Why "the best" marketing copy might be bad for your show
2/8/18
We’ve written a lot in this column about how important the travel market is to Broadway.
In a previous article a couple weeks ago, we talked about how Broadway Inbound translates shows’ marketing copy for use by our representatives around the world. We mentioned that a lot of the typical bits of content used in traditional marketing copy might not be as useful to domestic and international visitors to NYC—i.e. people who may not be as familiar with Broadway.
We thought we’d delve into that a little further.
Show marketers who work with Broadway Inbound get the lecture at least once a year, asking them to remove all sorts of superlatives from their copy: amazing pull-quotes from top critics, paragraphs that list the acclaimed creative team, and even major award wins and nominations.
And of course we get pushback, because all of those wonderful accolades and high-powered names do a lot to sell tickets among traditional Broadway ticket buyers. But hearing from our international sales and marketing teams, as well as tour operators and travel pros, travelers to NYC don’t respond as well to this info. Their biggest question is almost always “What’s the show about?”
Critics and awards mean less—not nothing, but less—to many of these non-traditional buyers, many of whom may be coming to see a show for the very first time. They’re trying to choose among a plethora of shows that are new to them, and if all of them claim to be “the best,” then whom to believe? Which is why they rely on good descriptions that give them insight into the plot, the characters, the music, and
the tone.
In addition to the awards and quotes, show copy can easily get overloaded with the names of directors, choreographers, even composers who are not well-known to the casual traveler to New York. It pains us to say this, because we know how important it is to the shows to include the creative team in marketing copy, but it could do more harm than good when speaking to the travel market.
If all of this seems counterintuitive, we understand. Why not lead with some of the things that make your show great? But over the years, hundreds of travel and tourism professionals have told us that their buyers tend to gloss right over that info, and if they can’t find something more about the show itself, they’re likely to move on.
For more information on Broadway Inbound, visit www.broadwayinbound.com.
In a previous article a couple weeks ago, we talked about how Broadway Inbound translates shows’ marketing copy for use by our representatives around the world. We mentioned that a lot of the typical bits of content used in traditional marketing copy might not be as useful to domestic and international visitors to NYC—i.e. people who may not be as familiar with Broadway.
We thought we’d delve into that a little further.
Show marketers who work with Broadway Inbound get the lecture at least once a year, asking them to remove all sorts of superlatives from their copy: amazing pull-quotes from top critics, paragraphs that list the acclaimed creative team, and even major award wins and nominations.
And of course we get pushback, because all of those wonderful accolades and high-powered names do a lot to sell tickets among traditional Broadway ticket buyers. But hearing from our international sales and marketing teams, as well as tour operators and travel pros, travelers to NYC don’t respond as well to this info. Their biggest question is almost always “What’s the show about?”
Critics and awards mean less—not nothing, but less—to many of these non-traditional buyers, many of whom may be coming to see a show for the very first time. They’re trying to choose among a plethora of shows that are new to them, and if all of them claim to be “the best,” then whom to believe? Which is why they rely on good descriptions that give them insight into the plot, the characters, the music, and
the tone.
In addition to the awards and quotes, show copy can easily get overloaded with the names of directors, choreographers, even composers who are not well-known to the casual traveler to New York. It pains us to say this, because we know how important it is to the shows to include the creative team in marketing copy, but it could do more harm than good when speaking to the travel market.
If all of this seems counterintuitive, we understand. Why not lead with some of the things that make your show great? But over the years, hundreds of travel and tourism professionals have told us that their buyers tend to gloss right over that info, and if they can’t find something more about the show itself, they’re likely to move on.
For more information on Broadway Inbound, visit www.broadwayinbound.com.
Originally published in Broadway Briefing.