a case where a LheaLre would:
Ask fans Lo conLrlbuLe phoLos LhaL remlnd Lhem of Lhe currenL show (ChrlsLmas famlly
phoLos for A ChrlsLmas Carol?)
Send fans on a phoLo scavenger hunL
use phoLos Lo sell or renL cosLume/seL/props pleces Lo oLher LheaLres
use phoLos Lo promoLe gala aucLlon lLems Lo donors
Ask fans Lo provlde lnslghL on early deslgn drawlngs/lmages
use a lllckr group for lnLernal collaboraLlon/sharlng of sLaff's llves ouLslde of Lhe offlce

My problem wlLh mosL of Lhese poLenLlal opporLunlLles ls LhaL lL would probably be easler Lo
coordlnaLe and drlve Lrafflc on lacebook raLher Lhan lllckr.

So l've yeL Lo flnd a really good lndlcaLlon LhaL ?ale 8ep (my Lrue cllenL for all of Lhese reporLs)
should spend Llme and efforL Lrylng Lo bulld a followlng on lllckr. Pas anyone ouL Lhere found a
compelllng case for LheaLre audlences (or oLher consLlLuenLs) wanLlng Lo engage on a phoLo
sharlng slLe?


by Bevon Smith S8
8LCGS

l'm flndlng blogs a blL more challenglng Lo wrap my head around, compared Lo LheaLres use of
1wlLLer and lacebook. Lven afLer readlng Lhe excellenL Say LveryLhlng: Pow 8logglng 8egan,
Where lL's Peaded, and Why lL MaLLers," lL's unclear Lo me why a poLenLlal audlence member
would be dedlcaLed enough Lo a parLlcular LheaLre Lo wanL Lo read abouL Lhem on a regular
basls. ersonally, l depend on blogs for deeper lnslghLs lnLo Loplcs l'm lnLeresLed ln, raLher Lhan
an afflllaLlon for a parLlcular organlzaLlon.

none-Lhe-less, l forged ahead Lo see whaL l could dlscover. unforLunaLely, Lhere were so few
user commenLs per posL across all LheaLres LhaL lL dldn'L even make sense Lo keep Lrack of
Lhem. AlmosL always, no one's commenLlng. Cccaslonally, 1-2 respond Lo a posL. l have no way
of knowlng how many 8SS subscrlbers any LheaLre blog has, buL lL's hard Lo lmaglne lL's
anywhere close Lo Lhe number of lacebok lans (or even 1wlLLer followers) many of Lhese
LheaLres already have. A spoL check of google conflrmed LhaL very few oLher bloggers are
llnklng back Lo Lhese LheaLre blogs.

So whaL's Lhe polnL? Cood quesLlon. l'm baffled.

8uL l was able Lo flnd 38 LC81 LheaLres LhaL belleve enough ln lL Lo conLlnue posLlng. 1he
earllesL LC81 LheaLre blogs (LhaL l could flnd aL leasL) daLe back Lo AugusL, 2003 (vlrglnla SLage).
lnLrlgulngly, 2009 seems Lo have broughL a renewed lnLeresL Lo blogglng-see how sLeep Lhe
llne geLs beglnnlng lasL fall.


noLe: 3 blogs dld noL lnclude an Archlve or dld noL llsL daLes and are Lhus noL lncluded ln Lhe
Llmellne.



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2u
2S
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!"#$ W4,H+ "-43-'
by Bevon Smith S9
Pow long ago a LheaLre began blogglng glves no lndlcaLlon Lo how frequenLly lL was updaLed ln
november-showlng LhaL lL's posslble Lo susLaln efforLs over many years, and ramp up qulckly
even ln Lhe early days of blogglng.



Whlle frequenL posLlng ls usually consldered besL pracLlce ln Lhe soclal medla world, only half of
all LheaLre blogs were updaLed once a week or more ln november. orLland CenLer SLage and
Arena SLage posLed on average once per (buslness) day.



