6. Search
engines, blogging and
social media have
fundamentally
transformed the way
people spend their
money.
Brian Halligan
HubSpot Co-founder & CEO
6
7. But most organizations
still use outdated
marketing methods
that people
find intrusive
and screen out.
Brian Halligan
HubSpot Co-founder & CEO
7
8. Audiences everywhere
are tough.
They don’t have time to
be browbeaten by
old fashioned
advertising.
Craig Davis
Chief Creative Officer
J. Walter Thompson
18. Who Is Your Current Persona?
1 Survey your current list
2 Talk to your box office volunteers
3 Interview a few active members
4 Look at whatever data you have
19. Questions To Answer
1 What is their day job?
2 What does a day in their life look like?
3 What problems do they face?
4 Where do they go for information?
What are their common objections to
5 buying from you?
20. Questions To Answer
1 Male or female?
2 Age? Education?
3 Income level?
4 What restaurants do they enjoy?
5 What TV shows do they watch?
21. Persona Profile Checklist
Persona Detail Questions to Ask
Role What is your job role? Your title?
How is your job measured?
What is a typical day?
What skills are required?
What knowledge and tools do you use?
Who do you report to? Who reports to you?
Company What industry or industries does your company work?
What is the size of your company (revenue, employees)?
Goals What are you responsible for?
What does it mean to be successful in your role?
Challenges What are your biggest challenges?
Watering Holes How do you learn about new information for your job?
What publications or blogs do you read?
What associations and social networks do you belong?
Personal Background Age, Family (married, children), Education
Shopping How do you prefer to interact with vendors? (email, phone, in
Preferences person)
Do you use the internet to research vendors or products? If yes,
how do you search for information?
22. 1. Start With Reality
Marie spent 20 years working as a teacher and now
volunteers at the local library. She uses a
computer but doesn’t really get into Facebook –
mostly she checks out websites and reads
email. She likes to go exploring on the trails at the
National Seashore and Audubon preserves, and
when her grandchildren visit her she prefers to get
active and outdoors with them.
John is a high school sophomore who wants to
pursue acting and film in college. He’s also involved
in sports (track, soccer) and is a high academic
achiever. He volunteers for a number of different
organizations, but what he really wants is an
internship that will give him solid work experience in
theater.
23. 2. Make It Fictional
Marketing Mary
VP, Director, or Manager of Marketing
Small or Mid-Sized Company
24. Retiree Renee
Retiree Renee
67, lives in Harwich
2 kids, 5 grandkids
Active, educated, professional
25. Student Sam
Student Sam
Nauset Sophomore
15 years old
Active in drama club and band
26. Grandpa Gary
Grandpa Gary
Assisted living in Chatham
Fixed income
Likes cultural outings with friends
31. Bad Goals.
> I want more traffic to my website.
> My boss wants us to get more online ticket sales.
> I want more butts in seats, maybe 2x what I have now.
Good Goals.
> I want to increase total website visits 50% in the next 6
months so that I can sell more program advertising.
> I want more student membership revenue. I want an
average of 10 more per month over the next three
months.
> To hit my 2013 revenue goals, I know I need to bring in
an average of 50 more full-price tickets each week than I
32. Good Goals.
• I want to change [X metric]
• among [Y persona]
• by [Z quantifiable amount]
• in order to [further some larger strategic goal]
• and
• my deadline for achieving this is [date].
33. Good Goal #1.
• I want to increase memberships
• among Student Sam
• by 50%
• in order to double overall member numbers this year
• and
• my deadline for achieving this is November 1.
34. Good Goal #2.
• I want to increase annual fund donations
• among Retiree Renee
• by 20%
• in order to match operating expenses this year
• and
• my deadline for achieving this is December 31.
35. Good Goal #3.
• I want to increase senior summer ticket sales
• among Grandpa Gary
• by 40%
• in order to help us exceed our annual revenue goals
• and
• my deadline for achieving this is Labor Day.
