Author: RuthEJWest

7 Ways to make your Website Accessible

Posted RuthEJWestLeave a commentPosted in Administration, Branding, Websites

A great way to reach more people with your arts business is to ensure it is accessible to everyone, regardless of ability and the best way to start is by making sure your website is disability friendly.

The most common types of impairments that you need to think about in your website design are:

  • Visual Impairment: anyone who is blind, has low vision, requires corrective eyewear or is colour-blind.
  • Physical Impairment: anyone who has restricted movement caused by a disability or struggles with certain motor skills like moving a mouse or typing on a keyboard.
  • Hearing Impairment: anyone who is deaf or hard of hearing.
  • Psychiatric Disability: something you need to be aware of should you have content which may be triggering to someone with mental illness.
  • Photosensitivity: users with epilepsy who could have seizures induced from flashing lights.
  • Cognitive Impairment: a disability which affects someone’s cognitive functions like dyslexia, dysnomia or dementia.

With that in mind here are The Arts Business’ top tips for making your website accessible

  1. Image Tags Alt text

You should be doing this already to improve your SEO but for accessibility purposes you basically want to give a detailed description on what can be seen in the images on your website.

For example, if this is the image you’re using:

Then a good alt tag would be ‘ballet dancer in a forest’. An even better one might read ‘Ballet dancer in black leotard and tutu, standing on one foot en pointe in a forest in the sunshine’. Whatever you do, don’t leave your alt text blank.

  1. Colour Scheme

There are a few things to consider here.

Firstly, think about your company’s branding, try to use distinctive colours. Think about shades of colour, for example, if you use indigo and lilac in your companies branding ensure the colours are not two similar shades of purple as this could make your content difficult to decipher.

Next, you must think about a potential user who is colour blind. We’ve all seen the colour-blindness tests, right?

Think about the colours you’re using together and if in doubt of colour combinations, you can refer to the image above. If you want to learn more about different types of colour blindness you can visit the Colour-Blind Awareness Website.

  1. Text Sizing

Primarily you want to ensure that your text is an appropriate size, colour and font which is easy to read.

So, for colour, think either light coloured font on a dark background, or a dark coloured font on a light background. I have dyslexia myself and find it much easier to read black text on a yellow background which is also something to take into account.

And it is so important to think about the readability of your chosen font type. Print types of font (serif and sans serif) are generally easier to read than handwriting or calligraphy fonts (script) especially if you’re writing long blog posts, you want to keep the reader engaged. Time is precious and if your audience struggles to read your font, they’re quite simply not going to bother.

Sizing is slightly more complex. Yes, simply put, you want to make sure the size is readable. Think about your target audience here. If your target audience is in the 50+ age range, you will want to have a larger font to start with.

You will also want to check the quality when you zoom in. Ideally, you want your website to be responsive which means that when you zoom in and out the font reformats so that you can still read all the content from left to right. This is more difficult to programme depending on the software you have used to make it, so don’t worry if you can’t do this. Just check it out for yourself on different devices.

  1. Device Friendly

Similar to no. 3 you need to check the ability to resize text and imagery across different devices, ideally on a phone and tablet.

You will also want to check your imagery and colour scheme to ensure it is still readable on devices with different resolutions.

  1. Closed Captions

This is a simple one! If you have video content, subtitle your work. Most online video platforms like YouTube have editing software to enable you to add subtitles yourself quickly and easily!

  1. Tab-able keyboard friendly

Bear in mind that some physical impairments mean that users can’t use a touchpad or mouse so you have to make sure that your website can be navigated through their keyboard.

Don’t panic if you’re not up to scratch on your keyboard shortcuts. The simplest way to check this is by using your up and down arrows to scroll, tab to move between tabs on the page and enter to select links. So long as that works it’s keyboard compatible.

  1. Hyperlink Format

When you create a link in a post you want to describe the page it will lead to. You want to avoid links like Click Here or Read Now as they are an accessibility nightmare. So instead of:

Read up on Inside Theatre in our latest app of the month post click here.

