Station-wide Marketing Strategies: Unwrapped
How to Create a Marketing Plan
Julie Irby
Marketing and Outreach Director
Arkansas Educational Television Network
Station-wide Marketing Strategies: Unwrapped
The Value of having a Marketing Plan
• Forces you to identify WHO you are and what you NEED to promote
• Provides a timeline for the year
• Allows you to budget for your projects
• You now have a document to share with leadership and decision
makers for buy-in, partnership, inclusion
• You can now carry out marketing campaigns that are consistent ,
coordinated and truly further your brand
Station-wide Marketing Strategies: Unwrapped
A Marketing Plan has two purposes
1. To guide marketing strategies that promote your OVERALL
brand
(the big stuff YOU want to push)
2. To guide marketing strategies that promote SPECIFIC needs of
your ‘clients’
(the support required for what your CLIENTS want to push)
Station-wide Marketing Strategies: Unwrapped
Planning process: planning your plan
•
Determine station-wide needs for the FY with management
(target audiences, niche to push, what’s new to promote)
•
Determine what National programs to support
•
Determine with ‘clients’ what their goals are for the year
(review their strategic plans)
Station-wide Marketing Strategies: Unwrapped
How to organize your plan
• By campaign (What YOU want to push)
• By marketing method
(helpful for Marketing Staff to see their responsibilities)
• By client
(Production/programming, Education, Development) and then
create mini-plans for each client’s major project.
Station-wide Marketing Strategies: Unwrapped
Pieces of a Marketing Plan
• State the top 3 or 4 Marketing objectives (what every part of your
plan should be based on)
• Clearly list the Marketing Team who will carry out the plan and what
they are accountable for
• Strategies/tactics for each campaign, project (using the multi-platform
method)
Station-wide Marketing Strategies: Unwrapped
Pieces of a Marketing Plan (continued)
•
Include messaging, boilerplates
•
State the goal of your Marketing Division
•
Calendar and timeline
•
Budget
•
Sign-off by management
•
Create any mini-plans for large campaigns, projects
(see Parks Initiative mini-plan, place to have tactics)
Station-wide Marketing Strategies: Unwrapped
Challenges
•
Clients don’t have a plan, therefore hard for you to plan how to support
them
•
Clients can’t support what YOU want to push
•
Clients don’t include you in their planning or try to do their own
Marketing
•
Other pieces of marketing/support need to be in place:
1. Standard Operating Procedures (SOP)
2. Graphic Standards/style sheets for projects/Branding
3. Station-wide Strategic Plan
Station-wide Marketing Strategies: Unwrapped
Review AETN plan (see handout)
•
Method: Review multi-platform strategy
(see handout/next slide). Next plan will be
organized by multi-platform method –
by project, then fill in mp methods
•
Mini-plan: Review Parks plan
(see handout)
QUESTIONS?
Multiplatform Strategy: Sample Activities
IN THE COMMUNITY
IN THE PRESS
ON THE AIR
-Screening & discussion
events with community
partners (a short series of 3
to 5 events planned in
“underserved” areas)
-Pitch feature stories on
work with local communitybased orgs
-Feature community-based
partners in My Sourcebranded on-air spots, and
leverage for trade (web /
newsletter placements, etc)
-Enhance partnerships with
community-based
organizations around My
Source branded
sponsorships
-Teach-Ins (station
professionals teach basics
of video production, pod
casting, journalism, etc.)—
putting resources in the
hands of the community
-Community events with
ambassadors that
showcase pubcasting and
solicit testimonials from
attendees at “camera
stations”
-Community contest for
best “homemade” My
Source testimonial
-Letters to the editor
-Print Advertising (paid or
trade)
-Wire Releases: MarketWire
or other to garner broad
visibility among journalists
and public including
embedded video and live
Web links
-Pitch feature stories on
tangible contributions
station makes in the
community
-Editorial Board Meetings
(station management / board /
ambassadors)
-Op-Ed Piece in daily paper
-Pitch stories to business /
technology / media writers
about online initiatives
-Paid or trade radio ads or
PSAs featuring
ambassadors and
community members
-Leverage local
programming to include
segments on public
broadcasters (interviews
with management / board
or ambassadors)
-Recruit locally-based
ambassadors (community
leaders, celebrities, etc.) to
appear in My Source
testimonials
-Feature best UGC My
Source spots on-air, as
prize for contest winners
KEY:
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
PAID MEDIA / TRADITIONAL MARKETING
STATION-LED PUBLIC EDUCATION AND INFLUENCE
AMBASSADOR-LED PUBLIC INFORMATION AND INFLUENCE
NEW MEDIA/ONLINE MARKETING
ONLINE
IN PERSON
-Place My Source spots on
websites of community
partners or others outside
pubcasting system
-Enlist local community
partners to speak with
station reps at government,
media, and local events
-Include prominent My
Source messaging on all
pages of station websites
-Station management / board /
ambassadors appear and
speak at City Council
meetings
-Online chats, interviews,
and other content featuring
My Source ambassadors
and station management /
board to explain
pubcasting’s value
-Station management / board /
ambassadors speak at
luncheons and community
events around town
-UGC My Source
Testimonials available on
station website (contest
idea)
-Online marketing
campaign includes
enhanced content on
station homepage coupled
with external promotional
drivers to increase traffic
-Station Management / board /
ambassadors undertake
higher-profile visits to state
capitol / county seat
-Enlist local My Source
ambassadors to speak at
government, media, and
local events
-Enlist winners of UGC
testimonial contest to speak
as “authentic local voice” at
government, community,
and media events