1here was qulLe a wlde varleLy of bloggers posLlng for LheaLres. 1he mosL popular opLlon was
for each posL Lo come from a dlfferenL sLaff member or guesL arLlsL. 1hls llkely decreases Lhe
workload for each blogger, and glves Lhe audlence fresh lnslghLs lnLo many dlfferenL realms of
Lhe LheaLre, buL Lends Lo be a challenge Lo coordlnaLe schedullng and conLenL.
u
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1u
1S
2u
2S
}ul-uS Bec-uS }un-u6 Bec-u6 }un-u7 Bec-u7 }un-u8 Bec-u8 }un-u9
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No blog
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11%
1-S
14%
4-9
14%
1u+
11%
X,7'K0'* W4,H T,+)+ <!"#$?
by Bevon Smith 6u
1he second mosL popular cholce was for Lhe markeLlng or communlcaLlons offlce Lo drlve posLs.
Whlle a few LheaLres fell vlcLlm Lo Lhe use my press releases as blog conLenL" syndrome, by
and large Lhese sLaff members dld a good [ob uslng an orlglnal onllne volce wlLh lnLeresLlng
conLenL.

Whoever was wrlLlng, Lhelr [ob LlLle Lended Lo be a good lndlcaLor of Lhe Loplcs Lhey were
wrlLlng abouL. ArLlsLs gave an lnslde look lnLo llfe backsLage and ln Lhe shop, dramaLurges gave
posLs a llLerary benL, and lnLerns lncluded a qulrky peek aL Lhe lnner worklngs of LheaLre
admlnlsLraLlon. Slmllar Lo foundlng daLes, Lhere was no correlaLlon beLween who was posLlng,
and how ofLen Lhey were posLlng.



Cne of Lhe flrsL cholces a LheaLre musL make when beglnnlng Lhelr blog ls where Lo hosL Lhe
conLenL: lnLegraLed wlLh Lhelr own webslLe, or lnsLead wlLh a dedlcaLed blogglng plaLform.


0nknown
S2%
Biffeient foi
eveiy post
24%
Naiketing Staff
18%
Resiuent
Aitists
1u%
Liteiaiy
S%
Aitistic
Leaueiship
S%
Inteins
S%
Euucation
S%
T,+)+ B*3))'- =,+)45 W5
0wn Website
66%
Blogspot
24%
Woiupiess
S%
Tumbli
2%
Bloggei
S%
W4,H Y,+)'> "-
by Bevon Smith 61
A few flnal observaLlons:
As wlLh 1wlLLer and lacebook, an alarmlng number of LheaLres don'L llnk Lo Lhelr blog
from anywhere on Lhelr webslLe, much less ln an easlly flndable spoL on Lhelr home
page. Why why why.
1/3 of blogglng LheaLres also lnLegraLed Lhelr lacebook, 1wlLLer, ?ou1ube, or lllckr
feeds lnLo Lhelr blogs. 1he experLs (well, Mashable) says Lhls lncreases user
engagemenL. l Lhlnk lL makes Lhe blog look cluLLered. ueclde for yourself.
uenver CenLer for Lhe erformlng ArLs allowed a fan Lo guesL posL on Lhelr blog (Lhough
a llLLle deeper dlgglng seems Lo suggesL Lhe posL was orlglnally wrlLLen for a college
newspaper?). AL any raLe, geLLlng your audlence Lo dellver a passlonaLe explanaLlon of
why Lhey absoluLely love an upcomlng show-Lalk abouL awesome user engagemenL.
AcLors 1heaLre of Loulsvllle has a preLLy sLellar looklng blog (confesslon: l lnLerned Lhere
Lwo years ago, so l mlghL be a llLLle blased). 1here's a dedlcaLed secLlon for audlence
reacLlons, Lhey llnk Lo oLher sLaff and guesL arLlsLs' blogs, Lhe props deparLmenL has
Lhelr own lllckr feed, all posLs are Lagged and archlved ln a loglcal way, and mosL
lmporLanLly Lhe posLs have real personallLy. nlce work apprenLlces & lnLerns.



