saffire events presentation
TRANSCRIPT
Is Your Website All Hat and No Cattle?
Best Practices in Online Marketing
By Cassie Roberts
About MeCassie Roberts
Education:• BS Public Relations, The University of Texas• MEd Sport Management, The University of TexasOrigin:• Central City, NEExperience:• United States Olympic Committee• Rodeo Austin• Saffire Events
About Saffire
• Online Marketing–Websites
• Content Management• User Management• Mobile Optimized Version• Social Networking Integration
Agenda
• World domination through Google• Leading the horse to water• Hosting your own party • Going to other people’s parties• Marketing on the go • Taking the bull by the horns • The power of DIY• Measuring up• Keeping up with the Jones’/Kardashians
World domination through Google
• Google has 65% share of the search engine market– What works for Google works for others
• Goal: Improve your SEO– Most important – links in to your site
• Chambers of Commerce, Convention & Visitors Bureaus, etc.
• Industry organizations
– Also important – your own site• Title – important for Google and customers!
Agenda
• World domination through Google• Leading the horse to water • Hosting your own party• Going to other people’s parties• Marketing on the go• Taking the bull by the horns• The power of DIY• Measuring up• Keeping up with the Jones’/Kardashians
Leading the horse to water
Your site must appeal to your audience• Attractive– Professional
• Well organized• Not overwhelming– Like a résumé, the homepage should get
the interview, not the job
Agenda
• World domination through Google• Leading the horse to water• Hosting your own party• Going to other people’s parties • Marketing on the go• Taking the bull by the horns• The power of DIY• Measuring up • Keeping up with the Jones’/Kardashians
Hosting your own party
• Make sure your site has the BEST info about your event
• Make it interactive and fun!– ecommerce is the “ultimate
interactivity”– But-don’t ask them to get married
before your first date!
Hosting your own party
• Information about your event is most crucial– Categorize Events
• Don’t just give an event list!• Allow sorting, searching, filtering and interacting
– Photos – your photos and customer photos– Allow people to market for you: facebook,
twitter, email – Allow them to “fan” your event, save to a
custom calendar or Outlook
Agenda
• World domination through Google• Leading the horse to water• Hosting your own party• Going to other people’s parties• Marketing on the go• Taking the bull by the horns• The power of DIY• Measuring up• Keeping up with the Jones’/Kardashians
Other people’s parties
• Reach people where they are– Facebook feed– Twitter timeline
• Promote these prominently• Be a good guest– Post often, but not too often!• Make it relevant• Make it engaging
Agenda
• World domination through Google• Leading the horse to water• Hosting your own party• Going to other people’s parties• Marketing on the go• Taking the bull by the horns• The power of DIY• Measuring up• Keeping up with the Jones’/Kardashians
Marketing on the go
• Android vs. iPhone-– The reality is some smartphone users
will never see your iPhone app
• Mobile is no longer optional—It’s information on-the-go!
• You won’t make a zillion dollars, but you need to be there
Agenda
• World domination through Google• Leading the horse to water• Hosting your own party• Going to other people’s parties• Marketing on the go• Taking the bull by the horns • The power of DIY• Measuring up• Keeping up with the Jones’/Kardashians
Taking the bull by the horns
• The ultimate goal – BUY!• Customers expect ecommerce– 67% of people aged 35-75 want the convenience of
buying online
• Advanced ticket sales mean incremental revenue• People can spread out costs• Redemption will not be 100%– Especially good for things like carnival tokens– Even with a discount, you’ll make more– Offer free shipping
Taking the bull by the horns
• Get in the loop through email– Include the signup ON your homepage – Start collecting addresses before you know what
to do with them
• Events are the perfect excuse for email marketing– It’s immediate – It’s cheap – It’s effective
• Make sure your email is branded
Agenda
• World domination through Google• Leading the horse to water• Hosting your own party• Going to other people’s parties• Marketing on the go• Taking the bull by the horns• The power of DIY• Measuring up• Keeping up with the Jones’/Kardashians
The power of DIY
• When working with companies like Nike, Dodge, Intel, etc., we took content management for granted
• We have found the event industry to be so different
• Take control.
Agenda
• World domination through Google• Leading the horse to water• Hosting your own party• Going to other people’s parties• Marketing on the go• Taking the bull by the horns• The power of DIY• Measuring up• Keeping up with the Jones’/Kardashians
Measuring up
• Google makes it easy through Google Analytics– Put a little snippet of code on each page– Log in to see reports, or have them
emailed
5 most important things to watch
• Visits to your site
• Actions taken (email list, ecommerce)
• Conversion rate (actions to visits)
• Bounce rate
• Time on site
• Improve SEO or online marketing of your site
• Redo your website to make it more compelling
• Good conversion rate: 2%
• High bounce rate? Redo your homepage
• Time on site: A good overall indicator of stickiness
Agenda
• World domination through Google• Leading the horse to water• Hosting your own party• Going to other people’s parties• Marketing on the go• Taking the bull by the horns• The power of DIY• Measuring up• Keeping up with the Jones’/Kardashians
Keeping up with the Jones’/Kardashians
• When people come to your site, they generally aren’t comparing you to other rodeo sites
• They are comparing you to other sites they visit that day
• Compare your site to other entertainment- type sites, like sports and movies
Thank you
• To get these slides, put your business cards on the table up front
• [email protected] –We’ll also give you a free subscription to
The Dirt, for tips on online marketing– Indicate if you’d like a free no-strings-
attached evaluation of your website and recommendations for improvement