QUINTIN HOWZE, ANNIE WILLGING, BRANDON ONGARO, MICHAEL KERNAN

Digital Marketing & Membership Strategy

University of Alabama Sales ProgramSummer 2014

Crowdfunding Strategy Updates

Agenda

Crowdfunding Strategy UpdateDigital MarketingMembership Strategy

Digital Marketing Strategy

The Need For A Strategy

Online Presence

Virtual Relationships

Incentivizing Customers

Social Media SWOT Analysis

Strengths• Pictures portray

family-friendly environment, positive evaluations throughout the review section

• Currently have a widespread footprint on social media platforms

Weaknesses• Minimal branding

on pages—needs to be more vibrant and exciting

• Good pictures and amounts of posts, but posts should be more strategic and organized

Opportunities• BBT can use social media

to expand reach and increase store and webfront traffic

• They can portray artwork for sale and promote their products

• BBT can promote artists and their overall purpose for helping create an arts economy in the Black Belt

Threats• Other players in the

arts industry have a strong presence on social media

• Their digital footprints are larger, and they have a stronger following

Competitive Landscape on Social Media

Similar goals and missions

BBT is differentiated by several factors:

Rich heritage

Larger purpose

Tennessee Valley Art Association

Click icon to add pictureTVAA is a well-known organization in the southeast area. Some key factors that make them successful is there well organized website. Not only is there website this way, their entire social media base gives off the same impression. They also branded themselves throughout the web by using the same color schemes and logos.

Their purpose is to solicit and distribute earning toward the benefit of their association only, BBT is toward the entire black belt region who are in dire-need of help

Social Media Reccomendations

FacebookTwitterYouTubePinterestTumblrBlog

Facebook

Facebook is a social media tool that allows for companies to talk to existing and potential customers by posting content and messaging them.

It is recommended that BBT revamp its current Facebook page to a more vibrant and creative page. This will allow for more strategic partnering with customers and for the BBT brand to be the main message.

Twitter

Strategic Goals Update audiences about changes and progress reports Communication between followers Give and receive feedback

Recommendations Educate followers about BBT and the history Post pictures of art work Be easily searchable through different hash tags

Posting Strategy

Week Days: 10:00am

Updates about the organization 5:30pm

Possible pictures of art work and artists

Friday: 12:00pm

Engage with followers with a question or contest

Between 3:00pm-5:00pm Informing about upcoming

events

Saturday: 6:00am

Polling or contest results Between 1:00pm-3:00pm

Famous quote or fun fact 5:30pm

Link to BBT website and other media outlets

Sunday: 6:00am

Links to interesting articles Between 1:00pm-3:00pm

Thank you to supporters 5:30pm

Agenda for upcoming weekend and recap of past week

YouTube

Strategic Goals Connect their YouTube account with their other media

outlets Upload and share videos easily while advertising and

gaining feedbackRecommendations

Subscribe to a channel Rebrand the channel

Posting Strategy

Monday&Tuesday: 8:00am

A video post about BBT, an artists or event

Wednesday: 8:00am

A post about an art/culture lesson

Friday: 8:00am

A video about what has been happening over the past month with BBT

Include plans for the upcoming month and any future events

Posts from all social media platforms should be uploaded as well

Pinterest

Strategic Goals Update Members on new ways of gaining posts Have creative ideas and several boards

Recommendations Upload new artwork and media along with unique

descriptions to showcase Black Belt Treasures Pin and ‘Re-pin’ artistic items and historical content Showcase the artists

Posting Strategy

Timeline: Monday – Friday (Throughout the day)

Pins and ‘re-pins’ of something that highlights your artwork

Tumblr

Strategic Goals Develop deeper stories Develop creative stories

Recommendations Posts should be in themes Create catchy headliners Create multiple blogs

Posting Strategy

Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday (8:00am-11:00am) Posts about a creative theme

Tuesday (8:00am-11:00am) Post a picture of BBT in action

Thursday (8:00am-11:00am) Posts about upcoming events Posts about what BBT employees and artists are doing

Blog

Strategic Goals Develop deeper stories Develop several stories by categories Create links to other social media platforms

Recommendations Posts should be in themes Posts should be intuitive and interactive

Posting Strategy

Similar to Tumblr (stories should be different however)Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday

