Influencers

[Timon3]

Posted: 3/28/23 at 7:16pm

I am obviously too old! LOL.

So is a thing in theatre and that is Social Media Influencers?

What are they and who are they? Are they a threat to MSM?

[veronicamae]

Posted: 3/28/23 at 9:02pm

Influencers are people who have a significant social media following of people who trust their opinions on certain things. Sometimes they are paid to by brands to share their opinions about that brand.

Yes, there are theater influencers, as there are influencers in every industry.

An influencer as we know them today is really no different than a celebrity spokesperson in a TV commercial, except they're not celebrities (usually) and it's online and not TV. 

And celebrities in general are influencers. All it means is that they influence people's opinions.

Influencers are not a threat to mainstream advertising/marketing (is that what MSM means?). It's a component of marketing and, can be argued as becoming mainstream itself.

[JasonC3]

Posted: 3/28/23 at 9:08pm

Great explanation.  MSM usually stands for mainstream media.

[Wick3]

Posted: 3/29/23 at 10:49am

If it helps with selling tickets, it's smart to hire influencers but I do hope influencers make it clear to their followers that it's a paid promotion.

[bdn223]

Posted: 3/29/23 at 11:41am

Wick3 said: "If it helps with selling tickets, it's smart to hire influencers but I do hope influencers make it clear to their followers that it's a paid promotion."

I think there is a fine line as from my understanding there are large performer influencers that are paid to see shows, while most of the  the theater news influencers/commentators are just given comp tickets. The former should definitely disclose that they were paid, but as long as the later state they were invited I don't see it as paid promotion. In my opinion its no different than entertainment journalists for major publications or staff at industry outlets like playbill, broadway.com, Broadwayworld, and now I guess theatrely being invited to see shows in hopes of getting puff pieces.

I see it as a new for strategic way to go about to papering as these people may have a larger influence in helping build word of mouth. I see it no different than publishers sending out galleys or movie studios and distributors sending out screeners or inviting people to screenings. I think the difference now is that its people don't work directly in the industry are starting to get access to these formerly industry insider privileges.  

But I think it is key to know the difference between the influencers and commentators. Because of that I more so only trust the more commentary focused accounts with reviews like MickeyJo, TheatreisLife, ThemeparksEntertainment, BryantheBA, and ItsKatherineQuinn over performer accounts.  

[Timon3]

Posted: 3/30/23 at 8:52pm

So is there any particular influencers that theatre has?

There is an Anglo/American influencer who is incarcerated in Romania, think his name is Andrew Tait, I read somewhere that he had over 100k followers that pay around $50 a month, it is crazy why someone would pay this much for someone’s opinion. I mean people follow him because he is successful, so they pay a monthly fee that makes him successful, it is a self fulfilling prophecy?

I also read from another thread on here that producers’ invest in influencers?

 

[sinister teashop]

Posted: 3/31/23 at 12:50pm

Pre-pandemic social media and its influencers were ascendant. Now TikTok is being investigated by Congress in a rare bipartisan move and Elon Musk has lost $40 billion so far on his purchase of Twitter. It's still a powerful force but I'd say things are shifting for social media, its owners and its true believers. 

[darquegk]

Posted: 3/31/23 at 1:16pm

There are influencers who are more along the lines of content creators, like Jess Val Ortiz (to name a theatre associated influencer), but the vast majority of influencers that we think of with a capital I are your typical social media lifestyle/photo shoot/branding/vibes figures. In other words, models. We’ve had celebrity models and “famous for being famous” figures since the invention of fame. There’s ultimately no difference between a Charli and a Kardashian and a Paris Hilton- it’s just new names and faces on an old phenomenon. 

[Scarlet Leigh]

Posted: 3/31/23 at 8:00pm

Timon3 said: "So is there any particular influencers that theatre has?"

As someone that followers a number of influencers, absolutely but it's hard to really give any kind of list because 1.) there are a LOT of them but also 2.) they all fall into very different sort of niches and all have their own followers looking for that niche kind of content they are putting out. 

You have your news influencers that report on the theatre headlines of the day. You have your see/review anything and everything influencers. You have your more long form content creators that are primarily on a platform like YouTube influencers. You have your on the rise performers taking you along on their regional jobs with the goal of making it to Broadway influencers. You have your Broadway ensemble members taking you backstage with them as they work on Broadway influencers.

