Digital Culture Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

In this episode, James Akers interviews the Digital Culture Network Tech Champions Katy Farrell and Nicola Barratt who specialise in Social Media.

We discuss:

• What support is available for creative and cultural professionals in England
• The changes we’ve seen in Social Media over the past 12 months
• Top tips and recommended actions for anyone working in Social

The following links are resources were discussed in this episode:

• Digital Culture Network Knowledge Hub – Over 230 free resources
• What goes into a social media strategy? - A webinar for anyone working in the creative and cultural sector who wants to create a social media strategy but isn’t sure where to start.
• Reaching Your Audience: Making Your Meta Ads More Effective - How to make your Meta (Facebook and Instagram) ads more effective by using a marketing funnel and key tools like Meta Pixels and Audiences. You’ll learn how to move users from the awareness stage all the way to taking action on your website.
• When Gen-Z writes the marketing script: Royal Armouries edition
• Museum Creepy Doll Contest from Colchester and Ipswich Museums
• BRAT vs DEMURE: Classical Edition from Southbank Centre
• Gen Alpha content example: Nutter Butter on TikTok
• Sign up to the Digital Culture Network newsletter

Music by SHAR

In this episode,James Akers interviewsAdam Sykes, the Digital Culture Network Tech Champion for Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Ticketing.

We discuss:

• How CRM systems help organisations collect, manage, and use audience data to improve engagement, marketing, and fundraising.
• The importance of a seamless ticketing process to increase attendance, reduce drop-offs, and enhance customer satisfaction
• Top tips from Adam’s experience in the creative and cultural sector

The following links and resources were discussed in this episode:

• Download the transcript for this episode (Word document)
• Whose CRM is it anyway? – an article exploring how creative and cultural organisations can effectively utilise a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system to manage their audiences.
• Access All Areas: Making ticketing more accessible for everyone – Adam takes you through how to enhance your ticketing inclusivity and ensure equal access for all
• The Ticketing Journey: From Pre-Purchase to Post-Event – webinar recording to learn practical strategies to streamline your ticketing processes and enhance the customer journey, from start to finish.
• Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Platforms – explore a list of relevant systems
• Box office and Ticketing platforms – explore a list of relevant systems
• More than half of arts audiences are first-time bookers – 2024 Tomorrow’s Audience report from Indigo Ltd
• Dynamic pricing could be banned under new federal government crackdown amid pressure on music sellers – Changes to regulation in Australia
• Pearl Jam v. Ticketmaster: What Happened?– why Pearl Jam fell out with Ticketmaster over their operating practices

In this episode, James Akers interviews Jack Roscoe⁠, the Digital Culture Network Tech Champion for Audience Data Collection and Evaluation.

We discuss:

• Designing effective audience surveys by focusing on clear objectives, tailoring questions to different audiences, and utilising tools like Illuminate and Microsoft Forms
• Methods to boost survey participation, including face-to-face interactions, staff training, and creating concise, engaging surveys
• Top tips from Jack’s experience in the creative and cultural sector

The following links and resources were discussed in this episode:

• Download the transcript for this episode (Word document)
• Increase your audience surveys and improve survey data - Jack's webinar exploring tips and tactics to collect more audience surveys for a variety of organisations.
• How to decide your survey targets and improve your sampling - Jack's article including a step-by-step guide to determining an appropriate number of surveys to aim for.
• National Museums Liverpool - Understanding Audiences - an interview with Wesley Thistlethwaite, Insight and Analysis Manager at National Museums Liverpool, on his role working with audience data.
• Freelancer Directory - Arts Marketing Association - a useful resource to find freelancers, including evaluators and audience consultants.
• Tomorrow's Audience Indigo Share: Hot Topic - this sector-wide audience survey makes a number of useful recommendations on how to reach, grow, and better cater to new audiences, backed up with solid data.
• Illuminate by Arts Council England - an overview of Illuminate including links to FAQs and to download a list of the mandatory and optional questions.
• Impact & Insight Toolkit - an alternative platform for National Portfolio Organisations to collect surveys, with templates containing the mandatory questions, along with the ability to write your own questions and more flexibly redesign surveys.
• Culture Counts to Illuminate Conversion Service Guide - a guide to the free survey data export service for Impact and Insight Toolkit users, creating data files that are formatted and ready to be uploaded directly into Illuminate.
• ⁠Connect with Jack on LinkedIn⁠ and enjoy his videos.