Try:

Read up on Inside Theatre in our latest app of the month post

All pretty straight forward and as an added bonus this will also help you with your brand design and SEO!

If you want to know how accessible your website currently is just head to the Web Accessibility Website to check your page one by one, or looking at the Experte Accessibility Checker to assess them all at once! Just stick in your address! They’ll outline any problem areas of your website in terms of accessibility.

What have you done to make your website more accessible? Let us know in the comments below!

It’s Panto Time: Oh no it isn’t!

Posted RuthEJWest2 CommentsPosted in Creative Industries, Promotion, Theatre

Oh yes it is!

That time of year again, when usually I would be up to my armpits in dame wigs and glitter.

Alas with a countrywide lockdown keeping the theatres closed it won’t be the most traditional pantomime season…

But never fear!

I have been to ask the magic mirror on the wall and she tells me there will be a panto after all!

And I know what you’re thinking! There’s no way you’ll be able to keep up these panto puns for the whole post…

Oh yes I will!

With the help of the Good Fairy, I have scoped the country to find some awesome panto offerings throughout the UK, which will help you go from feeling like the back end of the pantomime horse to the star of the show in no time.

 

And hopefully, in the spirit of panto and with a sprinkle of pixie dust, I’ll help inspire your arts business to create some fun panto content of your own!

 

Cinderella: A Comic Relief Pantomime for Christmas

A star-studded Comic Relief, Christmas offering from the BBC with bonus illustrations from the legendary Quentin Blake and cameos from James Blunt, David Tennent, Sam Smith and Sir Mo Farah. Celebs adorn their own makeshift costumes and source their own random props to tell the story of Cinderella in true covid style, including a surprise Hollywood Mega-Star stepping up to play the panto horse!

Essentially, this is a rehearsed reading over zoom including lots of classic gags from the year like Button’s internet connection breaking up just at the moment he tries to declare his undying love for Cinderella, an interruption at the door for a Morrison’s delivery or people entering the scene on mute. It works because the cast was brought together on the same call and can play off each other, raising the banter to another level.

From the outtakes at the end, it is clear that the participants had a delightful time filming which you feel as an audience member. It goes to show you can have fun, make great content and raise money, all at the same time.

Check out the Comic Relief panto HERE!

 

My First Panto: Goldilocks and the Three Bears by The Garage

My First Panto clearly takes its inspiration from Children’s television, designed for the CBeebies target audience and tailor-made to keep toddlers and younger children engaged. It includes simple dance routines to join in with, engaging puppetry and simple, comic book style animation depicting great onomatopoeic words like splosh and splat, with brightly coloured cartoon-style sets and costumes.

You may think that restricting your work to a particular audience will limit your number of viewers, but by specifically devising and customising your work to fit a particular buyer persona your work becomes more appealing and stands out from your competitors. Another thing this show does brilliantly is utilise a small cast, which means that it is easier to create content whilst abiding by government coronavirus guidelines.

Check out The Garage’s My First Panto HERE!

 

Cinderella: The World’s First Interactive Live Stream Pantomime by PantoLive

Available until 31st January, PantoLive has created a fully interactive online panto, cleverly produced using CGI and green screen bringing the panto experience directly to your living room with the special touch of Chris Johnson who makes for an awesome and engaging Buttons.

A great little addition to this show is the interactive audience buttons including all of your classic panto responses:

  • BOO!
  • Aww
  • Cheer!
  • Clap!
  • Behind You!
  • Buttons!

You don’t need to be a tech wizard to encourage this type of interaction in your content. If you choose to stream your work on Facebook live, for example, you can ask your audience to get involved by pressing the like, love, care, wow, haha, sad and angry buttons! Don’t be afraid to get creative with technology which already exists!

Check out Panto Live HERE!

