Attracting your Audience: MARKETING 101

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Attracting your Audience MARKETING 101

• Illinois Arts Alliance Conference
• May 15, 2003
• Presented by
• Patricia Joseph Joan Welles

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What is marketing?

• Connecting what youve got with people who
  want/need/value it
• Who you are and what do you have to offer
• Who your customers are and what they need, want,
  value

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Ingredients for success

• 1. Clarify Vision/Mission
• What is it that you want to communicate?
• 2. Identify Target Market/Audience
• Who do you want to reach?
• 3. Specify Marketing Goals
• What results do you want to end up
  with?
• 4. Prioritize Ways to Implement Goals and Set
  Budget
• How will you get the word out and
  what will it cost?
• 5. Create Action Plan to Achieve your Goals
  How to accomplish goals?
  And who? And when?

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Step 1

• Clarify Your Vision
• What is it that you want to communicate?

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Mission
Clarify Your Vision

• Why we exist
• Purpose and values
• Passion that drives the artistic product
• Key constituencies

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Examples of mission statements
Clarify Your Vision
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Test of a good mission statement
Clarify Your Vision
Can everyone on your board and staff articulate
the organizations mission and its activities?
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Defining who you are
Clarify Your Vision

• Distinctive positioning whats compelling?
• Competition compare to other groups or
  activities

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Competition
Clarify Your Vision

• Who are your competitors?
• What are their strengths? Weaknesses?
• How do you compare? Contrast?
• Have you considered other kinds of competition?

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Other kinds of competition
Clarify Your Vision

• Sports events
• TV
• Restaurants
• Leisure Activities

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Compare
Clarify Your Vision
your distinctive positioning with positioning of
competition.
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Importance of Brand
Clarify Your Vision

• Makes you unique and different
• Represents a trusted promise, encapsulates a big
  idea
• Defines you vs. competition
• Repetition implants the purchase idea in the
  unconscious mind where purchase decisions are
  made.

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Strong brands
Clarify Your Vision
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Example of arts brands
Clarify Your Vision
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Step 2

• Identify Target Markets
• Who do you want to reach?

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The attendance equation
Identify Target Markets

• Benefits of the arts experience
• ( or gt) the costs of the experience
• (including ticket price, parking, time spent,
  effort, babysitter, etc.)

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Target market
Identify Target Markets

• Who are they ?
• Demographics, life-stage
• Wants, needs, desires, attitudes, interests
• Barriers, concerns, pressures
• How could you benefit them? Solve a problem?
• What is your image with them?
• How do you reach them?
• How can you segment?

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Segment Attendees
Identify Target Markets

• Sub-segments
• One time
• Multiple/repeat
• Subscribers/members
• Groups

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Learning more about attendees
Identify Target Markets

• Use surveys, questionnaires
• Report on subscribers single sales
  patterns
• Build a customer database
• Talk with audience members
• Conduct focus group
• Observations!

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Other ways to segment
Identify Target Markets

• Attendees (one-time, multiple, subscribers)
• Arts usage (heavy, medium, light users)
• Age (generational marketing)
• Ethnicity
• Affinity

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Building audience
Identify Target Markets

• Retention and renewal
• New single and group sales
• New services or products

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Key concepts in retention
Identify Target Markets

• Audience knowledge - info from sales, surveys,
  class registration
• Recognition
• Belonging, sense of ownership
• Consistency
• Communication - curtain speech, mailing, telephone

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Step 3

• Specify your Marketing Goals
• What do you want to end up with?

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End results
Specify Marketing Goals

• What will success look like? (define it)
• Why do you want this? (reality check goals)
• How will you know when youve succeeded? (define
  measurable results)

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Examples of marketing goals
Specify Marketing Goals

• Increase single ticket sales by ___
• Draw 50 people from Carol Stream area
• Book 3 additional contracted performances
• next season
• Update logo

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Turning marketing goals into Action Items
Specify Marketing Goals

• Bus seniors to one concert
• Give a preview talk at the library
• Use paid ads in the newspaper

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Step 4

• Prioritize Ways to Implement Goals and Set Budget
• How will you get the word out?
• What will it cost?

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Getting the word out
Prioritize/Set Budget

• Whats the best way to reach audience?
• Can we afford this?
• What can and should I pay for?
• What can and should I find pro bono?
• Do our goals require additional staff?

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What will it cost?
Prioritize/Set Budget

• How much time?
• How many people?
• How much money?
• How much of (what) other resources?

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Go where your target is
Prioritize/Set Budget

• not just where other artists are.
• Join local business organizations, womens groups
  (barter)

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Reach your targetaudience with your message
Prioritize/Set Budget

• Take advantage of free publicity
• Who are your targets?
• What is your story?
• How can I get the word out?

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Free publicity opportunities
Prioritize/Set Budget

• Press Releases to Newspapers and Magazines
• Usually need to submit 2 - 4 weeks prior to
  event
• Use specific format
• Send information to local arts/entertainment
  editor
• Calendar Listings to Newspapers and Magazines
• Usually need to submit 2 - 8 weeks prior to
  event
• Send information to attention of the calendar
  editor

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Also free
Prioritize/Set Budget

• Public Service Announcements (PSAs)
• to Radio Stations Cable/Community Access TV
• Check with individual stations for deadlines,
  usually at least 4 weeks prior to event
• Send to Community Relations Director
• Write copy as you want it read include
  pronunciations

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More free
Prioritize/Set Budget

• Cultivate Feature Articles w/ Newspapers
  Magazines
• Write press release 6-8 weeks prior to event
• Call arts/entertainment editor pitch story
• Arrange interviews, as needed
• Photo Opportunities w/ Newspapers Magazines
• Call editor 4-6 weeks prior to event
  request/schedule
• Meet photographer on-site

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Prioritize/Set Budget
Still more free

• Internet Listings
• Growing number of websites w/ cultural calendars
• Listings are almost always free of charge
• Illinois Tourism site is an excellent resource
• Community Newsletters
• Business employee newsletters
• School publications
• Church bulletins

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Evaluating budget levels
Prioritize/Set Budget

• Budget is too high if you spend more than you
  make in return.
• Budget may be too low if
• not spending 15-25 of revenues on marketing
• not spending 61 to acquire new audience as to
  keep old ones
• Expect the unexpected

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Step 5

• Create Action Plan
• How to accomplish goals? And who?
• And when?

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Tests of a good action plan
Create Action Plan

• Highly detailed
• Agreed upon by all interested and responsible
  parties
• Measurable results
• Who
• By When!
• Accountability

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Action plan
Create Action Plan
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Ingredients for success

• 1. Clarify Vision/Mission
• What is it that you want to communicate?
• 2. Identify Target Market/Audience
• Who do you want to reach?
• 3. Specify Marketing Goals
• What results do you want to end up with?
• 4. Prioritize Ways to Implement Goals and Set
  Budget
• How will you get the word out and what will
  it cost?
• 5. Create Action Plan to Achieve your Goals
  How to accomplish goals?
  And who? And when?

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Contacts

• Arts Business Council of Chicago
• info_at_artsbiz-chicago.org
• Websites
• www.artsmarketing.org
• www.artsbiz-chicago.org

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Attracting your Audience MARKETING 101

• Illinois Arts Alliance Conference
• May 15, 2003
• Presented by
• Patricia Joseph Joan Welles