Hat tip to Dave Wakeman for tweeting an insightful piece about marketing during Covid — Mine.
What's interesting about reading this a year on is that there are a few organizations that followed the advice here and they maintained their revenues when they were offering virtual streams. And, lots of others, didn't….and they have those results.
— Dave Wakeman (@davidwakeman) February 23, 2021
I know, self-involved much, Joe?
To be fair, all credit rightfully goes to Colleen Dilenschneider whose piece I was drawing attention to.
Wakeman revisiting an entry I made nearly a year ago provides a good check for the non-profit arts industry. In that original post, Dilenschneider talked about how to effectively shift messaging from “visit now,” to maintaining general awareness, if not cultivating an active engagement dialogue.
Now obviously the truth is more complicated than depicted in Wakeman’s tweet. The economics of digital engagement did not provide a sustainable revenue stream, even for the best resourced arts organizations. There were big loans, grant programs and donor drives. There were layoffs and cutbacks. Capacity to survive is not solely determined by a good social media and digital strategy.
That said, a good social media and digital communication strategy will definitely be a determinant of success when people start to wander back to participate in events and activities.
Now that we are reaching the year anniversary of everything closing, take time to evaluate what you have been doing. What has worked, what needs to be changed, what needs to be started.
Post title is from the iconic PSA series