 

The Scunner That Stole Christmas by The Gaiety

An episodic panto designed especially for the local community, filled with classic lines, characters, shout outs and even a chase sequence! The main narrator, aptly named Fairy Handwash leads the action where cast roam around the county of Ayrshire looking for the lost panto ingredients of Joy, Adventure and Togetherness.

At the end of each episode, they even give ways for the audience to send in their contributions to help save Christmas. This is like a masterclass in how to create User Generated Content (UGC) for your Arts Business. By asking the kids watching the video to contribute, not only does it engage them in the conversation, it makes them feel a part of your business, hence boosting your brand visibility and authority. The great added bonus is that they also created videos for your social media, which as we all know, can be a time consuming and arduous task. Sending in your best panto jokes or teaching your finale choreography are just two great ways you might involve your audience!

Check out The Gaiety’s The Scunner that Stole Christmas HERE!

 

#Panto_Demic! By Conquest Theatre

A cancelled panto season has left the baddies of the fairy tale world at a loss of what to do with their lives! Join them on a pre-recorded zoom call as they discuss their options for future bad deeds and figure out if they can get back to their usual terrible plots whilst the pandemic rages on, complete with song and dance and for the bargain rental fee, from Vimeo, of £7.

The genius Unique Selling Point (USP) of this panto is the stand out storyline twist. From Disney alone with their successful franchise of ‘The Descendants’ where we see the offspring of the Disney baddies coming of age, or their best-selling board game ‘Villainous’, which allows players to pick their favourite Disney Baddie and win by completing their awful schemes, we know that this format can be successful. This is exactly what Conquest Theatre has done with their online panto offering!

Try to think of unique angles in your content which will appeal to viewers in a way that your competitors don’t.

Check out Conquest Theatre’s #Panto_Demic! HERE!

 

Jack and the Beanstalk by Ulster Theatre Company

The most traditional of online panto offerings comes from the Ulster Theatre Company. It is a pre-recorded show (like the live streams offered from the National Theatre) of Jack and the Beanstalk with all the features you would usually expect from a Christmas show, and a pantomime cow who can perform Riverdance.

Whilst we can’t get to the theatre you shouldn’t be frightened to pull material out of your archives. It isn’t just for the major companies like The Shows Must Go On and Shakespeare’s Globe. You can either present this content for free with a suggested donation or set it up to have a rental fee, like the Ulster Theatre Company has, charging £9.99 per household, much less than you would usually spend taking your family to the theatre and no less of the quality! A really great panto! It’s available until the 31st January 2021.

Check Out the Ulster Theatre Company performance of Jack and the Beanstalk HERE!

 

 

Cinderella ONeLINE and Short Cinders by Alliance Theatre

This is one of the most brilliant theatre endeavours I have come across this pandemic. Since Autumn, Alliance Theatre has been compiling performances from a cast of 350 participants from all across the globe to contribute to this wacky and brilliant retelling of Cinderella. Characters morph into other versions, with multiple community members playing their part, bringing to life everyone from Cinderella herself to the Pumpkin who longs to be her coach! They have also developed a completely different short retelling of Cinderella so there is no excuse to not get your panto on!

This is User Generated Content (UGC) used in the best possible way. What I really love about so-called amateur productions is the clear passion everyone contributing has in the success of the project. Basically, everyone is having a lovely time and that makes you have a lovely time watching it! Why not have a think about different ways you can use your audience to not only create great content, but have the best time doing it.

Check out both Cinderellas from Alliance Theatre HERE!

 

Goldilocks and the 3 Bearz by Basel English Panto Group

This is an awesome contribution from a small company across Europe in Switzerland who are introducing the very British Tradition of Pantomime to the local community of Basel with the opportunity for locals to take part themselves. And let me tell you they have definitely nailed the panto concept! The specially arranged dance routines and covers, including the disco classic ‘Love Shack’, really helped me to get my panto fix this year!

