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This document discusses various strategies for digital marketing in the performing arts. It begins by introducing the director of marketing for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, who discusses their use of social media marketing including Facebook ads and sweepstakes, online banner ads targeted to their audience on Facebook, and Google AdWords grants to promote their 2011 New York season. Metrics showed high returns on investment from these strategies. The document then discusses using email marketing campaigns and the value of follow up emails. Overall, their digital marketing campaigns for the 2011 season achieved a 1009% ROI. The document emphasizes the importance of listening to audiences and being responsive through social media. It also discusses some of the challenges of the digital space like discovery, standardization and
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Facebook Frack Rules
- 1. #GoingToBeOk
- 2. rules
- 3. rules / blog / facebook the frack out of 1. tweet this.
- 4. rules / blog / facebook the frack out of 1. tweet this. 2. you’re probably smarter than me. dish!
- 5. rules / blog / facebook the frack out of 1. tweet this. 2. you’re probably smarter than me. dish! 3. please. don’t be that guy.
- 6. rules / blog / facebook the frack out of 1. tweet this. 2. you’re probably smarter than me. dish! 3. please. don’t be that guy. 4. note: there will be one swear word today.
- 7. why are you here?
- 9. sad trombone mamapop.com
- 10. Change is accelerating. Did you hear how they *literally* resurrected Tupac Shakur? His defunct twitter account has more followers than the New York City @HologramTupac
- 11. (and your website is out of date)
- 12. how does it all come together? introducing @youvecottmail, director of marketing at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.
- 13. What’s the ROI of digital marketing?
- 14. Social Media
- 15. Social Media
- 16. Social Marketing
- 21. Sponsored Facebook ads Posts the news on a person’s Facebook ‘wall’
- 22. Sponsored Facebook ads Posts the news on a person’s Facebook ‘wall’ Also ran a variation with RSVP option
- 26. Impact of social marketing
- 27. Impact of social marketing • Via the Sweepstakes, we added
- 28. Impact of social marketing • Via the Sweepstakes, we added • 5,000+ new Facebook ‘likes’
- 29. Impact of social marketing • Via the Sweepstakes, we added • 5,000+ new Facebook ‘likes’ • 2,000+ new emails
- 30. Impact of social marketing • Via the Sweepstakes, we added • 5,000+ new Facebook ‘likes’ • 2,000+ new emails • ROI of Facebook marketing for Ailey’s 2011 New York season:
- 31. Impact of social marketing • Via the Sweepstakes, we added • 5,000+ new Facebook ‘likes’ • 2,000+ new emails • ROI of Facebook marketing for Ailey’s 2011 New York season: for every $1 spent, we earned over $4
- 33. Ads seen only by people we target…
- 34. Ads seen only by people we target…
- 35. Social media overlay of current audience
- 36. Social media overlay of current audience 195,355 current audience
- 37. Social media overlay of current audience an additional 854,307 had ‘strong ties’ 195,355 current audience
- 38. Social media overlay of current audience an additional 854,307 had ‘strong ties’ 1,000,000+ people 195,355 current audience
- 39. Social media overlay of current audience an additional 2,704,095 part of ‘friends’ network an additional 854,307 had ‘strong ties’ 195,355 current audience
- 40. Social media overlay of current audience an additional 9,854,321 part of an extended network an additional 2,704,095 part of ‘friends’ network an additional 854,307 had ‘strong ties’ 195,355 current audience
- 41. Social media overlay of current audience an additional 9,854,321 part of an extended network an additional 2,704,095 part of ‘friends’ network 13,600,000+ people an additional 854,307 had ‘strong ties’ 195,355 current audience
- 43. Impact of new banner ad strategy • ROI of targeted banner ads
- 44. Impact of new banner ad strategy • ROI of targeted banner ads (post-click or post-view):
- 45. Impact of new banner ad strategy • ROI of targeted banner ads (post-click or post-view): for every $1 spent, we earned over $8
- 46. Impact of new banner ad strategy • ROI of targeted banner ads (post-click or post-view): for every $1 spent, we earned over $8 • Also added thousands of new prospects to Ailey’s online ‘pixel pool’ for future online marketing campaigns
- 47. Google AdWords
- 48. Generic search terms have value…
- 49. Generic search terms have value…
- 50. Generic search terms have value…
- 52. Google AdWords
- 53. Google AdWords • Google grant provides FREE AdWords
- 54. Google AdWords • Google grant provides FREE AdWords • up to $10,000/month of clickthroughs
- 55. Google AdWords • Google grant provides FREE AdWords • up to $10,000/month of clickthroughs http://www.google.com/grants/
- 56. Google AdWords • Google grant provides FREE AdWords • up to $10,000/month of clickthroughs http://www.google.com/grants/ • For every $1 in donated AdWords, we earned $80 in ticket sales
- 57. Email
- 58. The value of following up (part 1)
- 59. The value of following up (part 1)
- 60. The value of following up (part 1) • Email #1 sent Sept 20, 2011 Subject line: “5 Reasons to See Ailey in NYC this December”
- 61. The value of following up (part 1) • Email #1 sent Sept 20, 2011 Subject line: “5 Reasons to See Ailey in NYC this December” 20% open rate
- 62. The value of following up (part 1) • Email #1 sent Sept 20, 2011 Subject line: “5 Reasons to See Ailey in NYC this December” 20% open rate 10% clickthrough rate
- 63. The value of following up (part 1) • Email #1 sent Sept 20, 2011 Subject line: “5 Reasons to See Ailey in NYC this December” 20% open rate 10% clickthrough rate For every $1 spent, $20 earned
- 64. The value of following up (part 1) • Email #1 sent Sept 20, 2011 Subject line: “5 Reasons to See Ailey in NYC this December” 20% open rate 10% clickthrough rate For every $1 spent, $20 earned
- 65. The value of following up (part 1) • Email #1 sent Sept 20, 2011 Subject line: “5 Reasons to See Ailey in NYC this December” 20% open rate 10% clickthrough rate For every $1 spent, $20 earned
- 66. The value of following up (part 1) • Email #1 sent Sept 20, 2011 Subject line: “5 Reasons to See Ailey in NYC this December” 20% open rate 10% clickthrough rate For every $1 spent, $20 earned • Re-sent to non-openers a week later
- 67. The value of following up (part 1) • Email #1 sent Sept 20, 2011 Subject line: “5 Reasons to See Ailey in NYC this December” 20% open rate 10% clickthrough rate For every $1 spent, $20 earned • Re-sent to non-openers a week later New subject line: “The Best Seats at the Best Prices”
- 68. The value of following up (part 1) • Email #1 sent Sept 20, 2011 Subject line: “5 Reasons to See Ailey in NYC this December” 20% open rate 10% clickthrough rate For every $1 spent, $20 earned • Re-sent to non-openers a week later New subject line: “The Best Seats at the Best Prices” 12% open rate
- 69. The value of following up (part 1) • Email #1 sent Sept 20, 2011 Subject line: “5 Reasons to See Ailey in NYC this December” 20% open rate 10% clickthrough rate For every $1 spent, $20 earned • Re-sent to non-openers a week later New subject line: “The Best Seats at the Best Prices” 12% open rate 17% clickthrough rate
- 70. The value of following up (part 1) • Email #1 sent Sept 20, 2011 Subject line: “5 Reasons to See Ailey in NYC this December” 20% open rate 10% clickthrough rate For every $1 spent, $20 earned • Re-sent to non-openers a week later New subject line: “The Best Seats at the Best Prices” 12% open rate 17% clickthrough rate For every $1 spent, $20 earned
- 71. The value of following up (part 2)
- 72. The value of following up (part 2) • If site visitor is in Ailey’s email database and doesn’t buy after browsing for tickets…
- 73. The value of following up (part 2) • If site visitor is in Ailey’s email database and doesn’t buy after browsing for tickets…
- 74. The value of following up (part 2) • If site visitor is in Ailey’s email database and doesn’t buy after browsing for tickets… • 48 hours later, a follow-up email was sent out Subject line: “Exclusive Video: Ailey Season Sneak Peek”
- 75. The value of following up (part 2) • If site visitor is in Ailey’s email database and doesn’t buy after browsing for tickets… • 48 hours later, a follow-up email was sent out Subject line: “Exclusive Video: Ailey Season Sneak Peek” • 54% open rate
- 76. The value of following up (part 2) • If site visitor is in Ailey’s email database and doesn’t buy after browsing for tickets… • 48 hours later, a follow-up email was sent out Subject line: “Exclusive Video: Ailey Season Sneak Peek” • 54% open rate • 24% clickthrough rate
- 77. The value of following up (part 2) • If site visitor is in Ailey’s email database and doesn’t buy after browsing for tickets… • 48 hours later, a follow-up email was sent out Subject line: “Exclusive Video: Ailey Season Sneak Peek” • 54% open rate • 24% clickthrough rate • Average order = $180
- 79. Email campaign
- 80. Email campaign • For every $1 spent on ALL emails sent about our NY season, we earned $25.
- 81. ROI* for Ailey’s 2011 NYC season digital marketing campaigns ROI Social Marketing 314% Banners / Google 1,403% Email Marketing 2,317% Total 1,009%
- 82. ROI* for Ailey’s 2011 NYC season digital marketing campaigns ROI Social Marketing 314% Banners / Google 1,403% Email Marketing 2,317% Total 1,009%
- 83. ROI* for Ailey’s 2011 NYC season digital marketing campaigns ROI Social Marketing 314% Banners / Google 1,403% Email Marketing 2,317% Total 1,009% * note: ROI only reflects online sales that were directly trackable. If we were able to track the impact of digital marketing on all other sales, the ROI would be even higher.
- 84. What’s the ROI of digital marketing?
- 85. What’s the ROI of digital marketing?
- 87. What’s the COI of digital marketing?
- 89. what’s a listening organization? introducing @toasterdog, founder, The Center for Sustainable Practice in the Arts
- 90. 20th century = Broadcast Mass Media
- 91. We forgot how to actively listen Comprehending Retaining Responding
- 92. With new technology, communication goes two "mass media” >>> "social media”
- 93. 1000s of channels... ...Nothing to watch
- 94. YouTube
- 95. How to Listen
- 96. Pay Attention Provide the Forum Audience Feedback News Alerts Social Media Activity
- 97. Show That You're Listening Communicate your reach Respond Be gracious Keep things clean
- 98. Provide Feedback Establish Equity Address complaints Understand the format/forum Keep to the facts
- 99. How to say NO
- 100. Strategic Filtering Do we need to do this? Do we have the resources? Does enhance our relationships? Does it fit with what we do? Does it need to happen now? Are we excited?
