From Our Communications Director
Last month, I had the honor of giving a presentation titled Social Media Style Guides: Defining Your Digital Brand at the Southeastern Theatre Conference’s Annual Convention. I want to share a little of what I had been thinking about throughout my preparation to help demystify a bit of how organizations think about social media.
We all know that social media has become a key part of communication in our society. It’s a place people connect with their friends but also where they cultivate a customized feed to provide them with the news and entertainment they want each day. For organizations like First Act Theatre Arts to be engaged with our audience, it is important to make sure we are meeting people where they are at to be a part of the daily conversation. This means finding the social platforms that the people we want to reach are using. For example, if we want to talk to high schoolers, we’ve got to make sure we are on TikTok. Once we are on the right platforms to meet our audience, we want to be selected as part of their chosen feeds.
For us to get there, we have to provide content that people are interested in and is consistent; to hit that follow button an audience has to know that what the page posts regularly is something that they want to see regularly. That is where my presentation on style guides comes in; these living documents help organizations define the way that they interact on social media. This helps the audience know what to expect and different content creators understand how to post from the organization’s platform by laying out things like voice and design style. I mean, imagine if your favorite account suddenly changed its tone. Think if Wendy’s Twitter account stopped roasting other fast food brands. Or what if it changed its content altogether? For any TikTok users, think if Duolingo stopped posting in the bird suit. Would you still be interested in following that brand? Perhaps not if the change did not align with your interests.
In creating our digital brand and defining our style, we think about our audience and our mission and what is engaging. Because ultimately, social media is just what it says in the name — social. Digital event flyers are great, but I’m guessing you want to see more than that in your feed. At First Act KC, more than just posting our show dates or reminding you all when the Early Bird Discount ends, we want to connect with our community just as friends use their platforms to stay in touch. We strive to ensure that our content is more than just posts telling you to get your tickets. We want you to see pictures of your students and friends. We want you to learn new things. We want you to be a part of a conversation.
So please, don’t hesitate to comment on our posts. Let us know what you think! Interact with stories like The Crew’s current guess the senior posts. Tag us when you post about your experiences at our events, and we will share it. The more you do, the better we will get about creating content that is most interesting to you as we continue to refine our First Act Theatre Arts digital style!
