Effective strategic marketing is vital to building a brand, gaining customers, and ultimately, growing your profile. However, marketing can be expensive, with a 15 second advertising spot on TV easily costing hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Very few creatives have big marketing budgets, and they need to be careful not to burn through what cash resources may be available. For this reason, it’s important to know how to effectively market your project on a budget. Here’s how you can set about marketing to launch your creative baby, without breaking the bank.
Online communities. From forums and message boards to blogs, there are countless online communities that you can tap into to market your project. It’s important to take care in how you approach marketing and promotion in these spaces. Overt marketing may not be appreciated, and could even attract negative attention that harms your brand. To win over communities, you need to identify and leverage appropriate ‘key moments’ for promotion. You want to ensure that people appreciate the information and learn about your brand.
Content creation. We all know that content is king and as such, plays an important part in most marketing plans. One easy way to maximise your marketing through content is to set up a blog on your website. Your blog should include information that allows people to get to know you, and understand and appreciate your work. For example, an author launching a new book could write a blog about one of the key characters. Whenever you post a new blog, be sure to maximise reach and readership by sharing it on your social media platforms.
Media releases. The tried and tested way to gain coverage in media is through sending media releases to journalists. This begins with building a media database. Make a list of all the media outlets you need to send media releases to in order to reach your target customers. For instance, an author should target national media as well as niche literary and arts media. Ensure your releases include all the key information - the who, what, when, where, why and how, as well as your phone number and email, so journalists can easily get in touch.
Email newsletters. Email newsletters are a great way to build your following. However, not all email newsletters are equal in marketing power. Dull, long-winded emails, or those with spelling and grammatical errors, will see you lose subscribers and potentially business. Aside from vigilant proofing for errors, you want to make your newsletter unique and, most importantly, valued amongst your target market. Be imaginative, inject your personality, and add personal touches where appropriate.