- 101. Y/N
- 102. what we mean when we say “technology problem” introducing @jenniferedwards, of JenEd Productions and #ChangeAgency
- 103. Technology is a communications tool invented by humans.
- 104. 2 Sides of Modern Tech
- 105. 1436
- 106. Stress make choices. stick to them reevaluate everything changes
- 107. Build a Foundation of Communication
- 108. open blind hidden unknown
- 109. open blind hidden unknown
- 110. open blind hidden unknown
- 111. open blind hidden unknown
- 112. open blind hidden unknown
- 113. We are all connected.
- 114. mental barriers to entry introducing @inddsgn, dean of the school of the arts at Purchase College.
- 115. competition future introducing @tendutv, founder, Tendu.tv.
- 116. “Globalization is happening in dance, and American companies are losing a battle many don't even realize they're fighting.” David Hallberg's Move to the Bolshoi: The Beginning of the "Moneyball-et" Era?
- 117. Australia, Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Canada, Denmark United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain (United States)
- 118. Last Thursday... “Jeremy Hunt, the [UK] Culture Secretary, urged organizations to embrace digital technology to reach a wider audience and warned that future [government] funding could be dependent on bodies making their work available digitally.
- 119. The Digital Opportunity ✤ Performing arts organizations can reach audiences directly and with immediate impact. ✤ Organizations can use digital distribution to build brands, aggregate customer information and transact more quickly than ever before. It is estimated that 70 million iPads and 30 million iPhones will be sold in 2012. ✤ Global sales of Smart TVs, defined as televisions able to access the internet, are expected to grow from 35 million in 2011 to 124 million in 2014.
- 120. More Complexity ✤ Discovery ✤ Standardization ✤ Localization ✤ Regulation
- 121. The Digital Challenge ✤ Monetizing video content and You could watch all delivering a quality user experience of the television programs created in requires relationships with new the 1950’s and 1960’s in a single gatekeepers that seek network year programming and not niche content. It would take you 20,000 years to watch all of the ✤ Increasing competition for viewer television programs created this year eyeballs makes discovery increasingly difficult. 72 hours of video uploaded to YouTube every ✤ No standard deliverables: dozens of minute video formats and no consistent metadata or art specifications
- 122. So What The Frack Do We Do About It?
- 123. Complete the Cycle
- 124. The New Arts Model ✤ Live is important, but not everything. ✤ Make your art is an asset. Don’t get tied down. ✤ Plan ahead and prepare. Use the whole cow. ✤ Agility required. Make failure part of the project. ✤ Solve the “Critic”-al Problem
- 125. Priorities ✤ Creating audiences for new work by living artists (not just choreographers) - multiply the economic impact ✤ Digital skill building/preparedness is not an option. Leave positive footprints. ✤ Partner, partner, partner. ✤ Tell the story, not the story of telling the story. ✤ No sacred cows.
- 126. mkirschner@tendu.tv
- 127. so what the frack do you do?
- 128. the sunk cost fallacy ACTIONABLE: KILL CRAP THAT YOU KNOW IS CRAP
- 129. organizational antibodies ACTIONABLE: ORGANIZE AGAINST THE NECKBEARDS
- 130. technology as practice you’re not a Buddhist if you don’t sit.
- 131. Expensive Wisdom:
- 132. Expensive Wisdom: (VLIC) through open source - Avoid a Vender Lock-In Clusterfuck code. (hat tip to @AdamTheHutt)
- 133. Expensive Wisdom: (VLIC) through open source - Avoid a Vender Lock-In Clusterfuck code. (hat tip to @AdamTheHutt) - Use analytics to continuously test your assumptions. All of them. (hat tip to @DMBootCamp4Arts)
- 134. Expensive Wisdom: (VLIC) through open source - Avoid a Vender Lock-In Clusterfuck code. (hat tip to @AdamTheHutt) - Use analytics to continuously test your assumptions. All of them. (hat tip to @DMBootCamp4Arts) - Take in more signals (follow @asymco, @hotdogsladies and today’s guests on Twitter, listen to “Back To Work” on @5by5 and “This Week in Tech on @TWiT, and join a @TimCynova-estilo drinking club).
- 135. who do you trust? the most important slide of all
- 136. #GoingToBeOk
- 137. #ThankYou @sydneyskybetter / edwardsandskybetter.com / ♥
Editor's Notes
- \n
- This is a session about the ways we think about technology, how we get tripped up, and how we can orient ourselves for the techsanity to come. \n\nDespite the shit ton of material to cover, i’d love to maintain a semblance of a conversational tone. As such, here are some ground rules. \n\n1) please feel free to keep out your phones and computers. if something strikes you as interesting, controversial or downright wrong, put it on the internets!\n2) you’re all titans of industry. culture warriors. ninjas. you’ve dealt with these issues and questions. if you have a perspective or comment, tweet it up at #GoingToBeOK or, if you want to be old fashioned, raise your hand.\n3) with all respect, please don’t share your life story. that’s what you pay your therapist for. please. keep it short. don’t be that guy. \n
- This is a session about the ways we think about technology, how we get tripped up, and how we can orient ourselves for the techsanity to come. \n\nDespite the shit ton of material to cover, i’d love to maintain a semblance of a conversational tone. As such, here are some ground rules. \n\n1) please feel free to keep out your phones and computers. if something strikes you as interesting, controversial or downright wrong, put it on the internets!\n2) you’re all titans of industry. culture warriors. ninjas. you’ve dealt with these issues and questions. if you have a perspective or comment, tweet it up at #GoingToBeOK or, if you want to be old fashioned, raise your hand.\n3) with all respect, please don’t share your life story. that’s what you pay your therapist for. please. keep it short. don’t be that guy. \n
- This is a session about the ways we think about technology, how we get tripped up, and how we can orient ourselves for the techsanity to come. \n\nDespite the shit ton of material to cover, i’d love to maintain a semblance of a conversational tone. As such, here are some ground rules. \n\n1) please feel free to keep out your phones and computers. if something strikes you as interesting, controversial or downright wrong, put it on the internets!\n2) you’re all titans of industry. culture warriors. ninjas. you’ve dealt with these issues and questions. if you have a perspective or comment, tweet it up at #GoingToBeOK or, if you want to be old fashioned, raise your hand.\n3) with all respect, please don’t share your life story. that’s what you pay your therapist for. please. keep it short. don’t be that guy. \n
- This is a session about the ways we think about technology, how we get tripped up, and how we can orient ourselves for the techsanity to come. \n\nDespite the shit ton of material to cover, i’d love to maintain a semblance of a conversational tone. As such, here are some ground rules. \n\n1) please feel free to keep out your phones and computers. if something strikes you as interesting, controversial or downright wrong, put it on the internets!\n2) you’re all titans of industry. culture warriors. ninjas. you’ve dealt with these issues and questions. if you have a perspective or comment, tweet it up at #GoingToBeOK or, if you want to be old fashioned, raise your hand.\n3) with all respect, please don’t share your life story. that’s what you pay your therapist for. please. keep it short. don’t be that guy. \n
- Now. before we launch in. a few of you- can you tell me what it is you would like to get from this session? \n\n----\n\nok. let’s do this thing. \n
- You remember your first email account? remember how getting an email was like getting a hug. We used complete sentences. we wrote email with the care with which we used to write letters. Just a few years ago, when we first got on Facebook, we rediscovered old friends- were momentarily embarrassed when ex girlfriends from 7th grade tried to friend us- and no matter how much we said we hated it we secretly loved it. loved that this technology made it possible to engage our narcissism publicly in front of a global audience. Some of us now do that for a living. There was a feeling of uplift and optimism. Better living through technology. \n\nour organizations- our companies- were not immune to this excitement. I remember when I was an executive director, I received excited pitches from over eager venders with the claim that- even as the complexity of technologic systems increased at an exponential curve- systems could be bought to manage it all. All our contacts. All our financial transactions. All our databases- could be joined in harmony- this next website, would be the last website. This next database? our last database. We clasped our hands with glee at the prospect of having solved our technology problems almost by utopic spirit alone. It would be easy. Painless. Our future was bright- filled with jetpacks and unicorns and happy employees and forward thinking board members and empathetic funders. \n
- But we mistook the latest and the greatest, for the last. There are more content portals, database protocols, website standards, hardware specs, and software classifications than ever before. A recent study by Toshiba ranks technology as the top source of stress in the workplace. On the whole, technology is not necessarily making our jobs easier. It’s not making us happier. But before it gets better, it’s going to get even worse.\n
- You guys remember America Online? It took AOL nine years to reach one million subscribers. You know Facebook? It took them nine months to get a million users. Draw Something? 9 DAYS. That’s an exponential rate of acceleration of platform acquisition. People are picking up and casting off technologies at a faster and ever faster rate. \n
- Remember when the iPad came out? It was just about two years ago. Sold 300000 units in the first day and introduced a new paradigm for tappable interfaces. It almost single handedly killed Flash, which is for the best, and it demanded that our websites be tappable or else they simply didn’t work. Well, by the end of next year, there will be more internet enabled tappable tablet devices in production than desktop and laptop computers COMBINED. If your website isn’t build for mobile- if it’s not tappable- we should start a drinking group. \n\nAt this point, 80% of mobile and tablet users will immediately bounce off your site unless it’s mobile friendly.\n\nThe bottom line is that a platform that was introduced after most of our latest web redesigns has COMPLETELY disrupted web protocols and standards, within a matter of three years. 36 months. The “mid-term” of all of our busted strategic plans. If technology can change so dramatically, so quickly, we have to move at least as fast. Obscurity is the new poverty. And we can’t afford to be more obscure than we already are, or our audiences may literally not be able to find us any more. \n
- \n
