Stretching a Marketing Shoestring
This piece originally appeared as an article in the Fractured Atlas newsletter on January 15, 2005.
For the grassroots impresario, few challenges are as daunting as getting your message out to the masses. Broadway shows and museum exhibits enjoy six or seven-figure marketing budgets, while those of us in the lower echelons of the arts ecosystem are lucky to scrounge up three or four figures for promoting our work. But a tiny marketing budget doesn’t necessarily mean a tiny audience. If you’re smart about how you spend your precious pennies, you can get maximum mileage out of your meager resources.
Forget About Conventional Advertising
Advertising campaigns rely on repetition. Commercial messages sink in only after they’re heard numerous times in different contexts. Bombarding a would-be customer with the same pitch day and night, on TV and in magazines, at work and at home can be brutally effective, but it is brutally expensive as well. Independent artists, as a rule, don’t have anywhere near the resources to mount a comprehensive campaign. Without repetition, your message is sure to be lost in the din of all of those other advertisers vying for the customer’s attention. One or two modest ads simply won’t accomplish much. But if you can break free of the ingrained notion that advertising is a must, you’ll find other more effective ways to get the word out, and you can focus all of your energies on those tactics.
Jumpstarting Word of Mouth
Unlike a commercial pitch, a single enthusiastic recommendation from a trusted source can be extremely effective at putting butts in seats. Better yet, it’s free! For these two reasons, word of mouth is the most important tool in your arsenal. Although it may seem beyond your control, with a little careful planning you can help ensure that it gets off to a good start. First, assuming your project will be open for a handful of weeks, it’s critical to get the “friends and family” contingent in as early as possible. This is trickier than it sounds, since these folks often feel obligated to come and therefore might put it off until the last possible opportunity. Don’t let them. Make sure everyone involved in the project knows how important it is to get their crew to come sooner rather than later. Second, keep in mind that empty seats are not only worthless, but they’re also lost opportunities to create word of mouth apostles. That means you shouldn’t hesitate to “paper the house”, especially in your first weekend. There are many organizations that will be grateful for comp tickets to distribute. In New York, for example, senior centers, universities, and organizations like Gay Men’s Health Crisis are always eager papering partners. Be generous with them, and they’ll ensure that no valuable seats go to waste.
Hire the Best Publicist You Can Afford
A good review, or even a well-written free listing, can be ten times as effective as an ad. But you’ll need some help getting the attention of busy editors and reviewers, which is why you should shell out a large chunk of whatever budget you have to hire a good publicist. Interview several, get references and recommendations, and try to find someone with a proven track record on similar projects. Publicity is hit or miss, and no publicist can guarantee a review, much less a positive one. What a good press agent has, though, are contacts, credibility, and experience far beyond your own. Leveraging those resources can maximize your chances of enlisting the media as an ally in spreading your message farther and wider than you could ever spread it alone.
Tags: marketing
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