2021 saw The Royal Ballet School launch its new digital strategy, which involved the revamp of several digital platforms. The School’s Commercial Director Carol Dray crafted the strategy to optimise communications and enable the School to better connect with its followers. Here, we’ll explore the insights that The Royal Ballet School drew from the COVID-19 pandemic when developing its digital strategy and how the School has overhauled its digital resources and platforms to better engage with its audiences.
The Impact of COVID-19
The Royal Ballet School’s digital strategy considers the impact that COVID-19 has had on the ways that we access information. In particular, the School noted that COVID-19 triggered a rise in online activity and that people of all ages became more reliant on digital channels to support their work, education, and leisure. The new strategy reflects the School’s prediction that many people would continue consuming content digitally (as well as in person) when the world transitioned to a post-pandemic “normal”.
The Royal Ballet School’s New Digital Strategy
When implementing the new digital strategy, The Royal Ballet School developed its digital resources and platforms, including its social media accounts. The School already had a strong social media presence before the pandemic, but the new strategy has seen the School optimise this presence further by learning more about its online audiences and increasing engagement with these followers.
On top of this, the School adopted a Test and Learn approach, which involved trialling new ideas with existing ideas to cultivate an effective strategy. It also hired a dedicated digital marketing manager to oversee the School’s digital focus and upskill its team. The School then upgraded its website to better represent its brand and improve user accessibility; opened an online shop to raise its e-commerce profile; and established a Video on Demand platform to share key lessons, talks, and interviews with its wider audiences.
The Royal Ballet School’s Website Revamp
Before launching its digital strategy, The Royal Ballet School had attracted more than 300,000 users to its website. Since then, the School has:
· Optimised the site’s loading speeds and ease of navigation so users can find the information they need.
· Mobile-optimised the site so users can access the content on any device.
· Extensively researched audience segmentation and mapped new user journeys.
· Updated its content to ensure the website acts as a “shop window” into the School’s dance world, showcasing both the School’s brand values and its reputation as a centre of excellence.
The Royal Ballet School’s Online Shop
In November 2021, The Royal Ballet School also opened an online shop to make its products easily accessible. The School has consistently grown its product catalogue over recent months and now stocks a wide range of:
· Hoodies and t-shirts.
· Environmentally responsible dance and activewear (in collaboration with the dancewear brand Dansez).
· Dance equipment.
· Carefully crafted commemorative items for the School’s fans and supporters.
The Royal Ballet School sells only the highest-quality products and prides itself on working with suppliers who have sound ethical and sustainability credentials.
The Royal Ballet School’s Video on Demand Platform
Over the past few years, the popularity of subscription on-demand platforms has soared, especially given the rising demand for at home entertainment and e-learning programmes during the pandemic. Demand has been particularly high for virtual dance, fitness, health, and well-being programmes that audiences can consume and use to connect with broad, virtual communities at their convenience.
Implementing a Video on Demand platform has helped The Royal Ballet School raise awareness of its training curriculums and ground-breaking healthcare programme and engage with new audiences. The School has underpinned its global reputation as a leading classical ballet school with high-quality video and course content for its online audiences. The flexible platform enables on-demand live stream and subscription programmes that users can browse from their accounts. Users have lifetime access to their purchases.
When The Royal Ballet School launched the platform, the School employed a filmmaker and filmed initial content for the platform over the course of a month. This content featured:
· Ballet, contemporary dance, and Pilates classes taught by the Artistic staff to a variety of age groups.
· Q&A sessions and insightful talks from the Healthcare Team and Artistic Director.
Users can purchase these virtual sessions individually or in packages designed for different age groups.
By the end of 2021, The Royal Ballet School had also launched its Video on Demand Platform to a group of previous Summer School Intensive Course applicants. The School asked these applicants for feedback on the video content to inform its next phase of content creation and film development.
As the School continues to shape its digital offerings, users are enjoying more and more content from the world-leading ballet school.
Learn more about The Royal Ballet School.
About The Royal Ballet School
The Royal Ballet School has produced generations of infamous dancers and choreographers, such as Darcey Bussell, Jonathan Cope, Margot Fonteyn, Kenneth MacMillan, Anya Linden, Steven McRae, and Lauren Cuthbertson. The School’s carefully crafted eight-year course combines classical ballet training with a variety of other dance forms, academic curriculum, and a thorough pastoral and healthcare programme. Many dancers go on to perform for The Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet, and other leading dance companies around the world.