In this episode, ⁠James Akers⁠ interviews Ollie Couling, the Digital Culture Network Tech Champion for Digital Marketing and Strategy.

We discuss:

• What is a strategy and why you shouldn't fear one
• Useful frameworks to help build your strategy
• Top tips from Ollie's experience in the creative and cultural sector

The following links and resources were discussed in this episode:

• 5 reasons why creative and cultural organisations need a digital strategy
• Theory of Change (ToC) - A guide and template
• Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) model - Getting started with objectives and key results
• MoSCoW method - 3 Prioritisation Techniques for Arts Marketeers
• What is the Pareto 80/20 principle? - Roughly 80% of consequences come from 20% of causes
• Why are you measuring that? - Webinar recording to learn how to define and track the metrics for different audience actions
• Content strategy development: Aligning content with a marketing funnel - Webinar recording with techniques for developing a content marketing strategy
• Influencer insights: How Mary Spender reached 750k subscribers on YouTube - Article where Ollie interviews George Spender about the process and what he has learned along the way

Music by ⁠SHAR

In this episode, James Akers interviews Dean Shaw, the Digital Culture Network Tech Champion for Content Creation.

We discuss:

• What free and low-cost tools can be used to create high quality content
• How Dean can support you in your content creation skills development
• Top tips from Dean’s experience in the creative and cultural sector

Links and resources discussed in this episode

• Download the transcript for this episode (Word document)
• Smartphone photography: Taking great photos for your online shop (Webinar on Tuesday 8 April 2025) - how to improve your product imagery using just a smartphone and grow your online sales
• Using digital solutions to make your facility more accessible: Ensuring visitors feel confident - This resource explains how videos and images are a great way to communicate your access offer, making sure every visitor feels confident in enjoying the space without the worry of how they'll navigate it.
• From Fandom to Funds: How the Tank Museum is Transforming Museum Fundraising
• Video editing platforms: CapCut, DaVinci Resolve, Final Cut Pro
• Canva for non-profits - Create social media posts, presentations, infographics, thumbnails, reports, posters, flyers and signage - for free.
• Edit it yourself: a practical guide to video editing (on demand webinar) - Learn basic video editing for social media content.
• How to make YouTube, TikTok or Instagram videos your audience will love (on demand webinar) -  Learn how to create short form video content using only your smart phone.
• Crafting audience personas for creative and cultural organisations on YouTube  - An effective way to expand reach and engagement on platforms like YouTube, Instagram, or LinkedIn, is through developing well-defined audience personas. This handy step-by-step guide walks you through the entire process, from start to finish.
• Get the YouTube audience your videos deserve! (on demand webinar) - How to improve you digital content and grow your audience.

Music by ⁠⁠SHAR

In our sixth episode, James Akers interviews Andy Leitch, the Digital Culture Network Tech Champion for Websites.

In this episode, we discuss:

• The evolution of websites over time and options available today
•  Key considerations for anyone with a website and how Andy can help
• Top tips from Andy’s experience in the creative and cultural sector

Links and resources discussed in this episode

• Download the transcript for this episode (Word document)
• How to create a simple website on a shoestring! (on demand webinar) - A webinar for artists and smaller arts and culture organisations with limited budgets who need a simple website.
• Looking after your website with limited resources - This article has been written for organisations and individuals who don’t have a dedicated marketing or communications team (or budget).
• How to do a simple health check on your website (on demand webinar) - A webinar for creative and cultural organisations to learn how to perform a simple health check on their website to highlight improvements.
• Testing and improving your website navigation - Tree testing is a quick and easy way to test the effectiveness of your website navigation. It’s a technique that can also test a new website structure you may be planning.
• How to make your website more sustainable with Tom Greenwood (on demand webinar) - A webinar for creative and cultural organisations and individual practitioners to learn about website sustainability and how to reduce their digital carbon footprint.
• Ecograder - A tool to help you evaluate the carbon footprint of your websites.
• Finding the best supplier for your website project - Are you a creative or cultural organisations looking to redesign or improve your website? This article helps you source and select the best supplier to do the job.