- START STOPWATCH\n\nThanks, Sydney. I know I only have 10 minutes to cover a lot of info, but I’m still thinking about Simon Sinek’s talk from this morning. One of the things that stuck with me was what he said about how you hold onto your “why” when so many people -- such as funders or board members -- are asking us to measure the impact of what we do, especially in the area of new media... an area where, as Simon said, no one is really a guru, and we’re all collectively still finding our way. \nAs a marketer, I get asked a lot of questions about the ROI -- the return on investment-- of digital marketing. This raises big questions for me, too. Is it worth all the time, effort and, yes, money we spend on electronic tools like social media, online banner ads and emails? And what is the true measurement of success anyway?\nFor those answers, I’d need more than ten minutes -- now 9 1/2 minutes -- so I’m going to focus on what Sydney asked me to do, and share the ROI of Alvin Ailey’s digital campaign from our most reason season, as a case study. There’s a lot of data about to come on the screen, but don’t both scribbling notes -- unless you really want to -- because we will share these slides after the session. So let’s start with...\n[CLICK]\n
- …social media. Although really, when we talk about ROI, we’re *not* talking about social media. \n[CLICK]\nWe’re talking about social MARKETING. They are two different ideas, although both work best when you focus on the first word, “social.”\nSocial media is the organic content you post – or your fans post about you – on Facebook, Twitter, etc. And it is most effective when you don’t try to use it for marketing purposes. The aim is to build up your brand and expand your community of fans and followers, getting them to spread the word about your performances, classes, etc...and connect not only with your company but with each other\nSocial MARKETING, on the other hand, is intrinsically promotional. And it is most effective when it incorporates some sort of social element to it – providing an opportunity to like, share, comment, retweet, etc.\n\nFor Ailey’s recent NY season, we tried a couple of different social marketing ideas.\n[CLICK]\n
- …social media. Although really, when we talk about ROI, we’re *not* talking about social media. \n[CLICK]\nWe’re talking about social MARKETING. They are two different ideas, although both work best when you focus on the first word, “social.”\nSocial media is the organic content you post – or your fans post about you – on Facebook, Twitter, etc. And it is most effective when you don’t try to use it for marketing purposes. The aim is to build up your brand and expand your community of fans and followers, getting them to spread the word about your performances, classes, etc...and connect not only with your company but with each other\nSocial MARKETING, on the other hand, is intrinsically promotional. And it is most effective when it incorporates some sort of social element to it – providing an opportunity to like, share, comment, retweet, etc.\n\nFor Ailey’s recent NY season, we tried a couple of different social marketing ideas.\n[CLICK]\n
- …social media. Although really, when we talk about ROI, we’re *not* talking about social media. \n[CLICK]\nWe’re talking about social MARKETING. They are two different ideas, although both work best when you focus on the first word, “social.”\nSocial media is the organic content you post – or your fans post about you – on Facebook, Twitter, etc. And it is most effective when you don’t try to use it for marketing purposes. The aim is to build up your brand and expand your community of fans and followers, getting them to spread the word about your performances, classes, etc...and connect not only with your company but with each other\nSocial MARKETING, on the other hand, is intrinsically promotional. And it is most effective when it incorporates some sort of social element to it – providing an opportunity to like, share, comment, retweet, etc.\n\nFor Ailey’s recent NY season, we tried a couple of different social marketing ideas.\n[CLICK]\n
- First, we ran a series of Sponsored Ads. These are different from the regular Facebook Marketplace ads, where you will see 4-5-6 different ads on the right-hand side of the screen. \n[CLICK]\nWith a Sponsored Ad, it is the only ad to appear on the right-hand side of a person’s Facebook wall. Also, a Sponsored Ad gives you the opportunity to incorporate links to video clips \n[CLICK]\n– and we know that video ads are more popular than ads with static images. Unlike regular FB ads, Sponsored Ads also allow you to integrate social elements – inviting the reader to \n[CLICK]\n‘like’ the ad, which posts this news on the user’s wall where it is seen by their friends. \n[CLICK]\nWe also tried a variation with an RSVP option, so people could tell their friends that they were planning to attend an Ailey performance.\n[CLICK]\n
- First, we ran a series of Sponsored Ads. These are different from the regular Facebook Marketplace ads, where you will see 4-5-6 different ads on the right-hand side of the screen. \n[CLICK]\nWith a Sponsored Ad, it is the only ad to appear on the right-hand side of a person’s Facebook wall. Also, a Sponsored Ad gives you the opportunity to incorporate links to video clips \n[CLICK]\n– and we know that video ads are more popular than ads with static images. Unlike regular FB ads, Sponsored Ads also allow you to integrate social elements – inviting the reader to \n[CLICK]\n‘like’ the ad, which posts this news on the user’s wall where it is seen by their friends. \n[CLICK]\nWe also tried a variation with an RSVP option, so people could tell their friends that they were planning to attend an Ailey performance.\n[CLICK]\n
- First, we ran a series of Sponsored Ads. These are different from the regular Facebook Marketplace ads, where you will see 4-5-6 different ads on the right-hand side of the screen. \n[CLICK]\nWith a Sponsored Ad, it is the only ad to appear on the right-hand side of a person’s Facebook wall. Also, a Sponsored Ad gives you the opportunity to incorporate links to video clips \n[CLICK]\n– and we know that video ads are more popular than ads with static images. Unlike regular FB ads, Sponsored Ads also allow you to integrate social elements – inviting the reader to \n[CLICK]\n‘like’ the ad, which posts this news on the user’s wall where it is seen by their friends. \n[CLICK]\nWe also tried a variation with an RSVP option, so people could tell their friends that they were planning to attend an Ailey performance.\n[CLICK]\n
- First, we ran a series of Sponsored Ads. These are different from the regular Facebook Marketplace ads, where you will see 4-5-6 different ads on the right-hand side of the screen. \n[CLICK]\nWith a Sponsored Ad, it is the only ad to appear on the right-hand side of a person’s Facebook wall. Also, a Sponsored Ad gives you the opportunity to incorporate links to video clips \n[CLICK]\n– and we know that video ads are more popular than ads with static images. Unlike regular FB ads, Sponsored Ads also allow you to integrate social elements – inviting the reader to \n[CLICK]\n‘like’ the ad, which posts this news on the user’s wall where it is seen by their friends. \n[CLICK]\nWe also tried a variation with an RSVP option, so people could tell their friends that they were planning to attend an Ailey performance.\n[CLICK]\n
- First, we ran a series of Sponsored Ads. These are different from the regular Facebook Marketplace ads, where you will see 4-5-6 different ads on the right-hand side of the screen. \n[CLICK]\nWith a Sponsored Ad, it is the only ad to appear on the right-hand side of a person’s Facebook wall. Also, a Sponsored Ad gives you the opportunity to incorporate links to video clips \n[CLICK]\n– and we know that video ads are more popular than ads with static images. Unlike regular FB ads, Sponsored Ads also allow you to integrate social elements – inviting the reader to \n[CLICK]\n‘like’ the ad, which posts this news on the user’s wall where it is seen by their friends. \n[CLICK]\nWe also tried a variation with an RSVP option, so people could tell their friends that they were planning to attend an Ailey performance.\n[CLICK]\n
- First, we ran a series of Sponsored Ads. These are different from the regular Facebook Marketplace ads, where you will see 4-5-6 different ads on the right-hand side of the screen. \n[CLICK]\nWith a Sponsored Ad, it is the only ad to appear on the right-hand side of a person’s Facebook wall. Also, a Sponsored Ad gives you the opportunity to incorporate links to video clips \n[CLICK]\n– and we know that video ads are more popular than ads with static images. Unlike regular FB ads, Sponsored Ads also allow you to integrate social elements – inviting the reader to \n[CLICK]\n‘like’ the ad, which posts this news on the user’s wall where it is seen by their friends. \n[CLICK]\nWe also tried a variation with an RSVP option, so people could tell their friends that they were planning to attend an Ailey performance.\n[CLICK]\n
- First, we ran a series of Sponsored Ads. These are different from the regular Facebook Marketplace ads, where you will see 4-5-6 different ads on the right-hand side of the screen. \n[CLICK]\nWith a Sponsored Ad, it is the only ad to appear on the right-hand side of a person’s Facebook wall. Also, a Sponsored Ad gives you the opportunity to incorporate links to video clips \n[CLICK]\n– and we know that video ads are more popular than ads with static images. Unlike regular FB ads, Sponsored Ads also allow you to integrate social elements – inviting the reader to \n[CLICK]\n‘like’ the ad, which posts this news on the user’s wall where it is seen by their friends. \n[CLICK]\nWe also tried a variation with an RSVP option, so people could tell their friends that they were planning to attend an Ailey performance.\n[CLICK]\n
- Another idea we tried was an Opening Night sweepstakes, with the winner receiving a pair of tickets to our Gala performance and the dinner-dance afterwards.\n\n[CLICK]\n\nThe social element here was the chance for Ailey fans to invite their friends to enter the sweepstakes, too – with the added incentive that, for anyone who invited their friends, they got an extra entry into the sweepstakes – thus increasing their chances to win.\n\n[CLICK]\n
- [CLICK]\nWe were very happy with the Sweepstakes results, which included adding\n[CLICK]\nOver 5,000 new fans who ‘liked’ our Facebook page and\n[CLICK]\nOver 2,000 new unique email addresses to our database, since one of the requirements of entering the sweepstakes was providing the entrant’s email address.\n[CLICK]\nAnd the overall ROI of our Facebook marketing efforts?\n[CLICK]\nFor every dollar we spent, we estimate that we earned over $4 in ticket sales – an ROI of 314%\n[CLICK]\n
- [CLICK]\nWe were very happy with the Sweepstakes results, which included adding\n[CLICK]\nOver 5,000 new fans who ‘liked’ our Facebook page and\n[CLICK]\nOver 2,000 new unique email addresses to our database, since one of the requirements of entering the sweepstakes was providing the entrant’s email address.\n[CLICK]\nAnd the overall ROI of our Facebook marketing efforts?\n[CLICK]\nFor every dollar we spent, we estimate that we earned over $4 in ticket sales – an ROI of 314%\n[CLICK]\n
- [CLICK]\nWe were very happy with the Sweepstakes results, which included adding\n[CLICK]\nOver 5,000 new fans who ‘liked’ our Facebook page and\n[CLICK]\nOver 2,000 new unique email addresses to our database, since one of the requirements of entering the sweepstakes was providing the entrant’s email address.\n[CLICK]\nAnd the overall ROI of our Facebook marketing efforts?\n[CLICK]\nFor every dollar we spent, we estimate that we earned over $4 in ticket sales – an ROI of 314%\n[CLICK]\n
