Having problems convincing those at your organization about the marvels of new marketing technologies and practices? You might want to check out Seth Godin's blog entry on Thrill Seekers. I think this sums it up, don't you?
Let me just go on the record and say that Seth's blog is brilliant. I love his observations. While you are at it, check out his blog entitled Where Do You Park?
So now that you have read these two blog entries, which are you: a Thrill Seeker or a Fear Avoider? Do you park right in front or do you park down the street? Now, overall, what type of organization do you work for?
Monday, March 19, 2007
Obstacles increase drama, but kill sales
Back when I was in college, I had to take two years of directing class because I was a theatre education major, and it was well known as a theatre teacher that you would have to direct at least one play a year. I had a professor in my second year that said to heighten the drama, a director needed to increase obstacles which would increase the level of conflict. This approach might work in directing, but the exact opposite is true in sales.
I was invited to speak at a graduate arts management class at George Mason University. One of the things I discussed was the concept of eliminating obstacles. It is very important to get feedback from your prospects, because they will tell you all the potential obstacles in their way. Your job as a marketing professional is to eliminate those obstacles. Make the purchasing process the easiest thing in the world. Take every credit card (unless you get killed in processing charges). Have an online box office so that the insomniacs can order tickets at 2am. Consider offering subscribers a payment plan so that they can make several smaller payments instead of one major one.
When looking at obstacles, remember that perception is reality. For example, when I was working at Virginia Stage Company (VSC), there was a perception that parking in downtown Norfolk was really difficult. Nothing could be further from the truth. The city has over 20 public parking garages and there was a huge mall right across the street that offered parking for $2. Our patrons were remembering a time almost ten years prior when downtown Norfolk wasn't a thriving arts district. However, we had to address their perceptions, so still to this day, VSC operates a very busy valet service.
All things being equal, the company that goes out of its way to eliminate obstacles will fare much better than one who ignores them. If I have to get in my car and deliver your tickets to sell a subscription, then so be it...
I was invited to speak at a graduate arts management class at George Mason University. One of the things I discussed was the concept of eliminating obstacles. It is very important to get feedback from your prospects, because they will tell you all the potential obstacles in their way. Your job as a marketing professional is to eliminate those obstacles. Make the purchasing process the easiest thing in the world. Take every credit card (unless you get killed in processing charges). Have an online box office so that the insomniacs can order tickets at 2am. Consider offering subscribers a payment plan so that they can make several smaller payments instead of one major one.
When looking at obstacles, remember that perception is reality. For example, when I was working at Virginia Stage Company (VSC), there was a perception that parking in downtown Norfolk was really difficult. Nothing could be further from the truth. The city has over 20 public parking garages and there was a huge mall right across the street that offered parking for $2. Our patrons were remembering a time almost ten years prior when downtown Norfolk wasn't a thriving arts district. However, we had to address their perceptions, so still to this day, VSC operates a very busy valet service.
All things being equal, the company that goes out of its way to eliminate obstacles will fare much better than one who ignores them. If I have to get in my car and deliver your tickets to sell a subscription, then so be it...
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Thinking about creating a blog (Part 2)...
If you are thinking about creating a blog for your organization, there is one thing I cannot stress enough: make sure those who will be contributing content have bought into your idea! I have created a couple of blogs for different organizations, and I must say that I have learned this the hard way. Don't get me wrong. I think that blogging is very effective if done right, but that is a really big IF. Many organizations launch blogs and don't do it right, and when the blog fails they blame it on the ineffectiveness of the technology.
Readers of a blog don't want to get hit with your marketing messages! If you try a hard sell technique with every blog, of course your readers are going to start tuning out your blog. You need to offer your readers a reason to read your blog, and a way to do that is to offer exclusive content that they can't get anywhere else. This is the reason that while at Virginia Stage Company, I started to post video clips of rehearsal and "behind-the-scenes" footage on our blog. People want to hear from the artists. They want to see what is going on behind-the-scenes. No matter how effective you are at crafting marketing language, I am telling you now that they don't want to hear from marketing people.
So this leaves us in a pickle. It is a great way to market our organizations and create stronger bonds with our audience, but we have to rely upon our artistic staff (at least in part) to populate the blog with content. So before you launch a blog, make sure that there are several people on your artistic staff that would be willing to take some time out of their day to share their experiences. Without their input, the blog will be boring.
On a side note, in a conversation I was having a little while ago, I heard one artistic person say to a marketing staff member that they weren't interested in blogging because "getting the word out about the show wasn't their job." Let me leave you with these thoughts, and yes they might be a little controversial--if you want a paycheck, or better yet, the opportunity to produce your art, then yes, it is your job! I once worked for a very well known producing artistic director who at every annual meeting said to all the staff "you might work in another department, but remember we all work for marketing and development." And he was an artist! But he understood that in order to produce his work, he had to help with getting the word out. In my experience, I have found that many more artists are willing to help out if given the proper direction than unwilling, but if you get into a situation where the entire artistic staff isn't willing to help market a production, you have a problem. And the organization you work for has a much bigger problem. Just my two cents...
Readers of a blog don't want to get hit with your marketing messages! If you try a hard sell technique with every blog, of course your readers are going to start tuning out your blog. You need to offer your readers a reason to read your blog, and a way to do that is to offer exclusive content that they can't get anywhere else. This is the reason that while at Virginia Stage Company, I started to post video clips of rehearsal and "behind-the-scenes" footage on our blog. People want to hear from the artists. They want to see what is going on behind-the-scenes. No matter how effective you are at crafting marketing language, I am telling you now that they don't want to hear from marketing people.
So this leaves us in a pickle. It is a great way to market our organizations and create stronger bonds with our audience, but we have to rely upon our artistic staff (at least in part) to populate the blog with content. So before you launch a blog, make sure that there are several people on your artistic staff that would be willing to take some time out of their day to share their experiences. Without their input, the blog will be boring.
On a side note, in a conversation I was having a little while ago, I heard one artistic person say to a marketing staff member that they weren't interested in blogging because "getting the word out about the show wasn't their job." Let me leave you with these thoughts, and yes they might be a little controversial--if you want a paycheck, or better yet, the opportunity to produce your art, then yes, it is your job! I once worked for a very well known producing artistic director who at every annual meeting said to all the staff "you might work in another department, but remember we all work for marketing and development." And he was an artist! But he understood that in order to produce his work, he had to help with getting the word out. In my experience, I have found that many more artists are willing to help out if given the proper direction than unwilling, but if you get into a situation where the entire artistic staff isn't willing to help market a production, you have a problem. And the organization you work for has a much bigger problem. Just my two cents...
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