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November 2021
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January 2022

Your Diamond Mine of Data - Lost Forever

Here's a short and unfortunately not so sweet tidbit for today ...

A surprisingly high number of new client projects start with clients not having access to their own Google Analytics data.

What’s worse is that the entire process of trying to track down access for Google Analytics always results in a massive time suck for everyone involved.

Why rant about Google Analytics access?

Because without Analytics, you lose any potential assessment of previous advertising and marketing campaigns. Without Google Analytics or another comparable platform, assessing an event’s online future potential is challenging.

How do you plot your future, if you can't assess the present or your past?

Ultimately, most clients set up a new Google Analytics account and forsake all their previous data. All your previous advertising campaigns and potential marketing insights are lost forever.

Instead of droning on about the issue, please consider the following simple recommendation.

Make sure to triple-check that you have full Admin privileges on all your Google Analytics properties. If you’re unsure, be sure to check with your web provider or IT person.

If you don’t have access to your Google Analytics, you want to weigh your options now when you have time on your side. And time will give you a bevy of options that you won't have available when you're against the gun.

Having your web stats readily available with help you and any savvy marketing person you might hire chart a successful path of online success.

Want to get more info on tracking the effectiveness of your event promotions with Google Analytics? Check out the articles below:

Posted at 20:01 in Event Promotion and Marketing |

Peter Parker beats back the pandemic

Over the weekend, Disney/Marvel's Spider-Man: No Way Home raked in over one billion USD worldwide. All in the middle of a significant uptick in COVID cases from around the globe.

Given the circumstances, one might think, what about COVID restrictions, vaccines, and lockdowns?

On its face, Spidey's success doesn't seem possible!

Source: https://www.avclub.com/box-office-experts-try-to-solve-the-mystery-of-why-spid-1848249964

To be clear, if people want to see a movie in these times, that's a personal choice. To that point, there was an expectation that all theater moviegoers wear a mask here in Rochester, New York.

Heck, we had it easy!

In other parts of the world, you need to provide proof of vaccination just to enter the movie theater. Of course, that's in addition to wearing a mask.

Remember, movies are very similar to events. Like events, movies get a group of people to spend their hard-earned money to be entertained, educated, or to help others.

Yet, despite COVID ...

Spider-Man was an enormous financial success. That's because Disney/Marvel manufactured a massive amount of demand for a high-quality "event."

The second essential component is that Spider-Man has been on the silver screen for about 20 years. Thus, creating demand is easier when you have a known event that people want to attend.

Much like Disney, you can stack the deck in your favor.

Be sure to click on the source link above for a peak into No Way Home's early success. After you click on the link, replace any movie references with the word "event." There are at least a few great knowledge nuggets for you to take away.

P.S. - In case you're wondering, Spider-Man: No Way Home was an excellent movie and worth a watch. The movie an interesting take on personal choices and consequences.

Want to get more info on promoting your event? Check out the articles below:

Posted at 12:53 in Event Promotion and Marketing |

The Ultimate Event Advertising Solution

If you've been receiving my emails for a while, you'll probably remember the following story.

Today, I'm going to suggest something radical based on the busted billboard story.

So, here's the short version ...

About six years ago, a client invested almost 30,000 USD in billboard advertising in one of the largest metropolitan areas in North America.

After the client hired me, I asked a straightforward question about their billboard investment during an advertising audit:

"How many dollars of revenue did your billboard investment generate for you?"

The client reluctantly acknowledged that they did not know.

After completing the client's advertising audit, I recommended not renewing their billboard contract because no data supported that ad buy. Not even a notable uptick in Google Analytics!

Without the billboards, the client increased their year-over-year revenue by approximately 30% and kept 30,000 USD in their bank account.

Allow me to take the story above one step further. Though overly simplistic, I also believe it to be tremendously self-evident.

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The simplest way to determine the effectiveness of any advertising is by not engaging in that activity and noting what happens!

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With the above said, I would strongly recommend taking a measured approach to eliminate any advertising or marketing efforts.

Make sure you leverage the classic direct-response process of changing only one element at a time. You might have to group multiple efforts into a single channel in some instances.

e.g. Pull back on all your social media efforts and take note of what happens. You probably won't be able to use a single post to make a sound assessment.

