Interactive Map

The map shows where to find the myplace projects approved so far.

You can find out a bit more about projects by clicking on the map. 

Click a Region to see a list of projects funded by myplace.

Failure to Launch

Congratulations! Your world class youth facility is finished. It's amazing! There's never been anything like this in the area before and the local young people are going to love it. There's just one tiny problem...

Nobody knows it exists!

If you simply open the doors and hope for the best the likelihood is that a handful of people will turn up. And they'll be the same young people that turn up to everything else. Perhaps you expect that they'll tell their friends and slowly the numbers will increase through word-of-mouth marketing. But it doesn't matter how amazing your facilities are, nobody wants to hang out in an empty building. The few young people that turn up will get a poor first impression and, in all probability, they'll not feel inspired to tell their mates.

 

You may be providing exciting activities but the young people will provide the atmosphere, so you better make sure your building is rammed from day one.

 

If you've reached this stage in your project you will probably be starting to think about a launch event. Most people feel the need to make a fuss and rightly so! It's a great way to celebrate all your hard work and to gain some much needed attention at the same time. But remember, a launch event alone is not enough; it should mark the beginning of your long-term marketing efforts. Don't make the mistake of spending your entire budget on the launch, your marketing should be frequent and throughout the whole year.

Getting it right

The main thing to remember is that promoting a large launch event is no different from any other type of advertising. The same simple rules apply:

1. Set some goals

Be clear about what you want to achieve. How many young people do you want to turn up? How many partners? Do you want the press to cover it? What do you want people to say after the event? Be specific and make sure that your goals are measurable.

2. Identify your audience

Who do you want to attract to your launch? What young people? From where? How about VIPs? Staff? Parents? Make a list of your key stakeholders and understand that you may need a separate marketing strategy for each. A one-size-fits-all campaign will not work!

3. Tell them why you're different

All marketing is about differentiation. Why should your target audience choose to come to your launch over any and all of the other possibilities available to them? In other words, why are you unique and why is that better? Write down all the things you can think of and then pick the best one. That's your ‘Unique Selling Point' (USP).

4. Focus on benefits, not features

There's an old adage that says nobody ever wants to buy a 10" drill; what they want is a 10" hole. People aren't motivated by the features of your facility. Don't just say ‘we have a recording studio'; tell them what they will get out of it. What's in it for them? Make 2 columns on a piece of flip chart paper. On one side list all of the unique features of your project. On the other side convert them into benefits for your target audiences. Focus on the benefits. Marketing is about solving problems.

5. Keep your message short and sweet

Once you have your USP and your list of benefits, pick the 3 most exciting ones and focus your message around those. Don't try to say too much. Nobody likes to read loads of text. Keep it short and break it up with lots of paragraphs and bullet points.

6. Use a broad range of methods

You want to attract a broad range of young people from a broad range of backgrounds, so sticking posters in schools is not enough. You need to use a wide variety of media to make sure that your message gets through to everybody. Consider the following low cost add-ons:

  • News releases
  • Email campaigns
  • Blogs
  • Podcasts
  • Facebook events
  • Twitter tweets
  • Personalised mail
  • Telephone calls

Added to your more obvious marketing activates, these can massively broaden your reach and widen participation. Aim to use between 5-10 different methods and your event is sure to be successful.

7. Test and measure

If you don't know what return you're getting on your marketing investment how do you know what's working and what's not? Marketing is only expensive if you keep doing it badly. Ask everyone that attends your launch how they heard about it, work out what methods worked best, and do loads of more of those. Simple!

 

All of the steps above are covered in loads more details in the myplace Marketing Toolkit due out really soon. Keep an eye on the myplace newsletter for more details.

 

Good luck with your launch. And don't forget my invitation!

 

John Davidson
streetscape

< Prev
 

Case Studies

Inspirationals

Bookmark and Share