10/31/14
Happy Halloween!
I’m having a treat as I write this — it’s not really Halloween-themed — but oh so yummy! I call it a banana split brownie. It’s a homemade chocolate brownie with my homemade vanilla ice-cream both made with only whole, natural ingredients, topped with fresh sliced bananas, strawberries, and pineapple. Love Halloween!
Okay, let’s see. I’m pulling my Strategies & Measurements from Phase I in my Marketing Strategy so I can dig in.
Strategies:
1) write a series of layered, new concept theme press releases to be sent out on a staggered schedule to achieve a minimum of 4 impressions with media.
2) create press kit.
3) create traditional & online media database, complete with emails to send press releases to.
4) send press releases.
5) set up publish tracking search.
6) create social media daily plan to implement simultaneously.
Measurement:
1) track media kit acceptance
2) track publish/reference success
3) track media contact
4) track social media mentions/retweets/favorites/likes
5) track traffic changes to all internet properties
Strategies:
1) write a series of layered, new concept theme press releases to be sent out on a staggered schedule to achieve a minimum of 4 impressions with media.
√-done
Press Release 1: Musician As Athlete
Press Release 2: Triple Threat Turns Into Many More
Press Release 3: Late Just In Time
Press Release 4: A Hum Becomes a Song
Press Release 5: Zero-Edit Recording
These are my general theme press releases, rather than press releases speaking about any specific concert.
2) create press kit.
√-done
Sere: Press Kit
Since I am first focusing on attracting sponsors for Sere-Jazz, I will be sharing the link to Sere’s Press Kit.
I do still need to create an Ever Entertainment Press Kit, and will need Press Kits for each persona as I rotate through featuring them.
3) create traditional & online media database, complete with emails to send press releases to.
-started
CRMs (Client Relationship Management software) become a decision here. A CRM not only helps you keep track of your media list, but your audience and your sponsors — so be selective. There are several online CRMs and some have a free level, or you can go old school with several choices of desktop software.
CRM Minimum requirements are:
-Ability to create Accounts
-Ability to create Contacts and attach to Accounts
-Ability to filter and sort
-Ability to track calls, tasks and mtgs at the Account level and at the Contact level
-Ability to schedule – synching with your calendar
-Ability to create basic progress reports
-Preferred: ability to mail merge with email templates
Once you’ve selected your CRM, it’s time to do some investigative research to create your media list.
In my case, since I’m leading with general theme press releases, I’m going to be starting out broader than if I was just submitting press releases about Sere. Since Ever Entertainment is a universal theme, I will be focusing on media in the top three US entertainment areas — New York, Los Angeles, and Nashville. I consider Spotify my top competitor — they originated in Sweden and are now headquartered in London, so I’ll want to target media there as well.
I want to be as targeted as possible, but will also submit to a news aggregator like the Associated Press for a little extra reach — kind of like a lagniappe for good measure. I looked up the Associated Press website which led me to a list of reporters on Twitter, and looked through the lifestyle reporters before choosing one that seemed to be the best fit and the most on the ball — I chose the one who actually put two emails to reach her in her Twitter profile.
I created an Associated Press Account in my CRM, then created Contacts for my choice of reporters, along with my second and third choice from the Twitter list.
I’m focused on zero to near-zero cost so I’m not going to have access to professional media directories that PR firms use — I have to make my own from scratch. Sigh!
Newspapers
I googled “media directories” to see what I could find. I found a list of national newspapers — it’s a start. I’m going to select entertainment area newspapers to enter into my CRM. It doesn’t have emails, though — thanks spammers — so I’m going to have to do further intel on each newspaper. But I really should anyway if I’m going to target the right journalist instead of just sending my press release to a general company email and hope it gets where it’s supposed to go.
That’s going to take me the rest of the time I have today –digging in to research these newspapers! Until next time!
DIY Music Sponsorship Journal – 10/31/14. Eliyora Entertainment LLC. Ever Entertainment® © Paradunai LLC. All international rights reserved. All trademarks property of Paradunai LLC. All personas, concepts and original songs created and performed by Sherese Chrétien.
