Useful articles for actors and performers
5 ways a performer can raise their profile online.
Having a great online presence can certainly help to get you noticed in front of casting directors, agents and producers. Here is our guide to the key platforms you should be on to get noticed.
Actors | 5 online platforms to get you more exposure
Most of us are on some form of social media. Some of us post almost hourly and others have left their profiles to stagnate. However, as a performer, there are some great opportunities to raise awareness about you and what you offer through being active on social media and performer platforms. Having a strong online presence can help your career immensely. Here, we explore some of the best options for creating a strong online presence as an actor in the UK.
Social Media Vs. Performer Platforms
In this article we will cover both performer platforms and mainstream social media. To build your profile, it’s great to have at least some level of presence across a number of platforms to increase your potential reach. Mainstream social sites like Instagram and Twitter are great for a general presence and consistently updating your audience. Performer platforms such as Spotlight are key to have listings to show the industry you are serious about your chosen career. Industry specific sites require less upkeep once your initial listing is live.
Why be online anyway???
It might seem like a lot of work creating your own brand online via social media, but the days of your agent simply having your headshot and sending you for auditions is over. You are now your own brand. While of course your agent is key to getting you the best roles, you can help by building your own profile to strengthen your BRAND with casting directors, etc.
We have all heard of stories of performers being found because of something they did online. Love him or hate him but Justin Bieber was singing into a smartphone in Canada when his world definitely changed. Everyone is their own brand now. From influencers to photographers to personal trainers, if you are looking for people to find you, you need to make it easy to be found!
Most of us are guilty of looking up someone on Google or Instagram and having a look through their feed. Casting Directors are no different. They want to find out more about whoever they are considering for a role whether it be for a role in a theatre above a pub or the next James Bond. You want to have a presence when they come looking.
Why bother you may ask. You may well be super talented and have all the right education and experience but you also know that being an actor is insanely competitive. There are many stories of a part going to the actor with the most followers as they can promote a production. If a casting director has two potential actors for a role and one has 100,00 followers and one has 100, it stands to reason they may be tempted with the one with 100,00 as they can help promote the production.
Create your 'actors life' online persona!
Don’t want to share your life? Everyone outside of this industry thinks that every actor is an extrovert, loves the attention and is super confident. As we know, it can often be the opposite. So what if you are quiet or don’t feel like you have anything to say or want to keep your life private. Well you can of course stay off the more social platforms like Instagram but then you may be missing out. I know of many actors that have a ‘Instagram Life’. That is, an account that shows a part of their life rather than all of it. Think of “The Adventures and chronicles of an up and coming London Actor!” Full of your life as a performer full of optimism for the future (even if you feel like quitting every day!). Thankfully sites like Twitter and Instagram allow you to have multiple accounts so you can keep your “Grumpy burnt out actor” account separate.
It may seem cheesy or contrived but it can certainly help to get you known in the marketplace. Marketing experts will tell you that you have to see a brand or product 9 times before we acknowledge it or remember it. If a casting director thinks they know you from somewhere even if they don’t know quite where, it has to be better than coming in completely unknown.
You don’t have to be Kim Kardasian or Dwayne Johnson with millions of followers. It’s enough to post regularly on the social sites so that you get seen. Below we have outlined some best practices to increase your followers and exposure.
Below is a short overview of the top places to be found as an actor. Some are purely social media sites with others being actor specific. Even if you don’t feel that an actor platform is right for you, it’s worth spending 5 minutes setting up a profile.
Unlike The Rock, You dont need Millions of Followers!!!
You really don’t need to have an army of dedicated followers. Through regular creation of interesting and relevant posts will grow your audience steadily.
Performer Platforms
What is it: the premier casting site in the UK. Spotlight is a directory of professional actors and performers.
Spotlight is the only platform on our list that has specific requirements to join. Rather than just signing up, uploading an image and applying for castings, Spotlight requires that you either have sufficient working credits or have attended an accredited drama school.
So why bother when there are so many other websites out there. Well Spotlight is the de-facto casting site in the UK used by all the leading industry professionals from casting directors and producers through to agents. In fact many agents websites purely point to your Spotlight profile when a visitor clicks on your image. Spotlight lists all your credits from stage, screen, short film, etc and also outlines your education and skills. Since going online only (it used to be physical books!) you can now upload multiple headshots plus a link to your showreel.
If you want to be taken seriously as an actor, Spotlight is the place to be. Many agents won’t work with those that don’t have a listing.
Pros: Industry leading casting site that only lists actors with a proven track record or accredited training
Cons: 1. If you don’t have the education, it can be tricky proving your experience to gain a listing 2. The price 3. Profiles are not visible in Google listings
Costs: £158 per year
Criteria to join: You have at least four professional credits in featured, speaking roles in full-length film, television or theatre productions OR You have graduated with a minimum of a year’s training from a full-time accredited drama school or University course
Castings? Yes
Upload headshots?: Yes
People to follow: n/a
Content ideas: Ensure your credits are up to date either by doing it yourself or have your agent update your listing
How to increase your followers: Spotlight doesn’t have a system to gain followers. However, you can post your PIN (your unique page on Spotlight) to all your social media bio’s.
