Having the Right Marketing Materials
Having the Right Marketing Materials
Working within the Trivia industry is a cut-throat and competitive environment and the people who make a good living from the industry are not just the people who can write the best trivia, devise the best games and run the most entertaining night, but also the people who are adept and able to market themselves and their services correctly without any WebCitz service. It is all well and good having a great format and great hosting skills, but the simple fact is that if you cannot attract people to the event then you are going to find that you are not getting bookings. And if you can’t market yourself you will find the phone never rings and you are left without any hosting to do. Having the right marketing materials and link building services is therefore vital so let’s have a look at some key areas you need to be considering.
Facebook/Twitter
It goes without saying that in this day and age you need to have a strong presence on social media. A lot of business is not found through individual websites or phone books, but by noticing pages on social media. Here are a few key points to consider:
- Social media themselves have very good search functions which help local businesses. For example a potential customer in New York will see your results first if you are based there. I would not suggest buying any sort of advertising on those sites or paying people to get your followers etc as that is not what you need.
- You need to establish real, working clients and customers and this will take very time and effort on your part.
- You need to make sure your page is presentable, focused and sells you well. The average person may only spend a few seconds looking at your page but they should know everything about you from it and what can offer.
- Have customer testimonials on there, pictures, examples of trivia shows you have done in the past and mention upcoming events.
- Avoid spamming and don’t post a million updates a day.
- Ensure you make friends with local businesses and firms who can cross promote and encourage your customers to add you to their circles.
Website
It is possible to make a living as a trivia host without a good website, but it is tough. People are generally conditioned to viewing a website first before calling.
- Every trivia host, no matter what your aims are ambitions, gets the same advice from me…invest in your website. Make it snazzy yet simple, detailed yet sparse and make sure that within a few seconds the person looking at it knows all about you.
- Videos of events, pictures and anything that makes it personal will also go down well. Have you just hosted a game of Clobber where everybody was smiling? Use that. There is nothing less appealing than going onto a website and seeing stock photos of actors.
- Make it personal, make it realistic and above all else make it YOU.
Samples
As mentioned in a previous post about doing a sample trivia night, your samples need to be accurate, up to date and well presented. Check back on the aforementioned post for more details but in a nutshell you need to be giving samples on your website and handing samples to bar owners that are vibrant, colorful and show examples of your best trivia questions and examples of your work. Nicely presented in good condition and they are going to do the trick.
Posters
Where better to advertise than the venue itself? It is where your core customers and players are likely to be and if you are in a busy environment such as a city or town center then you will get a lot of football. The poster needs to be eye catching and needs to stand out. If people walk past the poster and do not realize it is there then you have failed in your marketing job. The bar owner may offer help here, but you need to take control and make sure it is correct. Simple information is need….dates, times and prizes and that is all. Too much information will lose people’s attention. Get it right and people will start to think….”yeah maybe I would enjoy a trivia tonight”.
Flyers and Business Cards
I have also mentioned in previous posts the importance of getting involved in the local business community and you should be building up contacts. Use them to get your fliers in there and business cards in local firms. Again keep them simple although this time maybe add some contact details, links to your website and other such details. Have a QR code to take them to your facebook page and above all else make sure they know when and where you deliver trivia and how you can help them.
I would suggest two separate business cards –
- A card for venue owners to hire you and business people to hire you for events advertising your service etc
- A card to advertise regular pub trivia nights or special events you are running
In essence, without the marketing materials your trivia business will struggle to make it off the ground. In terms of having the right marketing materials you need to be sure that you are focusing them, making them professional and above all else making people want to hire you. Word of mouth can be effective but to start establishing word of mouth you need to be getting those initial bookings without which you may find yourself struggling. Get the marketing materials right and you will notice an instant improvement in your trivia business. It is a shame but I have seen great trivia hosts fail because they didn’t have the time or knowledge on how to market themselves and I have seen bad trivia hosts get gigs because they did. Like in any business the first impression and the way you can talk the talk matter sometimes more than your experience, delivery or even the product….the money is the marketing and the marketing makes money so make sure you spend as much time as you do on making sure it is appealing, attractive and urges people to hire you!
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