This can also act as a stimulus for your arts business. Are there any traditional art forms or shows that are performed elsewhere in the world that could be reimagined for the British stage? Get your research on and really push the boat it here! I assure you there will be groups all over Facebook with enthusiasts like yourselves just longing for a platform to experiment, from Japanese Noh Theatre, Indian Harikatha or the traditional Commedia Dell’Arte of Italy find your niche and have fun with it.

Check Out Basel English Panto Group’s Goldilocks HERE!

 

And I’m afraid that’s it for now, (oh no it isn’t, oh yes it is) but we would love to hear about any online shows you’re putting on this panto season! Just hit us up in the comments below and we will do our best to share them on Social Media!

APP OF THE MONTH: Inside Theatre

Posted RuthEJWestLeave a commentPosted in App of the Month, Education, Theatre
Name Inside Theatre with funding from Innovate UK
Product Description Set to replace the traditional programme or playbill Inside Theatre has created an environmentally friendly and educational app where the possibilities are endless. And this is only Step One!
Availability Available from the Apple App Store.
Key Features ·       Develop your own magical fairy avatar with different outfit choices, patterns, textures and wing shapes and sizes.

·       Design your set in 3D adding set pieces like mushrooms, steps and platforms. Scale, rotate and pattern your set pieces to make them completely unique.

·       Create your own theatre lighting from a central bar, sidelights and face lights, change the colour and intensity of your LX to generate whatever mood best suits your costume and set design.

·       Select the perfect soundscape to complete your show choosing from Traditional, Magical, Modern and Natural.

·       Watch your performance in your living room through the amazing power of AR with a real actor recorded through motion capture playing Bottom!

·       Eventually, you will be able to interact with a theatre show before, during and after with loads of specialist content and interactive activities. This is just the first step: the before, learning about A Digital Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Prices and Plans The bargain price £1.99 and worth every penny! A great way to support the arts and keep yourself entertained during the next inevitable lockdown. And, if you’re a drama teacher it is a very reasonable price for a few lessons worth of activity!
Biggest Pro It covers all aspects of technical production to allow for a proper understanding of how theatre works, the only thing it’s missing is the stage manager 😉
Biggest Con It’s only new, so it’s a little slow and glitchy, but bear with it. Inside Theatre is set to get bigger and better and you could be there when it all began.

 

If you’re a live theatre lover who is desperately missing going to performances during this pandemic this is the next best thing! And keep your eyes peeled on Inside Theatre, we can expect some great things from these folks in the very near future.

APP OF THE MONTH: Speechify

Posted RuthEJWestLeave a commentPosted in Administration, App of the Month, Education
Name Speechify
Product Description Text to speech software. Either copy and paste in text, upload a pdf or simply snap a photo and Speechify will read it in a human-sounding voice.
Availability Available from the Apple App Store and as an extension on Google Chrome. Currently available in Beta Form on Google Play Store. A desktop app for MacBooks can be downloaded from the Speechify Website.
Key Features ·       Choose your natural sounding voice from a selection and listen to text in over 50 different languages.

·       Change your reading speed so you can listen at up to 900 words a minute, which is 5 times the average reading speed.

·       Take a photo of whatever your reading and upload it to Speechify which will then read it to you!

·       Import articles directly from your internet browser or install the chrome add on so you don’t have to!

·       Compatible with loads of different apps including Dropbox, iCloud and Google Drive.
Prices and Plans Free! Premium packages starting from £11.25 a month which allows unlimited access and HD Voices,
Biggest Pro The voice! Having struggled with dyslexia all my educational and professional life this is BY FAR the easiest to use and best sounding software I have ever come across.
Biggest Con Pretty new, so a little glitchy here and there but you can’t have everything.

 

An effortlessly simple piece of software which integrates flawlessly with your internet platforms.

I wish I would have had this at university!

The Shows Must Go On: Performances in the Pandemic

Posted RuthEJWestLeave a commentPosted in Entertainment, Funding, Theatre

I’m a Theatre Girl. A bonafide Drama Geek.

 

I love it, everything about it.

