To help performers, producers, promoters and publicists make the most of their experience at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, creative content communications company Inner Ear devised and delivered this interactive seminar on digital audience development. Outlining strategy and recommending tactics the seminar explores tips and techniques for engaging with your audience when promoting a show. Special guest Ben Fawkes from Soundcloud also presented a case study on how to use the platform to help promote shows.

1. Fringe 2012:
Digital Audience
Development
An interactive seminar by Inner Ear

2. Digital Audience Development
This session will explore
how to find, engage and build a relationship
with your audience using readily available
social media services

3. Digital Audience Development
• Develop your audience with social media
‣ Define your brand values
‣ Locate your audience
‣ Create content
‣ Comment and discuss
‣ Engage with communities
‣ Invite participation
‣ Respond and reward
‣ Build lasting relationships

4. Inner Ear
• Creative content communications
‣ Digital media production (create content)
‣ Social media engagement (communicate content)
‣ Training and consultancy (advice on using content)

5. Inner Ear
• Our audience development projects include:
‣ Walking Heads (audio walking tours)
‣ YMFS (youth music community)
‣ Radio Magnetic (alternative music internet radio)
‣ T Break (promotion of emerging talent)

6. Define your organisation values
• Question: what defines a brand?
‣ Logo
‣ Mission statement
‣ Actions
‣ Values
‣ Emotional response
‣ Relationship with audience

7. Define your organisation values
• Ensure your brand is portrayed online
• Use consistent branding across social media profiles:
‣ Username
‣ Pictures
‣ Background images
‣ Personality
‣ Links

8. Locate your audience
Question: where can you find your audience online?

9. Locate your audience
• Setup searches in Twitter
• Monitor conversations on Facebook pages
• Watch what your contemporaries are doing
• Join specialist communities
• Setup Google Alerts

10. Create content
Question: what content do you already have?

11. Create content
• Make use of existing content
‣ Website copy
‣ Blog posts
‣ Event listings
‣ Programmes and brochures

12. Create content
• Base new content on existing material
‣ Make podcasts for Soundcloud
‣ Videos for YouTube
‣ Presentations for Slideshare
‣ Documents for Issuu

13. Comment and discuss
Participate in discussion with potential audience members
Subscribe to and join...
Blogs Channels Pages

14. Case Study: Soundcloud
How to use a social media platform
to enhance your presence and
engage your audience

15. Engage with communities
• Join groups
• Like pages
• Sign up to forums
• Participate in specialist communities
• Compliment and be constructive

16. Engage with communities
Whether you’re commenting on someone’s blog post,
or joining in the discussion in an online community...
ensure your profile has a common username,
your avatar uses your logo
and your signature links to your website

17. Invite participation
• Run polls on your website
‣ And share socially
• Crowdsource ideas for new projects
‣ Via Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.
• Hold and stream live events
‣ StageIt, LiveStream, uStream, etc.

18. Respond and reward
Question: should you give stock responses to criticism?
Question: where should you respond to criticism?

19. Respond and reward
• Follow your followers, and their friends
• Answer questions
• Give valued members greater access
• Create a “friends” society
• Offer bonuses, discounts and privileges
• Allow people to belong to your brand

20. Respond and reward
Use your communication channels to
find out what your audience wants...
... and give* it to them
(*or sell it to them)

21. Build lasting relationships
• Use your mailing list and invite feedback
• Listen to what your audience wants
• But be confident about your brand
• Don’t compromise too much
• Maintain trust in your brand
• Utilise your audience’s wisdom and wealth
• Combine crowdsourcing and crowdfunding

22. Reference and resources
• http://www.slideshare.net/innerear
• http://www.issuu.com/innerear
• http://www.vimeo.com/innereartv
• http://www.facebook.com/innerearuk
• LinkedIn: Creative Content Communications
• Twitter: @innerearuk
• @adeery

23. Contact
• Inner Ear Ltd.
• 16 Argyle Court, 1103 Argyle Street, G3 8ND
• 0141 226 8808
• www.innerear.co.uk
‣ anny@innerear.co.uk
‣ dougal@innerear.co.uk
‣ @innerearuk