Online Media Buying

I am still going through my notes from the conference and I have even more information I can share with you.  Today, let’s talk about online media buying.

The online sales & marketing session speakers at the Event & Arena Marketing Conference were Joyce Szudzik from AEG Live Interactive and Brandon Lucas with Carbonhouse.  The panel discussed what is working with online marketing.

For example they mentioned that local newspaper dotcoms are good online opportunities.  I agree with them. We all know that newsprint versions are on a major decline, yet we still want news.  In the market where I live, Boston.com is the number one local website.  I check that site everyday even if I already read the newsprint version of the Boston Globe. 

The online versions of newspapers, TV, and radio stations are always looking for ways to promote themselves.  This is where promotional opportunities from you come in.  Whenever you are pitching any local media outlet, make sure you get a promotion on their online sites to compliment the deal you have with their main media version.

The panel gave some sound advice on what to ask for when buying online advertising:

1.  Buy “above the fold”.  When an online reader clicks on the web page you want your ad visible in full without the reader having to scroll down.
2.  Find out what pages get the most traffic from your potential customer.  It may not always be the home page.
3.  Find out the S.O.V. (share of voice) of the buy. On major websites you may only get 5% but on smaller sites it could be 40% to 50%.
4.  See if you can run video.  Running your 15 second spot on the website will create great online exposure.

I Will Always Remember When

He was a young superstar talent performing with his brothers at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in the 70′s.  My brother and I were little brats hanging out backstage while our dad handled the PR for the Center.

While backstage, we were hanging out with Michael’s younger brother Randy.  We were running around in the big rehearsal hall when Michael came in.  He saw the piano in the corner and sat down at it.  We sat next to him.  He asked me if I knew how to play piano? I didn’t, so he started showing me.  What a cool picture that would have made.  Four young kids sitting on a piano stool playing.

A few minutes later, members of the Jackson family came in looking upset.  You see, there were always security concerns when it came to Michael.  He had left the dressing room and no one knew where he was.  We knew, he was being a kid and having fun with us. 

Once they realized everything was fine, they told the boys that it was time for dinner.  They asked us if we wanted to eat with our new friends too.  So the four young kids that were running around backstage went to the Green Room to have dinner.  To this day, I even remember what we had.  We had KFC (one of my favorites). 

Even though I am sure Michael or his brothers would never remember this story, it is one of my childhood memories that will always stay with me.  Just four young kids hanging out backstage on a piano stool and having fun like kids do.

Use Your Marketing Skills for You

One of the biggest surprises for me at this year’s Event & Arena Marketing Conference was the amount of unemployed event marketers.  I know the recession has done damage to our business but I didn’t realize how much. The percentage of the unemployed at this year’s conference was really high.  We are talking about very talented people.  For those event marketers out there looking, I dedicate today’s post to you.

As event marketers you know how to market. You write your marketing plan, pitch your media deals, and put your marketing into play.  Now you find yourself looking for a new job.  I am sure part of your daily search routine includes checking the internet job sites, making phone calls to your contacts, and reading the trades.  But what else are you doing?  How can you apply your event marketing skills to marketing you?

Marketing Plan

If you write a marketing plan for your shows, why not try it for yourself?  Make yourself the event.  Put everything down just like you would for a show.  Write down all the stats.  This should include what is happening in your industry.  If you are looking in a certain market, research the market. Who are your potential employers? What are their goals?  What are their needs?

Media

Write down your media plans.  No, you don’t have to buy TV, radio, or billboards.  That would be cool if you could afford it.  I did see where someone did this recently.  But you can afford to use non-traditional (21^st Century) marketing.  Use the internet and social networks to promote yourself.  The key to the internet is having your name everywhere.  Your goal is to have your name rise to the top of the Google search.  You don’t want to this happen only when someone searches your name.  You want your name to show up on marketing searches.  You want your name (brand) to be associated with marketing.  This blog is a perfect example. My name and this blog show up in marketing Google searches all the time.