by Bevon Smith 62
SCCIAL MLDIA S1AIIING

LC81 1heaLres on average are uslng Lhe equlvalenL of [usL under 1 full Llme sLaff member Lo
engage ln soclal medla. 1he mosL lnLeresLlng flndlngs:
1oLal Llme spenL on soclal medla plaLforms and preparaLlon range from 1-142 hours per
week.
As we've seen prevlously, LheaLres are spendlng Lhe mosL Llme and efforL on lacebook
and 1wlLLer
1heaLres are spendlng more Llme learnlng abouL soclal medla Lhan measurlng Lhelr
lmpacL ln lL.
new cusLomer acqulslLlon ls Lhe mosL popular goal of soclal medla

1here are lmporLanL caveaLs here:
1hese hours are probably spread beLween several sLaff members
1he 9.3 hours belng used Lo creaLe maLerlal" would probably be happenlng anyway,
even lf a LheaLre weren'L Lo be uslng soclal medla
1he LheaLres mosL llkely Lo respond Lo Lhls survey are llkely heavler Lhan average users
of soclal medla


4.8
Facebook
4.4
Twittei
2.9
Blog
2.9
YouTube
1.2, Flicki
1.S, 0thei
9.S
Cieating
Nateiial
2.7
Leaining
1.7
Neasuiing
u
2
4
6
8
1u
12
14
16
18
2u
I,/3(4 ='>3( B''145 I)(;Z3-H Y,F*+
by Bevon Smith 6S
1here was of course varlablllLy among respondenLs, so lL's valuable Lo ldenLlfy Lhe ranges of
hours spenL each week on each acLlvlLy. 1he followlng graph says for example LhaL whlle 100
of respondenLs use lacebook, less Lhan 60 use lllckr. 1hese response levels maLch relaLlvely
well Lhe overall fleld's use of each of Lhese plaLforms.

lnLeresLlng Lo noLe LhaL more LheaLres spend more Llme learnlng abouL soclal medla Lhan
measurlng Lhelr lmpacL ln lL. AddlLlonally, more LheaLres use ?ou1ube Lhan blogs, buL more
Llme ls spenL on overage on blogs Lhan ?ou1ube.



1hls nexL graph ls a llLLle more compllcaLed. 1he red bars show Lhe range of acLlvlLy for Lhe
mlddle 30 of LheaLres. 1he green llne shows Lhe average Llme spenL 4. #3"0% 23" 05%!6 #(+%.
So for example, mosL LheaLres spend beLween 2-3 hours per week on lacebook. Cf Lhose
LheaLres LhaL use lacebook, on average 4.2 hours are spenL per week.

When Lhe green llne ls above Lhe red boxes, Lhere are a few LheaLres spendlng much more Llme
Lhan Lhe resL of Lhe populaLlon on LhaL acLlvlLy.

u%
2u%
4u%
6u%
8u%
1uu%
T'*/'-) ,; #'+E,->'-)+ D+3-H
by Bevon Smith 64


Cnly 3 LheaLres have a sLaff person worklng (Lhe equlvalenL of) aL leasL half-Llme sLrlcLly on
soclal medla plaLforms. Also lnLeresLlng Lo noLe Lhe varlance of raLlo of Llme spenL on Lhese
slLes (plaLform) Lo Lhe Llme spenL creaLlng maLerlal, learnlng, and measurlng (preparaLlon).

u
1
2
S
4
S
6
7
8
9
1u
I,/3(4 ='>3( B''145 I)(;Z3-H Y,F*+
Low Aveiage
u 2u 4u 6u 8u 1uu 12u 14u
$,)(4 B''145 I,/3(4 ='>3( Y,F*+
Platfoims Piepaiation
by Bevon Smith 6S
now for Lhe quallLaLlve flndlngs.