(8:00am-11:00am) Posts about a creative theme

Tuesday (8:00am-11:00am) Post a picture of BBT in action

Thursday (8:00am-11:00am) Posts about upcoming events Posts about what BBT employees and artists are doing

Website Audit for BBT

Strengths Weaknesses

Black Belt Treasures currently hosts a newsletter with over 2500 subscribers

Product/Service range is good

Webpage range is not high in search results

Small market presence

Does not succeed in grabbing visitor attention

Current Status of Website

Opportunities Threats

Make navigation more simple and easy to use

Provide better customer service

Increase number of ‘followers’ on Social Media platforms

High entry barriers Changing and

updated technology may change the adaptability to the market

Current Status of Website

Huntsville Art League

Key features of their website include:

•Attention grabbing home page

•Sub-page tabs are clear and easy to understand

•Links to information about their programs, classes, and events

Red Dot Gallery

Red Dot Gallery (Birmingham)

Key features of their website include:

•Website aesthetic is very clean looking (simple colors, white/black)

•Text is easy to read on every page

•They have a “Blog” sup-page that is recommened for Black Belt Treasures to implement

Coastal Arts Center of Orange Beach

Coastal Arts Center of Orange Beach

Key features of their website include:

•“Gallery” tab is a great idea for Black Belt Treasures to use to showcase their in store products and draw more online buyers

•Website style is very colorful and consistent

Home Page Shop Page

Size of tabs, logos, and links need to be more consistent, geared towards their importance

Continue to implement new pictures in the picture reel on this page

Add more photographs to the art on sale

Artist names need to be larger and have a direct link to their personal page

Page-by-Page Recommendations

Events Page Learn Page

Make the calendar the main image at the top of this page. Have the entire calendar here, not link to another page. Fill the calendar with every event possible (art classes, tours, student visiting groups, etc.)

We have reworded each section in the “learn” page to try and make it more understandable

Page-by-Page Recommendations

Membership Page About Us Page

Very hard to read the pictures of the Guild Membership brochure

When IndieGoGo project goes live, add a link to the campaign page

“Who We Are” section should be the first thing readers read

Add a photo of the front of the building or in the showroom to this page

Page-by-Page Recommendations

Artist Page

Segment by the type of art that they do

Add a search bar for easy access at finding artists

Each artists page should include a small description about them and what type of art they do as well as links to any items they have for sale on the site

Page-by-Page Recommendations

Gaining More Website Traffic

Search Engine Optimization Social Media

Make sure Black Belt Treasures is well indexed on several search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and Bing

This is the most affordable/ most effective way to inform your customers of your newly designed website

Increasing Website Traffic

Blog Email Newsletter

Starting a blog will not only help with Search Engine Optimization, but it will help connect on a personal level with the audience

Being the third most popular traffic driver, a newsletter or e-catalog can draw more visits to your website

Increasing Website Traffic

Press Release User Friendly

Releasing a press release online can be quite an effective method of reaching out to a wide audience and potentially drawing in more supporters

When website traffic increases it is crucial that potential viewers feel comfortable and stay interested when they visit the site

Increasing Website Traffic

Email Marketing

Importance

Leverage the power of email to reach your customers

At least 91% of consumers check their email everyday

As a channel it was third overall lead generation source for marketers in 2013, producing 13% of all leads

People who buy products marketed through email spend 138% more than people that do not receive email offers

Current Status

Constant Contact

Currently used by Black Belt Treasures and is a great provider by offering a “toolkit” that allows you to send an email, add Facebook plans, plan an event, run a promotion, collect donations, and create surveys

Features Include: Create Campaigns Promote your Business Social Media Mobility Contact Management

MailChimp

Helps you design email newsletters, share them on social media networks, integrate with services you may already be using, and track the results

Features include: Subscriber profiles Personalization and Automation Advanced Analytics Flexible Design Options Mobility

MailChimp vs. Constant Contact

MailChimp has the edge when it comes to price, integration with Twitter and EventBrite, access to simplified reports integrated with Google Analytics, and easier-to-use customization features.

