Building Engaged Audiences on Social MediaA Step-by-Step Guide for the Entertainment Industry

Editorial Manager, Owned Media@dgodsall

David Godsall

• Step 1: Choose your channels• Step 2: Harness your #fanpower• Step 3: Get people engaged • Step 4: Plan your launch campaign • Step 5: Showtime!

5 steps to social media success

Step 1: Choose your channels

What are you trying to accomplish?To choose the right social media channels, first you need establish your objectives and what you’re willing to invest to achieve them. Here are some questions to get you started:

• Who is the target audience for your project? (Think both geographically and demographically.)

• How much time do you have to devote to managing your social efforts?• Do you plan to bolster the reach of your messages with paid social or

will you be relying on organic reach?• Is someone on your team going to be dedicated to managing social

media, or are day-to-day responsibilities going to be divided among a group of people?

• 58% of the entire global adult population is on Facebook

• 19% of entire global adult population is on Twitter

• 21% of the entire global adult population is on Instagram

• Globally, Snapchat has the most users aged 16-24 (57%)

• Facebook has the most users aged 55-64 (10.6%)

Who’s on what?

Top apps

• Thirteen of the top 15 fastest-growing apps in the social media and messaging category globally have evolved into multi-use mobile-social content platforms that offer chat as a feature.

• Chat app and social networking app feature sets are converging.

The fastest-growing apps

Social is video

• 8 billion videos are viewed on Facebook daily

• Facebook views are aided significantly by autoplay

Facebook vs. YouTube

2013 - 2015

Charlotte Zoller, Director of Social Media, Pitchfork

“You can’t survive solely on YouTube anymore because if you have the content, you have to go where your viewers are. This is especially true for Facebook right now, as they tweaked the algorithm to no longer favor YouTube video links anymore.”

• 65% of Facebook’s ~4 billion daily video views come from mobile

• In Q2 of 2015, the average YouTube session on mobile was 40 minutes

• 36% of people watch long-form videos via mobile every day

• 50% of YouTube views are on mobile

• 90% of Twitter video views are on mobile

All content is mobile content

Video consumption takes on new forms with Snapchat’s disappearing video and the new looksey playfulness.

The fragmentation of social video

Tools and tactics1. Search streamsSet up search streams in Hootsuite to track keywords or hashtags on Twitter or Instagram that relate to your project. For example: the keywords “horror movies” or the hashtag “#indiefilm.”

2. Twitter listsCreate a Twitter list of all the accounts you’d like to keep tabs on. For example, a list of influencers or other artists you’d like to collaborate with.

3. Get started with social ads A little money can go a long way when advertising on social networks, thanks to highly specific targeting capabilities. Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, for example, allow you to set targeting parameters for your ads based on location, demographics, behavior, or interests.

Step 2: Harness your #fanpower

Crowdfunding• More than 40,000 film projects have

been funded on Indiegogo since the site’s 2008 launch at the Sundance Film Festival.

• Facebook is the most effective channel for driving traffic to crowdfunding sites because of its video-friendly algorithm.

• Your chances of crowdfunding success are far greater if you’ve built your social media audience in advance.

Crowd-sourcing ideas

Twitter enables you to invite whoever you want, so follow people inspire you.Leverage Instagram’s high engagement rates to test your ideas and get feedback.Pinterest enables creatives to curate and share inspiration.

Treat social media like a dinner-party—the more interesting the guest list, the better the conversation.

-Stephen Hawking

“Mankind's greatest achievements have come about by talking, and its greatest failures by not talking. It doesn't have to be like this. Our greatest hopes could become reality in the future. With the technology at our disposal, the possibilities are unbounded. All we need to do is make sure we keep talking.”

Demonstrating demand

Anyone—from independent filmmakers or large studios to individual fans—can set up an event on TUGG, requesting a film be brought to a local theater near them.

Finding talent• Straight Kill Films held

an online casting call for its upcoming film.