44. What should we offer?
• A map of nearby activities for kids (Renee)
45. What should we offer?
• A map of nearby activities for kids (Renee)
• Advice on how to give a killer audition (Sam)
46. What should we offer?
• A map of nearby activities for kids (Renee)
• Advice on how to give a killer audition (Sam)
• A list of local senior discounts (Gary)
47. What should we offer?
• A map of nearby activities for kids (Renee)
• Advice on how to give a killer audition (Sam)
• A list of local senior discounts (Gary)
• Merchandise (Who knows?)
48. REMEMBER
1 Keep It “Inbound”
2 Define Your Personas
3 State Your Goals
4 Create Content and Offers
5 Analyze Your Results
Really here to talk about audience building and fund raising for theaters, but in order to do that we need to get into the nitty gritty of Inbound Marketing. Not here to talk specifically about HubSpot’s software, not into sales, more about the theory and practice of inbound marketing. Software is execution, and that’s up to you. The principles can be applied no matter what software or systems you use.
Notice I say “offers” not “programming.” As a theater, your programming (plays, classes, workshops, ticketed events, etc.) are your “product.” If you were a small business and all you ever talked about was your product, people would think you were a major blowhard. You need to offer content – free content – that is of specific interest and value to your target audience, so that they come to trust and admire you enough to want to invest in your product. Remember, if you were a hardware store, you wouldn’t earn trust by plastering “BUY HAMMERS” all over your website. You’d earn trust by offering helpful advice about how to choose the right hammer for you, how-to videos on how to hand paintings so you don’t kill your plaster, blog posts about what else you can do with a hammer and why a person might want to invest in one (instead of constantly borrowing one from their neighbor). Helpful. Useful. Relevant. Free. And targeted to the type of people you know would be the right audience for you. So the first thing we need to do is identify our target personas. Only then can we create content that will turn them on.
Blogging helps you show up on top of search engine results like nothing else. Fact. Nothing else even comes close. You want to rank for “Cape Cod Children’s Theater? Blog about it twice a week for the entire off-season. Watch what happens.
Image http://www.flickr.com/photos/netzkobold/http://themetricsystem.rjmetrics.com/2010/01/26/new-data-on-twitters-users-and-engagement/RJMetrics January 26, 2010
One of the common mistakes companies and organizations make is to not narrow down their target enough. They try to be all things to all people, and thereby they often turn off (or just come off as vague and untrustworthy) to the very target population who should be raving about them. A narrow focus will get you a solid base of adoring fans. A broad focus will get you a semi-reliable pool of tepid attendees. Which would you rather have: fans or attendees? Which is more likely to become a member, donate to your annual fund, remember you in their will? Exactly.
And by identify your target persona, I mean really get into brass tacks about who this person is. Remember, you’re developing a composite sketch of a fictional character. It’s just like preparing for a role. Do some research, and then create a rich backstory.
You’re theatre people. You can do this.
You’re theatre people. You can do this.
At the end, I can give you links to the HubSpot Persona Workbook, which can walk you through the process in excruciating detail. Just ask me for the link at the end.http://www.hubspot.com/free-template-creating-buyer-personas/
You might have very solid reasons for focusing on one of these target personas. Remember, you did your research by asking who was already a big, big fan of yours. Start there – not with the people you WISH were your fans.
marketing maryowner ollieenterpriseerininternet ian
marketing maryowner ollieenterpriseerininternet ian
marketing maryowner ollieenterpriseerininternet ian
marketing maryowner ollieenterpriseerininternet ian
Write. It. Up. Present your personas to your entire team. Talk about them as if they were real (because they are).
Now you’re ready to define your goals.
I like to use the SMART framework for setting marketing and fundraising goals. It helps you focus on goals that are achievable, measurable, and realistic. All good things.
