Top 3 Entertainment Marketing Challenges and Solutions

Top 3 entertainment marketing challenges and solutions 

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From the outside, entertainment marketing for museums, theatres, art galleries, and sports teams seems easy. After all, your institution is a hub of history and culture! But, if you’re in this industry, successful entertainment marketing is more than taking a picture of the latest Picasso.

Entertainment marketers are faced with unique challenges. Why should people visit, donate, or become members? We’ve helped entertainment institutions like yours for years and know your marketing pain points. That’s why we’ve put together a list of the top 3 entertainment marketing challenges with solutions to help you succeed.

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entertainment options are endless

Entertainment marketing challenge #1: Competing with endless entertainment options

Regardless of the business you’re in, you’ll always have competition. Museums, theatres, galleries, music venues, sports teams, and other entertainment and cultural institutions face a unique challenge – you offer an experience, not a need. People these days have many leisure choices, and it’s up to you to convince them to spend their time and money at an exhibit, show, or game. Although there’s no instant way to achieve marketing success, with a little effort and strategy, you can stand out from the competition. 

Entertainment marketing solution: Invest in brand awareness

There is a lot of noise and attention is at a premium. A baseline for any marketing campaign is awareness. Brand awareness is an ongoing process and goes beyond name recognition. Effective awareness campaigns establish a connection with your target audience and keep your name in front of them.

Mixing organic marketing with paid media is essential to finding and growing your audience. Below are a few ways entertainment marketers can help build brand awareness.

winning marketing content is invaluable
Create winning content: Create high-quality, informative, and engaging content that resonates with your audience. Content comes in many flavors – blog posts, email marketing, infographics, long form and short form videos, checklists, ebooks, and social media posts are just a few of the ways you can use content marketing to your advantage.
Kickstart your entertainment content marketing journey or to help streamline existing efforts with these tips:

  • Prioritize content that is easy for you to create and publish regularly. This doesn’t mean stick to one format or focus on low-effort ideas that are easy to churn out. Understand your resources (maybe you’re a video whiz but struggle with writing long-format blog posts) and build a solid post schedule that works for you.
  • Make content discoverable and shareable.
  • Create content with your audience in mind. How is this content valuable for them? Is it in a format they are engaged in?
  • Track results. Like any campaign, track results. What’s the click-through rate for email? Which blog topics bring in the most readers? Are Instagram reels getting hundreds of hearts, but images only get a few dozen? Content marketing is a long-term strategy, so be patient if you don’t see results overnight.

Run awareness ads

Pair your organic content strategy with paid advertising to skyrocket the number of eyeballs on you. Today, more people discover brands, products, and services via social media ads than by word-of-mouth recommendations, brand and product websites, and consumer review sites.

Instead of a conversion, marketers use metrics like reach, impressions, audience growth rate, and website traffic to determine performance. Social media (Meta) and Google are common platforms to run awareness campaigns.

A good baseline for digital awareness campaigns is at minimum 4 weeks— particularly for optimization. These tools use machine learning to optimize performance and budget, but they need time for the algorithm to learn how your target audience responds to your campaign.

If you’re on the fence about awareness campaigns, read this article: The Importance of Branding and Awareness Campaigns.

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stale marketing strategies should be audited

Entertainment marketing challenge #2: A stale marketing strategy

Are you rehashing tried and true marketing campaigns and not seeing the results you remember? If so, maybe it’s time to mix up your entertainment marketing strategy. Sometimes ideas run their course – results are great at the beginning but wind down after time. And that’s ok! This does not mean you have to spend money on a rebrand or throw money at new platforms. However, it could be a sign that it’s time to branch out and rethink your strategy. 

Some key components of marketing audits include:

  • Defining your audience. Review your buyer personas, analyze website traffic demographics, and take a deep dive into social media engagement data to see if you’re hitting the target or missing the mark.
  • Evaluating your marketing channels. Not all marketing channels are created equal. Analyze the performance of each channel (website, social media platforms, email marketing) to see which ones are delivering the best results in relation to your goals.
  • Conduct a competitive analysis. Research your competitors’ marketing strategies. What are they doing well? Are there any gaps you can leverage? How does your creative compare? Understanding your competitive landscape can help you refine your approach.
  • Review the user experience. Fractured marketing campaigns lead to an inconsistent user experience. If you notice inconsistent messaging, creative that isn’t on brand, or a disjointed voice, your customers will notice too. We recommend using an omnichannel marketing strategy to create a seamless user experience.

Once you’ve audited your efforts, you’re ready to forge ahead with new campaign ideas. MPP helps clients spark new ideas through creative co-labs.

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audiences are shifting

Entertainment marketing challenge #3: Shifting audience expectations

Audiences are no longer passive observers. They crave interactive exhibits, themed events, educational programs, and Instagrammable experiences. You’ll always have your tried-and-true fans, but to stay relevant, entertainment marketing needs to connect with prospective visitors from all walks of life.

  • Work with influencers and brands to tap into new audiences and gain exposure. Think social media takeovers, co-marketing campaigns, events, or even special collaborations. This could be anything from a travel influencer promoting their day at a history museum to a clothing brand selling limited edition merch at your gift shop. For inspiration, check out these 10 standout partnerships between museums and brands.
  • Host themed events with music, performances, or talks by experts related to current exhibits.
  • Offer workshops, classes, or behind-the-scenes access that allow visitors to learn a new skill or delve deeper into a topic.
  • Dedicate a space for parties or special events.
  • Promote user generated content to encourage guests to share their experience.

Entertainment marketing solution: Transform the experience

Relevancy is important for your institution now and in the future. We know balancing the old with the new can be tough. Below are a few ways you can leverage digital marketing while staying true to your brand.

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Don’t let your entertainment marketing get stuck in the past

These days, it’s not enough to master Reels transitions, join TikTok, or follow what everyone else is doing. Attractions need to be original, likable, and excite audiences. By creating quality content, auditing your marketing strategy, and embracing new ideas, you’ll continue to be vibrant centers of culture and entertainment for generations to come.

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Ready to start a conversation with entertainment advertising experts?

Contact MPP today!