An introduction to a number of free online tools and resources that can help support future audience development activity within arts, cultural and heritage organisations. The session will focus on data collection, internal and external communications and social media. Johnathan Branson, Audience Development Manager, Audiences Central

What is Audience Development? “The term audience development describes activity which is undertaken specifically to meet the needs of existing and potential audiences and to help arts organisations to develop on-going relationships with audiences. It can include aspects of marketing, commissioning, programming, education, customer care and distribution. The term ‘audience’ encompasses attenders, visitors, readers, listeners, viewers, participants and learners.” - Arts Council England, March 2010

Broad term State of mind Specific way of working Not just something that gets added on at the end Includes all areas of the business It doesn’t have to be difficult or extra work It’s about working smarter, not harder

Focus of this session Google Documents - Forms (online surveys/data) - Calendar (clash diary/planning) - Maps (data/planning) Wordpress (website build and hosting) Tweetdeck (social media/marketing)

Other useful tools Basecamp (project management software) Survey Monkey (online survey/questionnaire software) Mailchimp (online survey/questionnaire software) Joomla (Content Management software) Audacity (podcast software) (thousands of free tools)

Google Forms can help you easily gather information from a large number of people without having to send and receive multiple s

Features Design your own online questionnaire(s) A range of templates Embed it within a website or Collates findings into an online spreadsheet Export to Excel Provided with a basic summary of findings Integrated with other Google software

Benefits Collect and control your own audience data Use forms to evaluate projects, visitor experiences, get sign ups to your mailing lists Add/remove questions - update with ease Share widely via on/offline marketing materials Access from anywhere (cloud computing)

Google Calendar is a free time- management web application offered by Google

Features Overlay multiple calendars Integrate with your system Interoperable with popular calendar applications Openly share or password protect Access with your mobile device Publish a calendar to make it searchable Embed into web pages Links with other Google software

Benefits Access from anywhere (cloud computing) Increase existing sites functionality Useful for:  Internal planning  Programming  Project/partnership work  Marketing  Clash diary

Google Maps is a web mapping service application and technology provided by Google

Features Street, satellite and map views Journey planner, route finder Fully editable; add pins, places, import postcodes Private and public options Multiple contributors Embed questionnaires, video, audio, images, links

Benefits Helps search engine optimisation Embed maps in your site / improve functionality Helps audiences plan how to get to you Find out where your audiences are coming from by importing postcodes from your database Identify existing arts and cultural provision Identify gaps in provision

WordPress is web software you can use to create a beautiful website or blog. We like to say that WordPress is both free and priceless at the same time

Features Set up and build a website within a few minutes Simple, easy to use interface (like Word) Large online community (support) Includes powerful features; comments, stats, plugins Hundreds of free templates Integrates with Facebook, Twitter, RSS, Google Docs (maps, forms)

Benefits Useful for specific projects if you don’t have control over your own site Can have multiple collaborators with various permission levels Can be used as a public facing site / password protected project space Access a range of stats to inform approaches Increase online presence

TweetDeck is your personal real time browser, connecting you with your contacts across Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Foursquare, Google Buzz and more

Features Update Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn,Google Buzz and Foursquare Manage conversations See what's hot with trends Integrated LinkedIn for your professional contacts View YouTube videos within TweetDeck, and record and share video clips

Benefits Save time managing lots of social media accounts Use ‘trends’ to inform marketing Manage the interface to meet your needs

“I like that I can move the columns around depending upon what I need to keep any eye on. E.g. when we opened booking for Matilda in London, I moved all Matilda searches to the front, so I could keep an eye on what was being said. This allowed me to pick up on some rumours that were spreading across Twitter (e.g. the waiting time on the phones was 7 hours) and post tweets with the correct information” -Amy Clarke, Royal Shakespeare Company “I like that you can easily set up different columns to monitor various things. I have set up a column to view all of BCMG’s friends, a column to keep track of BCMG mentions via twitter, one to monitor direct messages, and one to keep an eye on current UK trends in twitter” - Tim Rushby, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group

Top Tips Practise personally before professionally Join online discussions Don’t be afraid to ask for help Don’t do use a certain tool just because everyone else is Look how other organisations are using these tools

Questions

Thank You Johnathan Branson Audience Development Manager Audiences Central