As l've shared prevlously, Lspresso MarkeLlng fabulously enumeraLed poLenLlal uses of soclal
medla ln Lhelr presenLaLlon 'WhaL Lhe l**k ls Soclal Medla' as:
1. ubllc relaLlons
2. CusLomer servlce
3. LoyalLy bulldlng
4. CollaboraLlon
3. neLworklng
6. 1houghL leadershlp
7. CusLomer acqulslLlon

unsurprlslngly, LheaLres are mosL lnLeresLed ln Lhe revenue generaLlng aspecLs of soclal medla.
8uL several LheaLres are also uslng soclal medla for furLher afleld purposes llke volunLeer
ouLreach, audlence research, cusLomer servlce, and LhoughL leadershlp.


noLe LhaL Lhe codlng of Lhese answers was sub[ecLlve, and llkely swayed by Lhe acLual wordlng
of my quesLlon: WhaL are your ma[or goals ln uslng soclal medla? (cusLomer acqulslLlon,
fundralslng, cusLomer servlce, lnLernal collaboraLlon, LhoughL leadershlp, [usL experlmenLlng,
eLc.)
u 2 4 6 8 1u 12
volunteei outieach
Thought Leaueiship
Tuining customeis into auvocates
Funuiaising
Builuing loyalty
Expeiimenting
Ticket sales
Auuience ieseaich
Stiengthen connections
Customei seivice
Engagement
Bianupiouuct awaieness
New customei acquisition
B&() (*' 5,F* K([,* H,(4+ ;,* +,/3(4 K'>3(V
Nentions Fiist mention
by Bevon Smith 66
1here [usL wasn'L any oLher way Lo descrlbe Lhe followlng responses oLher Lhan Lo llsL Lhem.
1he sLorles of successes and fallures are boLh lncredlbly useful-soclal medla lsn'L
lnsLanLaneous, doesn'L work ln every slLuaLlon, ls noL a cure all, and can be used for a wlde
varleLy of purposes. l LhoughL some of Lhe mosL lnLeresLlng lnslghLs were:
value of empowerlng dlalogue beLween audlence members
lmporLance of analyzlng flL" beLween LheaLre and soclal medla plaLform
SLaff engagemenL as a measure of success
WlLh soclal medla we have been able Lo cuL down our markeLlng budgeL and reach
nearly Lhe same amounL of lndlvlduals."
We Lrack soclal medla parLlclpaLlon Lhough audlence surveys."
Lnhanclng our own webslLe wlLh vldeo lmproves Lhe slLes placemenL on search
englnes"

