I bought a ticket to a show the other day, solely based on a tweet . . . first hand proof that social media can sell.

But how?  How can you sell your show on social media?

First, it’s important to realize that it’s called “social” media.  It’s not called “sales” media.  It’s social by nature and design.  You have “friends” on Facebook.  You don’t have leads or customers.  You have friends.

Now, imagine this . . .

You meet someone new on the street.  Someone who you think could be a new friend.  And within thirty seconds of meeting you, they run up into your face and say, “Buy this from me!  Buy this from me!  Please!  Pretty please!  Why won’t you buy this from me???”

Is that someone you’d want to have as a friend?

I’d bet that not only would you not want that guy as a buddy, but every time you saw him, you’d run in the opposite direction, and tell other people to steer clear too.

And I’ve seen many, many a brand, both on Broadway and Off Broadway and even in big box retail, scare bunches of customers away with this Encyclopedia Salesman strategy.

But not you . . . because now you know that the secret to selling on social media . . .  is not selling on social media.

If that’s the case, then you’re probably wondering why and how I bought a ticket because of a tweet.

The tweet was from a friend.  Someone who I knew.  Someone who I trusted.  Someone with whom I had an offline relationship as well as an online relationship.  And they didn’t say, “Buy this!”  They said something like, “Hey everyone, I saw a show tonight, and it was awesome and I recommend you see it too,” except it was written in his voice and it was personal, and had some humor.  It was just like we were at a party and we were talking about stuff and the show came up.

In other words, it was Word of Mouth – just typed instead of spoken.

We all know that WOM is the #1 driver of ticket sales (and of anything sales, actually), and Social Media allows that WOM to be spread faster than ever before.

Your job as a Producer is to make sure people have the tools necessary to spread that word as easily as possible (I’m always amazed at how I can’t find twitter handles in Playbills when I sit down to see a show – which has got to be the most likely time someone is going to tweet – I’ve started putting handles and hashtags on all my title pages to make sure folks can find ’em).

Produce a show that people want to see and give your audience the tools to spread the word and you won’t have to sell your show.

Your audience will do it for you.

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