 

The early arrival, the buzz in the foyer, the glass of wine served in a plastic cup to take into the auditorium, the usher guiding you to your seat, thumbing through the programme as you wait for the show to start, the dimming lights, the interval chatter, the overheard conversations of other show-goers opinions as you purchase your ice cream, the ice cream itself, the bows, the clapping, the cheering, the standing ovations.

 

I soak up the atmosphere.

 

It is and will always be the true love of my life.

 

If there’s one thing I have missed this lockdown it’s going to the theatre!

 

Thank God the Arts world has stepped up to bring The Shows Must Go On from Andrew Lloyd Webber.

 

I’m all about musical theatre! And this epic West End fundraiser has kept me going during this pandemic!

 

Last season saw West End Classics from The Phantom of the Opera to The Sound of Music and more modern classics like Hairspray.

 

And this season plans to give even more! It opened up with Fame followed by an all-star concert with Michael Ball and this weekend is set to be a West End Performance of Midnight Tango with Strictly stars Flavia Cacace and Vincent Simone.

 

The completely awesome thing is that they are putting on real-life musical theatre shows with most productions that are currently on hiatus in the West End taking part.

 

Generally, an excellent fundraising idea which has also been utilised by companies like the National Theatre and Bristol Old Vic.

 

But this isn’t limited to theatre companies! The British Museum has released documentary-style films about specific exhibitions Art Galleries have done similar work, with Grande Exhibitions beginning to tour Van Gogh Alive at Birmingham Hippodrome, navigating the storm that is Corona Virus.

 

Have you got any pre-recorded shows or footage from an exhibition? Considering offering this as content with an option to donate to try and fundraise for your company during these turbulent times.

How to Perform a SWOT Analysis on your Arts Business

Posted RuthEJWestLeave a commentPosted in Administration, Business Skills, Creative Industries

As a second lockdown looms and we are all wondering what is in store for the creative industries it’d be easy to hunker down and get back to our main mission of 2020: trying to complete Netflix.

But don’t rest on your laurels!

Use this time as a chance to analyse your business and create a plan for the future.

The easiest way to do this is to create a SWOT analysis for your arts business. Now, I’m sure many of you have heard this term before but haven’t necessarily put it in place for your business.

Simply put, SWOT stands for:

When creating your SWOT analysis just take it section by section and ask yourself the following questions:

STRENGTHS

  • How strong is your product or service?
    • Whether you’re a theatre company creating a show or a gallery retailing prints it is important to look closely at what you are selling.
  • What is your Unique Selling Point (USP)?
    • What makes you stand out from the crowd? Are you a musician that can play the drums and electric guitar at the same time? That would be your USP.
  • What makes your company stand out from your competitors?
    • Perhaps you’re a wedding photographer, what makes you different from all the other wedding photographers out there? Are you an airbrush expert? A master at taking action shots? That is most definitely a strength.
  • What business areas and departments are your best?
    • If you’re a performer you might be amazing at coming up with social media content for your marketing, or great at sales! Think about all the different departments of a traditional business and which ones you ace.
  • What assets does your business own?
    • Take an up and coming arts centre, a key asset might be an office and multipurpose arts space in a bohemian suburb of a city. That would be a mega-strength!

WEAKNESSES

  • What are the weaknesses in your products or services?
    • Be objective here, where does your arts company fall short or where could you see room to improve.
  • What is your brand lacking?
    • For example, are you up to date with all the latest technologies? If you’re a comedian, you could be well suited to Tik-Tok so if don’t yet have an account this could be a weakness.
  • In what areas are you vulnerable to your competition?
    • If you’re a new business you might lack the staff base that your competition has, this could be a vulnerability.
  • What business areas and departments are your weakest?
    • I know here at the Arts Business our weakest department is our accounts! But we have transformed this into an opportunity enrolling in numerous online courses in bookkeeping to improve.
  • What assets are you lacking?
    • This could be anything from lacking external office space to having a limited following on social media. Take these in your stride and create business goals around them.

