Imagine this. In your orchestra, you had someone special. Someone who was in touch with your audience and donors non-stop. They’re not just interacting with them at performances or at special events, they’re in touch with them almost every day. Interacting, getting to know them, and building relationships, and they’re able to speak to them at a moment’s notice. Not only this, but they’re also the public voice of the organisation. Like when sending press releases or doing television interviews, they’re connecting with potentially thousands or even millions of people, curating what is being shared, shaping the story, and sometimes even being the person in front of the camera. Having a single person who can magically do all of this would surely be the most valuable person in your organisation. Well, it turns out they exist, and they’re your social media manager, but sadly they’re not anywhere near valued as they should be.
I’ve been lucky enough to work with and speak to arts organisations of all different sizes all across the world. And despite Facebook starting in 2004 and social media being one of the most impactful transformations in how we communicate in the history of civilisation, it can often feel that social media for arts organisations can be an afterthought and that the person running it is incredibly undervalued. I’ve also been lucky enough to chat to people running social media. Here are some common themes about how they’re feeling:
- “Management doesn’t understand what I do”
- “People expect me to just post about selling tickets when social media is so much more than that”
- “I feel both overworked and under-supported”
- “I feel like I could input so much more to the organisation, but I’m not given a voice”
- “Constantly asking for approvals feels like I’m not trusted, especially when this is my area of expertise and the people I have to ask don't understand”