social media

Being active on social media can be a great way for your group to grow your audiences, build relationships, recruit new members and learn from other groups, but it takes effort to make the most of it.

In our getting started guide we covered the basics of setting up accounts and creating your first posts. In this resource we cover our top tips for building an engaged audience and spreading your messages as far as possible.

Marketing is a broad term and covers a huge range of activities. From researching potential audiences to composing social media posts, choosing your group's 'brand colours' to deciding on ticket prices: these activities all feed into how your group is seen; how potential members, audiences and supporters feel about it; and whether they decide to engage with you.

Our volunteers have been taking a look at member groups' social media to see how they measure up when it comes to engaging young people. Here are some tips they passed on to us that you might find useful.

Posting on social media can be overwhelming. What to post, when, how often, how much of other people's content should you engage with? A simple tactic to keep you on track is to follow the rule of thirds: promote, share, interact. After all, three is the magic number! 

A Facebook Page is a great way to attract new audiences and potential members to your music group.  At the time of writing, there are around 702,000 Facebook users in the UK that express an interest in choirs; 506,000 that like orchestras and a staggering 27,818,000 that like music. These are all potential audiences that you can reach if you know how to target them.

Your group may not have the budget to hire a professional crew to film your next performance, but that doesn't mean that you can't produce attractive and engaging video with the most basic tools.

You will find very good lenses and sensors in many smartphones or inexpensive cameras, and you can also access free editing software on the computer or mobile device of your choice. But you also need some notions of videography, a good eye for detail and a decent amount of creativity! Here are some ideas to keep in mind:

At the risk of making you click away from this page in horror, we do need to start by citing that old cliché about a picture being worth a thousand words! No amount of cheerful prose will convince visitors to your group’s website that you are a joyful and inspiring group if they are confronted with a gloomy portrait.

This guide gives a simple, step-by-step guide to getting set up on the most important social media platforms for member groups: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+.