Working consistently in this business usually requires not only talent, but a great effort to get seen. Overnight sensations are a rare occurrence. However, you can help the scale of success tip in your favor by showing off your talents and creating a following on the biggest, fastest-growing, most easily accessible and completely free interface of the world: social media.

Here are five tips for using social media to help be seen as a performer and, if you’re lucky, catapult your career toward stardom:

1. Create Video Content

Creating original content is probably the easiest and cheapest way to get your talent into the universe on your own terms. You have complete control over showcasing your best and most marketable performing skills that can get you hired.

The following are some examples of performance-related content you can create and post online:

• Writing and performing your own music
• Doing dance pieces
• Performing poetry
• Debuting theatre work
• Showcasing original standup material
• Creating fun and whacky characters
• Teaching others a performance skill
• Video blogging

However, don’t let this list hold you back! There really is no end to the possibilities, and your creativity is key. Wherever your heart and best talents lie, get creating and post away. Not only will your talents quickly go global, but you truly never know who in your audience could get you hired or share your content to create buzz for you.

2. Be Involved in Others’ Content

Volunteer to be part of friends’ content, or collaborate with other like-minded individuals to make some. Not only does this get your talents into the world, but there is even more of a chance more people will see it, since the others involved will also share across their social media platforms.

Web series, music videos and dance routines are all great examples of how groups of people can work together to create online content. Again, remember the options and ideas are limitless, so get collaborating, then get sharing!

3. Recreate Content

Reinventing others’ popular content that already has a good following can create an immediate and excited audience for your social media posts.

Musically speaking, mashups, remixes, covers and acoustic versions of well-known material are great examples of ways to recreate popular content. You can also add your own spin to well-known characters and public figures. Once you’ve created your work, post on as many social media platforms you can.

If you do decide to go this route, be sure to be aware of copyright. You may need to get permission or the rights to recreate someone else’s work. Do your research before you post.

4. Share Websites and Links

Not all your created content or performance-related material can be placed on social media. Instagram alone has a 60-second video time limit. When you can’t create content for a specific social media site, share your website links and/or photos of it instead. When posting photos, make sure you talk a bit about the project and link back to the original site in the comments section or another place where you can write a blurb.

In this fast-paced world, most go to social media first to get a quick, all-encompassing view of you and your talents. By remembering to post links to websites that showcase your talents, your social media will serve as a gateway to entice friends, family, fans and followers on your feeds to click on the links or look elsewhere on the web for more insight into your performing prowess.

5. Go Live

Facebook and Instagram, as well as several other social media sites, now offer the opportunity to go live. You can stream whatever content you want by just using the lens on your phone in real time with the press of a button. Whether you go live in your daily routine, rehearsal sessions or stage performances, your viewers will love the inside look at your performing life and keep tuning in for more. An added plus is that many of these live feeds allow you to interact with your followers, creating a positive buzz for you and your talents. You certainly can’t go wrong as long as you keep your livestream positive and performance-related.

How do you use social media to boost your career? Let us know in the comments below…

The post 5 Ways Performers Can Leverage Social Media To Gain Exposure appeared first on Theatre Nerds.

Once again, the answer to that question is complicated. However, social media and marketing expert Tony Howell thankfully took the time to speak with me on the matter and discuss how producers can begin to embrace technological advances while still maintaining the integrity and beauty of live theatre.

“I think it has a place in certain pieces,” Howell said of social media. “I don’t think it needs to take over, but I would like to see stories that include it because it’s part of the world we live in now.”

Recently, social media has been brought to the stage, most notably in the 2017 Tony Award winner for Best Musical, “Dear Evan Hansen.” But how can the audience use social media without interrupting the performance?

“What I would encourage in terms of best practices is that it’s totally great to take a picture of the procedium and playbill,” he said. “Another great thing is to leave a review. After you see something, review the piece yourself, go to their Facebook page and share your thoughts, especially when they’re positive.”

When it comes to producers’ and marketers’ use of social media, Howell said the most effective method to getting people to share their experiences of the show is to have a step and repeat in the lobby of the theatre. This way, everyone who comes to the show can take a picture and post it online.

Social media is undeniably a great tool to be used before or after a show. However, surfing social media and the internet during a performance has recently become far too regular. Rest assured, theatre fans, this isn’t just a Broadway problem, but a global one.

“I think we will see a global problem of attention spans and people disconnecting from the real world around them to engage with the virtual world around them, but I don’t think it’s limited to theatre,” Howell said. “We see our union and industry fighting against it, saying that live theatre needs to be live.”

However, Howell hopes that embracing social media within limits will actually bring great changes to the Great White Way.

“What I think will happen with Broadway and theatre, I hope, is that we’ll be able to share our art form with audiences and more people through digital with the expectation that if you want the premium live experience, you buy a ticket,” he said. “I would like to see more digital integration where we get to be a part of the show. Word-of-mouth marketing is the No. 1 form of marketing because it doesn’t cost you anything, and people trust their family and friends’ recommendations. I think producers are hurting themselves by not encouraging social media. I just think that we have to write the rules and teach etiquette.”

What about onstage? Could social media be incorporated more frequently into shows themselves, like “Hit List” from the hit NBC show “Smash?” (Yes, it’s a hit in my heart.)

Howell warns that it may remove people from the story, since taking a second look at their phone may cause audiences to then surf the web or check email. However, in the right context, with limitations, it could potentially work.

Aside from within the theatres themselves, Howell has also seen how social media has started to have an impact on casting decisions.

“I see it being involved in casting decisions, but I think people make the mistake of looking at 10,000 followers versus the actual engagement rate,” he said. “So someone with a hundred followers and a higher engagement could actually bring more results to the ticket process than someone with a bunch of spambots that they bought from Russia.”

Frankly, it’s 2017. Technology and social media are bound to start to find their place within theatre, whether onstage or offstage. While this does present some potential negatives to the experience of live theatre we’ve come to know and love, with the right rules and guidance, it could have a profound effect on the art form.

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