Developing a Marketing & PR Strategy

Spacetaker ARC Workshop

led by Carey Kirkpatrick & K.C. Scharnberg

Marketing •  Basic marketing theory •  Identifying goals, audience & message •  Tools •  Results

PR & Media Relations •  Identifying what’s newsworthy •  Tools •  Timelines •  Local resources

•  Why is marketing so important for artists –  Self-managed marketing is a way for you to broadcast your

message and create awareness of your product beyond your regular circles – think of marketing like casting a wide net

•  Why a strategy is important –  Strategy enables you to stay focused, on message, and on plan.

•  Am I bragging or branding? –  Bragging is a boastful proclamation.

•  “I’m the best painter since Picasso! [link]”

–  Branding is staying on message. •  “Check out this NYTimes review of my exhibit on view at…”

•  Identify your goals & objectives –  Keep goals and objectives simple –  attainable –  limited in number (5 or fewer)

•  Define your audience –  Who are you trying to reach?

•  Develop messaging for your audience –  Develop the tone of your messaging for your target audience

•  Develop your personal brand –  What is your personal brand?

•  What is a marketing plan? –  A marketing plan is your roadmap. It keeps you on track and leads you down the path to

success. –  It’s a good idea to have a strategic, over-arching plan, then more detailed plans for

specific initiatives •  Example of Strategic plan: awareness campaign •  Example of Targeted initiative: exhibition opening

•  How to make a marketing plan –  Sample plan

•  How to implement your marketing plan –  Once you’ve defined your goals and audience, and created an outline of

your marketing plan, now you can start putting your plan and message into action

•  What kinds of tools are at your disposal? –  website –  e-marketing platform –  social media –  Other tools?

Examples: Justin Garcia Art Newsletter: •  Monthly newsletter •  Welcome message •  Upcoming event announcement with image of artwork •  “Collector’s Corner” with photo and quotes •  “Giving back” – a section about working with the Texas Children’s Hospital http://bit.ly/iaOFMu

Opera in the Heights on Facebook: •  Photo contest surrounding current show (way to engage fans)

•  Regularly posts reviews and photos

•  How do you know your plan is working?

•  Tools for analysis – Google analytics – Google alerts

•  Set metrics and goals

group brainstorm session

– Public Relations •  “Public relations helps an organization and its

publics adapt mutually to each other.” –  Public Relations Society of America’s official

definition

– Media Relations •  Involves working with various media for the

purpose of informing the public of an organization's mission, policies and practices in a positive, consistent and credible manner

•  Public Perception

•  For individual artists, your public perception can mean the difference between a hobby and a career

•  For an organization, your public perception can mean the difference between existing and going under

•  Press release, Calendar release, Media alert

•  Pitch •  Media List •  Photos •  Website •  Social media •  Networking •  Tenacity

•  Timing – current; in relation to something that’s happened recently (i.e. Chinese government not allowing Univ of Penn Museum of Archeology to have the Secrets of the Silk Road exhibit gives HMNS opportunity to comment)

•  Significance/Impact – the number of people affected; who, what, how affected (i.e. TCA funding cuts)

•  Proximity – the closer the story to home, the more newsworthy (i.e. local actor gets lead role in Broadway musical, credits high school theatre teacher; Houston artist first-timer in Bayou City Art Festival lives in zip code coverage area of x newspaper)

•  Prominence – well-known things, people or organizations get covered because they are well-known (i.e. famous classical singer from NYC comes to Houston to do a show with your company)

•  Human Interest – stories that appeal to emotion (i.e. local artist teaches children with cancer how to express their emotions through painting; end result is public art show & auction to raise money for cancer research)

•  Calendar release - basic who, what, where, when, why, how much & for more info

•  Press release - more details about the event, about you and your background

•  Media alert - an alert for media only typically used to alert them of a unique coverage opportunity; includes photo opp and/or interview

•  1-2 pages maximum (400-500 words)

•  “For Immediate Release”

•  Date

•  Media contact name, email & primary phone

•  Headline that encompasses what the release is about in 7-10 words (must stand out, catch reader’s attention)

•  Sub-headline is not necessary if the entire news hook is included in the headline

•  Strong lead paragraph that states the who, what, why, when, where & how – gets to the crux of the release in a short, to-the-point opening paragraph; contains the hook (the reason this event is important, interesting or unique, etc)

•  Further details in subsequent paragraphs, including “expert” quote(s)

•  Where to find more (web address, blog, social media links)

•  Boilerplate info (about company xyz; about artist x)