SMART is an acronym that stands for:(go through terms)Specific – is it tied to a number? Is the criteria simple?Measurable – Is it easy to understand if I am achieving this goal, or on track to achieve this goal?Attainable – Given the resources I have available to me (this could mean time, money, or something else), can I actually achieve this goal?Relevant – Is this goal relevant to an overall end result or higher level goal? Is it realistic to assume that if I perform the desired steps that I can achieve these results?Timely – is there a deadline around the goal – a specific time frame I want to achieve it in?
SMART is an acronym that stands for:(go through terms)Specific – is it tied to a number? Is the criteria simple?Measurable – Is it easy to understand if I am achieving this goal, or on track to achieve this goal?Attainable – Given the resources I have available to me (this could mean time, money, or something else), can I actually achieve this goal?Relevant – Is this goal relevant to an overall end result or higher level goal? Is it realistic to assume that if I perform the desired steps that I can achieve these results?Timely – is there a deadline around the goal – a specific time frame I want to achieve it in?
SMART is an acronym that stands for:(go through terms)Specific – is it tied to a number? Is the criteria simple?Measurable – Is it easy to understand if I am achieving this goal, or on track to achieve this goal?Attainable – Given the resources I have available to me (this could mean time, money, or something else), can I actually achieve this goal?Relevant – Is this goal relevant to an overall end result or higher level goal? Is it realistic to assume that if I perform the desired steps that I can achieve these results?Timely – is there a deadline around the goal – a specific time frame I want to achieve it in?
SMART is an acronym that stands for:(go through terms)Specific – is it tied to a number? Is the criteria simple?Measurable – Is it easy to understand if I am achieving this goal, or on track to achieve this goal?Attainable – Given the resources I have available to me (this could mean time, money, or something else), can I actually achieve this goal?Relevant – Is this goal relevant to an overall end result or higher level goal? Is it realistic to assume that if I perform the desired steps that I can achieve these results?Timely – is there a deadline around the goal – a specific time frame I want to achieve it in?
SMART is an acronym that stands for:(go through terms)Specific – is it tied to a number? Is the criteria simple?Measurable – Is it easy to understand if I am achieving this goal, or on track to achieve this goal?Attainable – Given the resources I have available to me (this could mean time, money, or something else), can I actually achieve this goal?Relevant – Is this goal relevant to an overall end result or higher level goal? Is it realistic to assume that if I perform the desired steps that I can achieve these results?Timely – is there a deadline around the goal – a specific time frame I want to achieve it in?
SMART is an acronym that stands for:(go through terms)Specific – is it tied to a number? Is the criteria simple?Measurable – Is it easy to understand if I am achieving this goal, or on track to achieve this goal?Attainable – Given the resources I have available to me (this could mean time, money, or something else), can I actually achieve this goal?Relevant – Is this goal relevant to an overall end result or higher level goal? Is it realistic to assume that if I perform the desired steps that I can achieve these results?Timely – is there a deadline around the goal – a specific time frame I want to achieve it in?
Now you have your target personas and your goals – who you’re targeting and what you want them, ultimately, to do. Now for figuring out how to get them to do it.
Difference between content and offer. Content is something you consume while you’re sitting at your computer. A blog post, a video. An offer is something of actual value that you get FOR FREE. It’s a GIFT. But of course you don’t actually get it for free, because it turns out you want it so much (it’s so compelling to you, the target persona), that you’re willing to fork over some personal info to get it. Therefore, OFFERS lie behind FORMS. The data you gather on forms allows you to better understand and segment your target personas, and to get better and better at giving them the stuff that they like. It is NOT just so that you can “build your list.”
Basically, a link to a landing page with a form on it. Once they fill out the form, that triggers an automatic email that gives them the Thing.
-when you’re not working on Visits-specific strategies, you can use these automatic email marketing campaigns to economize your time
Really here to talk about audience building and fund raising for theaters, but in order to do that we need to get into the nitty gritty of Inbound Marketing. Not here to talk specifically about HubSpot’s software, not into sales, more about the theory and practice of inbound marketing. Software is execution, and that’s up to you. The principles can be applied no matter what software or systems you use.