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ARTICLE
My new day job was with EMAP (now Bauer Media), selling advertising on a couple of fishing magazines. I then moved to the infamous Max Power, where I was involved in the magazine, exhibitions and weekenders that they ran. From there I moved to another company who published fishing and shooting magazines, as well as working at trade exhibitions in those sectors. My role as Head of Trade and International Business meant running the trade team and dealing with businesses all over the globe, businesses who wanted to get their products in front of distributors, wholesalers and retailers in each continent. In all, the advertising part of my career spanned 14 years.
Now, what does this have to do with DJing? I would argue, everything!
I’ve never had any interest in fishing, shooting or car modifying, nor indeed, any of the sectors I’ve successfully sold in. I simply had an interest in showing advertisers how they could achieve more sales. I was never distracted by discussing my own personal best carp weight, for example, which meant I stayed focused on why they wanted me in their office in the first place – to get them more business. I believe that DJs should be no different.
We all want to impress other DJs with our latest kit purchases, last big gig, or our brilliant live streams. But ask yourself, when was the last time a DJ was your customer? We need to appeal to our market, not our colleagues or our competitors. A very successful fellow wedding DJ paid me a huge compliment in 2016 by telling me that, in just one year, I had achieved the level of reputation and notoriety that had taken him 10 years to build. I managed to achieve that by investing heavily (at times, scarily heavily) into effective marketing for my business.
American psychologist and marketing expert Steuart Henderson Britt is quoted in The New York Herald in 1956 as saying: “Doing business without advertising is like winking at a girl in the dark. You know what you are doing but nobody else does.”
There are poor products that are successful because they are marketed well and there are great products that will never make it for the converse reason. Of course, there are risks with over-promotion and over-investment in advertising, so it can be a tightrope to walk. There are also certain media channels that simply won’t work for you, and that can be an expensive learning curve. However, all this is made easier when you identify important plot points in your strategy.
Crucially, finding your target market is the first plot point. Identifying your target market is imperative. What do they look like? What is their style? What is their income value? What are their priorities? Where are they? Who is going to read/see/hear your advertising? For example, at one of the greatest extremes, you could take out a TV advertising campaign, which can be hugely lucrative for some companies.
But how many viewers’ eyes will be those of prospective brides and grooms? Then, even if you do get conversions, how many do you need to justify the expense? This sort of scatter-gun, money-throwing approach works better for mass production than for single operators of small businesses (as mobile DJs tend to be).
TV advertising is an extreme example, but with the modern targeting available to TV companies, it should never be entirely discounted!
The opposite end of the scale is to do nothing and simply rely on word of mouth. Word of mouth is certainly the strongest option for quality of credible leads, but it limits you to a specific circle. Besides, how do you begin that journey in the first place? And how many other DJs are in the same recommendation circle, thereby reducing your prospects of conversion?
We also have largely free social media platforms at our disposal, which can be fantastic marketing tools. However, when it comes to buying ads on these platforms, too many get drawn into the social media price-war mindset.
...
To read the full article, you’ll need to have a physical copy of the magazine which you can sign up for here for 6 issues delivered to your door from just £16!
https://store.promobile.online/products/pro-mobile-magazine-6-issue-1-year-subscription
You’ll also get full interactive access to this and the last year of magazines via the Pro Mobile Magazine App which is available from both the Apple App Store and Android PlayStore
Now, what does this have to do with DJing? I would argue, everything!
I’ve never had any interest in fishing, shooting or car modifying, nor indeed, any of the sectors I’ve successfully sold in. I simply had an interest in showing advertisers how they could achieve more sales. I was never distracted by discussing my own personal best carp weight, for example, which meant I stayed focused on why they wanted me in their office in the first place – to get them more business. I believe that DJs should be no different.
We all want to impress other DJs with our latest kit purchases, last big gig, or our brilliant live streams. But ask yourself, when was the last time a DJ was your customer? We need to appeal to our market, not our colleagues or our competitors. A very successful fellow wedding DJ paid me a huge compliment in 2016 by telling me that, in just one year, I had achieved the level of reputation and notoriety that had taken him 10 years to build. I managed to achieve that by investing heavily (at times, scarily heavily) into effective marketing for my business.
American psychologist and marketing expert Steuart Henderson Britt is quoted in The New York Herald in 1956 as saying: “Doing business without advertising is like winking at a girl in the dark. You know what you are doing but nobody else does.”
There are poor products that are successful because they are marketed well and there are great products that will never make it for the converse reason. Of course, there are risks with over-promotion and over-investment in advertising, so it can be a tightrope to walk. There are also certain media channels that simply won’t work for you, and that can be an expensive learning curve. However, all this is made easier when you identify important plot points in your strategy.
Crucially, finding your target market is the first plot point. Identifying your target market is imperative. What do they look like? What is their style? What is their income value? What are their priorities? Where are they? Who is going to read/see/hear your advertising? For example, at one of the greatest extremes, you could take out a TV advertising campaign, which can be hugely lucrative for some companies.
But how many viewers’ eyes will be those of prospective brides and grooms? Then, even if you do get conversions, how many do you need to justify the expense? This sort of scatter-gun, money-throwing approach works better for mass production than for single operators of small businesses (as mobile DJs tend to be).
TV advertising is an extreme example, but with the modern targeting available to TV companies, it should never be entirely discounted!
The opposite end of the scale is to do nothing and simply rely on word of mouth. Word of mouth is certainly the strongest option for quality of credible leads, but it limits you to a specific circle. Besides, how do you begin that journey in the first place? And how many other DJs are in the same recommendation circle, thereby reducing your prospects of conversion?
We also have largely free social media platforms at our disposal, which can be fantastic marketing tools. However, when it comes to buying ads on these platforms, too many get drawn into the social media price-war mindset.
...
To read the full article, you’ll need to have a physical copy of the magazine which you can sign up for here for 6 issues delivered to your door from just £16!
https://store.promobile.online/products/pro-mobile-magazine-6-issue-1-year-subscription
You’ll also get full interactive access to this and the last year of magazines via the Pro Mobile Magazine App which is available from both the Apple App Store and Android PlayStore
The full review can be found in Pro Mobile Issue 120, Pages 22-27.
