Topspin's Marketing With Data Presentation at Midem

Marketing with Data
January 27, 2010
Shamal Ranasinghe
Cofounder, Topspin
MIDEM Academy

Focus on Data
More revenue, more fans
Right offers in front of the right audience
Measurement frameworks
Specific steps
Hypothesize and collect data
Test and measure
Analyzing and Optimizing

Opportunity is real
Internet levels the playing field
Particularly true when it comes to both granularity and accessibility of data
Direct to fan response can be quantitatively tracked and improved online
Historical ways of releasing music for the “industry” meant getting measured by Soundscan, Billboard, BDS radio spins, but now artists can make music for their fans and measure that response accordingly
Empowered artists need to pay attention to different key metrics

Better Business
Let the data determine how to invest in new artist products
Fans pay more: >$20 average revenue / transaction, $50 with branded artists
More Margin: 85% vs. 70% -20% in your direct channel vs. others
Own your fan and super-serve them
Use fanbase data to segment and target for higher conversion
Save on remarketing costs
Success stories abound
Michael Masnick’s presentations at MIDEM and NARM discuss Trent Reznor’s approach and offer several great artist examples
Case studies: Fanfarlo, Jonathan Coulton, Metric, David Byrne

Think in terms of a Funnel

Steps to take
Establish goals
Craft offers to meet goals
Collect data
Test and Measure
Optimize
Repeat, iterate, experiment

1. Set Direct to Fan Data Goals REACH My widget on 100+ sites this year 50,000 unique visitors this month ENGAGEMENT Single played 10,000 times on the web Fans to share my video 2,500 times ACQUISITION 5,000 email addresses by January Sell out the Mercury Lounge in NYC (capacity 250) MONETIZATION Make $60,000 from a series of DTF offers Average fan revenue is $50 per year across all offers

2. Craft Your Offer
Authentically connect with your fans
Do not focus on topline revenue of one product
Artist as a brand with many products
Variety of offers to serve a wide spectrum of fans
Emerging artists prioritize on fan acquisition through low friction, low cost offers
Established artists benefit from fans wanting collectibles and higher-value experiences
All should include tiered premium offers vs. leaving major revenue and margin on the table

Impact of Physical Goods in Offers *Source: Topspin direct to fan campaigns

Consider Premium Offers
50% of transactions occur at under $10, but account for less than 18% of Revenue
Greater than 50% of revenue is earned at price points over $25
*Source: Topspin direct to fan campaigns

Plot and Serve Your Demand Curve

3. Collect Data
Once you’ve crafted your offers, project demand
Calculate weighted average transaction value based on product mix and expected distribution
Multiply average revenue & margin by conversion rates from channel
Get a handle on accessible channels
Number of emails in your list (ensure freshness for optimal conversion)
Traffic to primary and secondary sites measured in visits
Search volume ( Google’s search term tool )
Social network reach in friends or followers: Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Last.FM, YouTube, iLike, etc.

Google Analytics – Required

Topspin Conversion Averages Source: Topspin Direct to Fan Averages CHANNEL CONSERVATIVE NORMAL AGGRESSIVE
Email
Visits (clicks)
Sales from visits
10% 4% 15% 8% 20% 12%
Traffic to Primary Site
Visits
Sales
Email acquisition
100% 2.4% 7% 100% 4.8% 15% 100% 8% 20%
Traffic to Secondary Sites
Visits
Sales
Emails
8% 2% 3.2% 16% 3.2% 6.4% 24% 5.6% 8%
Search
Visits
Sales
Emails
2.4% 1.6% 3.2% 4% 3.2% 7.2% 5.6% 4.8% 11.2%

Topspin Conversion Averages Source: Topspin Direct to Fan Averages CHANNEL CONSERVATIVE NORMAL AGGRESSIVE
Facebook
Visits
Sales
Emails
0.8% 1.6% 2.8% 2.4% 2.8% 3.6% 4% 4.4% 7.2%
MySpace
Visits
Sales
Emails
0.8% 1.2% 2.4% 2.4% 2.4% 3.2% 4% 4% 6.4%
Twitter
Visits
Sales
Emails
2.4% 1.6% 2.4% 4.8% 2.8% 3.2% 7.2% 4.4% 6.4%
YouTube
Visits
Sales
Emails
2% 1.2% 2.4% 3.2% 2% 3.6% 4.8% 3.2% 4.8%