- [CLICK]\nWe were very happy with the Sweepstakes results, which included adding\n[CLICK]\nOver 5,000 new fans who ‘liked’ our Facebook page and\n[CLICK]\nOver 2,000 new unique email addresses to our database, since one of the requirements of entering the sweepstakes was providing the entrant’s email address.\n[CLICK]\nAnd the overall ROI of our Facebook marketing efforts?\n[CLICK]\nFor every dollar we spent, we estimate that we earned over $4 in ticket sales – an ROI of 314%\n[CLICK]\n
- [CLICK]\nWe were very happy with the Sweepstakes results, which included adding\n[CLICK]\nOver 5,000 new fans who ‘liked’ our Facebook page and\n[CLICK]\nOver 2,000 new unique email addresses to our database, since one of the requirements of entering the sweepstakes was providing the entrant’s email address.\n[CLICK]\nAnd the overall ROI of our Facebook marketing efforts?\n[CLICK]\nFor every dollar we spent, we estimate that we earned over $4 in ticket sales – an ROI of 314%\n[CLICK]\n
- [CLICK]\nWe were very happy with the Sweepstakes results, which included adding\n[CLICK]\nOver 5,000 new fans who ‘liked’ our Facebook page and\n[CLICK]\nOver 2,000 new unique email addresses to our database, since one of the requirements of entering the sweepstakes was providing the entrant’s email address.\n[CLICK]\nAnd the overall ROI of our Facebook marketing efforts?\n[CLICK]\nFor every dollar we spent, we estimate that we earned over $4 in ticket sales – an ROI of 314%\n[CLICK]\n
- Next, online banner ads. For the last two seasons, we have been working on new ways to target and retarget our online ads at the most likely prospects for ticket sales. \n\nNow many of you probably know about or have heard about aiming banner ads at specific audiences through an ad content network. These networks provide an affordable way to serve ads to just the people you want to reach, wherever they happen to be browsing online. \n\n[CLICK]\n
- So, for example, instead of buying an ad on AllRecipes.com – which seems like an unlikely place for us to spend our limited budget – we target the people who we know are already interested in Ailey and serve them ads pretty much anywhere they happen to be looking on the Web.\n\nWe do this by placing an invisible pixel ‘tag’ on their computer whenever they visit Ailey’s website for the first time, and this allows us to serve them ads based on what they were looking at on our site.\n\n[CLICK]\n\nSo in this example, the Ailey ad you see only appeared on the screens of people who had visited Ailey’s website, and a different ad appeared in the same space for others visiting that same page.\n\n[CLICK]\n
- And we’ve taken this a step further, by expanding our target audience for online ads to include the social network friends of those already in our pixel pool.\n[CLICK]\nWhen we started this a couple of years ago, we had about 195,000 people tagged in our system. Working with an outside vendor, they were able to identify an additional\n[CLICK]\n854,000 people with ‘strong ties’ to our current audience – expanding our online ad prospects \n[CLICK]\nto just over one million people.\n[CLICK]\nAnd continuing outwards, our vendor identified an additional 2.7 million people who were part of the larger circle of social media ‘friends’…\n[CLICK]\nAnd beyond that, there were another 10 million more people who were part of the extended network of friends, giving us a total of 13.6 million people we could have targeted with ads. But we decided to focus on just the first two circles – or the million most likely prospects to serve ads, and reduced that number down further with filters for the person’s location and other attributes.\n[CLICK]\n
- And we’ve taken this a step further, by expanding our target audience for online ads to include the social network friends of those already in our pixel pool.\n[CLICK]\nWhen we started this a couple of years ago, we had about 195,000 people tagged in our system. Working with an outside vendor, they were able to identify an additional\n[CLICK]\n854,000 people with ‘strong ties’ to our current audience – expanding our online ad prospects \n[CLICK]\nto just over one million people.\n[CLICK]\nAnd continuing outwards, our vendor identified an additional 2.7 million people who were part of the larger circle of social media ‘friends’…\n[CLICK]\nAnd beyond that, there were another 10 million more people who were part of the extended network of friends, giving us a total of 13.6 million people we could have targeted with ads. But we decided to focus on just the first two circles – or the million most likely prospects to serve ads, and reduced that number down further with filters for the person’s location and other attributes.\n[CLICK]\n
- And we’ve taken this a step further, by expanding our target audience for online ads to include the social network friends of those already in our pixel pool.\n[CLICK]\nWhen we started this a couple of years ago, we had about 195,000 people tagged in our system. Working with an outside vendor, they were able to identify an additional\n[CLICK]\n854,000 people with ‘strong ties’ to our current audience – expanding our online ad prospects \n[CLICK]\nto just over one million people.\n[CLICK]\nAnd continuing outwards, our vendor identified an additional 2.7 million people who were part of the larger circle of social media ‘friends’…\n[CLICK]\nAnd beyond that, there were another 10 million more people who were part of the extended network of friends, giving us a total of 13.6 million people we could have targeted with ads. But we decided to focus on just the first two circles – or the million most likely prospects to serve ads, and reduced that number down further with filters for the person’s location and other attributes.\n[CLICK]\n
- And we’ve taken this a step further, by expanding our target audience for online ads to include the social network friends of those already in our pixel pool.\n[CLICK]\nWhen we started this a couple of years ago, we had about 195,000 people tagged in our system. Working with an outside vendor, they were able to identify an additional\n[CLICK]\n854,000 people with ‘strong ties’ to our current audience – expanding our online ad prospects \n[CLICK]\nto just over one million people.\n[CLICK]\nAnd continuing outwards, our vendor identified an additional 2.7 million people who were part of the larger circle of social media ‘friends’…\n[CLICK]\nAnd beyond that, there were another 10 million more people who were part of the extended network of friends, giving us a total of 13.6 million people we could have targeted with ads. But we decided to focus on just the first two circles – or the million most likely prospects to serve ads, and reduced that number down further with filters for the person’s location and other attributes.\n[CLICK]\n
- And we’ve taken this a step further, by expanding our target audience for online ads to include the social network friends of those already in our pixel pool.\n[CLICK]\nWhen we started this a couple of years ago, we had about 195,000 people tagged in our system. Working with an outside vendor, they were able to identify an additional\n[CLICK]\n854,000 people with ‘strong ties’ to our current audience – expanding our online ad prospects \n[CLICK]\nto just over one million people.\n[CLICK]\nAnd continuing outwards, our vendor identified an additional 2.7 million people who were part of the larger circle of social media ‘friends’…\n[CLICK]\nAnd beyond that, there were another 10 million more people who were part of the extended network of friends, giving us a total of 13.6 million people we could have targeted with ads. But we decided to focus on just the first two circles – or the million most likely prospects to serve ads, and reduced that number down further with filters for the person’s location and other attributes.\n[CLICK]\n
- And we’ve taken this a step further, by expanding our target audience for online ads to include the social network friends of those already in our pixel pool.\n[CLICK]\nWhen we started this a couple of years ago, we had about 195,000 people tagged in our system. Working with an outside vendor, they were able to identify an additional\n[CLICK]\n854,000 people with ‘strong ties’ to our current audience – expanding our online ad prospects \n[CLICK]\nto just over one million people.\n[CLICK]\nAnd continuing outwards, our vendor identified an additional 2.7 million people who were part of the larger circle of social media ‘friends’…\n[CLICK]\nAnd beyond that, there were another 10 million more people who were part of the extended network of friends, giving us a total of 13.6 million people we could have targeted with ads. But we decided to focus on just the first two circles – or the million most likely prospects to serve ads, and reduced that number down further with filters for the person’s location and other attributes.\n[CLICK]\n
- And we’ve taken this a step further, by expanding our target audience for online ads to include the social network friends of those already in our pixel pool.\n[CLICK]\nWhen we started this a couple of years ago, we had about 195,000 people tagged in our system. Working with an outside vendor, they were able to identify an additional\n[CLICK]\n854,000 people with ‘strong ties’ to our current audience – expanding our online ad prospects \n[CLICK]\nto just over one million people.\n[CLICK]\nAnd continuing outwards, our vendor identified an additional 2.7 million people who were part of the larger circle of social media ‘friends’…\n[CLICK]\nAnd beyond that, there were another 10 million more people who were part of the extended network of friends, giving us a total of 13.6 million people we could have targeted with ads. But we decided to focus on just the first two circles – or the million most likely prospects to serve ads, and reduced that number down further with filters for the person’s location and other attributes.\n[CLICK]\n
- And we’ve taken this a step further, by expanding our target audience for online ads to include the social network friends of those already in our pixel pool.\n[CLICK]\nWhen we started this a couple of years ago, we had about 195,000 people tagged in our system. Working with an outside vendor, they were able to identify an additional\n[CLICK]\n854,000 people with ‘strong ties’ to our current audience – expanding our online ad prospects \n[CLICK]\nto just over one million people.\n[CLICK]\nAnd continuing outwards, our vendor identified an additional 2.7 million people who were part of the larger circle of social media ‘friends’…\n[CLICK]\nAnd beyond that, there were another 10 million more people who were part of the extended network of friends, giving us a total of 13.6 million people we could have targeted with ads. But we decided to focus on just the first two circles – or the million most likely prospects to serve ads, and reduced that number down further with filters for the person’s location and other attributes.\n[CLICK]\n
