How to Improve your Organic Reach on Facebook

Posted Leave 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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Evolution of Scottish Tourism

Posted Leave a commentPosted in Marketing, Museums, Publicity

The National Museum of Scotland boasts exhibits from all over the world including the only place you can see an Ancient Mummy outside of Egypt, limestone sculptures from Ancient Assyria and a dodo from Mauritius.  But what was one of the major complaints I received from tourists back when I worked as an Edinburgh Tour Guide?  It isn’t Scottish enough!

 

Crazy, right?!

 

So, what does the National Museum of Scotland do to combat this?  Well every couple of years, over the summer, which is peak season for tourism, they put on an exhibition that is all about Scotland.

 

And this year they have really hit the nail on the head with their latest paid entry exhibition: ‘Wild and Majestic’ which is about the history of the Scottish tourism industry.

 

It explores how the Romantic Movement during the 18th and 19th century, including poets like Wordsworth or Byron and painters like Knox, captured the imaginations of the world and so the idealised depiction of Scotland was born.

 

Through both artistic perception and real artefacts, the National Museum of Scotland differentiates between what the real Scotland is and the glamorised vision spread worldwide throughout history.  In particular, it explores the monarchy of the UK focusing on both George IV’s royal visit and Queen Victoria’s fascination with the Highlands leading to her eventual purchase of Balmoral castle.

 

The development of Balmoral gives an interesting insight into the overall development of Scotland to keep up with the surge of tourism.  The rural area, which had been untouched for centuries, was now being – somewhat begrudgingly- taken over by the upper classes.  This led to the development of the travel networks and buildings all over the Highlands.  It tells us that in order to preserve the history that attracts visitors, we must also be prepared to evolve.

 

Another brilliant move the National Museum of Scotland has made is to pair up with Sabhal Mòr Ostaig College on Skye, which is part of the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI).  Together they wrote copy and content for the displays which were then translated into Gaelic as well as discussing the impact that the language and culture have had on Scotland’s evolution.  This aspect will not only encourage those from the North to experience the Museum but should also appeal to specialist societies and charities looking to preserve this ancient language.

 

In short, the travellers who come to Edinburgh can see their perfect and stereotyped vision of Scotland: everything from Tartan to Bagpipes, whereas the locals can see how Scotland was (and still is) essentially rebranded for the sake of the tourism industry.  An insightful way to make the exhibition accessible to all.

 

Top 10 Podcasts to make your Arts Business

Posted Leave a commentPosted in Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Marketing, Podcasts

You can walk everywhere in Edinburgh in 20 minutes, so why not use that time to your advantage.  Stick in your headphones and whack on a podcast.

 

Whether inspirational or informative, podcasts are a great way to expand your knowledge and trigger some awesome ideas to figure out the next step for your company.

 

1.       Arts and Ideas

From BBC Radio 3, a podcast which does exactly what it says on the tin.  Different topics across the creative industries discussed and debated by every kind of professional from artists to scientists.  20-45 minute episodes.

Click Here to Learn More

 

 2.       Marketing School

Daily bites of Digital Marketing and Online Sales Tips from Neil Patel and Eric Siu, both incredibly successful entrepreneurs in the field.  These titbits are easily digestible, straightforward to act upon and keep you wanting more. 5-10 minute episodes.

Click Here to Learn More

 

3.       Social Media Marketing Podcast

From the Social Media Examiner with Michael Stelzner, comes this excellent podcast where you can learn everything you ever wanted to know about Social Media Marketing and stay up to date with the latest updates and techniques. 1-hour episodes.

 Click Here to Learn More

 

4.       Build Your Tribe

Make your influence matter in your field with Charlene Johnson.  Listen to interviews from leading influencers providing you with tips on how to create and monetise your community online and how to look after them when you’ve got them. 10-30 minute episodes.

Click Here to Learn More

 

5.       Seth Godin – Startup School

The podcast which got me into digital marketing!  This man is a genius and anything he has written or spoken about is worth reading or listening to.  Even though it is now over 5 years old it consists of a complete course of what you need to know about beginning your business. 15-30 minute episodes.

Click Here to Learn More

 

6.       Creative Warriors

A podcast by and for entrepreneurs and small creative business owners, take the road less travelled with Jeffrey Shaw and learn creative techniques for marketing which can be immediately applied to your company. 15-45 minute episodes.

Click Here to Learn More

 

7.       Ctrl Alt Delete

Presented by Emma Gannon, she talks to friends and celebrities about their relationship with the internet, the pros and cons, what to do and what to avoid.  It makes you realise you’re not the only person on earth obsessed with your social media.  1 hour episodes.

Click Here to Learn More

 

8.       Freakonomics Radio

A fascinating perspective of absolutely everything, bound to inspire the way you do and interpret your business research. From Stephen J. Dubner, co author of the Freakonomics book series this is a truly inspiring podcast.  30-60 minute episodes.

Click Here to Learn More 

 

9.       Broadway Backstory

Learn about how your favourite Broadway musicals made it from mere ideas and through the research and development process.  Listen to how they were workshopped and when they made it to the big lights of Broadway.  All the producing knowledge you need.  60 minute episodes.

Click Here to Learn More 

 

10.   Desert Island Discs

A random but excellent choice, every episode from the BBC archives are available!  So, stick it on in the background and learn about how the celebrity has evolved from the 50s to the present.  I always learn more about the creative industries when I have it on! 10-30 minutes.

Click Here to Learn More 

 

So, whack in your headphones and get listening.

 

What are your favourite podcasts?  Let me know in the comments!