Cape Town City Ballet's dance with digital

2 Sep 2020

When doyenne of the South African dance landscape Debbie Turner took over as CEO of Cape Town City Ballet in late 2018, one of her goals was to transform the digital presence of the renowned company. To guarantee the longevity of the company, Ms Turner understood that to attract and engage younger audiences, digital would need to be among her priorities. Ms Turner enlisted Arora Online as a digital partner since the boutique agency is known for its experience within the theatre and arts industries. How could Arora Online help the oldest ballet company in the Southern Hemisphere take exciting new strides with its digital footprint?

Cape Town City Ballet's dance with digital

Recognising that Cape Town City Ballet’s fans are highly engaged on social media, Arora Online focused here first, ensuring that social branding was consistent and premium. As one of Cape Town City Ballet’s aims is to reach new audiences, Arora Online understood that a strong paid media strategy would need to support all social media posts, to ensure that the fresh, exciting new content reached the feeds of both the traditional ballet audience, as well as younger, more diverse South Africans.

Social media trends like the #dontrushchallenge were embraced, demonstrating the vibrancy of the company. Arora Online guarantees that influencers have become a regular feature of dress rehearsals, driving hype and awareness of productions. Digital programmes were introduced so that audiences could access the beautiful show programmes on their phones, and SnapScan was launched to drive digital sales of print programmes. Lead generation campaigns were established to fuel database growth and make audiences eager to sign up to receive the company’s engaging email newsletters.

In 18 months, these efforts saw the much-loved company’s Facebook page grow from just over 7,000 followers to over 12,000, with Instagram followers more than doubling from 2,233 to 5,341. Social media posts reach over 300,000 South Africans on average each month. The database of email newsletter subscribers grew from several hundred to over 12,000. A YouTube account was created for the company, which now has over 11,000 video views.

As CEO Debbie Turner explains: “Arora Online has been looking after the digital brand strategy needs of Cape Town City Ballet for the past 18 months. Social media and paid media marketing have been a focus of their work for our company, and I have found the service to be unremittingly innovative, on time, creative and invested in our product. The service is personal and hands on with them running many influencer events for the company. I would highly recommend them as a specialised extension to your marketing strategy.”

Does your business need a fresh take on digital? Get in touch with Arora Online for your free, no-obligations consultation.

Contact us today:

Phone: 082 553 1031
WhatsApp: 066 080 2236
Email: az.oc.enilnoarora@ofni

Or visit our website or Facebook page!

Become a Friend of Cape Town City Ballet for exclusive members-only benefits: https://www.capetowncityballet.org.za/membership-form/

Check out Cape Town City Ballet’s exquisite new dance film that celebrates the sculptural work of William Kentridge, streaming online for only R50 at https://artsfundi.com/