In entertainment marketing, give and take is an effective strategy that gets customers interested in businesses through free offers and bonuses. Being part of a wider online economy, consumers across the world are exposed to these marketing tactics and benefit from them.

Here are more details about the art of give and take, how it works, and why it’s so effective in today’s competitive internet.

Good Faith Offers

When a business has something to offer, marketing becomes the next great challenge. With so many businesses on the internet nowadays, it’s hard for companies to stand out and gather a customer base.

Sometimes, a product can sell itself. You see this with businesses of all sizes, even larger ones like Amazon that offer free Prime memberships and the benefits that come with that. In other sectors, like iGaming, these offers repeat as seen with daily free spins with bonus rounds for many online casinos. This creates a try-before-you-buy experience where those that want to can stick around or come back for free spins later. Either way, the business projects its brand to more people than it would have in the past.

These kinds of offers existed before the Internet, but now, with so many products and services being wholly digital, it costs nothing to offer free samples. There isn’t any stock or product lost like there would be if a supermarket offered you a free product. This helps a business’s bottom line, which can also free them to reward consumers even further through giveaways, lotteries, and other competitions. It’s the surest way to market an online business, especially digital services.

Why Give And Take Works

So why does it work? At its core, it’s a transaction. The business is showing that they respect your time, so they are willing to give you something for free if it means you spend more time with them, with no guarantee that they get your money. They are giving you something so you give them a chance of impressing you.

While it is a good faith offer that most businesses will make good on, it’s still a transaction like any other sale and can prime them for future transactions. Just because money isn’t changing hands, that doesn’t mean something isn’t being traded when a customer takes up a marketing offer.

The best brands that use these tactics need to be good at them, especially if there is a cost to offering free goods. If they didn’t get results, they’d go out of business fast. When done right, give and take is a high-risk, high-reward marketing strategy that quickly offsets any costs when it does work.

Businesses Need To Stand Out

The internet levelled out the playing field. While big brands still dominate, a smaller business with great SEO or a viral marketing campaign can beat them at their own game. However, it levelled out that playing field by expanding it, so customers are faced with an endless choice of who to do business with. It’s more competitive than ever, so businesses need to stand out.

We are close to 2 billion websites online in total, with an estimated 550,000 going online every day. Not all of those are businesses but not all of them are personal blogs either. For marketers jumping into a rapidly expanding online world, the strategy is simple – find as many customers as possible and get them on board with generous offers that beat the competitor sites.

Festival of Making Community Interest Company is expanding its core team following a successful period of organisational development and fundraising. As a new Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation, we now have a fantastic opportunity for an experienced Marketing and Audience Development Manager to join our small and dynamic team. 

We are seeking to appoint an experienced Marketing and Audience Development Manager to further develop the company’s brand identity, engagement and publicity activities with the aim of making our programme and annual festival more accessible to more diverse participants and audiences. Within the role you will support the organisation in robust reporting procedures, monitoring who participants and audiences are and their experiences of engaging with us.

By joining Festival of Making CIC, you will be part of a team creating opportunities for tens of thousands of people to take part in high quality artistic and making experiences that engage the cultural industries with the industrial sector and regional communities. You will provide an integral role within the Festival Team, working closely internally with the Social Media, Digital & Marketing Coordinator, Producing Team and Directors and externally with partners and stakeholders to strategically develop our reach across existing and potential audiences. You will have experience of developing and implementing strategies and analysing what success looks like, along with an eagerness to have a hands-on approach to delivering campaigns and communications across the organisation’s activities. 

ABOUT US 

We are a Community Interest Company based in Blackburn with a satellite office in Morecambe, Lancashire. We deliver a portfolio of work including The National Festival of Making annual weekend; Artistic Commissions including the Art in Manufacturing Residency Programme; year round cultural projects and creative education work. 

Our core aim is to create a unique celebration of UK making, from the kitchen table to the factory floor – with artists and makers at the centre of the vision. We deliver a programme that combines Art, Manufacturing, Making and Communities – commissioning national and international artists to create original works, a participatory festival and a programme of events that engage local audiences, culture seeking visitors and industry professionals.

Collaboration and partnership building is at the heart of the organisation and supports our aim to create diverse and multi-generational programming embedded in the communities we work. We demonstrate how ‘Making’ can have positive effects on community cohesion, health & wellbeing and employability. 

In 2022, the National Festival of Making weekend returned to Blackburn after a 2 year hiatus with over 50 exhibitions, performances, workshops, talks and markets across 22 locations in the town centre attracting 30,000 people. Alongside the annual festival, we are committed to working year-round to deliver projects, commissions and an education programme, with a new business plan that sees this work expanding over the next 3 – 5 years.

BACKGROUND  

The company was launched in 2016 after a period of Research & Development and partnership building. Since then, the organisation has become embedded in Blackburn and the wider regions’ cultural community whilst attracting national artists, audiences and significant media profiles. The organisation has recently secured Arts Council England National Portfolio Status, allowing us to work more strategically year round to deliver against the Arts Council England Investment Principles, alongside increasing the ambition and scale of our work and the number of people who support us to make this happen.

