Marketing the Arts on the Internet

report by Jeremy McNeill
last revised on April 14, 2000

Contents

  1. What is the Internet?
    World Wide Web, E-mail, Usenet, Multimedia, Interactive TV, WAP phones, etc.
  2. Demographics
    Facts and figures about UK internet use.
  3. Marketing Opportunities
    Banners, web site design, the seven “c”s, e-mail, usenet, CD-ROM’s, off-line promotion.
  4. On-line Resources
    Links to useful web sites.

This report was inspired by Jeraint Hazan’s seminar “Marketing the Arts on the Internet” in November 1999. I have added to his thoughts with my own on line experience during the past three years which includes building and maintaining four web sites and promoting the creation of the uk.culture.arts.theatre newsgroup of the UK usenet community.
Jeremy McNeill, November 1999

1   What is the Internet?

  1. World Wide Web. The World Wide Web was intitiated by the CERN project in Switzerland in 1991. Home use took off in 1995 when Compuserve, AOL and Prodigy started providing gateways to US users with a modem and personal computer. The web consists of billions of pages of information (with millions more added daily), accessible to anyone with a personal computer and modem. Pages are viewed using a browser such as Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer. They may be simple text or highly graphical with animations, sounds and videos embedded. Pages are encoded using a language called HTML (Hyper Text Mark-up Language).
    Navigation between pages is by means of hyper text links, which contain embedded code including the address or url (Uniform Resource Locator) of the linked page. Urls usually take the form http://www.mysite.co.uk/

  2. Electronic Mail (e-mail). This was the first part of the Internet to be established, during the 1960’s. The Arpanet project was originally developed by US universites for the military who needed a communiactions network which could withstand a nuclear strike. E-mail is text based and enables rapid communication between people using personal computers with software such as Eudora, Microsoft Outlook Express or Netscape Communicator. Recent e-mail programmes enable the attachment of graphics, spreadsheets, HTML code, etc. but this is not always welcomed by recipients.

  3. Newsgroups (public and private). Also known collectively as Usenet. These are forums where anything and everything may be discussed. Contributions are made by e-mailing a message to the newsgroup, usually using e-mail software, although there are also specialist programmes.
    Main public usenet newsgroups have names of the form rec.arts.theatre.plays (international - English language) or uk.culture.arts.theatre (UK perspective) or es.espectaculos.teatro (Spanish language) and the structure is hierarchical with committees or dictators deciding on the procedures for establishing new groups. There are over 45,000 public newsgroups and an unknown number of private groups which are usually confined to servers on company or academic sites.
    Lists (from E-mail lists) are a forum where everyone’s contribution is automatically e-mailed to all subscribers of the list.

  4. Multimedia. As the technology for producing CDs has made them very cheap, large amounts of information are now being disseminated using various mixtures of images, sounds, text and videos. Most people are familiar with CD ROM based encyclopaedias. These can have “live“ links to Internet websites.

  5. Interactive TV. This is quite widespread in the USA, especially on cable TV and the advent of digital TV in the UK is currently on the verge of producing an explosion in use here. The TV, phone line and a keypad or infrared controller can be used to navigate through web sites and to perform tasks such as on-line shopping, managing bank accounts and sending e-mail.

  6. Mobile phones and other devices. Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) is driving a new generation of mobile phones which bring access to many on-line services. Currently telecoms companies are bidding sums of up to 16 billion UKP for the third generation of mobiles which shows the real interest of commercial companies in this sector. The current generation of game stations (Dreamcast, Sony Playstation) have email and web browsing facilities. Also currently in development are other appliances with internet connectivity including (I kid you not) fridges and microwaves!

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2 Demographics

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3 On-line marketing opportunities

  1. Banner Ads.  These are the virtual poster sites which you might see on the front page of search engine sites or ISP (Internet Service Provider) home or portal pages. The banner ads usually have the same rectangular shape and they are charged for at rates of approximately £25 per 1,000 impressions. When clicked the banner ad will link directly to the advertiser’s web site. On search engine sites you can “buy” certain keywords, so if you purchased the keywords ‘Bristol’ and ‘film’ or ‘cinema‘ you could ensure that your banner advert would always be shown. Banner ads can cost a lot to design and place, but they can be closely targeted and visitors to your site bring feedback.