6. now have you been ab|e to demonstrate the va|ue of soc|a| med|a to others |n your
theatre? What do you measure? now do you def|ne success? What's changed at your theatre
s|nce you've begun us|ng soc|a| med|a?
1exL 8esponse
We have had some success showlng Lhe value glven Lhe poslLlve responses from oLhers Lo whaL
we have been dolng. We wanL Lo measure quallLaLlve success as well as quanLlLaLlve (whaL Lhey
are saylng, noL [usL how many are Lalklng). Success ls belng shown by Lhe dlalogue we are
havlng wlLh our communlLy, and even Lhe dlalogues l see Lhem havlng wlLh each oLher - lL
shows an lnvesLmenL ln our work. Slnce we've begun uslng SM we've allowed phones ln one of
our spaces - LweeLlng durlng Lhe show. lL's radlcally changed Lhe aLmosphere, and ls a greaL
way Lo engage people ln a dlfferenL manner.
worklng on lL
we have seen some success ln sales by Lracklng wlLh promo codes, buL lL's sLlll early ln our
efforLs be able Lo see slgnlflcanL effecLs
CurrenLly, we deflne success by raw sLaLs - how many people vlewed our proflle, 81'd use,
menLloned us ln LweeLs, how many vlews vldeos have recelved, how many commenLs posLs
have recelved. We [udge Lhls agalnsL ourselves and oLher culLural orgs of slmllar slze. Soclal
medla, comblned wlLh oLher efforLs, has lncreased Lhe amounL of younger adulLs ln our
LheaLres. We have also noLlced, Lhrough paLron commenLs, LhaL paLrons feel more connecLed
and engaged wlLh whaL goes on behlnd Lhe curLaln. Cur ArLlsLlc ulrecLor acknowledges LhaL
soclal medla supporLs our mlsslon as lL engages audlences.
noL yeL....[usL sLarLlng ouL
l do noL measure Lhe value slnce our efforLs are llmlLed on Lhls sub[ecL. l do measure Lhe LlckeL
sales and survey Lhe audlence so l know how Lhey are hearlng abouL us. noL much has changed.
We are now more avallable Lo communlcaLe wlLh Lhe publlc ln a one on one slLuaLlon, e-mall
blasLs are mosL popular, we galned a younger audlence by launchlng Lhe l8, and 1wlLLer buL
sLlll need more frlends.
by Bevon Smith 67
l don'L knwo LhaL we can call lL a success [usL yeL. We have [usL over 400 fans. We've Lrled
offerlng a rush LlckeL lf Lhey call aL a parLlcular Llme ("lor 2 hours we have 20 LlckeLs avallable aL
$20 each!"), buL LhaL's gone nowhere. Powever, we dld markeL a bus Lrlp Lo n?C Lo see a play
and we were able Lo flll half Lhe bus wlLhouL even sendlng an emall ouL Lo our emall
subscrlbers. l Lhlnk lL's good LhaL we have a presence on lacebook, buL l wouldn'L Lhrow all my
markeLlng lnLo Lhe soclal medla baskeL. 1he communlLy we're ln ls a llLLle odd and buys lasL
mlnuLe as well as sLlll "llsLenlng" Lo Lhe local newspaper. l've sLopped uslng my personal
MySpace accounL and never found lL Lo be a good flL wlLh our LheaLre. 1wlLLer ls sLlll new and
l'm noL sure LhaL lL Loo ls a good flL. lus, l'm a markeLlng/8 offlce of one, so my Llme ls
already sLreLched Lo Lhe max. lf we had more markeLlng supporL l would conslder uslng soclal
medla more.
CLher Lhan Lhe number of fans on facebook and Lhe number of vlews of our vldeos on youLube,
Lhe resulLs are somewhaL anecdoLal. noLhlng has really changed aL Lhe LheaLre as of yeL - [usL
one more Lhlng Lo do markeLlng-wlse.
1he flrsL measure was lasL year when we sold a large number of 8ufus WalnwrlghL LlckeLs
Lhanks Lo lacebook. 1hls season we noLlced a large bump ln LlckeL sales when we posLed
?amaLo urummers on lacebook and 1wlLLer. MosL recenLly, we goL a loL of aLLenLlon for our
upcomlng world premlere of leLch Clay, Make Man when we posLed on 1wlLLer. 1hese are [usL
a few examples of success buL we also measure lL by Lhe number of people commenLlng, re-
LweeLlng and generally engaglng. 1hls season we have Lrlpled our lnLeracLlons on lacebook.
noL qulLe sure whaL success means yeL. !usL Lhrowlng Lhlngs aL Lhe wall and seelng whaL sLlcks!
l Lhlnk our followers are growlng, and our sLaff ls becomlng more engaged ln provldlng Lhls
conLenL - and LhaL Lo me means success Lo a cerLaln degree.
Cur LheaLer has a larger number of "under-30" paLrons Lhan mosL oLhers. We aLLrlbuLe Lhls, ln
parL, Lo our soclal medla efforLs. Cur emall llsL, facebook fans, 1wlLLer & blog follower seems Lo
lncrease proporLlonaLely wlLh our efforLs and skllls.
uon'L really have Lo "sell lL" - Lhey geL lL! We have a greaL neLwork of l8 people here who all
plck up our posLs and re-posL Lo Lhelr own slLes. l measure success by how much lnLeracLlon
occurs on Lhe slLe. l'm preLLy please wlLh "llkes" and commenLs. Would llke Lo see more paLrons
posLlng Lhelr own lLems.
8ecord onllne LlckeL sales for one show wlLh sLrong lacebook lnLeracLlon. Measure all
lnLeracLlons on lacebook, and 81's, [replles and menLlons on 1wlLLer. We have become much
more responslve Lo Lhe lmmedlaLe LhoughLs of our paLrons. lL has also provlded an avenue for
paLrons Lo markeL our shows Lo Lhelr frlends and share vlews and feedback of producLlons.
