Building a Full-Funnel YouTube Strategy for Dance Theatre of Harlem

Dance Theatre of Harlem (DTH) was founded in 1969 at the height of the civil rights movement and has since grown into a globally acclaimed institution. With a professional Company, a world-class school, and far-reaching community engagement programs, DTH carries forward a mission of access, excellence, and representation in classical ballet.

For their annual New York City Center engagement, DTH set out to do more than drive ticket sales—they also wanted to build awareness, diversify their paid media mix, and make full use of their growing library of compelling video content.

YOUTUBE: VIDEO AS A VEHICLE FOR VISIBILITY

YouTube was a central part of our approach, and for good reason. DTH had a wealth of dynamic vertical and horizontal video content—performance highlights, interviews, and behind-the-scenes footage—ready to capture audience interest. Our goal was to put that content to work in a way that built momentum throughout the campaign.

We also leaned into YouTube Shorts to take full advantage of vertical video. These shorter clips were served to bottom-of-funnel audiences (to give mobile viewers a quick, compelling way to connect with the Company’s energy), and helped set the stage for deeper engagement.

We started with a video views campaign that ran during the first month of promotions. This early-phase effort served two purposes: it introduced audiences to DTH’s artistry and helped us build a large, engaged video viewer audience we could retarget later.

In the second phase, we used the video viewer audience we’d built—more than doubling from 119K to over 261K—as a signal in a Performance Max campaign and as a primary target for a Demand Gen campaign focused on conversions. This two-step strategy helped us pair broad awareness and storytelling with performance-driven outcomes.

THE TAKEAWAY

Dance Theatre of Harlem’s campaign is a powerful example of how YouTube can support both awareness and conversion goals when used strategically. By prioritizing visibility up front and retargeting engaged viewers later, we helped DTH build a campaign that was as efficient as it was expressive.

THINKING ABOUT YOUTUBE FOR YOUR NEXT CAMPAIGN?

Let’s talk about how video can do double duty, building buzz and driving action for your next performance or season.