Any business needs marketing. Seems like a really obvious statement right? You have a business with things that need selling so you're going to need to get the word out. I have to be entirely honest, doing the marketing for the company is one of my least favourite jobs and as soon as I have the budget to do so, I will be hiring someone to do it for me. It really does make me look at some of the candidates who scream ‘I'm in marketing' in every task on ‘The Apprentice’ a little differently. Only a little, they’re still on ‘The Apprentice’ after all.But,market I must so where do I start?
Well the first thing that has to happen is to start getting your branding together – your logo etc. Again, this sounds obvious but you really can't do anything until you have something so that does need to be your first port of call. Everything's Rosie's amazing logos were designed by Verity Taylor who has been absolutely incredible to work with. Everything branding was designed by her – logos (both theatre and radio), backgrounds, YouTube opening and ending cards. I was lucky in that Verity was someone Kyle shares a mutual connection with so I didn't have to do all that much looking around but if you don't have a connection like that, I would recommend browsing Instagram or Fiverr until you find someone who's style you really like. As important as getting branding is, it's important that this isn't a step that you rush. It will be everywhere, your social media, your posters, potentially even your wall paper on electronics. You will no longer be able to move without seeing it so be picky and make sure that it's a design you love.
Once you have your product (in my case, a show) then you’re going to want to put some kind of poster together. Ideally, this should be one of the first things you have although I have only managed this properly with ‘Blackbird’ and now ‘Heartache’ so you can get sharing it on social media as soon as possible. Oh yes, as soon as you have branding you need social media – Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok. Last year I would also have said Twitter but.... So anyway, from there you can decide whether it will suit you and your company to print physical posters and leaflets and how many. For me, I will always print at least a few posters and leaflets to go in the theatre (one poster will also be framed and go up on my wall at home afterwards) and then a few more to go up around the local area. I tend to get about 5-9 posters in various sizes and 150 leaflets and see where we go from there. There are plenty of places online where you can put in the specifications and upload the artwork that you want printed or there are still plenty of print shops around that you can go into. There are advantages and disadvantages to both. For instance, if you’re choosing to use an online site then you’ll have to know exactly what you want as you won’t be able to see/hold physical examples of the paper like you would if you went to a print shop and talked to an actual human. On the other hand, an online site is often cheaper. Some print shops offer a design service where you can send in the elements and talk to someone who will put it all together for you, like the shop that did our poster for ‘Kindertransport’.... but an online service often has a quicker turn around. See what I mean? You just need to decide what’s more important to you and never be afraid to shop around a bit. Oh! And make sure wherever you go prints edge to edge (or get familiar with a guillotine).
Right, going back to social media because this is going to be where a huge part of your marketing is going to be happening. Obviously, you’re going to be sharing everything that you’re doing anyway both on your page and related pages but when things start getting really underway (eg you have a cast announcement or a new trailer) Facebook Ads are pretty effective at getting your brand around if nothing else (although sometimes this exposure doesn’t translate into ticket sales). This is where the bulk of your marketing budget (which should be the bulk of your total budget) will be going. Facebook Ads are really simple to set up – you put in your overall budget for that particular ad (you may want several) and it tells you how many people are likely to see it and click on your link. It may cap you after a certain point, especially if you’re a small/less established company, but that will only really be if you go over £750 total across all ads. The other good thing about this is that because of meta, any Facebook Ads will automatically be put on Instagram too. This is pretty much the 21st century equivalent of being an advert in a newspaper (that is still an option of course, but they charge substantially more that Facebook).You can also reach out to people who will talk about your company or give you a shout out if you pay them (or sometimes if you just ask really nicely). Think about it, how many times have you heard your favourite YouTuber say, ‘but first, I’d like to talk about this video’s sponsor....’ and sure, some people might skip it, but some might not. Oh, and don’t forget to ask friends and family to share your stuff on their socials too! Seriously, they’re your biggest marketing drive when you’re small so utilise them.
The last thing that you might want to consider, especially if you have a company website (although these can get a little expensive), is having a weekly blog. That’s right! This is marketing. Yeah, I may not have a show in production or be trying to sell tickets, but a blog keeps people engaged with the company.This is important so that when it does come time to tell people that your new radio play, ‘Heartache’, will be coming out at the end of October and is available for pre-order on the merchandise page of your website, people will be coming to you rather than you going to them. See what I did there? Rather smooth I thought. But seriously, it’s a really good way to gain an audience and is also a bit of marketing that’s actually enjoyable!
Anyway, I’ll stop my rambling and let you get on with your day. I hope you have a good one, whatever you’re doing, and I’ll see you next week.
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