The Mission Paradox Blog

How much should I spend on marketing?

As I finalize the marketing budget for my day job, it gives me a chance to discuss the question that troubles many artists, how much should I spend on marketing?

If you have been following the blog for a while, you know that the most honest answer I can give you is "it depends", but I know that isn't helpful so let me provide a few specific things for you to consider while you are making your decision:

1.  What are you trying to accomplish with your marketing?

Of course you are trying to reach a certain sales goal but what else are you trying to do?  For example, with the current show we are producing we want to hit our sales goal AND diversify our audience.  That helps to inform not only how much money we want to spend but also where we should spend it.

2.  What's your return on investment (ROI) for marketing?

People make determing ROI more complex then it needs to be.  The calculation can be very simple.

For example, I can look at our numbers and determine that for every $1 we spend on marketing (which includes marketing salaries, printing, etc.) we get about $2 back in the form of subscriptions or single ticket sales.  Again that number isn't perfect but it's good enough for our analysis.

Your number may be closer to getting $1.10 back for every $1 spent.  It might even be negative, so for every $1 spent you are getting 0.85 back.

The key is that you determine what your number is . . . BUT DON'T JUDGE THE NUMBER.

So if it turns out that you are spending $1 to get 0.85 that doesn't automatically mean your marketing is not working.

It may just mean that your goal for the next year is to spend $1 to get 0.90.  Remember, most arts organizations are nonprofit so losing money is technically ok.  If you're a for profit artist then you should absolutely be more concerned if your marketing is losing money.

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The key when it comes to spending money on marketing is that you should never, EVER, spend a dollar on marketing without knowing why you are doing it.

If you decide to put a print ad in Newspaper X versus Newspaper Y you have got to know why you are doing that.

I'd wager that 60-70% of people doing arts marketing are doing it unconsciously, meaning they are spending money without knowing why.

They spend money this year because that's what they did last year.

They spend money one way because that's what every other group in their industry does.

That's unconscious marketing.  And it is costing you time and money.  Avoid it at all times.

 

 

My new motto . . .

Advertisement is a tax you pay for unremarkable thinking.

-  Robert Stephens, Founder of The Geek Squad

Another Money Quote

This one from from the Nonprofiteer:

The answer to “Why are we a nonprofit?” can’t be “Because we couldn’t afford to operate if we weren’t.” If that’s the case, it just means you’re a badly-organized business.

Why you should come . . .

To the workshop in June.  Here are a couple of reasons:

1.  I hate workshops that suck, i.e. give little to no useful information.  The June workshop will not suck.

2.  No matter what field of art you are in, you probably need more earned income.  The workshop will give you some of the ideas and energy yoi need to get going.

Can't let this quote slide

From the comments section of yesterday's post:

"Constituency definition is the highest level policy decision that an arts organization can make."

Or to put it another way, answering the question of "who are you making your art for" is the single most important question an artist or arts org can ask.

Not . . . "what type of art are we making?"

Not . . . "which one of us is making the art?"

Not . . . "how much are we charging for the art?"

Not . . . "where are we presenting the art?"

All those questions are secondary concerns.  The clearer your sense of who the audience for your art is, the better your odds of long term success.

 

Not getting any . . .

Word of Mouth advertising?  Seth Godin helps to explain why

Free Three Day Marketing Workshop in Chicago June 16, 17 and 18

If you are a nonprofit arts organization in or around the Chicago area then this intensive marketing workshop is for you.  I'll be teaching the course all 3 days.

Here's the details, please read the whole thing because in this case the details matter . . .

The workshop is called Money + Marketing and it is presented by the SouthSide Arts and Humanities Network. 

NOTE:  You do not need to be arts org based on the South Side to go.  You can be from any where.

This three-day workshop is designed to take the mystery out of the arts marketing process.  In a series of engaging and interactive sessions, you will learn:

1.  How to determine the most effective target audience for your marketing. 

2.  How to select the best marketing tools given your time and budget.

3.  How to create and communicate the right message that will have customers and donors flocking to your organization.

By the end of the workshop, all participants will have a solid marketing plan they can immediate use to earn more money.

The marketing plan can then be used to apply for a grant from the Arts Work fund for Organizational Development. 

On Monday, June 30th you will have the opportunity to meet with Marcia Festen, the Director of the Arts Work fund, who can talk about how to create a strong proposal.

Participants who choose to apply for this grant will have the opportunity to have a professional grant-writer from the University of Chicago review your application to make it stronger. If you receive an Arts Work grant you will be able to use that money to bring your marketing ideas to life.

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Here are the dates and location of the workshops:

Monday, June 16th 5:30-8:30

Tuesday, June 17th 5:30-8:30

Wednesday, June 18th 5:30-8:30

Monday, June 30th 5:30-8:30 (Meeting with Marcia Festen from the Arts Work Fund for Organizational Development)

Location:
Alumni House at the University of Chicago, 5555 S Woodlawn
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Here's how you register for the event:

Registration:
In order to register please send the following information with a $50 check made out to the Civic Knowledge Project.

The check should be mailed to: 

Joanie Friedman

Southside Arts & Humanities Network Coordinator

Civic Knowledge Project

1115 East 58th Street, Walker 009

Chicago, IL. 60637

The $50 check will be returned to you after you (or a representative of your organization) attends all three workshop sessions.  Please note this is a free course, but we require this refundable deposit check in order to reserve your spot in the course. When you mail the check please also send in the following info:

Name
Title
Organization
Address
Phone Number
Email
Website (if applicable)
Budget size
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I want to be clear here, the workshop is free, but you need to send the check anyway to reserve a spot.  If you show up to all three days you get your money back.  If you don't then consider your check a donation to the SouthSide Arts Network.