- And we’ve taken this a step further, by expanding our target audience for online ads to include the social network friends of those already in our pixel pool.\n[CLICK]\nWhen we started this a couple of years ago, we had about 195,000 people tagged in our system. Working with an outside vendor, they were able to identify an additional\n[CLICK]\n854,000 people with ‘strong ties’ to our current audience – expanding our online ad prospects \n[CLICK]\nto just over one million people.\n[CLICK]\nAnd continuing outwards, our vendor identified an additional 2.7 million people who were part of the larger circle of social media ‘friends’…\n[CLICK]\nAnd beyond that, there were another 10 million more people who were part of the extended network of friends, giving us a total of 13.6 million people we could have targeted with ads. But we decided to focus on just the first two circles – or the million most likely prospects to serve ads, and reduced that number down further with filters for the person’s location and other attributes.\n[CLICK]\n
- And we’ve taken this a step further, by expanding our target audience for online ads to include the social network friends of those already in our pixel pool.\n[CLICK]\nWhen we started this a couple of years ago, we had about 195,000 people tagged in our system. Working with an outside vendor, they were able to identify an additional\n[CLICK]\n854,000 people with ‘strong ties’ to our current audience – expanding our online ad prospects \n[CLICK]\nto just over one million people.\n[CLICK]\nAnd continuing outwards, our vendor identified an additional 2.7 million people who were part of the larger circle of social media ‘friends’…\n[CLICK]\nAnd beyond that, there were another 10 million more people who were part of the extended network of friends, giving us a total of 13.6 million people we could have targeted with ads. But we decided to focus on just the first two circles – or the million most likely prospects to serve ads, and reduced that number down further with filters for the person’s location and other attributes.\n[CLICK]\n
- And we’ve taken this a step further, by expanding our target audience for online ads to include the social network friends of those already in our pixel pool.\n[CLICK]\nWhen we started this a couple of years ago, we had about 195,000 people tagged in our system. Working with an outside vendor, they were able to identify an additional\n[CLICK]\n854,000 people with ‘strong ties’ to our current audience – expanding our online ad prospects \n[CLICK]\nto just over one million people.\n[CLICK]\nAnd continuing outwards, our vendor identified an additional 2.7 million people who were part of the larger circle of social media ‘friends’…\n[CLICK]\nAnd beyond that, there were another 10 million more people who were part of the extended network of friends, giving us a total of 13.6 million people we could have targeted with ads. But we decided to focus on just the first two circles – or the million most likely prospects to serve ads, and reduced that number down further with filters for the person’s location and other attributes.\n[CLICK]\n
- And we’ve taken this a step further, by expanding our target audience for online ads to include the social network friends of those already in our pixel pool.\n[CLICK]\nWhen we started this a couple of years ago, we had about 195,000 people tagged in our system. Working with an outside vendor, they were able to identify an additional\n[CLICK]\n854,000 people with ‘strong ties’ to our current audience – expanding our online ad prospects \n[CLICK]\nto just over one million people.\n[CLICK]\nAnd continuing outwards, our vendor identified an additional 2.7 million people who were part of the larger circle of social media ‘friends’…\n[CLICK]\nAnd beyond that, there were another 10 million more people who were part of the extended network of friends, giving us a total of 13.6 million people we could have targeted with ads. But we decided to focus on just the first two circles – or the million most likely prospects to serve ads, and reduced that number down further with filters for the person’s location and other attributes.\n[CLICK]\n
- And we’ve taken this a step further, by expanding our target audience for online ads to include the social network friends of those already in our pixel pool.\n[CLICK]\nWhen we started this a couple of years ago, we had about 195,000 people tagged in our system. Working with an outside vendor, they were able to identify an additional\n[CLICK]\n854,000 people with ‘strong ties’ to our current audience – expanding our online ad prospects \n[CLICK]\nto just over one million people.\n[CLICK]\nAnd continuing outwards, our vendor identified an additional 2.7 million people who were part of the larger circle of social media ‘friends’…\n[CLICK]\nAnd beyond that, there were another 10 million more people who were part of the extended network of friends, giving us a total of 13.6 million people we could have targeted with ads. But we decided to focus on just the first two circles – or the million most likely prospects to serve ads, and reduced that number down further with filters for the person’s location and other attributes.\n[CLICK]\n
- And we’ve taken this a step further, by expanding our target audience for online ads to include the social network friends of those already in our pixel pool.\n[CLICK]\nWhen we started this a couple of years ago, we had about 195,000 people tagged in our system. Working with an outside vendor, they were able to identify an additional\n[CLICK]\n854,000 people with ‘strong ties’ to our current audience – expanding our online ad prospects \n[CLICK]\nto just over one million people.\n[CLICK]\nAnd continuing outwards, our vendor identified an additional 2.7 million people who were part of the larger circle of social media ‘friends’…\n[CLICK]\nAnd beyond that, there were another 10 million more people who were part of the extended network of friends, giving us a total of 13.6 million people we could have targeted with ads. But we decided to focus on just the first two circles – or the million most likely prospects to serve ads, and reduced that number down further with filters for the person’s location and other attributes.\n[CLICK]\n
- [CLICK]\nThe total return on investment for these targeted banner ads:\n[CLICK]\nFor every dollar we spent on banner ads, we earned over $8 in ticket revenue.\n[CLICK]\nWe also added thousands of new prospects to Ailey’s online pixel pool, which we can use for future campaigns.\n[CLICK]\n
- [CLICK]\nThe total return on investment for these targeted banner ads:\n[CLICK]\nFor every dollar we spent on banner ads, we earned over $8 in ticket revenue.\n[CLICK]\nWe also added thousands of new prospects to Ailey’s online pixel pool, which we can use for future campaigns.\n[CLICK]\n
- [CLICK]\nThe total return on investment for these targeted banner ads:\n[CLICK]\nFor every dollar we spent on banner ads, we earned over $8 in ticket revenue.\n[CLICK]\nWe also added thousands of new prospects to Ailey’s online pixel pool, which we can use for future campaigns.\n[CLICK]\n
- [CLICK]\nThe total return on investment for these targeted banner ads:\n[CLICK]\nFor every dollar we spent on banner ads, we earned over $8 in ticket revenue.\n[CLICK]\nWe also added thousands of new prospects to Ailey’s online pixel pool, which we can use for future campaigns.\n[CLICK]\n
- [CLICK]\nThe total return on investment for these targeted banner ads:\n[CLICK]\nFor every dollar we spent on banner ads, we earned over $8 in ticket revenue.\n[CLICK]\nWe also added thousands of new prospects to Ailey’s online pixel pool, which we can use for future campaigns.\n[CLICK]\n
- Related to banner ads, but in a category unto themselves, are Google AdWords.\n\n[CLICK]\n
- Most of you probably use Google AdWords, and if you don’t, I highly encourage you to do so for reasons I’ll explain in a second.\n\nWhile we got strong response to so-called ‘organic search’ of people entering the word “Ailey” in the Google search engine, we also spend a good deal of time optimizing the results of more generic searches…\n[CLICK]\nlike “dance tickets nyc” as you’ll see in this example.\n[CLICK]\nYou’ll notice that Ailey’s ad appears at the top of the paid ads on the right-hand side of the screen, because we have spent a good deal of time on testing and optimizing many, many different combinations of generic keywords and metatags on our website which trigger search results like this.\n[CLICK]\n
- Most of you probably use Google AdWords, and if you don’t, I highly encourage you to do so for reasons I’ll explain in a second.\n\nWhile we got strong response to so-called ‘organic search’ of people entering the word “Ailey” in the Google search engine, we also spend a good deal of time optimizing the results of more generic searches…\n[CLICK]\nlike “dance tickets nyc” as you’ll see in this example.\n[CLICK]\nYou’ll notice that Ailey’s ad appears at the top of the paid ads on the right-hand side of the screen, because we have spent a good deal of time on testing and optimizing many, many different combinations of generic keywords and metatags on our website which trigger search results like this.\n[CLICK]\n
- Most of you probably use Google AdWords, and if you don’t, I highly encourage you to do so for reasons I’ll explain in a second.\n\nWhile we got strong response to so-called ‘organic search’ of people entering the word “Ailey” in the Google search engine, we also spend a good deal of time optimizing the results of more generic searches…\n[CLICK]\nlike “dance tickets nyc” as you’ll see in this example.\n[CLICK]\nYou’ll notice that Ailey’s ad appears at the top of the paid ads on the right-hand side of the screen, because we have spent a good deal of time on testing and optimizing many, many different combinations of generic keywords and metatags on our website which trigger search results like this.\n[CLICK]\n
- The best part of this is it costs us nothing – other than staff time – to run these ads, because Google donates free ad space to nonprofits like Ailey. \n[CLICK]\nUp to $10,000 a month worth of clickthroughs in free Google Adwords.\n[CLICK]\nAnd if, for some reason, you haven’t already done so, you must immediately go to google.com/grants and apply for your own $10,000 a month in free ad space. \nThese Google search ads have incredible response. For Ailey’s New York season, \n[CLICK]\nFor every dollar we ‘spent’ in donated AdWords, we earned a whopping $80 in ticket sales. \n[CLICK]\n
- The best part of this is it costs us nothing – other than staff time – to run these ads, because Google donates free ad space to nonprofits like Ailey. \n[CLICK]\nUp to $10,000 a month worth of clickthroughs in free Google Adwords.\n[CLICK]\nAnd if, for some reason, you haven’t already done so, you must immediately go to google.com/grants and apply for your own $10,000 a month in free ad space. \nThese Google search ads have incredible response. For Ailey’s New York season, \n[CLICK]\nFor every dollar we ‘spent’ in donated AdWords, we earned a whopping $80 in ticket sales. \n[CLICK]\n
- The best part of this is it costs us nothing – other than staff time – to run these ads, because Google donates free ad space to nonprofits like Ailey. \n[CLICK]\nUp to $10,000 a month worth of clickthroughs in free Google Adwords.\n[CLICK]\nAnd if, for some reason, you haven’t already done so, you must immediately go to google.com/grants and apply for your own $10,000 a month in free ad space. \nThese Google search ads have incredible response. For Ailey’s New York season, \n[CLICK]\nFor every dollar we ‘spent’ in donated AdWords, we earned a whopping $80 in ticket sales. \n[CLICK]\n