We've focused mosL heavlly on our 1wlLLer presence aL Lhls polnL. We've Lracked success based
on reLweeLs, dlrecL messages and new followers.
Success ls exLremely dlfflculL Lo measure, buL we have some Lools Lo asslsL. Cne ls waLchlng Lhe
growLh ln frlends and followers and maklng sure lL ls consLanLly lncreaslng. We also use Coogle
AnalyLlcs LhaL shows us LhaL paLons follow our llnks Lo our webslLe Lo learn more abouL our
shows, read our blog, eLc. We also use PooLsulLe Lo creaLe llnks for our LweeLs. 1hls Lool allows
us Lo vlew how many people acLually cllcked on our llnk.
by Bevon Smith 68
We have been able Lo demonsLraLe Lhe value Lhrough evenLs, and ad campalgns on LwlLLer and
facebook, LhaL have broughL ln a much broader demographlc Lo shows LhaL may noL have been
selllng as heavlly Lhrough WashlngLon osL or oLher ads. 8efore Lhls year and Lhe sLarL of our
soclal medla campalgn we never had an onllne presence. WlLh soclal medla we have been able
Lo cuL down our markeLlng budgeL and reach nearly Lhe same amounL of lndlvlduals. Also our
demographlc and lnLeresL Lhrough conLesLs and evenLs has changed and we have expanded Lo
a much wlder audlence. lL's hard Lo deflne success ln soclal medla as Lhere are a loL of hlL or
mlsses wlLh some of Lhe pro[ecLs we have launched. Powever, l would say our success ls
deflned by buzz. lf we can have people LweeLlng, wrlLlng sLaLus posLs, wall posLs and commenLs
abouL lord's and Lhelr experlence Lhan we have done our [ob ln geLLlng Lhe word ouL Lhere and
keeplng lL fresh and exclLlng.
l llke Lo measure success ln Lerms of conversaLlons. Pow many posLs, reLweeLs, commenLs do
we geL each week? l don'L hold much value ln how many 1wlLLer followers we have, l search for
menLlons. lacebook fans, however, can be a far more engaged audlence. 1hey also seem Lo
know who we are versus our 1wlLLer followers. WhaL has changed aL our LheaLre slnce uslng
soclal medla - lnLernal awareness, reallzlng employees can conLrlbuLe ln Lhelr own way Lo Lhe
proflle of Lhe lay Pouse. l schedule more Llme Lo aLLend rehearsals Lo geL acLor fooLage (wlLh
Lhelr permlsslon), l Lake Lhe camera everywhere and sLaff knows Lhe plcLures can end up on Lhe
lnLerneL (Lhose who don'L wanL Lo parLlclpaLe aren'L made Lo). Who or whaL ls belng sald on
lacebook ls broughL up ln a meeLlng or ln conversaLlon beLween sLaff members.
We have promo codes LhaL Lrack sales vla soclal medla. We Lrack, reLweeLs, followers, fans, eLc
vla slLe meLrlcs. We Lrack soclal medla parLlclpaLlon Lhough audlence surveys.
lL's sLlll very much a work ln progress. We're experlmenLlng Lo see whaL works and doesn'L.
We're sLarLlng Lo seL some goals for numbers of followers/fans eLc. ulLlmaLely, l Lhlnk we see
Lhls as a way of engaglng our audlence and maklng Lhem feel llke parL of a communlLy. 1haL, we
hope, wlll pay off ln Lhe long Lerm, buL we're noL expecLlng our soclal medla efforLs Lo drlve
LlckeL sales ln Lhe shorL Lerm.
1he value ls noL easlly measured, buL we see splkes ln sales when Lhere ls a greaL deal of
lnLeracLlon Lhrough our soclal medla slLes. We also hear a loL more abouL ourselves and our
producLlons ouL ln Lhe communlLy when we are ln Lhe mldsL of a heavy campalgn. WhaL's
changed? l Lhlnk our audlences are more recepLlve Lo us and whaL we do because of soclal
medla. 1hey feel llke Lhey are now parL of our communlLy and have access Lo Lhe process of
maklng LheaLre.
?es, l have been able Lo demonsLraLe Lhe value of soclal medla. We measure fans and followers
on lacebook and 1wlLLer, vldeo vlews on ?ou1ube, and revlews on ?elp. Cn lacebook we also
monlLor fan lnLeracLlon, fan demographlcs, phoLo vlews, vldeo vlews and llkes. We also
adverLlse on l8 and we Lrack ad cllck-Lhroughs and LlckeL purchases wlLh our l8 ad codes. We
deflne success anyLlme a fan lnLeracLs wlLh us vla soclal medla and are especlally exclLed when
lL LranslaLes Lo a new person experlenclng LheaLer. AdmlnlsLraLlvely we've dedlcaLed more
hours Lo researchlng and lmplemenLlng soclal medla pracLlces, we've been able Lo lnLeracL wlLh
our paLrons and people ln our communlLy more Lhan ever, we've begun Lagglng soclal medla
logos ln prlnL maLerlal and we have lnLegraLed soclal medla lnLo our markeLlng plans.
by Bevon Smith 69
1hus far, only lacebook has been demonsLrably successful, and LhaL prlmarlly aL dlssemlnaLlng
lnformaLlon. 1hls ls a dlfflculL medlum Lo show 8Cl on, as for us lL has been more successful
(anecdoLally) ln bulldlng buzz Lhan ln drlvlng LlckeL sales.
We demonsLraLe value and deflne success by lnLeracLlon, le when we have commenLs on posLs.
We also flnd our soclal medla usage Lo be successful when people menLlon Lo us offllne LhaL
Lhey've noLlced and en[oyed our work. 1hough we can'L compleLely measure lL, we feel LhaL our
audlence has a beLLer undersLandlng now of Lhe lnnerworklngs of Lhe organlzaLlon now LhaL we
are uslng soclal medla.

