In the days leading up to a live-scored-live-stream I presented this past Wednesday, I got the word out. I posted the info and link onto Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, and I sent out an email to my list. The day after the stream, I got some verification that an email list is still the best way to reach people, and that the FB’s algorithm can be fickle.
In the same way I’d plugged the show in the days before it happened, after the stream ended I posted something on FB (et al) with screen grabs from the ‘cast and thanks to our viewers and to the Cinema Arts Centre, who presented the program online. Four people responded with the comment “how’d I miss this?”.
I’ve heard on Michael Boezi’s excellent Marketing Without the Marketing podcast that email is still far-and-away the most effective way of reaching people. It’s a direct connection to people that isn’t the whack-a-mole game of Marco Polo that socials can be. I’ve heard Seth Godin refer to emails as “permission marketing” on his Akimbo podcast.
I’d been wondering how important this really was, and whether I needed to step up my game on social media, as I’d stepped back a bit since mid-June, basically posting only when I had a show. But this was a clear-as-day example of two things: the fact that FB’s algorithm deciding what people are interested in or not, and that having an email list was valuable…possibly a tad more so than I’d expected.
If you’re subscribed to my blog and get emails about blog posts, that’s different from my regular email list. You can sign up for my bi-weekly emails here, if you like. You’ll get updates on shows I’m playing or live-streaming, DVD/Blu-ray projects and other items, plus I add a few photos I’ve taken.
And, ideally, I’ll be blogging a little more frequently now. It’s been a while. Thanks.