14:12:52 Dan Jarvis - Marketing Manager at The Lowry 14:13:34 Before working at the Lowry I worked at the Chinese Centre for Contemporary Arts 14:13:55 In the next 40 minutes we will work through the fundamentals of marketing 14:14:14 We will talk through the processes of creating a marketing strategy 14:14:54 The recording of today's session and the pdf of this presentation will be available on the Curious Minds website at a later date. 14:15:31 Today is not a toolkit on social media advertising, or using search engines. 14:16:31 There are two things around marketing I have noticed. The first is that people tend to people scared of marketing. The second is that people sometimes don't trust marketing. 14:16:48 Our job as marketeers to talk to people in the way that they will understand best. 14:18:03 We will keep coming back to the concept of having who you are speaking to in regards to your audience in mind. 14:18:17 What is marketing? 14:18:21 It's more than posters. 14:18:39 Definition 1: Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large. (American Marketing Association Approved 2017) 14:18:54 Definition 2: At its basic level, art marketing is a systematized process of creating awareness and interest for an artist or artwork that leads to a desire to engage the artist, gallery, or company, to own its products, use its services, or all of the above. Businesses, large and small, use marketing to communicate their offerings, promote their brands, identify new prospects, and strengthen bonds with existing customers. (Art Marketing News). 14:19:29 These definitions are a little jargon heavy so here is my definition: 14:19:39 Definition 3: Marketing is how you tell people what it is you have to offer, and how you prove that your offer is going to benefit them: either through fulfilling a need, or solving a problem. (Dan Jarvis’ brain 2020) 14:20:04 What about communicatins and brand? Are they marketing? 14:20:07 Yes and no. 14:20:20 BRAND: Your reason for being. Your core values. 14:20:40 COMMUNICATION: How you talk about yourself and how do you talk to others. 14:21:11 MARKETING: How you promote the right offer to the right people with the goal that they will engage with it (and hopefully buy it). 14:22:20 Do I need to be a marketing expert to be successful in my business? 14:22:23 Absolutely not. 14:22:32 It depends on the size, capacity and scale of your business and what your goals and expectations are. 14:22:56 You don't necessarily need to throw lots of money or a specialist on your marketing for it to be successful. 14:23:24 EIGHT STEPS TO CREATE YOUR OWN MARKETING STRATEGY 14:23:46 1. What is your USP? 14:23:52 2. Who are your target audiences? 14:23:57 3. What are your goals? 14:24:01 4. What are your target audience’s needs and how can you meet them? 14:24:05 5. What tools can you use to reach your target audience? 14:24:09 6. How can you attract your target audience’s attention? 14:24:12 7. What’s your time frame? 14:24:14 8. Is it working? 14:24:19 What is your USP? 14:24:22 Unique selling point 14:24:38 What do you offer and what makes you stand out? 14:25:03 Keep it concise and easy to understand. 14:25:17 Think of it as your elevator pitch 14:25:26 Practice saying your USP out loud 14:26:08 If you're struggling to pin down what your USP is do some Market research: What do your peers & existing customers think you offer? What are your peers & competitors offering? 14:26:33 We will now refer to a case study 14:26:40 Toni runs a Theatre in Education (TIE) Company 14:26:49 However there are lots of TIE companies – how does Toni stand out? 14:26:53 Toni’s USP is that she specialises in adapting Greek Theatre for Primary and Secondary School ages, covering both history and drama syllabuses. Her business is small and versatile so she can deliver performances and workshops in school settings, non-traditional venues and digitally. 14:27:07 She has taken a broad industry and narrowed down what her business excels at 14:27:32 Who are your existing audiences and who do you want to attract? 14:27:43 There are many ways you can break down existing and potential audiences: 14:27:53 Demographics (age, gender) 14:27:58 Location 14:28:05 Individual customers vs. businesses 14:28:11 Frequency & recency (how much and how recent they engage with you) 14:28:23 Interests and behaviour 14:28:24 What other similar audiences are out there 14:28:50 Look at the information on your existing customers: 14:28:55 Booking data 14:29:00 Surveys to previous bookers, or shared through social media 14:29:04 Digital analytics through Google (for websites) and social media 14:29:13 Anecdotal feedback and evidence 14:29:44 Use the experiences you already have of dealing with your audiences directly. 