Written by Savannah Hedges, Account Associate

With a wedding anniversary approaching, it’s undoubtedly fun to reminisce on the fond memories of our special day, but I also can’t help thinking of the marketing tactics our venue used (and just how clever they were). They had a small presence on the typical wedding-specific websites, but their reviews were limited, and they functioned mostly by word of mouth. While the building was beautiful, the company never could have been this successful if, with their marketing resources allocated exactly as they were, they expected their only source of income to be weddings.

So how did they run such a thriving business?

It’s simple: soon-to-be-married couples were a secondary market for them. They were primarily focused on concerts and similar performance events (theater, comedy, etc.). Here are two photos of the same space, one set up for a wedding and the other set up for a concert-type event. Genius, right?

Courtesy of The Brightside Music and Event Venue

Courtesy of The Brightside Music and Event Venue

Venue marketing teams are often experts at selectively choosing audiences to market to, without overlooking other potential profitable audiences. Think about it: Rasor’s office building is located on an upper floor of an event venue called the Ventura – they certainly have multiple audiences! Regardless of how they market their venue space, they already have an audience of business-owners renting office space out upstairs! Establishing the right audience(s) is key to operating a successful business, venue status notwithstanding.

“So,” you might be thinking, “how does my business establish the correct audiences?” I’m glad you asked. There are a number of key factors:

“Everyone” is not a target market.

While it might seem counterintuitive to be selective when choosing an audience, concentrated marketing efforts are more effective than simply shouting your existence to everyone, whether it’s relevant to them or not. By having too broad of a market, you can end up wasting time, money and resources on individuals who aren’t going to use your product or service, whether or not they’re made aware of it.

Don’t forget the resources and connections you already have.

Secondary audiences are important – you don’t want to miss out on untapped markets who can establish a mutually beneficial relationship with your company – but before choosing whichever sounds most lucrative, consider the resources and connections you already have.

If you’ve got a concert venue with space for hosting and a robust sound system – and maybe you even have connections with individuals/businesses who are already thriving in the wedding market that you can partner with – there might be a clear direction for you to take. However, even if there isn’t an immediately obvious answer, whatever your resources, they likely overlap with another market that makes sense for you to penetrate.

Establish a strategic marketing budget.

It’s time to consider what you might not have that’s necessary to please your selected audience. Large or small, additional cost to acquire these resources should be taken into account while determining how much of your marketing spending you want to allocate toward that audience, versus the audience you have already established.

Courtesy of The Ventura

Continuing the illustration of owning a concert venue, let’s say you need to buy linens and decorations to make your business function well for weddings. If you expect to realistically be able to make several thousand dollars each time a party books your venue, these purchases will quickly pay themselves off and will likely be a worthwhile cost. If that’s the case, perhaps you don’t need to focus as much of your marketing efforts on that audience, and if engaged couples happen to hear about you, great! For more substantial costs, it will be increasingly imperative to reach your specific audience with targeted marketing. Determine how much you plan to spend and strategize to use your marketing resources accordingly.

Consider beneficial partnerships.

Maybe marketing is your passion and selecting the right audience is exciting – and maybe you’re feeling extra informed after reading this blog! But, if any aspect of it (including keeping up communications with your audiences after they’ve been established) seems overwhelming, fear not! That’s exactly why Rasor exists. We love partnering with clients to help them accomplish goals and use their resources more effectively.