- The best part of this is it costs us nothing – other than staff time – to run these ads, because Google donates free ad space to nonprofits like Ailey. \n[CLICK]\nUp to $10,000 a month worth of clickthroughs in free Google Adwords.\n[CLICK]\nAnd if, for some reason, you haven’t already done so, you must immediately go to google.com/grants and apply for your own $10,000 a month in free ad space. \nThese Google search ads have incredible response. For Ailey’s New York season, \n[CLICK]\nFor every dollar we ‘spent’ in donated AdWords, we earned a whopping $80 in ticket sales. \n[CLICK]\n
- The best part of this is it costs us nothing – other than staff time – to run these ads, because Google donates free ad space to nonprofits like Ailey. \n[CLICK]\nUp to $10,000 a month worth of clickthroughs in free Google Adwords.\n[CLICK]\nAnd if, for some reason, you haven’t already done so, you must immediately go to google.com/grants and apply for your own $10,000 a month in free ad space. \nThese Google search ads have incredible response. For Ailey’s New York season, \n[CLICK]\nFor every dollar we ‘spent’ in donated AdWords, we earned a whopping $80 in ticket sales. \n[CLICK]\n
- And last but not least, a few words about email marketing.\n\nAt Ailey, we are very pro-active about collecting email addresses – in person at the box office, online and by phone when people order tickets, but lots of other ways, too, including having student ambassadors roaming the aisles of the theater before performances and during intermission to gather name collection slips we stuff in our Playbills. That way, we are able to get the emails of both the people who buy the tickets AND the emails of the friends and family that come with them.\n\n[CLICK]\n
- We also have learned the value in following up on the emails we send.\n[CLICK]\nHere’s an example of one email we sent out shortly after tickets first went on sale last fall.\n[CLICK]\n“5 reasons to see Ailey in NYC this December”\n[CLICK]\nIt had a respectable open rate of 20%\n[CLICK]\nAnd a 10% clickthrough rate.\n[CLICK]\nOverall sales generated by that one email: for every $1 we spent, we earned $20 in ticket revenue.\n[CLICK]\nBut as I noted, only 20% of the recipients opened the email. So…\n[CLICK]\n…we re-sent the exact same email to the 80% who didn’t open the last email\n[CLICK]\n…with a new subject line -- “the best seats at the best prices”\n[CLICK]\nThis re-send got a smaller open rate – 12%\n[CLICK]\nBut a higher clickthrough rate of 17%\n[CLICK]\nAnd again for every dollar we spent on re-sending that email, we earned $20 in ticket sales.\n[CLICK]\n
- We also have learned the value in following up on the emails we send.\n[CLICK]\nHere’s an example of one email we sent out shortly after tickets first went on sale last fall.\n[CLICK]\n“5 reasons to see Ailey in NYC this December”\n[CLICK]\nIt had a respectable open rate of 20%\n[CLICK]\nAnd a 10% clickthrough rate.\n[CLICK]\nOverall sales generated by that one email: for every $1 we spent, we earned $20 in ticket revenue.\n[CLICK]\nBut as I noted, only 20% of the recipients opened the email. So…\n[CLICK]\n…we re-sent the exact same email to the 80% who didn’t open the last email\n[CLICK]\n…with a new subject line -- “the best seats at the best prices”\n[CLICK]\nThis re-send got a smaller open rate – 12%\n[CLICK]\nBut a higher clickthrough rate of 17%\n[CLICK]\nAnd again for every dollar we spent on re-sending that email, we earned $20 in ticket sales.\n[CLICK]\n
- We also have learned the value in following up on the emails we send.\n[CLICK]\nHere’s an example of one email we sent out shortly after tickets first went on sale last fall.\n[CLICK]\n“5 reasons to see Ailey in NYC this December”\n[CLICK]\nIt had a respectable open rate of 20%\n[CLICK]\nAnd a 10% clickthrough rate.\n[CLICK]\nOverall sales generated by that one email: for every $1 we spent, we earned $20 in ticket revenue.\n[CLICK]\nBut as I noted, only 20% of the recipients opened the email. So…\n[CLICK]\n…we re-sent the exact same email to the 80% who didn’t open the last email\n[CLICK]\n…with a new subject line -- “the best seats at the best prices”\n[CLICK]\nThis re-send got a smaller open rate – 12%\n[CLICK]\nBut a higher clickthrough rate of 17%\n[CLICK]\nAnd again for every dollar we spent on re-sending that email, we earned $20 in ticket sales.\n[CLICK]\n
- We also have learned the value in following up on the emails we send.\n[CLICK]\nHere’s an example of one email we sent out shortly after tickets first went on sale last fall.\n[CLICK]\n“5 reasons to see Ailey in NYC this December”\n[CLICK]\nIt had a respectable open rate of 20%\n[CLICK]\nAnd a 10% clickthrough rate.\n[CLICK]\nOverall sales generated by that one email: for every $1 we spent, we earned $20 in ticket revenue.\n[CLICK]\nBut as I noted, only 20% of the recipients opened the email. So…\n[CLICK]\n…we re-sent the exact same email to the 80% who didn’t open the last email\n[CLICK]\n…with a new subject line -- “the best seats at the best prices”\n[CLICK]\nThis re-send got a smaller open rate – 12%\n[CLICK]\nBut a higher clickthrough rate of 17%\n[CLICK]\nAnd again for every dollar we spent on re-sending that email, we earned $20 in ticket sales.\n[CLICK]\n
- We also have learned the value in following up on the emails we send.\n[CLICK]\nHere’s an example of one email we sent out shortly after tickets first went on sale last fall.\n[CLICK]\n“5 reasons to see Ailey in NYC this December”\n[CLICK]\nIt had a respectable open rate of 20%\n[CLICK]\nAnd a 10% clickthrough rate.\n[CLICK]\nOverall sales generated by that one email: for every $1 we spent, we earned $20 in ticket revenue.\n[CLICK]\nBut as I noted, only 20% of the recipients opened the email. So…\n[CLICK]\n…we re-sent the exact same email to the 80% who didn’t open the last email\n[CLICK]\n…with a new subject line -- “the best seats at the best prices”\n[CLICK]\nThis re-send got a smaller open rate – 12%\n[CLICK]\nBut a higher clickthrough rate of 17%\n[CLICK]\nAnd again for every dollar we spent on re-sending that email, we earned $20 in ticket sales.\n[CLICK]\n
- We also have learned the value in following up on the emails we send.\n[CLICK]\nHere’s an example of one email we sent out shortly after tickets first went on sale last fall.\n[CLICK]\n“5 reasons to see Ailey in NYC this December”\n[CLICK]\nIt had a respectable open rate of 20%\n[CLICK]\nAnd a 10% clickthrough rate.\n[CLICK]\nOverall sales generated by that one email: for every $1 we spent, we earned $20 in ticket revenue.\n[CLICK]\nBut as I noted, only 20% of the recipients opened the email. So…\n[CLICK]\n…we re-sent the exact same email to the 80% who didn’t open the last email\n[CLICK]\n…with a new subject line -- “the best seats at the best prices”\n[CLICK]\nThis re-send got a smaller open rate – 12%\n[CLICK]\nBut a higher clickthrough rate of 17%\n[CLICK]\nAnd again for every dollar we spent on re-sending that email, we earned $20 in ticket sales.\n[CLICK]\n
- We also have learned the value in following up on the emails we send.\n[CLICK]\nHere’s an example of one email we sent out shortly after tickets first went on sale last fall.\n[CLICK]\n“5 reasons to see Ailey in NYC this December”\n[CLICK]\nIt had a respectable open rate of 20%\n[CLICK]\nAnd a 10% clickthrough rate.\n[CLICK]\nOverall sales generated by that one email: for every $1 we spent, we earned $20 in ticket revenue.\n[CLICK]\nBut as I noted, only 20% of the recipients opened the email. So…\n[CLICK]\n…we re-sent the exact same email to the 80% who didn’t open the last email\n[CLICK]\n…with a new subject line -- “the best seats at the best prices”\n[CLICK]\nThis re-send got a smaller open rate – 12%\n[CLICK]\nBut a higher clickthrough rate of 17%\n[CLICK]\nAnd again for every dollar we spent on re-sending that email, we earned $20 in ticket sales.\n[CLICK]\n
- We also have learned the value in following up on the emails we send.\n[CLICK]\nHere’s an example of one email we sent out shortly after tickets first went on sale last fall.\n[CLICK]\n“5 reasons to see Ailey in NYC this December”\n[CLICK]\nIt had a respectable open rate of 20%\n[CLICK]\nAnd a 10% clickthrough rate.\n[CLICK]\nOverall sales generated by that one email: for every $1 we spent, we earned $20 in ticket revenue.\n[CLICK]\nBut as I noted, only 20% of the recipients opened the email. So…\n[CLICK]\n…we re-sent the exact same email to the 80% who didn’t open the last email\n[CLICK]\n…with a new subject line -- “the best seats at the best prices”\n[CLICK]\nThis re-send got a smaller open rate – 12%\n[CLICK]\nBut a higher clickthrough rate of 17%\n[CLICK]\nAnd again for every dollar we spent on re-sending that email, we earned $20 in ticket sales.\n[CLICK]\n
- We also have learned the value in following up on the emails we send.\n[CLICK]\nHere’s an example of one email we sent out shortly after tickets first went on sale last fall.\n[CLICK]\n“5 reasons to see Ailey in NYC this December”\n[CLICK]\nIt had a respectable open rate of 20%\n[CLICK]\nAnd a 10% clickthrough rate.\n[CLICK]\nOverall sales generated by that one email: for every $1 we spent, we earned $20 in ticket revenue.\n[CLICK]\nBut as I noted, only 20% of the recipients opened the email. So…\n[CLICK]\n…we re-sent the exact same email to the 80% who didn’t open the last email\n[CLICK]\n…with a new subject line -- “the best seats at the best prices”\n[CLICK]\nThis re-send got a smaller open rate – 12%\n[CLICK]\nBut a higher clickthrough rate of 17%\n[CLICK]\nAnd again for every dollar we spent on re-sending that email, we earned $20 in ticket sales.\n[CLICK]\n
- We also have learned the value in following up on the emails we send.\n[CLICK]\nHere’s an example of one email we sent out shortly after tickets first went on sale last fall.\n[CLICK]\n“5 reasons to see Ailey in NYC this December”\n[CLICK]\nIt had a respectable open rate of 20%\n[CLICK]\nAnd a 10% clickthrough rate.\n[CLICK]\nOverall sales generated by that one email: for every $1 we spent, we earned $20 in ticket revenue.\n[CLICK]\nBut as I noted, only 20% of the recipients opened the email. So…\n[CLICK]\n…we re-sent the exact same email to the 80% who didn’t open the last email\n[CLICK]\n…with a new subject line -- “the best seats at the best prices”\n[CLICK]\nThis re-send got a smaller open rate – 12%\n[CLICK]\nBut a higher clickthrough rate of 17%\n[CLICK]\nAnd again for every dollar we spent on re-sending that email, we earned $20 in ticket sales.\n[CLICK]\n
- We also have learned the value in following up on the emails we send.\n[CLICK]\nHere’s an example of one email we sent out shortly after tickets first went on sale last fall.\n[CLICK]\n“5 reasons to see Ailey in NYC this December”\n[CLICK]\nIt had a respectable open rate of 20%\n[CLICK]\nAnd a 10% clickthrough rate.\n[CLICK]\nOverall sales generated by that one email: for every $1 we spent, we earned $20 in ticket revenue.\n[CLICK]\nBut as I noted, only 20% of the recipients opened the email. So…\n[CLICK]\n…we re-sent the exact same email to the 80% who didn’t open the last email\n[CLICK]\n…with a new subject line -- “the best seats at the best prices”\n[CLICK]\nThis re-send got a smaller open rate – 12%\n[CLICK]\nBut a higher clickthrough rate of 17%\n[CLICK]\nAnd again for every dollar we spent on re-sending that email, we earned $20 in ticket sales.\n[CLICK]\n