14:29:45 But also consider what new audiences you want to target. 14:29:50 Case study: 14:30:09 Toni has looked at who she works with and defined three key target audiences – her core audience, an audience with potential to improve and a new audience she would like to grow. 14:30:15 Primary Schools studying Ancient Greece (most successful) 14:30:28 Secondary School GCSE drama students (Some success but could do better) 14:30:43 Families in rural areas (A new audience but after some research from existing customers and online surveys she thinks this may be a great opportunity to bring in an additional income stream) 14:30:51 She can also segment further by existing customers, recommendations & new 14:31:06 Further tips and tools for segmenting audiences: 14:31:10 Create personas for each of your target audiences to help you step into their shoes (like I have with Toni!) 14:31:24 Use existing cultural segmentation tools such as:Audience Finder (audiencefinder.org)Culture Segments (mhminsight.com/culture-segments) 14:32:44 What are your goals and are they realistic? 14:32:51 Create SMART goals that help you get you to where you want to be. 14:33:10 Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Timeframe. 14:33:54 Case study: 14:34:10 Toni wanted to get bookings with three new secondary schools during the Autumn term. 14:34:27 This follows the SMART goal frame 14:34:45 Toni's second goal: To gain 5 star national reviews (not achievable or relevant) 14:34:55 Toni's third goal To successfully engage with secondary schools (nor specific or measurable) 14:35:06 What are your targets audience's needs and how can you meet them? 14:35:29 How are the audiences different from each other and how do you keep them coming back. 14:35:49 In this session we are using the term audience as a catch all term and not just theatre specific. 14:36:06 Use the Marketing Mix (aka the 4 Ps – or the 4 Cs) to identify their needs and what are the most relevant benefits for them. 14:36:24 Product (Choice) – what are your customer’s needs and how can you meet them? 14:36:31 Price (Cost) – What does it cost your customer (the whole experience) 14:36:50 Place (Convenience) – How available and accessible is your offer? 14:37:17 Promotion (Communication) – How do you communicate with your customer. 14:37:44 Case study: 14:38:00 Primary Schools studying Ancient GreeceProduct: Teachers looking for engaging ways to teach pupils about Ancient Greece, but it’s logistically difficult to take year groups out of school. Therefore Toni can offer an In-school performance and workshop package 14:38:22 Price: School budgets increasingly tight so looking for value for money. This combo package of performance plus workshop fulfils two objectives, plus there are no additional costs such as bus hire, parking or additional staff/chaperone time. 14:38:41 Place: Logistically difficult to take children out of school and hard to justify losing a full day’s education, so Toni’s in-school package requires minimal organisation from the teacher. 14:39:02 Promotion: Teachers are often overworked and time-poor. They don’t have time to browse and research so are looking for guaranteed quality and ease of booking. Recommendation is important as well as directly reaching out in a clear, concise way. 14:40:00 There are also examples for secondary schools and Toni's new audiences, which will be shared on the Curious Minds website at a later date. 14:40:27 What tools should you use to reach your traget audience? 14:40:33 First get your base right – this is most often your website but can increasingly take the form of a social media profile or Google business listing. 14:40:42 Look at your base from customer perspective – how easy is it to find what you need and does it work on mobile? 14:40:47 What does your business offer (what is your USP) 14:40:56 Where are you based 14:40:59 How do people get in touch 14:41:01 content 14:41:19 *PLUG KLAXON* 14:41:26 To understand the tips and basics to setting up your website, optimising it for search engines, digital advertising, social media and analytics I would strongly recommend Google Digital Garage: Fundamentals of Digital Marketing Course. 14:41:31 It’s free and you get a certificate! 14:42:07 The course takes about 40 hours but it is broken down into bite sized chunks. 