Company Analysis
My Central Florida Family is a brand designed to inform and influence their target audience, which is spelled out quite clearly in the name itself. Focusing on families in Central Florida, the website acts as the main focus for the brand and offers news, events, and business listings that might be of interest to the head of household and their children.
MCFF focuses on events and opportunities for families in the area, offering most of their services for free. It aims to promote events and local businesses, but also serves as exposure for the Florida Kids & Family Expo, their inaugural event taking place on August 29th and 30th, 2015. While both the website and expo can function as standalone business ventures, it makes sense to keep them intertwined at a marketing level, keeping the branding and target audience in line with one another. The website will promote the two day Expo, and the Expo will promote the use of the website year-round.
Utilizing an IMC strategy will help keep efforts and branding between both the website and Expo coherent and streamlined. Even with two different goals at hand – increasing traffic and ticket sales – it is important to ensure that messaging remains consistent across all platforms and that a wide variety of channels are used to reach the largest audience possible. One example of this being done quite well is makeup and beauty retailer Sephora. Sephora functions as both a brick and mortar storefront and an online shop, with active presences on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest, Google+, Tumblr, and Wanelo. This may seem like a ridiculous number of identities to manage at one time, but Sephora navigates these deftly, knowing when to reuse or repurpose content, how to keep their image and voice consistent, and always linking back to the site for online product pages. Despite the fact that the company does not constantly push sales, the end goal is apparent, centering around promoting their products and making it easy to purchase them.
Repurposed yet consistent content across three different social networks.
SWOT analysis
Strengths (internal)- Past experience with trade shows and expos, familiar with the area, business is run by mothers (part of the target market)
Opportunities (external)- Market is wide open with few competitors, offers a service that many central Florida residents can use, offers touchpoints online (website) and in person (Expo), great partnerships/sponsors
Critical Thinking
Content
Continuing to build the email list through both the website sign up and gathering information through Expo ticket sales is likely the most valuable tool available to MCFF. While engaging with fans and followers in the moment on social media can increase exposure and garner instant feedback, the connections made through an email list can often prove to yield the best results. A carefully maintained email list and directed eBlasts will help make the 2015 Expo a success and continue that momentum through to any future Expos.
Another option to consider is launching a MCFF app. This would largely depend on how the website’s calendar of events is constructed- there could potentially be a simple way to create a basic mobile app that would access this event database and display it on a phone or tablet. Putting too much effort into this app would likely be a waste of money, but if content can simply be repurposed, the small investment could prove to be a great extension to the website. Depending on the outcome of the 2015 Expo, looking at an app specifically for the event may also be an option. This would depend largely on attendance, the number of exhibitors, and sponsors.
Print ads and media, radio, and TV may be the ‘old’ way of doing things, but incorporating this into the IMC mix makes a lot of sense. Even if billboards are not in the budget this year, holding on to that idea for future events would be a great way to get the attention of those that may not be as comfortable on the internet. Recruiting current users of the website to attend the Expo is common sense, but promoting one also promotes the other- attendees of the Expo may become avid users of the website after the fact.
Planning and implementing these marketing strategies are key to the success of both the MCFF website and the Expo, but analytics are an essential part of determining the results and planning for the future. As promotional efforts ramp up toward August, I would first determine a baseline for each of the social platforms and website, seeking an average engagement and new fans per week. These numbers should increase as excitement builds for the Expo and users purchase their tickets. The goal should be to carry over this boost in analytics after the event ends, leveraging it into future events and website features.
Thank you for the opportunity to work on both the My Central Florida Family website and the Florida Kids & Family Expo. This is an exciting time for a new organization, and I wish you the best of luck in your efforts!
lenny leithauser 