WEBSITE

www.festivalofmaking.co.uk
www.artinmanufacturing.co.uk

SOCIAL MEDIA

Instagram: @thefestivalofmaking
Facebook: @festofmaking
Twitter: @festofmaking

ABOUT THE ROLE AND APPLICATION PROCESS

Job Title: Marketing and Audience Development Manager
Employer: Festival of Making CIC (Also known as The National Festival of Making)
Responsible to: Director
Key Working Relationships: Digital and Marketing Coordinator, Producing Teams, Directors, Freelancers / suppliers including Designers, Distributors and PR Agency.
Contract: Permanent
Hours: Part time – 22.5 hours per week
Time Off In Lieu (TOIL): as per company policy and statutory sick pay entitlement. 
Holiday Entitlement: 23 days per annum, plus Bank Holidays – pro rata
Notice Period: Two months
Probationary Period: Six months
Salary Range: £30,000 to £32,000 Pro Rata (depending on experience).
Pension: Pension Scheme, Employer contributions 3% gross salary
Location: Flexible working with an office base in Blackburn and a satellite office in Morecambe, Lancashire. Due to the fast paced nature of our business, being in the same space on a regular basis, and interacting across the different parts of the company, means that the team is actively engaged in the work we are delivering. For that reason, we encourage a hybrid of office and home working as the norm. 
References: All offers of employment are subject to receipt of satisfactory references and DBS check

Application Deadline: Wednesday 10th May 2023 at 12 noon
Interviews: Monday 15th May 2023 (by Zoom)
Start Date: As soon as possible depending on availability / notice period

APPLICATION PROCESS

Please submit the following as either Word or PDF documents. If you would prefer to submit in an alternative format, contact recruitment@festivalofmaking.co.uk to discuss how we can support this.

1. CV – 2 sides A4 max
2. Completed Diversity Monitoring Form – this should be completed online through this link Equality and Diversity Monitoring Form. This is so it is filed separately from your application and can’t be linked. This information is provided and stored anonymously and separately to your application. It allows us to understand and report to our funders about who is applying to our jobs.
3. Covering letter (2 sides A4 max) outlining how you meet the criteria in the Job Description and Personal Specification, with examples from your previous work.
4. Details of two professional referees with current knowledge of your experience and abilities – these will not be contacted until after you have been successful and accepted a job offer.

Please send the above to recruitment@festivalofmaking.co.uk marked in the subject line with the job title you are applying for.

Please contact the above email address if you would like to discuss this opportunity with one of our team.

MARKETING AND AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT MANAGER JOB DESCRIPTION

Main objectives

• Develop and implement strategic marketing plans that address the CIC’s audience development aims and ambitions 
• To oversee and manage the delivery of successful promotional campaigns inclusive of print & digital marketing, and PR to support the promotion of the CIC’s Festival and wider programme
• To help meet the artistic and business objectives set out in the company’s Activity Plan through audience and stakeholder development
• Be responsible for the reporting and monitoring of audiences with a long term approach to ensure we are reaching and engaging people who fully represent the diversity of the UK as a whole
• Work closely with the Directors and Board in developing new business opportunities, stakeholder relationships and communities; while maintaining existing ones. Also working with the company’s Creative Team on wider engagement of stakeholders with projects

KEY DUTIES

Strategy

• To take responsibility in planning, managing and implementing marketing strategies with an overarching aim to effectively meet current, and developing audience segments, participation and Creative Case for Diversity targets
• Create new strategies and delivery plans to continue to engage existing; and identify new hyperlocal, regional and national audiences we are not yet reaching 
• To take responsibility for delivering marketing and audience development against the goals identified within the Festival of Making CIC’s funding agreement as an Arts Council England National Portfolio funded organisation
• Create systems and procedures to effectively monitor progress in relation to the Audience Development Plan, reporting to Directors and Board Members along with producing mandatory reporting for our funders such as the Arts Council England Annual Return and the quarterly reporting requirements of Arts Council England and other funders
• Use available Toolkits to develop robust Evaluation Systems with the Creative and Producing Teams to ensure we are capturing relevant data to learn about our participants and audiences, who they are, their feedback of experience and how we can develop our programmes and engagement with them going forward
• Work closely, where relevant, with external consultants with specialisms in evaluation strategy and data collection
• Provide relevant and comprehensive reports including data analysis to be reported to the Festival of Making Board of Directors
• Be involved in policy development where appropriate