What is it? Mandy is an international casting site used by performers and productions to work together on paid for and free projects. If you are multi skilled (as many performers are!) then Mandy.com is great for you. It not only lists actors, singers and dancers, it also has profiles for film and TV crew, promo staff and supporting artists. Your profile includes all your credits as well as images, statistics and contact details. Jobs can be emailed to you or are searchable on the site by type, location, keyword, etc. There is also a forum and a service directory to help you access the best services to help your career.
Pros: Lots of varied jobs from serious acting roles to one day promo jobs. Google searchable profile and a supportive community
Cons: Anyone can join so the competition for jobs can be very high.
Costs: See website for details
Criteria to join: None
Castings? Yes
Upload headshots? Yes
People to follow: n/a
Content ideas: Make sure you fill out your profile with as much information as possible.
How to increase your followers: n/a
What is it? Similar to Mandy.com, StarNow is a casting and talent directory website giving performers a chance to promote themselves while finding paid and unpaid roles and ‘Survival Jobs’. StarNow is great for those getting started in the industry as there are plenty of collaborative roles with other creatives to help you gain experience. With an international reach, there are plenty of opportunities for a wide range of skills both in front of the camera and as part of the crew.
Pros: Great opportunities to work with other creatives on both paid for positions as well as TFP (Time for Print. Essentially everyone works for free but as the artist you receive the images or video footage)
Cons: Anyone can join so the competition for jobs can be very high.
Costs: Up to £9.99 per month
Criteria to join: None
Castings? Yes
Upload headshots? Yes
People to follow: Search for actors, performers, etc in your location to build a community around you.
Content ideas: Add a great range of images as well as links to your social media accounts.
How to increase your followers: Follow other actor and performers and they will often follow you back.
Social Media Platforms
What is it? Of course you know what Instagram is. It’s the image sharing micro blogging site with over 1 Billion active users! The Rock, The Kardashians and pretty much every other famous person uses it to promote themselves and their brand. As a emerging actor, it can be tricky to create enough content to get noticed. Apart from what you have for dinner or a night out, it can be difficult to post original content all the time. Instagram’s algorithm likes users that post often and engage with other users. Its often good to have a theme to your postings. Think about what makes your story different. The life of an emerging actor is full of classes, work, theatre & cinema trips, etc all that are relevant to where your career is going. Almost no one ever asks to take a behind the scenes image at a headshot shoot to post on their social which is a shame because It’s an ideal opportunity for some new content!
Pros: You can potentially reach thousands of people across the world that may in some small way help you to develop your career.
Cons: Coming up with consistent content can be tricky. The competition is huge!
Costs: £0 (Time and effort to post and cultivate a following)
Criteria to join: None
Castings? Not really
Upload headshots? Yes
People to follow: Be careful not to follow too many or it will make it difficult to engage. Have a clean out occasionally of those that you no longer want to follow. Follow your favourite actors as well as friends and industry professionals you would like to connect with in the real world.
Content ideas: Try and post at least once per day. Have a theme for every day. “Headshot Monday”, “Audition Tuesday”, etc. If you go on holiday, create a ton of images and then post them slowly over time.
How to increase your followers: Post regularly, comment on other peoples posts that are not following you. Post to stories and even IGTV.
What is it: I am sure you know already but Twitter is of course the micro blogging site that has been around for years. Twitter seems to divide many people. From those that love it and contribute all the time to those that find it clunky. It’s true that its very popular with journalists but it’s also used a huge amount by performers, agents, venues, casting professionals, etc.
For building your own brand, you can share thoughts, photos, adventures with your audience as well as fill out your profile to include your Spotlight, etc. links. You can talk about any auditions, successes (and failures) that you experience as well as message people directly.
Pros: Lots of performers, venues, influential people to follow as well as some castings, ticket releases, etc
Cons: 1. Hard to stand out as there are so many performers using it 2. The search is not intuitive and gives mixed results 3. It is seen as outdated compared to other social platforms
Costs: £0 (Time and effort to post and cultivate a following)
Criteria to join: An email address
Castings? Yes
Upload headshots? Yes
People to follow: Your favourite performers plus for castings check out:
https://twitter.com/OpenAuditionsUK
https://twitter.com/ukcastinghub
https://twitter.com/hashtag/castingcall?lang=en
https://twitter.com/hashtag/auditions?lang=en
https://twitter.com/hashtag/castings?lang=en
https://twitter.com/search?q=%23auditions
Content ideas: Post about your life as a creative. Any auditions, classes, theatre visits, anything that adds to you being a performer. Possibly keep politics and religion off the table for this account. They are subjects that can cause clashes especially online!
How to increase your followers: Post often, use images, engage with your followers, retweet posts you like, offer help and guidance where you can. Follow people that you hope may follow you back.
There are of course literally hundreds of performer and social media platforms that you can promote yourself on. In future articles, we may go into more detail as platforms prove to be useful for actors and performers. Here are a few more options to consider.
Backstage: Mainly US casting and performer platform with lots of useful articles and information. Growing in popularity in the UK
Facebook: One of the longest standing social platforms. Great for networking with other actors from your personal page. Also you can build an audience with a professional profile.
YouTube: Creating content for Instagram, Twitter and your own website? Post the videos to YouTube. It is the world’s second biggest search engine!
TikTok: The new kid on the block(ish). Now is the time to gain followers quickly. Short videos produced often seem to add to follower growth.
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