“The #1 way to succeed in the TV business is often the most neglected.”
Do you know what it is?
Marketing.
That makes sense if you think about it. People have to know your there if you want them to watch you. I mean, this is why Hollywood movie budgets spend more on marketing than the movies themselves.
Now, I get it. I am an artist myself. Marketing can seem bland or intimidating, depending on how you see it. But, ignoring this crucial element will not make it go away.
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People need to know who you are and what you’re about.
It is important to remember that everyone does not need to know you. As a matter of fact, trying to market to everybody is inefficient and costly.
Imagine trying to sell hearing aids to high-schoolers or video games to senior citizens. While sales might be possible, it’s far more likely that you will fail because the target audience is different from the one you invested in.
So WHO does need to know you?
Your Target Audience. As far as who that is, well only you can answer that. So put some serious thought into it.
You might want to pick an age demographic. Or a gender. A class. Culture. It could be some combination or other distinguishable characteristics. It doesn’t matter as long as you end up targeting a large but focused demographic.
Be careful not to target too narrow of a group. Like only females between 28-29 yrs. old born on the last Friday of May. The audience won’t support the project at that point.
Once you have a clear target audience, know who your channel is, and why it’s for them, take the next steps…
If your serious about succeeding in television, you need to let the right people know. Say it with me now: Who you are and what you’re about. Let it guide you in all your endeavors.
We will be covering many aspects of marketing over the coming weeks, but…
…it all starts with BRANDING.
Branding is identity. The root element to who you are and what you’re about, and I guarantee you every successful organization takes it seriously. Here is a sample of that seriousness.
So let’s lay the groundwork for your own branding strategy. It will be one of the highest valued portions of your organization.
The best brand strategy will give your channel awareness, trust, loyalty, and advocacy for your channel. This is the path you want your viewers to move through to grow your audience.
Let us cover the four base areas of your brand.
- Visuals
- Copy
- Delivered Content
- Interaction
Visuals
Visuals cover all of the graphical elements associated with branding, including your logo, colors, splash screens, and advertisements.
Do not take these lightly. Your logo, for instance, is the main element representing your organization. For better or worse, this visual cue will stay in the minds of everyone familiar with it.
Don’t believe me? What image pops into your mind when I say McDonald’s? What about Nike? Or At&t?
One more thing to keep in mind, a logo is not fancy art. The companys’ above did not take the Mona Lisa as their logo. You want quick memorability. Something easy for the mind to recognize and latch onto.
On second thought, unless you already have a strong handle on logo design, I highly recommend you hire somebody. The apparent simplicity of logo design is deceiving. The science behind it is far too involved to cover in a blog post.
Colors are equally important.
This is not just selecting your favorite color combination. You need to select colors that represent what your channel is about.
Copy
Copy is short for copy-writing, which is every written word related to your brand. Your tagline, descriptions, titles, and other written information all make up this element.
Your tagline is the written counterpart to your logo. As such, you should put the same effort and consideration into the creation of this element.
Many video creators initially neglect their content descriptions and this is a mistake. Your video titles and descriptions are important representations of your brand. Just take a look at the attention given to these details on the most successful YouTube channels.
Delivered Content
Delivered Content is essentially the videos your channel shows. That is the end product your audience receives from you.
It is likely that you already have a handle on this aspect as this is the heart of our biz. If not, well, you should know quality in this area needs to match your brand.
I have seen many skateboarding videos shot on mobile phones appear in huge studio releases. This is because in matches the grittiness of the brand and syncs with the overall tone.
On the other hand, can you imagine a pristine upper class travel program produced on shaky camera footage. I believe that would be rather off-putting.
The bottom line is, your productions should represent your brand and you should not deliver otherwise.
Interaction
Interaction means all of the ways your audience interacts with your brand. Your channel, website, email, chat, phone, comments, purchases, and more are all ways the audience can interact with your brand.
A gritty, street music channel might respond to their audience in a manner that would never fly for a white-collar real-estate channel. The point, once again, is consistency. Your interactions need to always represent your brand. Don’t forget this.
Quick tip. Respond to comments on social media if at all possible. Build up your fans and respond appropriately to criticism. The outcome will be to your benefit. Do you remember the old Sprite commercial “Image is everything”?
Your brand, if properly created, will build your audience naturally.
This means knowing who your brand is and who it’s for. This strategy will be the foundation for your audience growth and success.
It will require thoughtfulness and direction, but in return, will build your organization in ways money will never be able to buy. It will become a part of the mind in the same way as McDonald’s and At&t have for you.