I think you will find the workshop to be well worth your time and energy.  It's going to be an informative, engaging few days.

If you need more info contact Joanie Friedman at: joaniefriedman@uchicago.edu.

Or me at:  mission.paradox@yahoo.com

One last thing, we want to keep enrollment to less then 20 groups so if you want in, register ASAP.

Repeat . . .

Like some things in life, marketing is a complex exercise that can be summed up in a series of simple statements.

For example, some could say all marketing wisdom could be summarized like this . . .

1.  Find the right audience

2.  Find the right message for that audience

3.  Repeat the message

I've talked a lot about 1 and 2, but I probably haven't given Step 3 enough attention.

Your target arts consumer needs to hear your message a lot before they actually commit to participating. 

How many is a lot?  It depends.  Some marketers say they need to hear it at least 5 times.  Some say that number is between 7-10.

No matter what the number is, the point remains the same, your message needs to be heard a lot of times in order to be notice.

Here's the second but equally important point, your message needs to be heard a lot of times AND it needs to be heard in different ways.

That doesn't necessarily mean the message needs to be different, but the vehicle in which that message is presented needs to change up.

I'll try to use an example, for our current show at Court here's how many different ways we hope our customers will hear about the show:

1.  They receive an email directly for us

2.  They see a print ad

3.  They get a postcard in the mail

4.  They hear about it on the radio

5.  Someone who sees the show suggests they go see it (word of mouth)

6.  A newspaper article runs about the show

7.  They receive an email ad about the show from another source (i.e. a Metromix.com email)

8.  They walk around the University of Chicago campus and see one of our posters

That means (ideally) a consumer will see our message at least 8 different ways.  That message frequency is key to getting consumers to purchase anything, including art

Tips for the Executioners

Laura has a comment based on yesterday's post.  Take it away Laura . . .

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Most small companies (with small budgets) have artists toiling as their staff. Without pay for administrative work. Their "pay" is the opportunity to do the artistic work. So of course they make time for the artistic work first. And then the administrative work (marketing and the like) has to compete with the other things the artist wants to do with his/her precious little free time (what's left after putting in 8 hours at a day job and 4 at rehearsal). Could be spending time with a partner, children, going to see other shows, knitting a sweater, whatever. And before you know it, this critical plan is getting cut back and adjusted and maybe even forgotten.

I'm not saying it's an excuse. I firmly believe that a company is bound to lose their artistic credibility if their business side isn't in order. And you're going to have to sacrifice to make that happen. I just know in a lot of cases, that's why it happens.

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I understand what Laura is saying. 

I think understanding the strengths and weaknesses of the people you are working with . . . and structuring your organization around those things is key to using the limited time and energy everyone has as effectively as possible.

I'll use my job as an example.  In our marketing department there are three of us, me (director of marketing), an associate director and a marketing assistant.

When I first arrived in the department there was the typically "feeling out" stage as I tried to figure out the environment around me and the talents of those I work with.

After a few months it became clear, first to my boss and then to me, that the associate director of marketing was a better "Executioner" then I am.  Meaning that she is more naturally skilled at setting meeting agendas, delegating duties, keeping folks on task, etc.

So if you were to come by the office at 11:30 on Wednesdays to see our weekly marketing meeting you would see her leading the meeting, getting updates from everyone (including me) and then making sure we were all on task.

Now if a stranger were to watch that meeting and then get asked "who runs the marketing department?" they would probably say that the associate director does.

And if I allowed it, I could let my ego get in the way and say "Hey, I'm in charge, I should be running the meetings and telling folks what to do."

But that would be stupid.  My associate director is better at those things then I am.  She should do it.

Alright so how does this relate to Laura's point . . .

Some organizations that have artists as admins rarely take the time to access whether the people in those positions are best suited for the task.

And yes, I understand that often artists have to work in SOME admin position as a matter of necessity but it doesn't mean they should just be randomly pushed into a role.

For example, I vividly remember working with an organization that had one of their artists writing their foundation grants.

Long story short, she was a really bad grantwriter.

When I asked the organization head why she was in that role the reply was "because she likes writing grants . . .and no one else wants to do it"

Now I am certain there was a better writer in that organization.  It is that organization's responsibility to identify that person and say "like it or not, you are the grant writer".

Look at it this way, when artists consider who should be casted in a certain theatre role they weigh all the person's talents and then make a decision.  Artists have to be just as critical when accessing themselves as administrators.

When you have the right people in the right roles organizational functions happen both quicker and better.

Or to put it another way, our three person department, improperly structured may take 3 hours to do a set a tasks.

Properly structured, those same tasks may take 90 minutes.  That extra 90 minutes is the time that can spent with family or friends.

Flawed Execution

Having done marketing (along with other things) in an organization with not much money and now doing marketing with an organization that is (relatively) well resourced, I think I can now say this . . .

Money doesn't matter as much as you would think.

Don't get me wrong, having money to advertise a show or execute a branding campaign is important but I have learned there is something else equally as important . . .

The ability to execute on your ideas. 

The ability to actually get things done, in real time, on the ground . . . in spite of the many predictable and unpredictable obstacles you will face.

I can think of about 10 organizations off the top of my head that I know for a fact have a plan in place that could bring them more audience, more money, etc.

But when it comes time to actually execute the plan, the whole thing falls apart.

This is particularly ironic fact of life for arts organization.  Everyone knows that the one thing most artistic groups do well is meet artistic deadlines.  If a theatre company is scheduled to open a show on Saturday then come hell or high water the show is going up on Saturday.

Often that level of execution is sorely lacking on the business end and that makes everyone life more difficult then it needs to be.

So remember, to have success in the arts you need smart people, you need creative people, you need talented people . . . but more then anything you need people that get things done.