This week, we are going to look at how best to stand up, stand out and get noticed in the sea of digital media marketing. Even if you try to keep to the minimal of just Twitter and Facebook, the amount of digital noise can be overwhelming. It can feel like a daily barrage of offers and ads, without ever really resonating with you. Your customers are in the exact same boat, the difference of course is that you have to play the other side as well and get your message heard. In order to get heard, you have to first be relevant.
What are you selling?
This may seem like a basic question. It is and isn't. Of course what you are selling is a show/an experience. But, if you dive a little deeper, you can really hone into the right audience with the right message - helping your message to get views. For theatres and cultural organisations, you might think about what specifically makes your venue different, what is on offer that might really draw in your audience. Is there an opportunity post show for people to hang out your cool bar? Promoting that to the right audience can do wonders for your visibility.
What content do you have? What can you repurpose?
We're all for reusing and repurposing content. Think about how you can take an email campaign and turn it into an Instagram story, as well as a live twitter chat. There can be a multitude of ways to repurpose even old content and make it new again. Not only does this save you time, but it allows you to use your content in different ways for different audiences. One bit of content for many!
Who is the target audience?
Not every show is perfect for every person and audience. Aiming your content at the right audience helps to grab attention and cut out the noise. Don't use the same content and messaging for everyone, change it up to fit the audience profile. Try a few tests as well. This doesn't have to be super formal, you can even test it with friends that fit the user profile. Testing helps to hone your message so you know it will get through.
Make it connected - online and offline need to be on the same page.
If you are also using offline marketing channels, be sure to coordinate them with online channels as well. Consistent messaging across all channels, plus a coordinated effort both online and offline helps to surround your customer and get your message through.
Remarketing and retargeting
Some people use remarketing and retargeting interchangeably. While they are similar in what they want to achieve (bring back a non-purchaser), they are a little different in strategy. Typically retargeting using cookies to drop relevant ads to bring customers:
- User comes to your site
- User browses away from your site without purchasing
- Cookies drop an ad while user is away from your site
- User comes back to site
Remarketing usually uses email to bring customers back:
- User comes to site
- User browses away from your site without purchasing
- Triggers an email workflow with offer or similar to bring customer back
Retargeting and remarketing can be used in combination or separately. What is great is that both strategies are targeting customers who have shown some interest, and can be enticed back - a much easier proposition than finding cold customers. While Expedia is clearly not an arts example, their remarketing ads have hallmarks of the three things your ad/post needs to do to get attention.
The ad/post, is well targeted and engaging (last minute deals), uses an eye catching image, and has a simple CTA (book now).
Real time marketing
Oh man when it works it is brilliant and when it doesn't well . . . Real time marketing uses current happenings, holidays etc., to create engagement. TV events, major and even minor holidays, milestones, politics, newsmakers and even witty retorts are all great examples of real time marketing. The best ones feel real, unforced and are typically funny. Use with caution of course, but certainly worth a try when the opportunity presents itself. Some brands that have really done this well have been FlightRadar24 and their tweet on Friday 13th and flight 666 to HEL.
This is a great timely, funny tweet that got a great amount of viral attention.
Or how about Stoli's great Instagram post on Donut Day featuring an espresso cocktail paired with a donut. A great way to take a random holiday and grab attention.
Personalise content
Personalised content is a powerful way to stand out. Using data to help build personas, you can change your content in subtle and powerful ways to make it personalised and meaningful to customers. Some great examples of personalised marketing are Spotify recommended playlists or Amazon recommendations. Ticketsolve's recommendations feature is another great onsite way to market other products and shows to customers already on your site. Personalised marketing is an area we will explore further in another post, as it is an up and coming area in marketing.
Engage Influencers
Influencers are people in your fan base or elsewhere that have sway in your target audience. The trick here is to get influencers to share your content to get more impact and more eyes and more traffic. For example, if you use Pinterest, good news! Pinterest has low comment levels - though high views. If you comment on an influencers post, they will likely get seen - and can help boost your engagement level on that platform. Taking a closer look at your followers and fans may also dig up influencers, allowing you to engage with them better.
Don't leave good old discounts!
And remember traditional discounts work wonders as well! Weaving old ideas into new ones is a great way to get noticed. For example, consider a "tweet your pic" campaign with an offer of a discount for the most votes/best pics, try location based texts to draw people in. Even a Twitter based customer support strategy can help cut through the digital noise, building your brand awareness and increasing customer engagement.