You can then use these answers to help you establish your Opportunities and Threats.

OPPORTUNITIES

  • Where could you make improvements in your company?
  • Can you build upon your weaknesses?
  • Can you turn your problems into opportunities?

THREATS

  • Are there barriers or obstacles which may affect you entering your chosen creative industry?
  • Are there external factors (for example a tumultuous government or a global pandemic) that may cause problems in your chosen market?

We all know, as artists, it can be a struggle to brag about what we’re good at and admit to our shortfalls which is exactly what can make performing a SWOT analysis tricky. The difficulty comes in looking objectively at these aspects of your business.

There are a few things you can do to get into the swing of it:

  1. Start by performing SWOT analysis on your competition! It is easier to nit-pick at a company that isn’t yours, and once you have discovered their strengths and weaknesses you will find it much simpler to spot your own. Also, you might even find a gap in the industry which your company could fill.
  2. Have a friend or colleague perform a SWOT analysis of your business. Bringing in external opinions or utilising your staff who see your company from a different perspective can be a great way to reveal strengths and weaknesses you may have otherwise been unaware of.
  3. Get in a consultant to do it for you (like the Arts Business). If you’ve got the money this can be a great way to spend it as an external consultant is much more likely to be impartial when analysing your company.

This will enable you to successfully construct a plan of what you can do to improve and how the things you are already awesome at can help you to become even more awesome!

REMEMBER: If 2020 has proved anything to us it is that the world is always changing and we need to be ready to adapt and evolve with it.

So, don’t just do a SWOT Analysis once! Think of it more like a cycle to enable constant growth and development.

Have you done a SWOT analysis on your Arts Business? We would love to include it in this post as an example! Let us know in the comments below or contact us.

APP OF THE MONTH: TikTok

Posted RuthEJWestLeave a commentPosted in App of the Month, Marketing, Social Media

If you haven’t heard of TikTok… where have you been all pandemic?

Name TikTok
Product Description A new social media video platform designed for teenagers but entertaining for everyone! A great place to experiment with video content and keep your Arts Business on the map during Covid times.
Availability Available from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
Key Features ·       Watch more videos than you could ever possibly have time for, all especially customised to you, dependent on your viewing habits, in a focused feed.

·       Explore different genres from Comedy, Art, Music, Gaming, DIY, memes and everything in between, not forgetting Pet videos, because no social media platform is complete without a cheeky pet video.

·       You have unlimited pauses when recording your videos and you can reshoot it however much you need.

·       There are millions of users and creators worldwide so get ready to get inspired and let those creative juices flow.

·       Add your favourite music or sound clips for free! If you’ve seen RuPaul’s Drag Race you’ll be familiar with the art of lip syncing. Well, with TikTok, you can have a go!

·       Loads of filters, special effects and AR capabilities to play around with to make your videos really stand out above the rest.

·       In app editing tools allow you to trim, cut, merge and duplicate footage to your hearts content.
Prices and Plans Free! And now has options to create business accounts and paid advertising plans within the app.
Biggest Pro It’s still relatively new, practically in its infancy for social media platforms. This means it is easier to come up with original content to grab follower attention.
Biggest Con Hugely addictive… I myself have been known to spend two to three hours trapped in a TikTok Typhoon.

The best platform for reaching a younger target audience and the most fun you will have ‘doing work’ to promote your business.

So, show off your creativity with a TikTok account for your Arts Business.

Have you already got one? We’d love to follow you. Let us know in the comments below.

stage babies

Stage Babies: A Booming Business Idea

Posted RuthEJWestLeave a commentPosted in Business Skills, Start Ups, Theatre

Guest Post by Producer & Designer Rachel Dingle

 

Stage Babies was born (eh) from several personal experiences.

