Reflections | Want to reach a wide(r) audience? Include digital
by Siana Bangura, Digital Content Producer — English Touring Theatre
I’ve been a content creator in various shapes and forms for over a decade. Starting with blogging for early digital platforms like Young Hackney World way back when, pledging allegiance to MySpace (when it was poppin’) and then moving into establishing my own blogs, and creating content for the likes of BBC, The Fashion TV Network, and other fringe platforms. Fast-forward to the present, I’ve created and been involved in the creation of content for Channel 4, SKY TV, Yanga!, VICE, The Fader, Media Diversified, Black Ballad and other mainstream, millennial and independent setups.
I’ve also created and curated digital content for theatres such as The Gate and theatre companies such as tiata fahodzi (pronounced: tee-ah-ta fa-hoon-zi) as well as English Touring Theatre (ETT).
Some of the digital campaigns I have designed and led include crowdfunding for my upcoming documentary, ‘1500 & Counting’ — a film investigating deaths in custody; the roll-out and launch of my independent publishing house and debut book, ‘Elephant’; and the various work I have done in my role as the Campaigns & Communications Officer for an environmental and community charity based in Birmingham over the last two years.
Interestingly, I’m not the avid social media enthusiast I once was — a consequence of a mixture of things such as using it constantly in my work and previously over-using it outside of work — however it cannot be denied that social media has democratised the Internet and creative fields exponentially. After all, anybody (for better or for worse) can have a voice now.
According to Wikipedia, as of June 2017, 51% of the world’s population has access to the Internet — that’s about 3.2 billion people. The figure may even be closer to 4 billion. Of the top ten countries that are listed as using the Internet the most, unsurprisingly the USA tops the list, followed by China, Japan, Germany, India, and the UK (in descending order). The number of social media users worldwide is estimated to be 3.2 billion in 2018 and the number of mobile phone users worldwide in 2018 is around 5.1 billion.
With over 2 billion active users — despite recent data mining scandals — Facebook is still leading the pack as far as the social media juggernaut is concerned, with YouTube, Facebook-owned WhatsApp, Instagram and Twitter following behind.
Nowadays, with 51% of the world’s entire population online in some way shape or form and 3.2 billion people on social media platforms like Facebook, YouTube and increasingly Instagram and Twitter, businesses and organisations increasingly understand that a strong and sincere online presence is vital if you want to reach a younger and more ‘diverse’ demographic, as well as be more accessible to and engage with a wider audience overall.
From videos, to podcasts, meme culture, blogging and Vlogging, we’ve found ways to speak our minds in a variety of different mediums. It is debatable whether this ‘connectivity’ has really connected us (see recent conversations about social media and loneliness) — but social media has been a powerful tool for organising, galvanising, and forging space in which change-making activity can take place online and offline.
Embedding a digital culture in any organisation takes time, and often resources. Contrary to popular belief, working in a digital role doesn’t simply mean you spend all day tweeting and creating GIFs or animations for people — although these can be more obvious outputs for people to get their heads around, particularly if a digital-encompassing approach is unfamiliar to them. The deeper work lies in establishing a digital policy and direction that will be effective for the needs of your organisation and be appropriate for the target audience you wish to develop. Part of the work I do as a digital content creator and consultant is assist with establishing a ‘voice’ as well as a sustainable plan for communications, in line with the business plan. This is the less ‘glamorous’ behind the scenes work that many people overlook.
Despite tech and business spaces claiming to be ‘experts’ on all things digital, I’ve found they tend to be pretty homogeneous and not inclusive. That said, the opportunities the digital landscape offers have enabled me to forge a freelance creative portfolio career that boasts production work in theatre, documentary filmmaking, online and offline curation, and events planning as well as providing space and opportunities for my creative work as a performer to reach wider (and newer) audiences beyond my immediate network.
As I focus more on trying to decentre London in my work (by necessity), I am paying close attention to what audience development looks like.
In the case of a touring theatre, when you don’t have a fixed building or space in which to regularly connect with your audiences directly, it becomes logistical and necessary to connect with audiences online. This is a key focus in ETT’s plans for the future as we reimagine what it means to be a touring theatre and continue to use our unique privilege as theatre-makers and producers to interrogate matters of identity in a time when social and political conversations around such things feel toxic.
The online space and digital sphere should be seen as a tool for tangible results offline and not an end within themselves, however new and forward-thinking digital practices will allow organisations to reach wider audiences and provide a more engaging, meaningful and enriching experience of the work for all.