You need to use Facebook, Linkedin, and Twitter.  Linkedin has become the number one online social tool for the unemployed.  It is designed to post everything you have ever done in the professional and educational world. They also have a job finding tool. Being active on these social sites will also promote you on Google searches.

Promotions

Why not create promotions around you?  I am not kidding on this.  Why not offer a contest for free marketing services?  Offer this contest to any company or industry that you are interested in.  This will get your name out there, tell them what you offer, and someone will win a free taste of your expertise.

If you skip over everything I just wrote then remember one thing:

You are re-building and marketing the brand called “You”!

Engage In Online Conversations

As with last year’s Event & Arena Marketing Conference, everyone at this year’s conference wanted to hear about non-traditional marketing.  Why are we still calling it non-traditional marketing?  This is 21st Century marketing.

Everyone wanted to know how to use Facebook and Twitter for their venue or show. The key to social network marketing is starting and engaging a conversation.  Web 1.0 was all about one-way communication (websites).  Web 2.0 is two-way communication.  Getting your fans/customers involved in the show or event is the best kind of marketing. If you use Facebook, you may have been invited to join something or go to something.  You can respond to the invite with yes, no, or maybe. 

Peer marketing is an important key.  Think about when you were in high school.  How many times did peer pressure come into play?  Why not engage your fans and ask them to tell their friends?  “I am so psyched to see … you need to go see them too”.

Reward is always a good incentive for spreading the word.  Give them a reason to talk about your event online.  Ticketmaster has created a new program called Ticketmaster Street Team.  You can spread the word about upcoming TM ticketed events. When someone you told buys a ticket (you have to prove this) you get paid a commission.  This is a virtual street team using the internet.  This program is perfect for Facebook and Twitter users.  It also works great for mommy bloggers. 

Many marketers are afraid to create conversational opportunities.  They don’t want people to say bad things about them.  If you are one who thinks this way, you need to get over it.  Today’s internet is going to spread the good, the bad, and the ugly anyway.  Don’t you want the opportunity to talk back or even let your fans talk back for you?  The “boo birds” will always be out there. Why let them voice their opinions alone?  I would rather they say it in my forum then someone else’s.

Email: It’s All In The Message

I like email marketing as long as it’s not spam.  I like it for the direct marketing it offers.  If a potential customer has openly given you their email address, they know that you may send them email.  If they decide they don’t want email from you anymore, they opt out.  Always make sure you honor their wishes.  Don’t send spam!  If you buy email lists, make sure these lists are potential customers that have given permission to be on email lists.  When I get spam, I immediately put them in my “junk mail” list and I never see them again.  Do you want to be a brand that customers think is annoying?

I look at email marketing like roadside billboards.  You have just a few seconds to get their attention.  Like billboards, you can accomplish this either with artwork or with a few key words. You want to grab their attention and get them to read on or click the link you inserted.  If you don’t peak their interest or if you make them work to understand your message, then you will be deleted in the blink of an eye.  I don’t know about you but I get at least a hundred emails a day.  I don’t have time to read all of them.  I look for the ones I am interested in.

Make sure the message is understandable.  Don’t confuse your reader.  I received an email last week from a minor league sports team.  The subject line read: “Buy 2, Get 2 at 50% off”.  I opened the email and took a look.  Again, the headline of the artwork gave the offer.  I then asked myself, buy 2 of what?  Why do I have to have to buy 2 of something to get 50% off on the other two?  The offer was on eight game packs. I am still confused with the offer. Why can’t I buy two and get one free?  If I am in the ticket marketing business and I am confused, imagine what the average customer is thinking?  Sometimes when we create the marketing message we are too close to it.  Give it to someone else to read.  See if they get it.

How Do We Convince Them To Buy?

How do we convince our customers to buy tickets to our events?  This is most likely the number one question that event marketers ask.  Here are four answers:

1. Right product
2. Right price
3. Correct message
4. Know your customer

Long before you put the show on sale or even produce the show, you should ask yourself and others “will this sell tickets”?  Do the homework.  Is there a market for this event?  Over the years I have seen many events that should have never gone out.  Just because you like the idea does not mean it is ready for the world.  Research the trends. 