Music by ⁠⁠SHAR

In this episode, James Akers interviews Katherine Brown, the Digital Culture Network Tech Champion for Ecommerce and Merchandising.

We discuss:

• What does ecommerce and merchandising mean for the creative and cultural sector
• Why cultural organisations, practitioners and artists should sell online
• Tips to get started and how Katherine can help

Links and resources discussed in this episode

• Download the transcript for this episode (Word document)
• How to grow the audience for your online shop - how creative and cultural organisations and individuals can grow traffic to their online shop, to drive online sales.
• Smartphone photography: Taking great photos for your online shop (on demand webinar) - tips to improve your product imagery using just a smartphone
• Everything you need to know about Print on Demand (on demand webinar) -top tips and best practice for how to develop, strategise and market a successful Print on Demand offering.

In this episode, James Akers interviews Jacqueline Ewers, the Digital Culture Network Tech Champion for Email Marketing.

They discuss:

• What does email marketing mean and why it should be at the heart of your digital marketing mix
• How to avoid the “leaky bucket” syndrome by strategically capturing contact details at every touchpoint
• Why testing is essential to improve results and how Jacqueline can help

Links and resources discussed in this episode:

• Download the transcript for this episode (Word document)
• 10 ways to make your email marketing more sustainable - discover steps you can take to make your email marketing more sustainable
• How regulation GDPR/PECR affects email marketing and why it is important - On demand webinar to learn how GDPR/PECR regulations can support your email marketing and help you grow your contact list.
• Revitalise your email marketing – grow and engage audiences with email - On demand webinar including practical tips and best practice examples to help you optimise your email marketing
• Introduction to email marketing automations - On demand webinar to explore how automations can help you to work more efficiently to achieve your goals
• The five essentials of collecting contact data - find out how to set up and grow, and collect a contact database starting with these 5 essentials
• How to use UTM Parameters to track marketing activity - what are campaign parameters and why are they useful? Also, generate your own links with our template
• Canva for non-profits – Create assets for your emails for free
• Email marketing platforms - a list of providers
• Find more email marketing resources in the Digital Culture Network knowledge hub

Music by ⁠⁠SHAR

In this episode, James Akers interviews Owen Hopkin, Director of New Technologies and Innovation at Arts Council England and Dr Oonagh Murphy from Goldsmiths.

We discuss:

• The journey, challenges, and considerations in formulating an AI policy in a values-driven and legally compliant way
• The creation of a practical toolkit designed to guide organisations in developing their own policies
• The importance of sector consultation and the need for evolving AI policies

Links and resources discussed in this episode:

• Download the transcript for this episode (Word document)
• Responsible AI at Arts Council England – Report on how the Arts Council is using AI responsibly in its internal work
• Responsible AI Practical Toolkit – a framework to help creative and cultural organisations that want to create their own Responsible AI policies and practices
• AI: meeting the challenges and embracing the opportunities – Owen shares Arts Council England’s thinking on AI and what’s coming next
• 2023-26 National Portfolio Organisations (NPOs) – Explanation of how Relationship Manager support National Portfolio Organisations

Music by ⁠⁠SHAR

The next ten episodes will feature award winners from the 2025 Digital Culture Awards, showcasing the very best in digital transformation, digital engagement, and use of technology in creativity and culture across England.

In this episode, James Akers interviews Nadia Sommella, Marketing and Communications Officer from the Barber Institute of Fine Arts about how they redesigned their visitor survey process. With support from the Digital Culture Network, they worked to make data collection more inclusive, accessible, and impactful.

They discuss:

• Why collaborative survey redesigns led to better data
• How introducing digital survey options alongside traditional paper methods improved accessibility and increased participation
• What support was available from the Digital Culture Network

The Barber Institute of Fine Arts was awarded a Digital Culture Network Award in the 2025 Digital Culture Awards.

Links and resources discussed in this episode

• Download the transcript for this episode (Word document)
• Find out more about the award-winning project

Music by ⁠⁠SHAR