•  ### or -30- at the end

•  Use clear, concise, vivid language

•  Sentences and paragraphs should be short and to the point

•  Utilizing AP Style limits the need for editing

•  Check for proper grammar, spelling, punctuation

•  Provide neat, clean copy

•  Distribute on a timely basis; meet deadlines

•  Proofread

•  Important to read what the arts & feature writers are writing about

•  Craft a unique pitch for each media outlet or writer –  Mass email to group of writers with no personalization can be

easily overlooked. –  You have to think about why they’d be interested in your story. –  Keep your pitch concise and relevant. –  Example of a bad pitch and why: http://bit.ly/eFself

•  You need a list of media contacts that make sense for your field of work

•  Update regularly – Look on media outlet website or call

•  Keep up with social media messaging of media outlets and writers

•  Have 4-6 high resolution photos available to send at a moment’s notice – 300 dpi (print resolution; you want MB, not KB)

– Variety – horizontal, vertical, action, portrait, serious, fun, etc.

–  Include photo credit –  Include caption (short descriptive text; if it

includes more than one person, identify each person going left to right)

– No text on images – dates, captions, watermarks

•  2.5 to 3 months out (or at least by the 1st of the month prior to your event) – Distribute calendar release; Set up Google Alerts; Identify your top target list and who to talk to at each media outlet

•  4 to 6 weeks out – Distribute press release & begin pitching to your targets; follow up

•  2 to 3 weeks out – Post event to online event calendars; Send personal invitation to select media to attend

•  1 week out – final follow ups to online writers, include photos

•  1 to 2 days out – Distribute media alert to TV news desks and daily and weekly print photo desks

•  Follow up within 3-4 days from distribution date

Common Mistakes •  Poor timing - not starting early enough, missing deadlines

•  Spamming - only write and send a release when you have a newsworthy story to tell

•  Not Bcc-ing

•  Sending your press release as a pdf attachment; paste release in body of email; include URL to image download

•  Not being available or answering a reporter immediately

•  Not following up

•  Working in a vacuum

•  Being successful in media relations means building relationships with reporters and editors over time. It’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon.

•  Don’t only reach out to them when you have something you want them to cover. If they do cover you, send a thank you.

•  Make sure you always deliver on what you’ve said you can or will do.

•  Finally, supplement any media relations campaign with other promotion efforts (social media campaign, your own blog posts, team up with other people or organizations that can promote you/your event, print & distribute flyers/posters, make personal invitations to the media, ticket giveaways, invited targeted groups, etc). BE CREATIVE

Reliable arts marketing resources: http://www.artsmarketing.org http://www.artmarketingstrategy.com http://www.inspiri-art-and-craft.com/artist-marketing-plan.html http://www.artmarketingrevealed.com http://www.marketingpower.com

Reliable PR resources: http://www.prsa.org http://service.prweb.com/learning/article/editorial-guidelines http://www.suite101.com/content/press-release-template-a12386 http://www.copyblogger.com/killer-press-release/ http://brendonshank.com/2010/12/03/top-10-things-not-to-do-with-your-press-release-

part-1/ http://brendonshank.com/2010/12/07/top-10-things-not-to-do-with-your-press-release-

part-2/ http://www.theprcoach.com

Gawker post that includes Dos/Don’ts when contacting him by the Houston Chronicle’s arts/society writer Douglas Britt:

http://gawker.com/#!5643042/arts-writer-sends-1400+word-email-on-how-to-communicate-with-him

Free press release distribution services: www.spacetaker.org/culture_wire www.pitchengine.com www.prlog.org www.free-press-release.com www.pr.com http://www.onlineprnews.com/ www.pr-inside.com www.przoom.com prurgent.com www.newswiretoday.com

Image resizing tools: Photoshop http://www.irfanview.com

Online Houston-based event calendars: –  Spacetaker - www.spacetaker.org/culture_guide –  Artshound - http://www.artshound.com –  GHCVB - http://www.visithoustontexas.com/events-list –  KUHF - http://www.kuhf.org –  Chron.com - http://www.chron.com/entertainment/calendar/submission.html –  Houston Community Newspapers -

http://www.hcnonline.com/calendar/submit/ –  Houston Press - http://www.houstonpress.com/feedback/SubmitAnEvent –  KHOU.com -

http://www.khou.com/community/calendar/event-submission-form –  Eventful -  http://www.eventful.com –  Houston Going - http://www.houston.going.com –  Houston Backpage - http://houston.backpage.com/Events/ –  Upcoming - www.upcoming.org –  Yelp Houston - http://www.yelp.com/houston –  Do713 - http://www.do713.com

–  CultureMap (unlike the calendars above, you must submit your event info via email) - submissions@culturemap.com