Instead of discounting all the time, why not just price the event correctly from the start?  If your price is too high then you will get push back from the customer.  In turn, this causes you to discount.  If we get the consumer used to discounts then they just wait for them. It can also send the wrong message.

If you are a marketer then you should know how to market your event.  Write a marketing plan.  It really does help!  When I first started in the business, I hated writing marketing plans.  Today, I totally understand why they are so important.  This becomes your bible for the correct communication for the event. How does your customer receive his/her communication?  Go where they are, not where you think they are.

If you don’t know your customer, you can’t sell the show.  This goes back to the marketing plan.  When you start the plan, research your potential customer.  What are the demographics? Why will they buy your product? What do they like and dislike?  How do you communicate to them? Where do they hang out? What are their income levels? What will they pay for your event? 

Did you notice that it all goes back to “know your customer”?

Have a great weekend!

Did You Know? – Thursday

Did you know that scout groups represent $1 million a year to just one touring family show?  Group sales peeps for all shows and events really need to go after the scouts.  I bet you could find scout interest in almost all your shows?  Just make sure you give them a patch or a pin. 

Did you know you have a better chance of getting media attention if you can spin your event to the economy?  The media loves any story about the recession (good or bad).  Make sure you have at least one story to pitch that ties your event into the recession.

Did you know Ticketmaster has a program called PaperFast?  Promoters and venues can use this service to distribute tickets (papering the house) free (except service fees) through a special code on Ticketmaster.  I discussed this back in January. I brought this up again at the conference last week. Most in the room were unaware or they didn’t want to talk about it. 

Did you know Ticketmaster has an affiliate network that is tied into social sites and the mommy blogs?  With this system they can get the word out on special offers to niche groups.  How come they didn’t offer this to me when I was promoting the Thomas and Friends Live dates?

Did you know that cable companies are always looking for On Demand content?  Why not give them a video of pre-produced show to offer free to cable customers? Use it like an infomercial.

Did you know that face to face communication is still the best way to seal a deal?

Did you know this blog celebrated its 200th post yesterday?

TV And Cable – What To Buy / Not To Buy

During the general session of this year’s Event & Arena Marketing Conference there was a discussion about media buying.  In particular was television. The panel discussed what they thought was working and what was not working for them. 

Based on the discussion from the panelists, there has been an attitude change toward television.  In the past, it was normal practice to buy local programming including the news. We could never afford prime time.  Based on the panel discussion this has changed. 

If you are a family show, then your demographics are usually moms and kids.  Members of the panel felt that moms watch prime more then any other programming times.  Who is watching Ellen, Oprah, and The View, unemployed men?  What does this mean for our TV buys?  Can our marketing budgets handle prime programming?  The decision comes down to reach and frequency.  If we put the TV budget into prime, don’t we start losing frequency?

Members of the panel did agree that we shouldn’t buy local news.  The bottom line – “it’s depressing”.  If you become depressed at what see on the news, are you more likely not to buy?  When I first heard this, I agreed.  But the more I thought about it, the more I realized this could be good for ticket sales.  Remember, we are the “escape” from all the shit going on around us.  If we have the right product with the right price, we will sell tickets.  Look at Hollywood during this recession. 

One member of the panel said he doesn’t buy cable.  He thinks prices are “outrageous”.  While I agree all TV advertising is way out of whack, I totally disagree about not buying cable.  One reason that cable prices have gone up is because more people are watching cable.  Local TV stations and the major networks numbers have been dropping while cable ratings are rising.  Cable gives us the opportunity for niche marketing. You have cable networks for every demo.  No matter what type of show, event, or sports team you market you have cable networks that match your customer.

While I may not agree with everything the panel had to say about TV marketing, I am thrilled that we are talking about it.  We all need to put on our thinking caps and change the way we market.

Same Brand, “All New Show”, Who Cares?

