Mentoring scheme – new media marketing

By James Kelly, November 27, 2009

Arts Audiences is pleased to announce details of the New Media Mentoring Scheme, in which experts from a variety of organisations offer their time, for free, to mentor arts organisations seeking to build relationships with new and existing audiences online.
Mentoring in the area of..Mentoring will be provided in the area of new media marketing / audience development, and will respond to the specific requirements of participating arts organisations, who are asked to submit details of the project for which they would like mentoring (more details below). As such, mentoring could be in one, or a combination, of the following areas;
∙ Social media strategy∙ Search engine optimisation∙ Online community building∙ strategies around specific applications – e.g. facebook, twitter∙ Customer service online∙ Using new media to drive sales∙ Bringing your organisation onto another platform (e.g. YouTube)∙ Strategies around metrics and goal setting
Suitable projects for mentoringThis scheme is designed to provide organisations with mentoring support around specific finite projects, which could be realised within a 3 month timeframe (see below). While we are looking for projects which are ambitious, such projects must also be realistic!
Some possible examples;
∙ A dance company may wish to start a facebook page from scratch, with a goal of attracting 300 fans.∙ An orchestra may wish to cull, rebuild and re-imagine how to use it’s emailing list of over 3,000 names.∙ A venue may wish to put together a strategy to use Google analytics to optimise its search rank∙ A festival may wish to put together a strategy to build a community around it’s new YouTube channel
Just a few examples, of course there may be many more, but these give an idea of scale & scope we would be considering.
The mentorsWe are delighted to announce that there are mentors on board from a variety of organisational backgrounds, and we will be able to provide mentoring to organisations working at various levels, from those looking to engage with new media at the most basic level, to those looking for advanced guidance, for example in terms of developing a co-ordinated strategy across a number of different media.
The following mentors have been confirmed;
RTE PublishingRTÉ publishing will provide up to 3 mentors as part of this scheme. While RTÉ Publishing’s brands operate across many traditional and online platforms (including RTÉ Guide, RTE Player, RTE.ie, Facebook, YouTube, Aertel), underlying each of these strands of activity is one clear and common goal – to deliver RTÉ content to audiences in the manner in which the audience wishes. With 2.5 million unique users, RTE.ie is Ireland’s leading media site, and as such RTÉ Publishing have a highly skilled team available to provide mentoring across a number of areas.
Rosita Wolfe – Head of Marketing & Communications, National Concert HallThe National Concert Hall is host to a diverse programme of events each year, with on average 450 events annually being attended by 300,000 ticket holders. Recent strategies which have included the use of social media and blogging have seen a 400% increase in online sales, and in 2009 the NCH expects that almost 40% of of their sales will be online. In recognition of their success in this area, the NCH was awarded the Customer Care award in this year’s All Ireland Marketing Awards, a significant achievement for an arts organsation.Aoife Flynn – a squared consultancyAfter six years as Development Manager of The Model (Sligo), Aoife Flynn founded a squared earlier this year, to provide consultancy to arts and cultural organisations in the area of marketing and management.
As part of her ongoing work, Aoife continues to manage web development for The Model, recently completing a three year Marketing Strategy for organisation, of which digital marketing (including facebook, twitter, vimeo, youtube, flickr, blogging, digital content and email) is a major aspect. A significant element of this strategy is the Model’s upcoming web platform, which will to be launched in tandem with the Model’s new building in spring 2010.
David McCadden, Press Officer, The AbbeyAs Press Officer at the Abbey Theatre, David has overseen the introduction of Facebook and Twitter into the company’s marketing strategy. With over 3,000 Facebook fans and 750 Twitter followers, a YouTube channel and a Vimeo channel, David has developed a social media strategy which enables the Abbey to listen and respond to it’s audiences, as well as to tap into new audiences.
The timeframe:Deadline for submissions is Friday the 18th of December. Mentoring will be one-on-one and will begin in early January 2010, with all projects completing by 31st of March 2010. It is envisaged that mentoring will take no more than 10 hours time in total, and may involve a mix of face to face meetings, phone calls and emails.
How to participate:If you are interested in participating, you should submit a short application (500 words approx) by email to karenlee.walpole(at)artscouncil.ie (on or before 18th of December), outlining the project for which you would like to receive mentoring.
In this document you should outline ;
∙ Details of the project for which you would like mentoring.∙ Details for which aspect of the project you would require mentoring∙ How you think the realisation of this project will benefit your organisation∙ A time frame for the completion of the project
As part of the process, participating organisations are required to produce case studies, which will be published online to share learnings with the broader arts sector.
The match making process:Once all the applications are in, in consultation with mentors and applicant organisations, there will be an element of ‘match-making’ to ensure mentors will be matched to an organisation whose needs match their expertise.
The process will be mediated throughout by James Kelly, Audience Advisor to the Arts Council. For further enquiries, please contact Karen Lee Walpole at karenlee.walpole(at)artscouncil.ie, or James Kelly at james.kelly(at)artsaudiences.ie.
http://artsaudiences.ie/activity/mentoring-scheme-new-media-marketing/