I was working as a set and costume designer on a play in London and it was a huge job. Looking back far too big for one person to do on their own. But we did it and it was awesome. One of the characters was pregnant throughout the piece (the first bump I ever made!) and at the end she has a baby. It was barely onstage for a minute. It was essentially a kid’s toy and 100% the bottom of our priority list. But I could hear the audience reacting to it, and the ‘clearly just a doll’ was a hot topic in the loos at the end.

It took so much blood, sweat and tears to create that show – so it was so upsetting that something so seemingly insignificant can make such an impact, and take the attention away from what was a really good piece of theatre. And is what the audience were thinking about afterwards.

I also saw a drama school production of Ragtime, which is set over a few years and the baby didn’t grow and wasn’t the right skin tone. And it irritated me.

So I experienced this annoyance both as a creative and an audience member. And I thought I could do something about it.  Anytime a baby appears onstage (or in real life) it inevitably distracts people. Maybe it’s a human instinct? Who knows, but if it’s going to happen it should be a positive experience “Oh wow that baby looks really real!” rather than “That baby is so obviously fake…”

I got in touch with a really good mate who is also a professional props maker and we both said let’s do this. So we started Stage Babies with a couple of hundred pounds. We bought some fake babies, added better hair and weighted their heads, bodies and limbs. Made different types of pregnancy bumps – of different sizes and colours – and added weight to them too. It’s fascinating how it alters they way you move! It allows actors to just act rather than having to fake being pregnant too.

Since we started about four years ago we’ve hired our reproduction babies and pregnancy bumps to London fringe venues, off west end venues, school productions, NYT, drama schools, short films and most recently a music video for Loyle Carner.

It’s a little side hustle that makes a small but significant difference to people’s projects, and it also gives us the opportunity to network with so many amazing people. And we love that!

Check out our website www.stagebabies.co.uk

Find out more about Rachel at Show Up Productions.

How to Improve your Organic Reach on Facebook

Posted RuthEJWestLeave a commentPosted in Digital Marketing, Promotion, Social Media

Facebook is an incredible platform for expanding your Arts Business’ reach. With 2.7 billion users worldwide and 1.79 billion daily users, it is officially the world’s largest social media platform.

But, with a growing advertising market and an increased focus on businesses, it is becoming increasingly tricky to grow organically.

This doesn’t make it impossible though!

With the huge increase in users and therefore content, Facebook has an algorithm in place to filter posts dependent on the viewer’s behaviour and previous interactions. This means certain posts are prioritised over others.

 

But how does it do that?

 

Well, the truth is, we don’t know exactly, but (similarly to increasing your SEO Ranking) marketers have worked tirelessly on an equation to help you build your organic reach.

 

This may sound tricky, but it’s actually really simple, so let me break it down for you.

 

AFFINITY

This is all to do with how much your followers interact with your page and posts: your super fans who check out your business page every day, have a higher affinity and are more likely to see your content. The more posts they view and interact with, the higher their affinity, so you want to ensure as many of your followers view and interact with your content as possible.

 

WEIGHT

This is all about the type of post you put out. If you post a video, that has a higher weight (in the eyes of Facebook) than an image, which in turn has higher weight than a post that contains a link, which in turn has a higher weight than content that is just text. You see where I’m going with this.

This is also about the level of interaction you receive, so the more likes, loves and lolz you get will contribute to the weight your post carries too. Different levels of interactions also hold different weights, so comments and shares and worth more than likes.

 

DECAY

This is all to do with when the post was made. The average lifespan of a Facebook Post is around 6 hours and most interaction (likes, comments, shares, etc.) take place in the first 2 and a half. So, unless it is a super special post, like those engagement or new baby pictures that always seem to hit the top of my news feed, after 6 hours you can pretty much guarantee that your post will no longer be seen.