Additionally, the above recommendation is a 40,000-foot suggestion. Depending on the complexity of your marketing efforts, there could be a little bit of work involved.

If you have a similar example where you eliminated a marketing or advertising buy with positive financial results, I'm all eyes!

Want to get more event promotion advice? Check out the articles below:

 

Posted at 17:43 in Event Promotion and Marketing |

Ticketmaster: Much Maligned & Possibly Misunderstood

Have you ever mentioned Ticketmaster around an event organizer?

To date, I cannot think of a single instance where someone had anything positive to say about Ticketmaster. Yet, ironically enough, for all the hate, I believe that Ticketmaster is the biggest ticketing company in the world.

Years ago, my friend Doug Doebler shared the following interview with Fred Rosen, who originally founded and served as President of Ticketmaster.

In the interview link below, Fred Rosen directly addresses the ticket fees and all the nitty-gritty details most people have never heard. And it’s not what most people think!

Source: ArtistsHouseMusic

Remember, after you click the link, you can speed up the clip by selecting the “Cog/Gear” on a desktop computer or three dots on mobile. With those menus, look for the “playback” speed option. I recommend 1.5 to 1.75X.

When you get a chance to check out the video, mash the reply button and let me know what you think. After watching the interview, did your option of Ticketmaster change?

Want to get more event ticketing advice? Check out the articles below:

Posted at 18:01 in Event Planning, Event Promotion and Marketing |

Are all your event announcement ducks in a row?

Here's a timely combination of a few previous rants ...

Last week, a headlining act announced their 2023 performance dates for a well-known local event. After the announcement, local news outlets featured the upcoming event on television and online.

Overall, there was some decent media coverage. All at zero advertising cost!

Unfortunately, it was also a missed opportunity.

For some unknown reason, the local event organizers didn't have their "official" website available. When you tried to access the event website, you are met with a strange hosting company message and zero information about the event.

Almost a week later, the event website is still unavailable.

"But wait, there's more!"

One of the local news outlets linked an online story to the headlining performer's website, "For more information, click here." After clicking the link, the performer's website has no reference to the local event. It's like a double dead end.

Though it seems overly simplistic, you probably know where I'm going with this ...

At a minimum, make sure all your marketing assets, especially your event website, is ready to go before any major announcements.

In 2009, a local event client had all their ducks in a row and generated hundreds of new leads, in one week, for their event. All the collected leads were put through a dedicated marketing process and converted into event attendees. Zero ad dollars were spent.

What seems trivial can have a colossal impact on your event.

Don't let highly qualified traffic go to waste!

Want to get more great info? Check out the articles below:

Posted at 13:58 in Event Planning, Event Promotion and Marketing |

Systematizing a Little Healthy Ticketing Paranoia

Multiple clients found themselves refunding significant amounts of ticket revenue this year. Ultimately, it came down to an issue with selling tickets at higher pricing than the pricing schedule.

Thus, today's takeaway is about as straightforward as it gets.

Do you have a simple system in place to check your online ticket buying process?

If not, consider setting up a routine of clicking on and checking the “buy ticket” buttons for your event regularly. You might even want to include a simple checklist item or post-it note on your monitor.

After you click on the button, is the ticket price correct?

Do you click through and validate the entire check-out process?

The simple advice above is essential if you're involved in sophisticated marketing and advertising campaigns. Simple and small ticketing mistakes can add up quickly. For example, in 2021, over 40,000 USD of event ticket revenue had to be refunded due to pricing mistakes.

Last but not least, if you ever get called out on a pricing discrepancy, act immediately and issue the appropriate refund.

One overcharged person on social media can be problematic; a few angry people can turn into a public relations nightmare.

Remember - when you're busy playing damage control and customer service, you can't focus on selling tickets to your event!

To the client's credit above, they automatically issued refunds to buyers. However, in some instances, buyers didn't even realize that they were overcharged.

Checking buy buttons is just one example where what many consider trivial can become costly to your event. A little healthy paranoia and a few validating clicks can go a long way.

Want to get more event ticket strategies? Check out the links below:

Posted at 17:15 in Event Planning, Event Promotion and Marketing |