Constant Contact is more reputable, trustworthy, and has greater email deliverability capabilities along with better support

Tactical Recommendations

Monthly Newsletter Recipients

All email contacts receive a monthly newsletter Email Schedule

Beginning of each month Important to keep consistent

Email Platform Constant Contact but consider MailChimp in the future

Content / Layout Update members what is going on inside Black Belt Treasures and personalize Email should incorporate relevant promotions, sales, upcoming events Provide specific links within to lead to more activity on website

Event Announcements Recipients

All email contacts should receive event announcements Event Announcement Schedule:

Should be sent out 1 or 2 months prior to a Black Belt Treasures event Event Announcement Platform

Utilize Constant Contact and make sure to integrate with other social media platforms Content / Layout

Event title and brief salutation Event date, time, and location Contact information Cost and dress attire (if applicable) Graphic or picture related or of past event

Tactical Recommendations

Crowdfunding Campaign Announcement Recipients

All contacts need to be informed Event Announcement Reminder

Once a week until the campaign kicks off Platform

Constant Contact Content / Layout

Consistent with crowdfunding strategy Embedded campaign video Link to Indiegogo page

Membership Renewal Reminders Recipients

All registered members of Black Belt Treasures Email Schedule

Renewal reminders will be sent at the first of the month prior to when their current membership ends. Email Platform:

Utilize Constant Contact Content / Layout

The layout should provide your current membership details with the date that the current membership becomes invalid, along with the other levels of membership.

Reaching Customers

Monthly Newsletter Capitalize on familiarity by using graphics, logos, and images Inform what is happening inside Black Belt Organization Insert articles, artist spotlights, product reviews, how-to’s

Poll readers by asking a thought-provoking, fun, or related question

Get More Contacts to Open Emails Keep emails dynamic, personalized, and in a series

Make it recognizable, spark interest without looking like spam Segment subscribers by behavior and similar characteristics

Experiment and find the best time to send to get most opens Utilizing advanced technology

Quality opt-in database Ensure Safety, Authenticate, and use Spam Checker

Membership Strategy

The Need For A Strategy

Membership renewal

High retention rate

Recruiting new members

Over Arching Themes

Memberships that are offered to multiple organizations or museums

Private displays for members only

Offer magazine subscriptions

The Need For A Strategy

For long term-growth, solidity and the overall health of an organization, membership renewal is a necessity.

A high retention rate implies that members are happy and the organization is giving back enough to keep them satisfied

The goal of this strategy is to recruit new members while maintaining the current supporters. To creating a membership experience valuable enough to continue current membership as well as appeal to new audiences.

Overarching Themes

Research has pointed to overall themes throughout successful organizations.

All membership packages differentiated slightly but some tactics remained constant.

These tactics can be utilized to increase awareness and memberships of BBT

The following are a list of the themes found

Themes

Offering membership benefits to not only one organization but to multiple. This incentive increases memberships and makes the

package more valuable as a whole. Held private displays for members to view

incoming artwork before the general public This makes members feel as though they are

significant and connected to the organization itself. Offer the organizations magazine

subscription. BBT can use this as a tool to promote for upcoming

events and get information out to the public

Membership Opportunities

Five Point Process

Partnership with other museumso Partner with local, regional, southeastern, and various national

museumso Join endowment programs

i.e. – The National Endowment for the Arts (Blue Star Museums) Coupons, Discounts (for BBT and various restaurants in local

area) A way to engage the audience

o Partnership/Board Memberso Partnership Meetingso Conventions

Recognition Magazines/Publishment

ANNUAL GUILD MEMBERSHIP TABLE

• There are three strategic levels:

• The bottom is focused on “Art Lovers”.

• The middle is focused on “Culture Enthusiast”.

• The top is focused toward “businesses and professionals”.

Membership Strategy

Plan for ImplementationValue of Membership

Future Present Past

Final Recommendations

Crowd Funding

Video is top PriorityLaunch crowdfunding ASAPEnsure Logistics of Social Media and Reach

to be consistent with crowdfunding strategy Delegation of tasks

Digital Marketing

Update Website FirstSocial Media Strategy and Planning

Membership

Build Partnerships Other companies Endowment associations

Update Membership Information

• Maintenance of Crowd Funding

• Membership

• E-Commerce Outlets

Fall 2014 CLP

Next Steps

Conclusions

Questions?All deliverables will be sent to you

immediately

QUINTIN HOWZE, ANNIE WILLGING, BRANDON ONGARO, MICHAEL KERNAN

Thank You for this Opportunity!

University of Alabama Sales Program Summer 2014

Roll Tide