Even though I don’t watch a lot of long-form videos online, I’ve been following the development of this medium as it has always had the potential to disrupt (and potentially replace) broadcast television as we know it.
Way back in the 1990s, Microsoft had a studio to produce new online video programming, but they were way too early. Today, though, we are beginning to see this as a reality. Netflix users, in prime time, use a third of all broadband capability in the USA, and the rate growth is stunning. According to an article in Variety:
Netflix said it streamed more than 4 billion hours of video globally in the first quarter of 2013, compared with 1 billion per month last June. The company has packed on customers, adding about 2 million U.S. streaming subs to stand at 29.17 million domestically — making it bigger than HBO in that regard.
And just a few weeks ago YouTube announced fee-based channels for original content. If this sounds like the cable-tv model, it is indeed exactly that. (click to read more…)
Walking around the streets of New York City, I’m finding it harder and harder to remember a time when cell phones were just for making phone calls. Now nearly everyone you pass on the sidewalk is fiddling with his or her mobile device, playing games, writing e-mail, or browsing the web.
It wasn’t so long ago that the very idea of a “mobile phone” was new and exciting — imagine being able to make and receive phone calls from anywhere! But then Apple came along with the iPhone, and in one genius stroke instantly redefined what a mobile device really was. Making phone calls was now merely one part of a much larger system, a new type of technology “platform” that let iPhone owners customize their phones by adding apps that made them more productive, more up to date, more connected, and more entertained.
Today we have a whole genre of devices we call “smartphones,” which are clearly better and more robust than the single-purpose phones that came before them. In just the past five or so years, we’ve been witness to a new generation of technology supplanting another. Interestingly, BlackBerry went from being the market leader to losing significant market (and mind) share and is now scrambling to catch up, because it missed the boat on embracing the platform/app approach.
It turns out that this story has a pretty good analogy in the arts industry. Arts organizations (and other ticket-selling organizations) have for years been reliant on, and often excited about, their box office ticketing systems. But just like old-style cell phones, ticketing systems are single-purpose tools that allow you to do one thing — sell tickets. Their primary function is to enable a ticket-buyer to make a transaction, whether it’s at the box office window, over the phone, or online, and to help you report on what happened. (Yes, some ticketing systems have also added ways of accepting donations, or “notes” fields to document calls or other information, but they still remain transaction-focused box office ticketing systems.)
But now there is a new and better way, and if you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you probably know where I’m going with this. The technology arts organizations need today is a customer relationship management (CRM) system, whose purpose is first and foremost to help you build a one-to-one relationship with every customer. It’s not just a box office ticketing system, or a fundraising system, or a marketing system. (click to read more…)
This week’s “Free Web Tool Friday” is written by Eric Saber, Account Specialist here at Patron Technology. If you like this post, make sure to download our guide that has a list of 25 free web tools at the bottom of this page.
Flipboard is one of the coolest news apps for your mobile device. It combines the news with tweets and posts from Facebook to provide a personalized bird’s-eye view of what’s going on in your world. But the reason it’s so popular (click to read more…)
This post was written by Robert Gore, Social Media Manager at the Theatre Development Fund and producer of The Ohmies.
Since the introduction of social media into our daily lives, word-of-mouth marketing allows us to provide our biggest advocates with the tools they need to spread the word. Through the use of video clips, pictures, blogs, online games, and even text messaging, we can get our fans talking about our products in a way we never could before.
Building a strong word-of-mouth campaign is much like building a campfire. With the proper resources and a spark in the right place, your campaign can ignite a viral fire that spreads naturally throughout your market. But as with any fire, you need to continue to add new resources to keep the flames going.
Here are some general steps to prepare, make, and maintain a viral fire!
1. Research where you want to build the fire.
Identify the broadest market you want to reach. Study that market’s buying habits outside the performing arts. Where do they shop? How do they shop? How often do they shop? When do they shop? What helps them decide what to buy? This will help you identify how this market makes spending decisions, identify local partners, and identify best sites to include in an online ad campaign. (click to read more…)
April 11, 2013
Guest Blogger
This post was written by Seena Hodges, Communications Manager at the Guthrie Theater.
Over the past few weeks I have read several blog posts, online articles, and the like on the subject of video usage and viewership statistics. Interestingly enough, all the authors have different opinions on how video should be used to promote and market products as well as create awareness. One author argued that short-form video is the future of marketing, while another offered that theatre companies should take a page from the film industry and make trailers for all their productions. One author even suggested that artists should use video to document the creation of their art, step by step. To protect the innocent, I am not citing the authors — but you get where I’m going.
With the virtual overflow of ideas, information, and best practices today, there is only one way for theatre companies to effectively use videos to promote their shows. The answer: the way that best benefits their brand and garners the best, measurable results. (click to read more…)
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May 9, 2013 at 6:05 pm 