Compare Funnel Conversions Source: Topspin Live Artist Example

Essential Lessons
Learn and master Google Analytics
Simple to put into footer of website, blog, CMS
It’s free and a universal standard
Third party integration, i.e., Topspin purchase flow
Premium offers = more revenue
Include physical goods to generate demand
Service fans who want more and are willing to pay
Understand conversion rates  project demand

4. Test + Measure = ROI
What was the before and after of your marketing?
Compare and contrast how different channels drive traffic, fan acquisition, and revenue
Benchmark and improve each fan touch-point sales conversion
Web page views and click-throughs
Email open-rates, click-throughs, unsubscribes
Widget loads, plays, shares
Purchase points: impressions, acquired fans

Revenue by Channel

Website Traffic
Identify major sources of traffic to your site
Topspin Knowledge Base instructions
Assess ecommerce and conversion by source to reinforce and reward high-performing channels
For each source, uniquely track traffic and commerce by tagging the URLs: Google URL Builder
Topspin Knowledge Base instructions
Advanced users can develop unique landing pages for each source of traffic
Bit.ly and Awe.sm URL shortners provide tracking and metrics

Social Network Data Platforms Analyze social network metrics and engage fans periodically with new media and posts

Third Party Metrics Providers

5. Optimize
Initial direct marketing is an investment in data and benchmarking
SEO
Landing pages
Email
New metrics for the new business

SEO
Imperative that primary site is ranked highest
SEO Advice and Tips :
Search Engine Traffic #2-#3 source of artist’s traffic and revenue during releases
Ensure release and artist specific key words are resulting in top placement for your site
Rank Checker :

SEO
Can you tell below when this artist’s primary site fell out of top placement in search rankings?
Drop in traffic = drop in revenue
Requires continual monitoring or setting up data alerts

Landing Pages

Landing Page Data Lessons
Your offer should never be more than one click away
Why? only 15-30% of visitors follow the link to the offer page
Compare:
Offer page is one click away: 30% click and 10% buy = 3% total conversion
Offer page is two clicks away: 30% click once, 30% click again, 10% buy = 0.9%
Assume 10,000 visitors and $20 avg sale: this is $6,000 vs. $1,800
Emails should drive fans direct to offer page
Integrate offer page into homepage
Advanced users A/B landing pages for high conversions
Google Webpage Optimizer

David Byrne Email Marketing
Strongest revenue channel
3,000 to 30,000 in two weeks
28% CTR
13% purchased
Tip: Streaming players or widget images in emails have highest CTR

Metrics for the New Music Business MEASURE EXAMPLES Play to Purchase Ratio Byrne and Eno: 20% Fans Acquired per 1000 Viral impressions Fanfarlo: 49/1000 Fans Acquired per 1000 Paid impressions Average: 0.7/1000 Dispersion David Byrne: 160 sites Fanfarlo: 248 sites Shares to Sales Ratio Fanfarlo: 1.1

6. Repeat, Iterate, Experiment
Promotional effectiveness has short half-life so emulate successful methods quickly and measure constantly
Investing in data intelligence enables better remarketing
Experiment with limited fan sets
Plot your own demand curves and determine price elasticities
A/B test for incremental gains on all fan touchpoints
Future of artist marketing is based on your creative ideas
Tools will allow easier implementation and more immediate measurement
Actively engage with audience to sustain and grow fanbase KPIs

Some (More) Creative Campaigns
Fanfarlo case study
The Elk
Get Busy Committee
Joe Pug
Golden Filter
Ambling Alp

Further Resources
[email_address]
Twitter: @shamalman
Skype: shamal_topspin
Topspin Green Room
Topspin Knowledge Base
Google Analytics: Conversion University
Berklee College of Music
Course: Online Music Marketing with Topspin
Certificate program: Topspin-Certified Marketer Specialist
Copyblogger

Thank you.

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Topspin's Marketing With Data Presentation at Midem

by Shamal ranasinghe on Jan 28, 2010

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Topspin’s Marketing With Data Presentation at Midem — Presentation Transcript