14:42:13 What tools should you use? 14:42:43 • Print distribution (brochures, posters, flyers)• Social Media (organic)• Website• Search Engine Optimisation• Google ads: Search engine ads / display ads Social media ads (targeted),Outdoor advertising (bus stops, digital screens, billboards).Networking (business to business),Profile Events (open days, fairs),Gatekeepers (local councils, industry leaders),Business listings, 14:43:27 Event listings & Partner websites, Press & PR, Discounts and offers, Direct marketing: Emails / phone calls / physical mailing (but make sure you’re GDPR compliant!), Word of Mouth, Ambassadors/Stakeholders (Recommendation), Influencers 14:44:18 Think about which marketing tools you use depending on your target audiences. 14:44:50 As well as audiences, also consider resources: 14:44:56 Time 14:45:02 Money 14:45:11 People & Skills 14:45:43 Be versatile, don’t put all your eggs on one basket and be able to change tactic if things don’t go to plan. Approx. 10% guideline – 10% of business resources and budget dedicated to marketing 14:46:35 How can you attract your target audience’s attention? 14:46:42 Make your marketing messages relevant to target audience, highlighting benefits relevant to them. 14:46:47 Content Marketing: Digital material designed to generate interest and engage online audiences. Not about the hard sell but helping people become familiar with your brand and values through engaging with content that interests them. 14:47:31 Case study: 14:47:36 Animated testimonials from schools Toni has worked with before 14:47:43 Photos and video footage (with GDPR permission!) of Toni’s company delivering workshops with children 14:47:50 A sample from Toni’s secondary school digital resource pack, giving a flavour of what teachers can expect. 14:47:53 An A-Z blog of fun facts about Greek Theatre 14:48:09 What is your timeframe? 14:48:26 There is no definite timescale for a marketing campaign, but always consider how much time your audience needs to make a decision, and the amount of time it takes to produce marketing content.Always remember the 4 stages of marketing, and don’t try and skip to the 4th stage. 14:48:57 1.Awareness – get customers to notice you 14:49:02 2.Information – tell them the information they need to know 14:49:10 3.Desire – make them feel they want what you’re offering 14:49:13 4.Action – they successfully engage with you. 14:50:05 Case Study: 14:50:22 Primary and Secondary Schools often plan a term out and require a lot of process in terms of logistics and financial processes so Toni should start marketing to these audiences several months in advance to build trust and help them plan their upcoming term. 14:50:25 Half term rural families are more likely to leave things until the half term to decide what to do, so the marketing activity should be short and focused on direct sales. 14:50:29 Is it working? 14:50:49 Go back to your SMART goals, are you meeting them? 14:50:53 Use other tools to measure success: 14:50:58 What booking data do you have? 14:51:14 Website and social media analytics 14:51:22 Audience research, survey customers 14:51:25 Measure ROI (Return on Investment) to measure success of marketing activity 14:52:43 Sometimes things don’t work and don’t go to plan – it’s not the end of the world! 14:52:49 Always have a contingency plan and a contingency budget 14:52:54 Regularly review and assess your marketing activity so you can be responsive. 14:52:58 If something is working really well, why not invest more. 14:53:01 If something really isn’t working, try something else. 14:53:06 Case Study: 14:53:25 Toni tried two Facebook ads with digital content. 14:53:33 1) Her testimonials animation got few responses. 2) Her A-Z of Greek Theatre blog got lots of shares but no visits to the 14:53:40 rest of her site. 14:53:44 Toni halted spend on the testimonials ad, and re-invested in boosting her blog post, after updating it to have clearer call-to-actions to visit her website to find out more. 14:54:06 She has had 3 new school bookings using her Referral Discount, so will continue to offer it, as well as offering a discount to any schools that pass on successful recommendations 14:54:10 Recap 14:54:32 1.What is your USP? 14:54:38 2.Who are your target audiences? 14:54:43 3.What are your goals? 14:54:49 4.What are your target audience’s needs and how can you meet them? 14:54:54 5.What tools can you use to reach your target audience? 14:54:59 6.How can you attract your target audience’s attention? 14:55:05 7.What’s your time frame? 14:55:07 8.Is it working? 14:55:14 What can I be doing now? 14:55:43 Create your marketing strategy using these steps 14:55:54 Invest in setting up and updating your ‘base’ (website, social media) 14:56:01 Develop skills – Google digital marketing course! Plus many others. Use this time to upskill yourself 14:56:06 Build up your networks and relationships: especially warm & dormant ones. Chat to people!