Brand Management & 360° Marketing

Syracuse City Ballet

Strategic management solutions across operations, marketing, content and products helped this regional performing arts organization increase sales, engagement and growth—and kept its doors open.

Project

Overview

Client

Syracuse City Ballet

Syracuse City Ballet is the premiere professional ballet company serving the Central New York community. A 501(c)(3) non-profit, the organization is dedicated to giving the people of Central New York access to fine arts performance for all. The company creates family-oriented entertainment while offering opportunities for local professional and student dancers to perform on stage with international artists.

Challenge

Generate Revenue and Reputational Value

Due largely to the pandemic, two years had passed without ticket revenue; the company experienced a 98% decline in earned revenue, with 2021 revenue just one-third of pre-pandemic levels. By 2022, the company needed to return to pre-pandemic or "Nutcracker" levels of web traffic and ticket sales in order to keep its doors open another year.

Revenue was also lost due to a lack of reputational value; the ballet company had separated from its former ballet school mid-pandemic, but still catered to the outdated audience. This damaged their reputation as a professional ballet company, and contributed to loss of prospective sales.

Solution

Brand Management & 360° Marketing

To generate revenue, the organization needed brand management across operations, marketing, content and products; this helped the brand establish its reputational value, thereby increasing sales. Initially establishing SOPs ("standard operating procedures") and shifting from manual management to automated services increased the organization's efficiency and ability to focus on growth. A 360° marketing plan and strategy delivered a consistent voice and content across traditional and digital channels. Operations and optimization focused on the website, newsletter, social media, online shop, and brand materials put products in front of target audiences, increasing customer conversions and ticket sales.

Results

Sales Increased 171%

Implementing brand management and marketing solutions, the company hit and exceeded its target goal in 1 month: 171% increase in website-based sales, 13% increase in unique visitors, 11% increase in page views, and 10% increase in overall website traffic. Social media optimization and strategic content led to 1600% increase in site traffic, confirming social media as primary marketing investment.

Building SOPs and automated systems during tenure saved a calculated 33% of time on job, allowing role to focus on growth. Newsletter optimization increased subscribers by 18% in 2 months, with 80% of new subscriptions coming from website. Social media management led to 800+ social follower increase, and targeted Facebook ad campaigns yielded 25–50% above-average engagement per sector.

Specifications

Brand Management

Operations & Strategy

Developed organization's first SOPs; generated 100+ pages of new documentation and processes; audit of all internal communications, marketing and operations processes; built databases and automated systems for operational efficiency and management, e.g. internal DAM ("digital asset management") system, creating tutorials for all systems – new protocols saved 33% of time on job.

Marketing & Advertising

Developed 360° marketing operations plan and strategy per season and individual performance across traditional and digital platforms and channels for both target audiences (ballet professionals and ballet-goers); crafted advertising campaigns per performance on Google and Facebook. Social media ad campaigns yielded 25–50% above-average engagement rate per sector.

Products & Development

Strategy, development and optimization of digital products across website, social, newsletter and brand materials. Newsletter optimization increased subscribers by 18% in 2 months, with 80% of subscribers coming from website; website UX/UI and SEO optimization led to 171% increase in website-based sales, and 10% increase to overall site traffic.

PR & Partnerships

Established and upheld brand voice, writing all internal and external brand copy; initiated contracts and managed partnerships with vendors, contractors and influencers; created all sponsorship sales and marketing materials; interview preparation with Artistic Director. Press/PR outreach and liaison; reputation management, SEO and established ownership of branded platforms, e.g. Google My Business.

Content & Design

Established brand design guidelines; managed and led production of photography, video, writing and graphic design for: all performance, sale, and sponsorship digital advertising materials and campaigns (social media, marquees, highway billboards and digital signage); print materials (posters, event programs and apparel). Created traditional illustrations and digital designs for each season performance, with parent designs formatted for all channels with custom-built templates in Adobe CC.

Social Media

Streamlined and established brand voice across all social platforms; social media optimization led to 1600% increase in site traffic. Built and managed social media scheduling system, concepted and managed social media contests, wrote all social content formatted with platform-specific tags, language and SEO, performing at above-average engagement rate per platform. Maintained all channels and correspondence with follower increase.

Portfolio

Visual Samples

Website Optimization

Increased organic traffic by 10% and website sales by 171% in just 1 month.

Mobile & Social

Social media and mobile optimization increased website traffic by 1600%.

Newsletter Optimization

18% increase in subscribers in 2 months; 80% came from website.

Social Media Advertising

Campaigns yielded 25–50% above-average engagement rate per sector. Facebook ad “The Firebird” yielded 122% above-average engagement rate in its sector.

360° Marketing: Content & Design

Content included original watercolor illustrations and digital designs per season performance; parent designs formatted for assets across all campaigns and channels using custom-built templates.

Efficiency & Automation

Establishing automated processes and SOPs saved 33% of time on job.

Content & SEO

Established brand voice and differentiated content with platform-specific tags, language and SEO. Content performed at above-average engagement rate per platform.

Database Development

Custom database with automation programming for operations, marketing and communications processes.

Standard Operating Procedures

Established organization’s first standard operating procedures, and over 100 pages of documentation.

Client

Testimonial

Marketing Wizard Produced Immediate Results

Geena Matuson is an absolute marketing wizard. Within days of signing on with Syracuse City Ballet, Geena had thoroughly analyzed existing marketing efforts and produced a multipage document outlining steps to implement much-needed changes to our organization’s marketing strategy, with a focus on consistency and organization.

Geena’s efforts produced immediate results. Our organization’s website and online following reached “Nutcracker levels,” meaning that in early October, Syracuse City Ballet experienced spikes that it normally would only see the weekend of our largest production in December. The interest and visits to our website continued through the months of October and November.

Syracuse City Ballet went from having zero systems in place, to having a comprehensive plan for when, where, and how to market upcoming ballet productions with a focus on getting the most exposure with a limited budget.

Posts and communications are no longer simply nice photos, but include a specific call to action. Syracuse City Ballet has never had a more polished online presence than it does today, thanks to Geena’s professional and organized approach to marketing.

In addition to her stellar organization and analytic skills, Geena is also a talented photographer and graphic designer, and is skilled in a multitude of digital platforms.

Geena is a confident communicator and looks out for the best interests of the organization’s future needs.

— Elizabeth Naughton: Executive Director, Syracuse City Ballet

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A Geena Media brand, The Content Consultant is Geena Matuson as strategic management, marketing and creative consultant for your content, your brand—you.