- We also have learned the value in following up on the emails we send.\n[CLICK]\nHere’s an example of one email we sent out shortly after tickets first went on sale last fall.\n[CLICK]\n“5 reasons to see Ailey in NYC this December”\n[CLICK]\nIt had a respectable open rate of 20%\n[CLICK]\nAnd a 10% clickthrough rate.\n[CLICK]\nOverall sales generated by that one email: for every $1 we spent, we earned $20 in ticket revenue.\n[CLICK]\nBut as I noted, only 20% of the recipients opened the email. So…\n[CLICK]\n…we re-sent the exact same email to the 80% who didn’t open the last email\n[CLICK]\n…with a new subject line -- “the best seats at the best prices”\n[CLICK]\nThis re-send got a smaller open rate – 12%\n[CLICK]\nBut a higher clickthrough rate of 17%\n[CLICK]\nAnd again for every dollar we spent on re-sending that email, we earned $20 in ticket sales.\n[CLICK]\n
- We also have learned the value in following up on the emails we send.\n[CLICK]\nHere’s an example of one email we sent out shortly after tickets first went on sale last fall.\n[CLICK]\n“5 reasons to see Ailey in NYC this December”\n[CLICK]\nIt had a respectable open rate of 20%\n[CLICK]\nAnd a 10% clickthrough rate.\n[CLICK]\nOverall sales generated by that one email: for every $1 we spent, we earned $20 in ticket revenue.\n[CLICK]\nBut as I noted, only 20% of the recipients opened the email. So…\n[CLICK]\n…we re-sent the exact same email to the 80% who didn’t open the last email\n[CLICK]\n…with a new subject line -- “the best seats at the best prices”\n[CLICK]\nThis re-send got a smaller open rate – 12%\n[CLICK]\nBut a higher clickthrough rate of 17%\n[CLICK]\nAnd again for every dollar we spent on re-sending that email, we earned $20 in ticket sales.\n[CLICK]\n
- Here’s one final example of how we used emails a little bit differently last year.\n[CLICK]\nIf someone who was already in our email database visited the landing page for our NY season but didn’t click through to buy tickets\n[CLICK]\nWe would send them a follow-up email message – \n[CLICK]\nin this case, it offered an exclusive video interview with artistic director Robert Battle.\n[CLICK]\nThese targeted emails saw a 54% open rate\n[CLICK]\nAnd 24% clickthrough rate\n[CLICK]\nAnd the average ticket order was $180.\n[CLICK]\n
- Here’s one final example of how we used emails a little bit differently last year.\n[CLICK]\nIf someone who was already in our email database visited the landing page for our NY season but didn’t click through to buy tickets\n[CLICK]\nWe would send them a follow-up email message – \n[CLICK]\nin this case, it offered an exclusive video interview with artistic director Robert Battle.\n[CLICK]\nThese targeted emails saw a 54% open rate\n[CLICK]\nAnd 24% clickthrough rate\n[CLICK]\nAnd the average ticket order was $180.\n[CLICK]\n
- Here’s one final example of how we used emails a little bit differently last year.\n[CLICK]\nIf someone who was already in our email database visited the landing page for our NY season but didn’t click through to buy tickets\n[CLICK]\nWe would send them a follow-up email message – \n[CLICK]\nin this case, it offered an exclusive video interview with artistic director Robert Battle.\n[CLICK]\nThese targeted emails saw a 54% open rate\n[CLICK]\nAnd 24% clickthrough rate\n[CLICK]\nAnd the average ticket order was $180.\n[CLICK]\n
- Here’s one final example of how we used emails a little bit differently last year.\n[CLICK]\nIf someone who was already in our email database visited the landing page for our NY season but didn’t click through to buy tickets\n[CLICK]\nWe would send them a follow-up email message – \n[CLICK]\nin this case, it offered an exclusive video interview with artistic director Robert Battle.\n[CLICK]\nThese targeted emails saw a 54% open rate\n[CLICK]\nAnd 24% clickthrough rate\n[CLICK]\nAnd the average ticket order was $180.\n[CLICK]\n
- Here’s one final example of how we used emails a little bit differently last year.\n[CLICK]\nIf someone who was already in our email database visited the landing page for our NY season but didn’t click through to buy tickets\n[CLICK]\nWe would send them a follow-up email message – \n[CLICK]\nin this case, it offered an exclusive video interview with artistic director Robert Battle.\n[CLICK]\nThese targeted emails saw a 54% open rate\n[CLICK]\nAnd 24% clickthrough rate\n[CLICK]\nAnd the average ticket order was $180.\n[CLICK]\n
- Here’s one final example of how we used emails a little bit differently last year.\n[CLICK]\nIf someone who was already in our email database visited the landing page for our NY season but didn’t click through to buy tickets\n[CLICK]\nWe would send them a follow-up email message – \n[CLICK]\nin this case, it offered an exclusive video interview with artistic director Robert Battle.\n[CLICK]\nThese targeted emails saw a 54% open rate\n[CLICK]\nAnd 24% clickthrough rate\n[CLICK]\nAnd the average ticket order was $180.\n[CLICK]\n
- Here’s one final example of how we used emails a little bit differently last year.\n[CLICK]\nIf someone who was already in our email database visited the landing page for our NY season but didn’t click through to buy tickets\n[CLICK]\nWe would send them a follow-up email message – \n[CLICK]\nin this case, it offered an exclusive video interview with artistic director Robert Battle.\n[CLICK]\nThese targeted emails saw a 54% open rate\n[CLICK]\nAnd 24% clickthrough rate\n[CLICK]\nAnd the average ticket order was $180.\n[CLICK]\n
- Here’s one final example of how we used emails a little bit differently last year.\n[CLICK]\nIf someone who was already in our email database visited the landing page for our NY season but didn’t click through to buy tickets\n[CLICK]\nWe would send them a follow-up email message – \n[CLICK]\nin this case, it offered an exclusive video interview with artistic director Robert Battle.\n[CLICK]\nThese targeted emails saw a 54% open rate\n[CLICK]\nAnd 24% clickthrough rate\n[CLICK]\nAnd the average ticket order was $180.\n[CLICK]\n
- Here’s one final example of how we used emails a little bit differently last year.\n[CLICK]\nIf someone who was already in our email database visited the landing page for our NY season but didn’t click through to buy tickets\n[CLICK]\nWe would send them a follow-up email message – \n[CLICK]\nin this case, it offered an exclusive video interview with artistic director Robert Battle.\n[CLICK]\nThese targeted emails saw a 54% open rate\n[CLICK]\nAnd 24% clickthrough rate\n[CLICK]\nAnd the average ticket order was $180.\n[CLICK]\n
- All of the different things we did with email contributed to a campaign that was very cost-effective.\n\n[CLICK]\n\nFor every dollar we spent on emails about our NY season, we earned $25 in ticket revenue.\n\n[CLICK]\n
- All of the different things we did with email contributed to a campaign that was very cost-effective.\n\n[CLICK]\n\nFor every dollar we spent on emails about our NY season, we earned $25 in ticket revenue.\n\n[CLICK]\n
- As you can see, we saw strong return on investment for all three categories of digital marketing we tried, \n[CLICK]\nwith an average ROI of about 1,000%.\n[CLICK]\nAnd I wanted to underscore that these figures only reflect those ticket sales that happened online. If we were able to track the impact of digital marketing on other sales, including phone and box office orders, I have no doubt that the ROI would be even higher.\n[CLICK]\n
- As you can see, we saw strong return on investment for all three categories of digital marketing we tried, \n[CLICK]\nwith an average ROI of about 1,000%.\n[CLICK]\nAnd I wanted to underscore that these figures only reflect those ticket sales that happened online. If we were able to track the impact of digital marketing on other sales, including phone and box office orders, I have no doubt that the ROI would be even higher.\n[CLICK]\n
- All of which is to say: for Ailey, at least, there was a clear return on our investment in digital marketing.\n\nOf course, as the car ads say, your mileage may vary. You’ll have to decide for yourself what kinds of digital marketing tools are best for you. But now that we can see the results in real numbers it seems pretty clear that the question is not really “what’s the ROI of digital marketing”… \n\n[CLICK]\n\nit’s “what’s the COI…” – the cost of ignoring – digital marketing. \n\n[CLICK]\n
- All of which is to say: for Ailey, at least, there was a clear return on our investment in digital marketing.\n\nOf course, as the car ads say, your mileage may vary. You’ll have to decide for yourself what kinds of digital marketing tools are best for you. But now that we can see the results in real numbers it seems pretty clear that the question is not really “what’s the ROI of digital marketing”… \n\n[CLICK]\n\nit’s “what’s the COI…” – the cost of ignoring – digital marketing. \n\n[CLICK]\n
- All of which is to say: for Ailey, at least, there was a clear return on our investment in digital marketing.\n\nOf course, as the car ads say, your mileage may vary. You’ll have to decide for yourself what kinds of digital marketing tools are best for you. But now that we can see the results in real numbers it seems pretty clear that the question is not really “what’s the ROI of digital marketing”… \n\n[CLICK]\n\nit’s “what’s the COI…” – the cost of ignoring – digital marketing. \n\n[CLICK]\n
- All of which is to say: for Ailey, at least, there was a clear return on our investment in digital marketing.\n\nOf course, as the car ads say, your mileage may vary. You’ll have to decide for yourself what kinds of digital marketing tools are best for you. But now that we can see the results in real numbers it seems pretty clear that the question is not really “what’s the ROI of digital marketing”… \n\n[CLICK]\n\nit’s “what’s the COI…” – the cost of ignoring – digital marketing. \n\n[CLICK]\n
- All of which is to say: for Ailey, at least, there was a clear return on our investment in digital marketing.\n\nOf course, as the car ads say, your mileage may vary. You’ll have to decide for yourself what kinds of digital marketing tools are best for you. But now that we can see the results in real numbers it seems pretty clear that the question is not really “what’s the ROI of digital marketing”… \n\n[CLICK]\n\nit’s “what’s the COI…” – the cost of ignoring – digital marketing. \n\n[CLICK]\n
- Questions? Find me after this session or feel free to email me at tcott@alvinailey.org.\n\n[CHECK STOPWATCH, ANNOUNCE TIME...]\n\nThanks.\n
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- Because there is no room for reciprocity in broadcast\n
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- We're learning how to listen again. A vision of the future had hundreds of TV stations... we could comprehend massive amounts of broadcast which could wash over us.\n
- But that's obsolete. We are re-engineering society back to reciprocity. \n
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- Surveys, Forms, Or even Social Media\nSet them up, or search yourself\nWho likes you, who follows you and \n
- How do you communicate your reach? (Annual report? Newsletter?)\n How do you respond to patron questions from any stream? (Meetings, phone, email, other?)\n- Be gracious for the feedback (there is always something to learn)\n- Keep things clean (Don't abide by trolls)\n
- Provide Feedback- Address complaints in most comfortable equity way for both parties- Understand the format of the forum- The longer you can talk, the more it should be facts... Keep feelings short\n