• Anyone could submit an audition via YouTube.

• Actors used Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to promote their auditions using the hashtag #StraightKillAuditions.

• The campaign resulted in almost 1,000 auditions.

Tools and tactics1. Search streamsSet up streams for any specific hashtags you use during your crowdsourcing efforts and engage with anyone supporting your campaign .

2. Link shortenersShorten the URL to your crowdfunding page (Ow.ly and Bit.ly are common services) and use the shortened link in all of your social media posts.

3. Analytics Create weekly reports using Hootsuite Analytics to track the number of clicks your link is getting, and the activity around your hashtag.

Step 3: Get people engaged

Share your process• Inviting fans behind

the scenes Helps build excitement.

• Parts of your process that may seem mundane to you and your fellow pros, but your audience will love any chance to peek behind the curtain.

Celebrate your peers• A strictly self-promotional social

strategy has limited reach.• Fans want to connect with fellow

fans.• Sharing the work that inspires you

keeps your community engaged while your next project is still in progress.

Connect your fans• Hosting a regular chat creates a

venue for fans to connect. • You’ll need a clever hashtag. Seed

and Spark uses #filmcurious, for example.

• Ask your followers to submit any questions using the hashtag.

• RTs amplify the conversation, enabling new fans to discover you and your projects.

• Quora and Reddit are both great social networks for hosting Q&A sessions.

Tools and tactics1. Consistent content:Create one high-value video per week, such as longer tutorials or progress videos, and upload to YouTube or Facebook.

2. Incentivize sharing:Offer to release something desirable—a trailer, sneak peek, or a bonus clip—after your post gets a certain number of RTs, likes, or shares.

3. Build your list:Run a sweepstakes contest for free using Hootsuite Campaigns. Your audience will be entered to win in exchange for their contact information, which you can then use promote your project via email.

Step 4: Plan your launch campaign

Assemble your social team

• Assign people to specific tasks, such as replying to @mentions on Twitter or comments on Facebook.

• Create a schedule for who will be handling social on a daily (or hourly) basis.

• Divide channels between team members.

Get your content ready

• Your premier day content calendar should contain your channel-by-channel and hour-by-hour plan.

• Make sure all your visual assets are created and approved in advance.

• Schedule messages in Hootsuite ahead of premiere day so your team can focus on real-time opportunities.

Prep a premiere-day surpriseTo promote Unfriended, a “found footage” horror film centered around the online experiences of a group of high school students, a campaign was launched across social media including Facebook and Kik Messenger. The audience was

able to have one-on-one conversations with the killer, receiving chilling messages from her on both platforms.

Tools and tactics1. TeamsUse the Teams functionality within Hootsuite to delegate tasks to other people within one shared platform, without sharing all of the passwords to your social networks.

2. Google AnalyticsSetting up Google Analytics will help you track the number of visitors to your website via social, and which networks that traffic came from.

3. InfluencersPrepare a list of media and other influential people in your field so you can proactively engage on social and amplify relevant messages.

Step 5: Showtime

Insta-premiere

• Your most passionate fans are likely those following you on Instagram—reward them with something surprising.

• Try revealing any big announcements in a photo-by-photo showcase.

Lights, camera, Snap!

“It’s real-time movie-making, one clip at a time.”

-Casey Neistat, Snapchat Stories Star

In the room where it happensNot everyone gets in on opening night!• Ahead of every performance,

members of the Hamilton cast put on a short, unique show for fans waiting in line for a chance to get a $10 last-minute ticket.

• The videos are shared on YouTube and promoted on Twitter with the hashtag #Ham4Ham.

• The most popular videos have >200K views

Real-time social video

• Periscope and Meerkat are great channels for sharing red carpet moments.

• By sharing live, real-world experiences via these social video channels, you connect your online and in-person audiences.

• Save these channels for big moments.

On with the show!

Blog.hootsuite.com

Editorial Manager, Owned Media@dgodsall

David Godsall