[Varun Gangawane]

Posted: 3/16/24 at 7:14pm

I can relate to feeling a bit out of the loop with all the social media trends, especially with influencers popping up everywhere. Like you, I'm in my 40s and also find myself overthinking these things! While I might not be your typical influencer on Instagram, I've found my niche on Facebook. It's where I feel more at home, sharing content and connecting with people who have similar interests. The facebook group finder feature has been a big change for me, making it easy to find groups that match my interests. Out of all the tools and features I've tried, the Facebook Marketing Automation tools, particularly the auto-share posts on groups, have been my favorite. It lets me share my posts with multiple groups I'm part of, expanding my reach without spending extra time manually posting. It's been a fantastic way to engage with more people without adding to my daily digital workload.

Updated On: 3/20/24 at 07:14 PM

[hearthemsing22]

Posted: 3/17/24 at 11:37am

I think it's ridiculous. There are some who are considered "influential" because they get sneak peeks to shows, invitations to things, and sometimes some of them expect to be invited to things like opening nights and the Tony Awards. They shouldn't expect those types of invites or beg for them on social media. It's ridiculous and pathetic.  There's one I followed who I had to stop because they were begging a show for an invite to Opening Night, I think, and it was just pathetic. They do post insider content like interviews on red carpets, and I think they're also at press performances, BroadwayCon, the public performances some cast members might do in Bryant Park or something, but they also spent hours outside a theater one day begging for an invite to Wicked's 20th anniversary performance, I believe. Something like that. It was ridiculous, pathetic, needy, and I stopped following them. If they want to go to something like that they have to pay like everyone else. 

Updated On: 3/17/24 at 11:37 AM

[Kad]

Posted: 3/17/24 at 11:50am

There’s been an industry wide effort to court these influencers - invitations to opening nights and special events, swag, etc - but I’ve repeatedly heard there has not been much in the way of real returns. It’s a niche market and the “product” is expensive and requires travel to a specific geographic area. It’s not like physical products like makeup, collectibles, or electronics, which can be purchased and enjoyed by anybody anywhere.  These theatre influencers may enjoy wide followings on social media, but ultimately everything is just in service to themselves. 

Updated On: 3/17/24 at 11:50 AM

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 3/17/24 at 12:02pm

I'm indifferent to them, but I'm not a 20-something or a mom who's chronically on social media.

They are people who can talk about your show and reach ticketbuyers in a slightly more casual, organic-seeming way than straight up advertising or press. A little more formalized than simply inviting "tastemakers" (a group of people that also includes hotel concierges, group sales agents, hairdressers). Considering the limited reach of some of these "critics" and glorified bloggers who are on the League Press List, word may travel farther with influencers than with them.

I don't think there's much data for influencers turning business around for a show that's selling no tickets. They're a nice bonus for a hit or a desperate attempt for a show that's underperforming. Agencies see value in it by bringing them in-house (such as what AKA is doing right now) because it's something they can offer to desperate producers and then they don't have to contract out to an outside agency. Some shows have done it better than others. JULIET had decent influencer content (but it probably had virtually no impact on sales). OHIO was miserably awful, and then they put spend behind those videos to serve as advertisements.

The savvy, legitimate influencers are not begging publicly to go to Opening Nights.

Updated On: 3/17/24 at 12:02 PM

[HogansHero]

Posted: 3/17/24 at 1:38pm

This subject is hard to sort out because of a variety of factors, most mentioned in this thread. As usual, there are no rules. First and foremost, the overall market can fit on the head of a pin unlike for, say, some skin care, weight loss, or food product. That means the value of influence is pretty earthbound. (An analogy, in days gone by, was advertising. Shows would spend heavy on NYT ads, but national ads would be close to non-existent.) There is a maxim that you need to remember that you want to sell every ticket, but you have to sell it at a cost that nets a meaningful profit. The sort of Gen Z influencers that folks associate with the word will sell some tickets to shows within the demographic, but not otherwise. Celebrities sometimes sell some, but more often are just a blur at opening nights and more often they are invited to window dress the "mingle" that investors are looking for. As everywhere, it is not hard to find people who are influencers/celebrities/whatever in their own minds. You will not find the jet-set influences with zillions of followers focused on the theatre. Finally, figuring out how to develop WOM is still a WIP. There is no one size fits all and nothing is static.