 

Now you understand what the equation means you can begin to use different tactics within your Facebook Page to help improve your Organic Reach:

 

  • Post Great Content: Yes, this is a lot easier said than done and takes a bit of time to work out what sort of content works for you and your arts business, but the more relevant your content is to your audience the more likely they are to interact with your posts and spend time on your page
    • + AFFINITY + WEIGHT
  • Get More Page Likes: There are lots of ways you can go about this which doesn’t just involve inviting everyone from your friends list! A great way to boost page likes is to find groups and pages with similar interests to you and share some of your content to their walls; if their audience likes what they see they’re bound to throw you page a like.
    • + AFFINITY + WEIGHT
  • Engage with your Audience: This can improve both your affinity and your Online Reputation Management (ORM). It helps your audience relate to your business, knowing that you are a real person who communicates with them through comments and messages. This in turn encourages them to spend more time on your content.
    • + AFFINITY + WEIGHT
  • Use Facebook Stories: At only 3 years old Facebook Stories is still a growing way to share your content. I see stories as those spur of the moment posts you want to share with your audience (unlike your feed which is meticulously planned). There is still limited competition on Stories so you can use it to cut through the noise on Facebook and improve your relationship with your existing audience.
    • + AFFINITY
  • Post Questions or Polls: Users are more likely to interact if you ask them a question, simple really. They feel a psychological urge to respond! The same can be said of interactive competitions too! Everyone loves free stuff so if there is a chance of it and all you need to do is share a post your audience is much more likely to engage.
    • + WEIGHT
  • Post Images and Videos: And GIFs! Yes, I am still a lover of the GIF. When people are scrolling through their phones feed, they are more likely to pay attention to something that is visually stimulating.
    • + WEIGHT
  • Ask your Audience: Don’t be afraid to ask people for likes and shares. This acts as a call to action for your audience for them to get all up in your content. Don’t overuse this though! Just stick it on the posts you really want to reach the most people.
    • + WEIGHT
  • Plan and Schedule your Posts: This takes a little bit of trial and error: just post different content at different times of the day to start with then after a month or so, when you have built up some data, you can use Facebook Insights to figure out what times and days work for you. Then you can begin to schedule your content.
    • + DECAY

 

We are always happy to share posts about your Arts Business so if you want a little more traction please Tag Us on Facebook @TheArtsBiz and we’ll do our best to share it for you!

We’d also love to hear about the posts from your creative business that have done really well. Afterall, if we all shared the knowledge, we could all benefit from the rewards.

 

Thanks to Green Umbrella and WordTracker for the stats and some additional info that helped when writing this post.

 

 

 

 

 

 

APP OF THE MONTH: PhotoShop Camera

Posted RuthEJWestLeave a commentPosted in App of the Month, Blogs, Social Media
Name Adobe Photoshop Camera
Product Description Take the perfect picture! Look like you’ve spent hours editing your images in Photoshop by just picking an awesome filter, then show it off on your Social Media.
Availability Available from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
Key Features ·       Loads of free filters with new ones uploaded every week. Whether you’re looking for Studio style lighting, enhanced sky in your landscapes or a detailed night time lens there’s something for everyone.

·       Photos are edited automatically so that you get professional shots with every photo you take.

·       Influencer designed lenses so you can create content just like that of your favourite Instagram celebrity.

·       Awesome artistic lenses from Pop-Art to Sketch to transform your images to look like the work of a master painter.

·       Inbuilt AI looks at your content and suggests filters to you, automatically applying the effects you need to make your photos look awesome with minimal effort.

·       Portrait controls for the perfect lighting and appearance! When taking group shots the built in AI recognises people as the subject so as not to distort images.
Prices and Plans Completely free! Which for an Adobe product is fantastic… hopefully a vision of things to come.
Biggest Pro The huge number of filters is bound to get your creative juices flowing.
Biggest Con It’s pretty basic, you’ll wanna stick to SnapChat for your selfie filters, but it’ll really enhance your other content.

 

So, not only can you spend hours of your currently monotonous locked in lifestyle scrolling through filters but you can make your social look sick!

Do you use Photoshop Camera to pimp up your Instagram? Share your pictures with us on Instagram @TheArtzBiz

We’d love to see them!