Stop Stressing: 6 Simple Social Media Strategies for Chorus Directors

When managing a non-profit chorus, you wear so many hats, from programming music to coordinating singers, planning to rehearsing for concerts, coordinating venues to applying for grants, running payroll and beyond. As for social media? It’s the last thing you want to be doing. I mean, you don’t even have time to do it in the first place!
In this post, I will give you simple and actionable tips for managing your chorus’ social media when you have no time. I will warn you… Some of this advice might sound counterintuitive. It might even seem inflammatory, but I just need you to trust me, OK?

Before we dive in, I’m going to ask you to practice some social media self-care with me:

• First, close your eyes and take a deep breath while feeling the “lightness” or “weightlessness” of an easy social media strategy.
• Keep breathing in, feeling the lightness in your body, and repeat the phrase, “Social media can be simple.”
• Breathe in the positive energy of “I can do this,” and breathe out any negative energy towards social media. Just try to let it go. Breathe in confidence…  Breathe out and banish the idea of “beating the algorithm.”

Ultimately, social media is there to help you. But the more you’re “on” social media — scrolling, researching, looking for inspiration, comparing your choir’s online presence to all the others — the more you’ll think you’re not doing enough.

Unfortunately, social media and society’s obsession with it can make you feel so much pressure to produce the perfect “engaging” content, to post every day, and to jump on the latest trends to keep up with the algorithm. Besides being overwhelming, it’s just way too complicated for one person to do all that while juggling their other roles as artistic or executive director of a nonprofit chorus.

The good news is you’re already doing a good job. After all, you signed up to be a chorus director (or whatever role you chose), not a “social media influencer.” Now that we’ve taken a moment for self-care and recognized the hard work you’re already doing, let’s dive into my tips that will make your social media efforts even more manageable.

Tip #1: Stop focusing on social media so much.

Please try to stop stressing and obsessing. Until you have the budget to hire a marketing consultant, you need to release yourself from the pressure to master the ambiguous and ever-changing social media landscape.

In fact, I hereby grant you permission to give a few less f**ks about social media. Why?

As important as it is, social media should not be your only marketing channel.

Plus, if all the social media platforms disappear tomorrow, how would you communicate with your followers? Trick question: You wouldn’t! Because you don’t own your social media followers. But you know what you do own? (Find out in Tip #3!)

Tip #2: Prioritize retaining current patrons over attracting new ones.

Someone wise once said, “Marketing to strangers is a waste of your small marketing budget.” It’s true: whether we’re buying bread or a concert ticket, we’re more likely to buy from a brand or organization we already know than one we’re not familiar with.

While social media can be an effective and fun way to connect with your existing patrons and should absolutely be part of your marketing mix, its strength really lies in attracting new audiences through cross-promotions and collaborations (which can be free!) and boosted posts and targeted ads (which require a bit more of your budget).

Tip #3: Lean into email.

One of the best ways to nurture your relationship with existing patrons is through email marketing. If you haven’t already, it’s time to sign up with an email marketing platform like MailChimp or Constant Contact, which makes it easy to upload your list of patrons and start sending email campaigns using the platform’s ready-made templates.

Not only is email marketing cost-effective, but it can be very effective in maintaining a loyal and engaged community. P.S. Your emails don’t have to be earth-shattering. They’re simply a way to let your patrons know what you’re up to and what concerts are on the horizon. That’s it.

The best part? Unlike social media, you can contact your patrons directly anytime via email!! So, if Facebook and Instagram vanished tomorrow, you’d still be able to communicate with your patrons. (Phew!)

Pro Tip: Add an email signup form to your website to collect new contacts. Most email marketing platforms have a form that can be added or embedded on your website.

Tip #4: Keep it simple.

You might need to repeat our earlier self-care session to embody the “keep it simple” spirit. This tip is all about spending less time on social media, giving fewer f**ks about what everyone else is doing, and releasing yourself from the pressure of creating some viral marketing masterpiece from scratch. You don’t have time. Just let it go.

Keep it simple by focusing on one platform. For most of us, our ticket-buying audiences are on Facebook, so I recommend focusing your efforts there. When you’re short on time, it’s essential to keep things simple and repeatable. That’s why when you need to market an upcoming concert, I highly recommend using the five-week marketing campaign, which involves the following content/updates:

• 5 x Social media posts 
• 1 x Facebook event
• 4 x Email blasts
• 2 x Website updates (as needed)
• 3 x Graphics (same design, but three different sizes):
  • Facebook event (1920 x 1005 px)
  • Email marketing/Instagram (1080 x 1080 px)
  • Website (size varies depending on your website. Check if you can use the Facebook or Instagram size before creating a new one.)

Tip #5: Use what you've got.

You need to save your energy and creative juices between concert marketing campaigns. There’s no need to pressure yourself to feed the insatiable algorithm. Rather than creating new content, use what you’ve got. Do you have photos from your last concert? Great. How about videos? Even better.

One week, aim to post a photo of your choir or your most recent concert and then post a video clip the following week. Choose a clip that captures a particularly engaging moment from the concert. Less than 30 seconds is plenty. Post a photo. Then video. Repeat. In the caption, you can share any number of things, but here are a few ideas to get you going:

• Info about the photo (What concert is it from? When was the concert?) Who is in the photo, and what role have they played in your organization?
• Your appreciation for your audience — what are you most thankful for? What are your patrons' favorite memories of your choir? Ask them to share.
• Fun facts are always a good time. Do you have a fun fact that your followers may not know about your choir? 

If you’re feeling creative, jump into Canva and create a few square graphics that use your choir’s brand colors, fonts, etc., that include text expressing your gratitude for your patrons, such as “Thank you!” or “We’re grateful for you.” Don’t overthink it. You don’t have to save your gratitude posts for Thanksgiving or other social media holidays.

Social media is a way to stay connected to your audience. Just talk to them in your organization’s voice using a tone that is somewhere between formal, informational, and relatable.

Tip #6: Schedule posts in advance.

Even though the process may feel painful, I promise you’ll save time by scheduling posts in advance. You'll be hooked once you feel the relief of no longer stressing every day that you haven’t posted in <x> days.

To get started, set aside 30 minutes. Find four photos and/or videos of your choir. These could capture your choir performing at recent concerts, throwback pics from your choir’s early years, behind-the-scenes snaps from dress rehearsal, etc.  Next, write a short caption to go with each photo. Here are a couple of examples to get you started:

• “Thank you to everyone who joined us this weekend. There’s no other way we’d rather spend our <day of the week> than singing for you!”
•  “Throwback to our very first concert on <date>. We’ve grown so much in the last <number> years. We’re so grateful for your support!”
• “Wow! It was a packed house last night! We hope you enjoyed last night’s program as much as we did. Thanks for making it our first-ever sold-out show!”

Once you’ve got your photos and captions together, head over to Meta Business Suite, click ‘Create Post,’ add your text and image and schedule your post for 11:30am on the next/upcoming Monday. (Of course, if you have insights or analytics that indicate a better time or day to post, you’re welcome to use them.) Otherwise, feel free to use my suggested day/time — it just means you have one less decision to make.

There are many ways to help you save time when managing social media for your choir. But at the end of the day, you’re just one person. While I certainly hope some of my tips prove to be helpful for you, the most important thing to remember is that your mental and physical health comes first. So take a deep breath, give yourself credit for making it this far, and now go find a photo and schedule one post. You can do it.

What strategies have you found most helpful for managing your choir’s social media while wearing a dozen other hats? Share your tips and advice in the comments to help inspire others.