Last week at the Event & Arena Marketing Conference a panel of family shows and Ticketmaster discussed several areas from ticket sales patterns to marketing the shows. During the marketing portion, my ears perked up from what I heard about brand awareness.

Unless you are creating a new brand name show or concept, most potential customers know who you are.  The Harlem Globetrotters are a perfect example.  Their brand name goes back 84 years.  So when they marketed the show as “All New Show” no one got it.  When Michael Kenny, Senior VP of Live Event Marketing at the Globetrotters said this, I realized this might be the most important statement of that day. 

Using the term “all new show” for any of the shows represented on that panel really didn’t make sense.  The panel represented the brands Ringling Bros., Disney on Ice, Stars on Ice, Ticketmaster, and Harlem Globetrotters. If you have an established brand then the customer or fan knows who you are.  The question is, what is going to make them come see you?  Saying ”all new show” means what?  If you are the Globetrotters, the customer knows you are the most fun and famous basketball team in the world.  If you are Ringling Bros. you are the biggest and most famous circus in the world.  If they skip a year, will they really miss something that is “all new”?

Michael Kenny explained that this was their challenge.  So instead of telling the customers they had a new show (which they did), they decided to market to the parents.  They told mom to remember when they went as kids.  Continue the family tradition and take their kids. This could be termed “brand awareness reminder”.

If you are an established music act and you tour, why does the fan buy a ticket to see you?  You usually tour to promote a new album.  But do you think the fan really cares about that?  No, they want to see you and hear the hits.  If the new album has a big hit while you are touring (i.e. Coldplay Viva La Vida Tour) then great!  Saying come see me because I have a new album is not the right marketing tactic. 

Market your message to what your customers want to hear, not what you want to hear.

What We Learned From Obama Marketing

I’m back from the Event & Arena Marketing Conference and I have lots of notes to share.

I had the privilege of speaking on a panel with Jim Delaney of Activate Sports & Entertainment.  The title of the panel discussion was “Applying Obama’s Marketing Lessons to Your Next Event”.   Below, I have posted the 10 things we discussed and you can use today.  I have included my notes for each.

1 ) Vision & Strategy

• Think about what you want to do
• Write a marketing plan for every event you market
• Don’t just do the same thing for every event
• Write down your goals

2 ) Attitude & Image

• We need to be cool!
• Be positive about all events.  If you think the event is going to suck, it will suck.  Your attitude always comes out.
• If you are a venue – your venue is where the best events play
• If you are a show – show off your features.  Why does the customer want to see you?

3 ) Consistent Branding

• Make sure you don’t send out mixed messages
• Your marketing materials should have the same “look & feel”.  Don’t let different departments play graphic designer.  If you don’t have a graphic’s person, then hire a company to help you.
• Don’t keep trying to re-event yourself.  Ask Tropicana Orange Juice how the brand artwork change worked for them? It lasted month!

4 ) Collect People

• Create your community
• Having a “signup” button on the website is not enough
• Give people a reason to join you
• Collect via web, texts, contests, person to person, social
• Once you do collect them, use it!

5 ) Niche Demographics

• After you create the community, create the neighborhood.
• Every event has a niche group. 
• Go for the low hanging fruit

6 ) Leverage Online Tools

• Take advantage of Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, etc…
• Create a seamless message between all of them

7 ) Engage in Conversation

• Get your customers involved
• The recent KISS tour routing promotion is a perfect example of fan involvement
• This is where social media sites work their magic

8 ) Don’t be Afraid to Ask for the Sale & Feedback

• Common thread through this conference is “ask”.  The worse someone will say is no.
• Customers are telling us what they want.  Listen to them.
• Once you get feedback, do something with it.

9 ) Thank You!

• Find a way to thank every customer.  Do this via ushers thanking on the way out.
• Email thank you notes to all online customers
• Send out personal thank you notes to all group sales leaders
• Put a “thank you” pop-up on the venue website

10 ) Evolve

• As our customers change, we need to change with them
• Marketing has changed.  Evolve your thinking.
• Don’t be afraid to try something new