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- Will we still be relevant and sustainable if we don’t do this? (is the majority of our audience using pinterest?)\n Do we have the money/people/tech/skills/endurance? (Can we afford someone who knows how do use pinterest?)\n Is there a significant benefit to our audience/staff/artists/board members/funders? (Does pinterest enhance out story?)\n Is it a natural extension of what we do everyday? (Is the sharing of pins reflective of our open org, or just fun?)\n Will our world still turn if we don’t? (Is interest going anywhere? Are we? Will using pinterest make our core programs grow?)\n Does someone actually care and think it would be fun to us Pinterest to build the identity of your org?\n
- If you answered yes to all the questions, DO IT\nIf you answered no to any, DON’T (now)\n
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- Great to be here once again. Let me just start off with a statement that I made last year. This is from an article that I co-wrote with our Programming Manager Kathleya Afanador on David Hallberg’s move to the Bolshoi. This article presented the premise that while David is a great artist, that there were other benefits to the Bolshoi than just great art. In fact, while I don’t have specific numbers, I believe the Bolshoi is, as far as paid ticket attendance, the most popular ballet company in America.\n
- As an example of globalization, this is a list of countries from which we have, or signed deals for episodic or feature length content. The United States is in parenthesis because we just signed our first major US company title this week, and while I can’t discuss specifics at this moment\n
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- 15 countries\n
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- We know we have to evolve as a field, or become obsolete as an art. \n\nI believe there’s power in being able to name things- so here’s some jargon for ya. \n
- also known as the concord fallacy, the jalopy syndrome, the devil you know conundrum, the comfortable boyfriend problem.\n\nHere's how this works. You have a crappy, crappy car. A toyota camery that over the years has broken down again and again and again. Every year you can expect to sink at least a couple grand into the thing to keep the sucker running. Good money after bad. By this point, you've probably spent *at least* as much as a new, more reliable car in your year-over-year investment in your jalopy death trap. And the more you sink into the thing, the harder it is for you to rationalize buying a new car. \n\nThis also applies to, say your website- plunking down thousands of dollars just to keep your goalash of a website up and running. Or, dare I say it, staff people. Board members. Advisors. The more you sink into them, the harder and harder it is to withdraw. It seems like you're saving yourself trouble by investing in a thing that- while mediocre- is at least, mediocre in a known way. I mean, nobody ever died because your website sucked, did they? Any why not keep it mediocre? why not invest in this- the most public, most discoverable facet of your organization’s entire existence? because the amount of work it takes to maintain the thing is dwarfed by the prospect of having to learn new systems. to have to train people. to pay money to buy something of relative unknown. \n\nI'm here to tell you that- especially when it comes to your website- the platforms are too cheap and the expertise too accessible for you to keep your jalopy alive. Just because you've spent thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours on something you KNOW is a piece of crap doesn't make that next thousand dollars and hundred hours ok. \n\nHow do you overcome the sunk cost fallacy? Math and 3rd party audit. Break down what you’re spending versus the potential efficiencies of a new system. Proceed according to rationale, not emotion. \n\nSo everyone. Take a moment and think about some jalopy in your programming- some thing that you’ve been meaning to kill for months or years but haven’t gotten around to mercy killing. Think about your jalopy. And resolve to kill it today. \n
- Why is it so hard to convince people that the website that you know is terrible needs to be updated? Why is it so hard for organizations to change? This is the subject of like 400 other potential sessions, but one particular reason i’d like to focus on is the “organizational antibodies” in your company. The neck beards. These are the people in your life- in your organization- whose immediate response to change or innovation is to play “devil’s advocate" and kill novel, innovative, or different ideas dead. \n\nTo fight the neck beard, we must understand the neck beard. As such, it is my pleasure to call up Tim Cynova, co-host of #skynova and deputy director of Fractured Atlas, to demonstrate the neck beard response to several common situations. Ok. The scene is a full staff meeting, let's say that I'm a marketing manager, and Tim is some guy in a suit who is probably paid more than me and has been at the company for maybe six months longer than I have. \n\nSydney: Hey- I’ve got this idea to shoot a bunch of funny, off the cuff videos about our upcoming season. Should be cheap and pretty fun. The dancers would like it and… Neckbeard, interrupting: Ok ok ok now settle down there kiddo. Let me just play devil's advocate here. Have this company ever made funny videos before? \nSydney: Well no, but I know that...\nNeckbeard, interrupting: And how do you know they’ll be cheap? I mean, just a camera alone can cost thousands of dollars, and then you need a computer to edit the stuff, and a videographer- that’s like tens of thousands of dollars right there.\nSydney: Well, I mean, I’d like to at least explore that the pricing might...\nNeckbeard, interrupting: I don’t know about the rest of you guys, but this seems like a pretty risky thing to me. I think we should return to the idea when we know more about the issue. \n\nfin\n\nAnd now the rest of your team has been taken on a whirlwind of negativity and the status quo- they’re not thinking about how a funny, short-form video series could sell tickets, improve internal morale or even just be a fun project, or even ways to address a potentially reasonable cost concern. Everyone has been hijacked from a potentially creative moment and dumped back into business as usual. Or,\n\nSydney: I’d like to talk about getting a new website. Our current site is built on Dreamweaver, doesn’t let us do any keyword marketing or easily embed videos, add pages, or other stuff that would be super useful to staff.\nNeckbeard: Ok ok ok now settle down there kiddo. As you may now, I am an expert in web development, per my having read a review of that movie “the social network”, and I’m *pretty* sure that dreamweaver is the safest way to go.\nSydney: But nobody on staff knows HTML..\nNeckbeard, interrupting: Well to be clear, I know some HTML.\nSydney: but that’s not really my point. Nobody *else* knows HTML\nNeckbeard, interrupting: But they don’t have to, because I know HTML. \nSydney: Ok, sure, but HTML alone isn’t going to give us all the functionality I was talking about earlier.\nNeckbeard: Well sure it can. I know HTML.\n\nfin\n\nAnd by now, even if everyone in the room thinks this guy is a total d-bag, they're all so off put by the exchange that there’s no way they’re going to jump in. They don’t really know HTML, and don’t feel qualified to contradict the person in the room who seems confident in what they’re saying. EVEN IF THEY KNOW YOU’RE RIGHT, the conversation just went from your cool idea to basically unrelated technical point. The status quo is maintained. \n\nShooting down ideas before they’re even fully formed- mitigating change and innovation because its threatening and unknown- This is a function of organizational antibodies. \n\nBefore we move on. Think about the organizational antibodies in your life. When was the last time something got shot down before it had a chance to live? To be clear - this is not the same as constructive critical dialogue- this is conversational hijacking. How do we fight back? \n
- One way to deal with organizational antibodies is to promote an institutional culture that acknowledges change as perpetual and natural. If we all agree that technologic change is accelerating in our culture, and that technology effects every facet of our work, than the need to foster pliable institutions capable of adaptation is obvious and urgent. We must be ceaselessly reflective, and endlessly iterative. This is a process that once begun, never stops. \n\nSo long as your organization is alive, it will never stop fundraising. it will never stop making dances or supporting dancemakers. And it must never stop thinking about how technology makes possible its work. New habits. Not necessarily new technologies. \n\nThis means that a technologic practice and technology capacity building MUST be an intimate part of your strategic planning efforts. if you’re in the process of a strategic plan, ask your people how tech is going to be incorporated. If you’ve finished a strategic plan, talk with someone *fast* about how tech can intersect with your current materials. If you’re on the market for a strategic planner, make certain that they have credentialing in online tech and understand the Internet, very, very, very well. \n
- What’s your hard won wisdom?\n
- What’s your hard won wisdom?\n
- What’s your hard won wisdom?\n
- so these questions require constant iterative attention. Homework: who is in your tech think tank? who is in your top 5 ? reach out to them monthly. Now let’s share. Tweet out / FB their names with the hashtag #GoingtoBeOk so we can all benefit. \n
- you know how when you have a kid- that thing you did to get them to sleep works like for just a day- and then never again? And then he throws up all over your “heavenly” bead at the westin last night? well, you have to adapt. change with the kid. it’s not the kid’s fault he’s growing an inch every month. \n\nI find this analogy works whether we’re talking about technology, our about our companies. It’s no one’s fault that technology is the way it is- or that our organizations are the way they are- but it is up to us to choose how it is that we respond. \n\nThe way we respond to our children, as with technology, comes down to a choice. We choose to be engaged, choose to be iterative, to read signals, or we choose to be closed. to be static. to be calcified. It’s comforting to remember that dance has its own technologic curve. Remember in the late 1600s when we started incorporating professional dancers trained in the practice of the ballet? It was argued that the dance would never survive. And then the technology of the proscenium stage. If the audience is separated from the dance, how will they be left better because of it? Or gas lighting? I mean, this was a stage technology that *literally* killed people. But we danced on. The pointe shoe. An aberration of dance technology that has become the status quo. And now we face the Internet. We’ve faced extinction before. And we will again. But the Internet isn’t a threat. It’s the largest, most terrifying opportunity our community has ever faced. And if our own dance history is any indication, I think everything is going to be ok. \n
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