Marketing is not a science of immediate results. Marketing is designed to make a multitude of positive impressions so that the consumer learns about a product, begins to trust the product, starts to utilize and recommend the product and is therefore marketing the product to others.
Imagine you are driving down the street and pass a billboard for a new burger place in the area. You are probably not going to pull over and go to the burger place right then and there. Maybe you are on your way to meet a friend. Or maybe you are not hungry. Or maybe you are on your way to a seafood restaurant. You may have been focused on traffic and did not pay attention to the billboard at all. This does not mean the billboard was ineffective. The company who placed that ad is betting that you are going to pass that billboard many times. You may notice it each time and think about trying their burger, or you may just subconsciously acknowledge the name. But now you are aware of it, and it may just take one more impression…one friend telling you how good their burger is…for you to make the move and give it a try. And if you end up loving the burger, you may end up becoming that friend who recommends it to someone else in town.
Marketing is about creating POSITIVE impressions. Traditional marketing states that there is a “Rule of 7”. Whereby a potential consumer must see a message seven times before they are provoked to take action. So we already know that you need to plan on making at least seven impressions, however, the Rule of 7 was developed in the 1930s. Since then there has been a tremendous growth of products fighting for the attention of consumers. Well, ‘tremendous growth’ doesn’t do it justice. More like an atomic bomb. Products, television and streaming channels, websites, shows, movies, cereals, fast food chains…and yes, performers like yourselves!
You are in a business where your PERSON…your face, your talent, your voice, your uniqueness, all that…is the product. The consumers are the Agents and Managers who represent that product and present you to consumers higher on the food chain. Casting Directors, Advertising Executives, Photographers and such.
To compete with all the other names and faces who are actively being submitted for projects, or being invited to audition for those projects, it is a good idea to start developing professional relationships with Industry Executives by introducing yourself to them, inviting them to see your work, and updating them on what you have recently accomplished in your career goals.
continue to: IDENTIFYING YOUR AUDIENCE