5 Tips to Entertain Audiences Off-stage via Instagram
Working in the dance industry has satisfied every performers need to engage with people and share the ideas and feelings that words just cannot express. So what happens between shows, and rehearsals, and during audition season? Social media today is a stronger force than ever to share messages and entertain your audiences offstage. This can not only lead to more people attending future shows and a larger audience but also to future opportunities and connecting with people in the industry as well. Instagram is one of the KEY ways a visual artist can maintain the visual contact with their fans. Here are 5 EASY tips for entertaining audiences of-stage.
1) Post Strategically: Just like you would present yourself on-stage or at an audition you want your feed to be the best representation of your life. Clean up your feed. Post photos of your last dance class, audition number, or maybe that cute roadside gas station that you stopped at on your road trip to Disney auditions. And DO throw in that video of your 70 year old grandmother when she got up and danced with you at her birthday! Photos like these tell a story of your drive and ambition and the people in your life that support you. Your last 9 photos of your feed should tell your #dancelife story!
ex. tip make sure you include yourself in the photos looking fabulous and audition ready!
2) Edit: A fresh light application of filters on simple photos can do more wonders than gunking up your feed with light leaks, graphics, and BIG 3 or 9 photo banners. Keep it simple! Find your own balance and focus on taking REALLY fantastic photos BEFORE editing. Make sure there is plenty of light, that you have the things in focus that you want to put the most attention on, and USE the rule of thirds! Balance your photos so that there is a play of positive and negative space and give your audience something interesting to look at! Choreograph your feed.
ex tip. VSCO does a fantastic job taking and editing photos
3) Power of the hashtag: Hashtags have become an every day way for us to express things in a quick way. But they are also an invaluable tool to connect with others. But when are #'s useful and when are they wasting space? Instagram only allows up to 30 hashtags on a post so why not use them to your fullest advantage? Use it as an opportunity to create hashtags specific to you like #bdcnyc or #houstonballet who doesn't love seeing @DerekbDunn pull off effortless turns in second into beautifully controlled tilts? These are great ways for people to reach out to you quickly and easily if they see something that reminds them of your feed. Don't use hashtags that have millions of hits. #dance has close to 31 million photos at any given time of people twerking, babies trying to find their balance, and poodles excited about their owners coming home. Where do you fit into that 31 million photo collage? instead use Instagram and research hashtags that are going to be more useful for you. For example #atldancers and #choreo give you a much better opportunity to be seen in a feed of thousands vs millions. do your research!
ex tip. create a spreadsheet in Google Sheets and write down any and every hashtag you think of and then search it in the Instagram tags section to create your own list of strategic hashtags.
4) Keep it coming. Nothing worse than forgetting your feed for 5 days while you are binge watching re-runs of CSI on Netflix eating 2 packages of Oreos. Been there done that. Set a daily or multiple alarms reminding yourself to post. I use a really cool app called Swipes that lets me create lists of things to do before the day is over. Find a good time before your class or during lunch to create a quick engaging photo. Also have a selection of photos that you haven't used yet. Not everyones life is super dynamic and interesting every day. Save some photos and ideas for a rainy day. Create posts that utilize generic things like text, or inanimate objects. On any given day I usually drink 2-3 cups of coffee and there is at least one cup that is just ripe for photographing. They make great conversations about "How busy I am, and gosh I needed that 3rd latte' thanks #Starbucks... Maybe a quote inspires you, or you have something to share with your audience, or even a really powerful hashtag that is relevant. Not every post has to come from real life but it does need to come from your brain.
ex tip. Apps like Typorama and Rhonna Designs give you a great opportunity not only to create text posts and really cute graphics quickly and easily but they also allow you to upload your own watermark and generate quotes automatically!
5) Socialize! Its called social media for a reason. Share your friends stories, share your fangasms, shout out to your favorite people and the things that inspire you. Like the HELL out of your favorite pages! Use your social media to talk to people in a way that you don't really get the opportunity to IRL. We miss opportunities every day to tell others how fabulous and inspiring they are and how thankful we are to have them be a part of our dance journey and community. When we see them doing fantastic things on social media we should celebrate them! This is also a great way to say thanks to studios for bringing you in for choreography, or ways to shout out to the the students in your last class.
ex. tip. make sure your spelling and grammar is "en pointe" when posting. Nothing is worse than seeing someone butcher the details, especially in a detail oriented field like dance. Its all about the technique. Try to avoid re-gramming because of icky branding and instead screen shot the image and use the tagging option and specific hashtags that the person you are reaching out to would use.
I hope some of these quick tips help you to choreograph the perfect Insta #dancelife Social feed! Putting yourself out there in a professional and captivating way can be invaluable to the growth of your career. Take every opportunity to gain a fan base, encourage others, and build the community that weve come to love so dearly! Please contact me for more information and ideas about Social Media Community management! And dont forget to like and follow My Instgram!