  2. Website Design. The seven ‘C’s are consideration, clarity, content, colour, consistency, charisma and cult-ability. Ignoring these will mean people don’t bother to stay at your site, even if they find it.

    1. Consideration. Make sure your design is accessible to all; for instance by including alt tags on all images, by making graphics small and fast to download, providing text based alternatives.

    2. Clarity. Make all navigation buttons clear, keep pages small so that they are visible on a small domestic machine as well as a high powered designer’s computer. Keep images small so that download times are minimised.

    3. Content. Many websites seem to be devoid of content. Visitors want to find some content, to be intrigued, amused, informed.

    4. Colour. Consider the user. Make sure that the colour schemes which you use do work in all browsers and on different types of machines!

    5. Charisma. What will attract people to your site? Is the name memorable?

    6. Cult-ability. This will make people come back for more. Downloads, screen savers, interactive-ness. Sound, animation and videos can be used to great effect, but at the choice of users rather than imposed on them causing unnecessarily large download times. The site should be more than a brochure. Use the medium!

  3. Search Engines, Directories & Meta Tags

    1. Search Engines are automated "index files" which help internet users to find the content which they are seeking. Popular search engines include Altavista, Excite and Google. These all present the user with a search box into which key words are entered. The search engine then consults its index and proffers results. Web pages are indexed by search engines in many ways which include reading keywords in Meta Tags in the HTML code. Omitting these Meta Tags may mean that your page ends up very low in a long list of matches. The structure of the text in the page is also important to many search engines. To get listed in a search engine the page has to be submitted. You can "buy" keywords to make sure that your page is listed highly.

    2. Directories are structured by human editors and may be quite selective about the sites which they list. Popular directories include Yahoo - UK & Ireland, Lycos UK and AOL Netfind. Meta Tags are important in directories, but the foibles and tastes of the editors may be more important. Each directory has its own policy.

  4. E-mail

    1. Signatures. E-mail software allows you define a signature or even a choice of several different signatures, which are added automatically to your mail. These signatures can contain a marketing message.

    2. Sponsorship. A message about your event could appear on all internal e-mail within large companies. Ask business people on your board. By this means, you could regularly contact thousands of local employees for free!

    3. Buy bulk e-mail shots. Beware of spamming* as this could cause loss of your internet service. Make sure that e-mail addresses which you use are of people who have positively opted in. The same principles apply as those relating to unsolicited snail mail, telephone calls and faxes. And the same or similar laws will soon apply.
      *Spam is a technical term derived from the famous Monty Python sketch set in a cafe where the menu consists almost exclusively of Spam. In internet usage spam is regarded as a nuisance because it is a waste of bandwidth or internet resources. Most Internet Service providers (ISPs) have a stated Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) which forbids spam.

    4. Build your own e-mail lists and send out regular e-newsletters. Don't forget to allow potential attenders to join your mailing lists via your web-site. Make sure that all printed literature includes an option for joining an electronic mailing list.

  5. Usenet

    There are usenet newsgroups where announcements and adverts are permitted. There are also others where they are prohibited and transgressions can result in 'flaming', which may be rather uncomfortable, if not deadly!  It is customary to "lurk" in newsgroups to understand the style and rules for that group before joining in.  It would not be correct to regard usenet as the equivalent of a noticeboard.  Charters for newsgroups in the uk.* hierarchy and lots of other information about usenet is available on-line at http://www.usenet.org.uk/

  6. Links

    Direct banner swaps with other sites, e.g. corporate sponsors, local companies, local media websites acne bring visitors to your site. Also make sure you are listed with links from Regional Arts Board sites, local government sites, digital cities, search engines and other national and regional directories.

  7. CD-ROM’s

    As the production costs of CD-ROM’s are now minimal, it is now possible to offer a free “taste” of your arts experience to potential attenders. The CD-ROM can include sound, video, animation and “live” links to relevant web sites.

  8. Off-line Promotion

    Don't forget to promote your web site using conventional media such as your brochures, headed paper, invoices, ticket stubs, print and radio advertising, beer mats, posters, carrier bags, etc.

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Further Information

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