l was a llLLle nervous abouL lncludlng Loo many survey quesLlons, buL several folks asked:
Pow many LheaLres pay for servlces relaLed Lo soclal medla?
WhaL Lools are organlzaLlons uslng Lo monlLor and reporL Lhelr soclal medla use?
Pow ls soclal medla posLlng dlsLrlbuLed LhroughouL Lhe sLaff?
Pow many LheaLres have a soclal medla pollcy?
Pow are LheaLres plannlng lnlLlaLlves and educaLlng ourselves abouL Lhe nexL blg Lhlng?

My currenL research sLudylng soclal medla ls qulckly comlng Lo a close, so hopefully oLhers wlll
plck up wlLh Lhese quesLlons soon!

MeLhodology:
A 3 quesLlon survey was senL Lo every markeLlng dlrecLor of every LC81 LheaLre, ln addlLlon Lo
several 1wlLLer posLs on [devonvsmlLh, whlch were 81'ed by 4 oLher people. Cne week laLer,
22 LC81 LheaLres had responded, plus 3 oLher LheaLres (excluded from Lhe above quanLlLaLlve
daLa for lack of sLaLlsLlcal slgnlflcance-buL blg Lhanks for Lhe valuable lnslghLs provlded). 1hls
29 response raLe ylelds sLaLlsLlcally slgnlflcanL resulLs for Lhe populaLlon.

1he survey quesLlons asked generally abouL varlous soclal medla plaLforms, for sake of clarlLy,
all slmllar plaLforms ln Lhls paper were LlLled under Lhe mosL popular (for example, Lhe survey
asked for LheaLre's use of vldeo sharlng slghLs lncludlng ?ou1ube, vlmeo, eLc, Lhe paper's
graphs label all of Lhese responses ?ou1ube")

CLher" noLed soclal medla slLes lncluded llavorplll, ?elp, ColdsLar, loursquare, and odcasLs.

