Lessons from Podcamp: #1 - Marketing with Chris Penn

I went to my first podcamp this weekend.  I didn't really know what podcamp was, but saw that there were really interesting people involved so I put it on my calendar in hopes that schedule would work out. I did manage to make it for one day and it was really super.

Brand and emotional experience 

Ostensibly it's about making good podcasts, but really its much more. Here's what struck me from Chris Penn's talk on Marketing:

Brand = the emotional after taste from the experience

What does that mean?  What do we remember when we walk out the door from the concert hall, or the museum?  How can we build on that? When we connect with the emotions, it is very powerful.  It reminds me of the great quote from Maya Angelou:

"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." 

As arts institutions, what can we do to ensure that every aspect of the experience conveys this same message?  As Chris says, 

we have to remember that it is all a continuum of experience.... Marketing, Sales, Customer Service and of course the 'product' itself.

Podcast Power and Access

Chris added a feature to his blog so that people could subscribe to his podcasts by email, rather then RSS feed.  It increased his audience by over 20%.  His comment was that some people are really not comfortable with RSS feeds or don't know how they work. It's important not to hinder audience growth by making assumptions about how people access your content.

And as I noted in a previous post, podcasts are powerful ways to build audience.  The Boston Symphony's online sales increased 50% after they started doing podcasts and they have over 75,000 subscribers now.

Three's a charm

Turning leads into sales = conversion.  I liked Chris' analogy:

Sales is turning ideas into action

Here's 3 points he made about sales

1. Stay in Touch:  In new media word spreads fast. Make sure you fulfill your promises and stay in touch with your customers to make sure.
2. 3 connections needed:  Send 3 notices 15 days apart to connect with your potential customer.  (I had heard that it takes 4 impressions, but either way its an important reminder, that one shot doesn't do it.) 
3. Outreach where they are: You want to reach a certain Latino population? Consider speaking at their church on Sunday. Go where they are.  

  All good stuff.  Thanks Chris.