Looking to boost your social media followers and engagement? Then it's time for a little tough love from Inc.com contributor Nicolas Cole. Cole's main lesson: "Either do social media the right way or don't do it at all." So what does it mean to do social media "the right way"? For starters, you need to think about what your audience cares about first and foremost, and that's not always what your theater or venue is trying to promote. You've got...

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Last week, Facebook announced some big changes. If you haven't heard already, Fast Company breaks it down: "Facebook is changing its algorithm to send less traffic to content sites. ... it will increasingly prioritize posts shared by friends and family over those from publishers, brands, and other pages." So, what does this mean for you? In his Fast Company article, Joe Lazauskas reports that this new reality will require lots of adjustment. You can read about the seven ways Lazauskas...

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In addition to customer reviews and word-of-mouth praise, there's another valuable marketing tool your customers can help you out with that you may not be making the most of: the selfie. As Jeff Soriano of MarketingProfs points out: "The Kardashian clan has helped elevate the act of taking photos of one's face into a marketing force to be reckoned with. ... Today's brands encourage audiences to take and share selfies, snaps, and other forms of visual user generated content; and...

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When it comes to promoting theater and comedy, video can be a great tool. Snippets of stand-up, behind-the-scenes footage and interviews are all ways to engage with your fans and attract new patrons. And, according to this HubSpot article, "People comment 10X more on Facebook Live videos than on regular videos." Carly Stec highlights seven of the best Facebook Live videos she's ever seen, which just might help give you some ideas and spark inspiration for your next live broadcast. ...

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Do you ever feel like your messages on Twitter get lost in the crowd? Given the sheer volume of tweets shared in a day it's not surprising. However, there are ways you can stand out. Inc.com writer John Brandon has shared 22 secrets from a variety of social media experts that will help you sell more tickets on Twitter and get the word out about your shows. "Instead of just posting tweets all about your business, follow the 80/20 rule. Make...

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The Tonys will air live this Sunday, and we'd like to wish all of the nominees good luck! Putting an innovative twist on its Facebook promo for the 70th Tony Awards, CBS "uses 360-degree video to put you right on stage as the Hamilton cast rehearses a song," reports David Griner for Adweek. "Technically it's just part of a song -- an a cappella snippet of 'Wait for It' -- but it's  still downright incredible." Watch the video. Yesterday Facebook announced...

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Whether you look at Facebook as a handy marketing tool or a headache-inducing frustration, it's a part of life for most marketers. So why not make the most of the social network's capabilities? These tips from HubSpot will help get you started, whether you're setting up your theater's page from scratch or trying to improve it: "Claim your Page's vanity URL. Once you've created your business Page, it'll get a randomly assigned number and URL, like facebook.com/pages/yourbusiness/123456789. To make your Page more shareable...

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Sure, Instagram is all about the photos -- but the photo captions matter, too. "It's where you can explain what the photo is about, tell your followers to take action, or crack a joke that makes your content all the more delightful and shareable," writes Lindsay Kolowich for HubSpot. Here are a few of Kolowich's tips to help you write better Instagram captions: "• Front-load the important stuff: The maximum character count for an Instagram caption (2,200 characters) is basically a formality....

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We wrote about 10 Brand Doing Snapchat Right. In this Fast Company article, Elizabeth Segran highlights five companies that started using Snapchat when it launched in 2011 -- and they've reaped (and continue to reap) the benefits. According to Segran, Snapchat "has more than 100 million daily users who spend an average of half an hour on the app every day. ... Although the service still skews toward the millennial set — 60% of all 13- to 34-year-old smartphone users...

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