In creating social media for Seattle Shakespeare, I sought to create a narrative both around the shows and the company. Primary channels were Instagram, Facebook, and Tiktok (I started the company’s Tiktok channel).
Humor is a part of Seattle Shakespeare’s brand; I further leaned into that humor in the promotion of Love’s Labor’s Lost (a comedy).
Current hashtags / special “days”
Sometimes the posts write themselves. In this case, National Read Book Day was the perfect opportunity to begin marketing Love’s Labor’s Lost.
Text: It’s #NationalReadABookDay! At Seattle Shakespeare, we’re spending a lot of time reading Love’s Labor’s Lost, as you’d expect. What’s on your nightstand?
Meet the cast
Sample post introducing cast members.
Text: With that enigmatic smile, will Dumaine (Morgan Gwilym Tso) win the heart of Katherine (Pearl Mei Lam)? Only one way to find out — at Center Theatre, Oct. 30-Nov. 17.
Briefs clips of the show
I recorded video to create teaser posts for Instagram Reels and TikTok.
Text: Come see all our bros’ antics at Love’s Labor’s Lost first preview performance tonight 😱
Fun with wordplay
Although we received the best engagement with photos, I did occasionally include a text-based post.
Text: Costard, Love’s Labor’s clown, speaks the longest word in any Shakespeare play. Will Rolando, our Costard, be up to the task? Do you even have to ask? If you want to know what “Honorificabilitudinitatibus” means, you’ll just have to come to the show.
Behind the scenes
I captured photos and video of the cast and creative team between rehearsals. Behind-the-scenes content tends to be very popular, and our engagement on these posts showed that our audience was not an exception.
Text: At our first Love’s Labor’s rehearsal (woo hoo!), Janet Hayatshahi (Director) and Alice Gosti (Movement Director) take a moment to show their excitement.
Text: The laughs never end! Love’s Labor’s Lost cast members Ana Maria and Morgan have some fun at rehearsal. Starting next week at Center Theatre!
Opening night
On opening night, I used my trusty iPhone to record audience reactions and drum up excitement for the rest of the run.
Third-party content
On Facebook, I shared articles that I thought would be of interest to our Shakespeare-loving audience. These types of posts get our audience commenting.
Text: Turns out, even if monkeys typed from now until the end of the universe, they wouldn’t end up writing Shakespeare.
Current events
For election day, I posted a photo from Love’s Labor’s Lost (which was running at the time). Since the play includes a ridiculous goverment decree, it was a sentiment that I knew would resonate with our audience.
Text: You want the king declaring no women allowed? If not, get out and vote for democracy.
Office life
Behind-the-scenes office-life posts build trust and can really help make a connection with your audience. With humor being a part of the SSC brand, I had fun with these posts.
Text: When the sign says “Cookies by John” (Executive Director and baker extraordinaire) but you’re in for a sad surprise. Very #Shakespearean.
Text: We celebrated another year of bringing Shakespeare to life with a delicious brunch at Portage Bay Cafe. The best thing about marketing for a theatre company is that your colleagues know how to look great in pics.
Naghma Husain 