With the close of the last play in my day job's season it's time to review how things went from a marketing/sales perspective.
Note: I did this for the previous season and if you want to remember what happened then click here
Here we go . . .
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Subscriptions: 9% below projection
Might as well get my mistake out the way first. During the previous season we generated a decent number of new subscribers by offering deeply discounted subscriptions. When it came to the next season I assumed that maybe 20-25% of these discounted new subscribers would be willing to renew at the full subscription rate.
I was wrong.
The number was more like 10-15%. That's a big part of the reason we came in below projection and it was (probably) an avoidable mistake.
The good news is that we were very proactive in trying to improve our subscription program for future years.
I spent a significant part of the year working with the Booth School of Business doing audience research and trying to understand why our particular audience does or doesn't subscribe. I think we have some good, actionable, information out of all that. Our current subscription campaign is going well and likely will meet (or maybe exceed) it's projection.
Single Tickets/Groups: 14% above projection
This season represents the first in a very long time (at least 10 years) that each show in the season exceeded it's single ticket projection. Each show received a pretty incredible amount of critical praise and audience response.
I think the way marketing contributed to the success was our ability to build a narrative around each play and use every tool we had to select appropriate audiences for the show. We expanded our web presence, used podcasting in a smart way, built relationships with more effective advertisers, etc.
Basically it comes back to Michael Kaiser's old school formular success . . . great art, well marketed. The art certain did it's part and I'm glad we did ours.
Bottom Line: When you put all the numbers together it equals a season where the overall earned revenue (subscriptions, single tickets and groups) projection was exceeded. It's the second straight year my department accomplished that.
On a personal note, I think what makes me the happiest is that culture of the marketing department has shifted. No one is suprised when we hit our goals. I think now everyone expects to be successful.
We got there by embracing the idea of the "small win". It was all about doing little things, hitting deadlines, executing the details, etc.
That's how you created earned confidence . . . you execute properly over and over again. You make sure people see the relationship between the process and the goal.
And when you mess up (and trust me, you will) you analyze the cause of the mistake, correct it and move on.
Another year down . . . and it's on to the next one.
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