Many Lhanks Lo Lhe folks aL Lhe followlng LheaLres for Laklng valuable Llme ouL of Lhelr schedule
Lo respond Lo Lhls survey: AcLors 1heaLre of Loulsvllle, Alllance 1heaLre, Amerlcan 8eperLory
1heaLer, Arden 1heaLre Company, 8erkeley 8eperLory 1heaLre, ClnclnnaLl layhouse ln Lhe
ark, Clarence 8rown 1heaLre, uelaware 1heaLre Company, lord's 1heaLre, CreaL Lakes 1heaLer
lesLlval, CuLhrle 1heaLer, kansas ClLy 8eperLory 1heaLre, Mad Cow 1heaLre, MalLz !uplLer
1heaLre, Marln 1heaLre Company, McCarLer 1heaLre CenLer, new ?ork ClLy CenLer, norLhllghL
1heaLre, orLland CenLer SLage, SouLh CoasL 8eperLory, 1he Cleveland lay Pouse, 1he uenver
CenLer for Lhe erformlng ArLs, 1rlnlLy 8eperLory Company, ?ale 8eperLory 1heaLre, ?ouLh
1heaLre norLhwesL.

by Bevon Smith 7u
Conc|us|ons

1he sLafflng survey conflrmed LhaL very few hours per week are spenL on oLher soclal medla
plaLforms. Powever, l wanLed Lo menLlon a few oLher places where aL leasL a few LheaLres are
engaglng wlLh Lhelr audlences:
uel.lclo.us (for soclal bookmarklng)
lrlendfeed (for soclal dlscusslon groups)
loursquare (for moblle geo-gamlng)
lhone apps (for a wlde varleLy of uses)
Llnkedln (for professlonal neLworklng)
SlldeShare (for professlonal presenLaLlons)
?elp (for local revlews)

And l wanL Lo leave you wlLh llnks Lo a few oLher phenomenal folks who are dolng lncredlble
work ln soclal & dlglLal medla:

Mashab|e.com ls as close as you'll flnd Lo Lhe be-all-end-all source for soclal medla news
8eth kanter (beLh.Lypepad.com) ls Lhe besL experL l've found on non-proflLs and soclal
medla
Chr|s Ashworth (chrlsashworLh.org) ls a LheaLre maker/sofLware developer who ofLen
has smarL Lhlngs Lo say abouL Lechnology ln Lhe LheaLre
Ian Moss (creaLequlLy.com) ls a former M8A classmaLe who awesomely blogs abouL Lhe
role of arLs ln a creaLlve socleLy
Chr|s 8rogan, Guy kawasak|, and Av|nash kaush|k are qulLe slmply brllllanL. lollow
Lhem on 1wlLLer, 8SS Lhelr blogs, sLalk Lhem aL conferences.

A readlng llsL for more ln depLh research
Convergence CulLure: Where Cld and new Medla Colllde by Penry !enklns
Web AnalyLlcs 2.0 by Avlnash kaushlk
Croundswell: Wlnnlng ln a World 1ransformed by Soclal 1echnologles by Charlene Ll
Say LveryLhlng: Pow 8logglng 8egan, WhaL lL's 8ecomlng, and Why lL MaLLers by ScoLL
8osenberg
1he Wlsdom of Crowds by !ames Surowleck

And flnally, eLernal Lhanks for spreadlng Lhe word, crlLlcal feedback, lnslghLful suggesLlons, or
pushlng me Lowards beLLer research musL go Lo: Chrls AshworLh, 1homas CoLL, uavld uower,
naLalle Cllmore, Llndsey Pardegree, Cory Puff, kerry lsrael, kory kelly, Ld MarLenson, Ann
Sachs, ClayLon SmlLh, 8achel SmlLh, Anne 1rlLes, and all of my classmaLes aL Lhe ?ale School of
urama 1heaLre ManagemenL program and Lhe ?ale School of ManagemenL.