Delivery

• To work alongside our Creative Team and Digital & Marketing Coordinator to deliver a creative and co-ordinated approach to targeting audiences and participants that are currently underserved in our sector and reach those who more widely seek out cultural experiences
• Develop mechanisms to connect and promote the breadth of our work within community settings, that complement our community and education work
• Communicate with the communities we want to build relationships with, working alongside our partners including but not limited to Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council, Educators, Community Groups, Private and Third Sector organisations to gain audience feedback, consulting them on messaging, tactic and design to continually refine and improve our marketing campaigns
• To help maintain and develop the National Festival of Making brand across all marketing channels both on and offline, and ensure that all standard information is accurate and up-to-date
• As the programme expands, develop the brand identity to successfully market the work we do and projects we deliver
• To work closely with the Social Media, Digital and Marketing Coordinator and Producers to develop and deliver rich engaging digital content that is audience and channel focused to accompany predetermined strategic marketing plans specific to our audiences
• To work collaboratively with the Social Media, Digital and Marketing Coordinator, including setting objectives, targets and priorities and coordinate workload allocation

Marketing Management

• Develop, implement and monitor marketing activity timeline
• Oversee ordering of promotional print across flyers, banners etc, with a keen eye for ensuring environmental sustainability 
• Develop and oversee marketing campaigns for Open Call and Job opportunities, ensuring opportunities are featured within most effective listings and reaching a wide range of people

Design Management

• Work collaboratively with the Directors and Producing Team to brief and manage media and creative agencies, and our external design agency, to create compelling campaign messaging and visual identities to attract our target audiences and segments
• With the support of the Marketing & Digital Coordinator and wider team, lead on the compilation of Festival programmes from design brief to print delivery and digital release
• Lead development of design briefs across Festival of Making CIC online and print marketing 

PR Management

• Manage and monitor marketing, PR and advertising budgets 
• Work with external PR and internal team to create and facilitate PR activity

Partnerships and Stakeholders

• Develop partnerships that will maximise our brand and audience ambitions
• Build and maintain new and existing sector partnerships in support of cross-sector promotion, including but not limited to industrial partnerships connected to the Festival’s Art in Manufacturing residency partners
• Connect to, and maintain partnerships with regional place and marketing campaigns that support the goals of Festival of Making CIC, and where the Festival of Making CIC can inform strategic growth
• Working within the framework of the EDI Policy, build external community partnerships to enhance diverse engagement and ensure marketing material is responsive to the diverse audiences the organisation serves, with a willingness and interest in developing new marketing tools to best encourage wider participation

General

• Working with the Finance Manager and Social Media, Digital and Marketing Coordinator to control spending and adjust budgets and re-forecast as appropriate
• Writing, editing and proofreading promotional copy for print and online platforms
• Maintain a working knowledge of Festival of Making CIC’s policies with particular focus on upholding and integrating the EDI Policy
• Ensure FoM CIC policies as outlined in the Staff Handbook are reflected in all aspects of your work where appropriate and relevant
• Undertake any other duties commensurate with the status of the role and in keeping with its overall purpose
• Attend training where required and relevant
• All team members will act as advocates for the Festival of Making CIC, championing the organisation’s work within the wider cultural industries and other sectors

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Essential

• Experience of strategic marketing and audience development ideally in an arts context
• Experience managing marketing budgets along with target setting
• Significant copywriting experience and ability to demonstrate tone of voice across programmes
• Excellent writing and editing skills for both internal and external communications
• Ability to write and contribute to evaluation reports and case studies for funders 
• Knowledge and experience of analytics, participant and audience surveys and analysis to determine strategy development
• Experience of analysing data and compiling reports
• Commitment to championing representation and inclusion at every level of the organisation with a proven ability to work with people from a wide range of backgrounds
• Excellent communication and networking skills
• Up to date knowledge of all Microsoft Office Applications and Google Drive shared document working
• A strong collaborator and team player
• Open to new ideas and new ways of working
• Experience managing relationships with communities, external agencies and suppliers

Desirable

• Interest and knowledge in the arts, culture, festival and making industries
• Knowledge of, or ability to develop understanding of Lancashire and the North’s cultural sector
• A commitment to sustainability and understanding of the climate change agenda
• Enthusiasm for training, mentoring and support of emerging talent
• Knowledge of, or ability to develop understanding of, Arts Council England’s Creative Case for Diversity

PLEASE NOTE

This job description reflects the requirements of the Festival of Making CIC in April 2023. The CIC reserves the right to make such changes as are necessary after any changes required have been discussed with the post-holder.

FURTHER DETAILS & APPLICATION GUIDANCE 

We are keen for applicants to have a passion for arts and culture and have worked in either the arts or a charitable, not for profit or third sector organisation previously.

We are committed to the Arts Council England’s Creative Case for Diversity and recognise the inequalities within the sector. Festival of Making CIC recognises how diversity fosters creativity and innovation. We are committed to equality of opportunity, to being fair and inclusive, and to being a place where all belong. We therefore particularly encourage applications from candidates who reflect the diverse nature of the local communities we serve, particularly in Blackburn, Lancashire and who are likely to be underrepresented in our workforce. These include people from Black, South Asian and global majority ethnic backgrounds, people living with a disability and people who identify as LGBTQI+. 

If you require any access support during the application process or if selected for an interview related to this role, or require further information (including access support), please contact recruitment@festivalofmaking.co.uk

Appointments are for an initial 6 months probationary period before any contract is made permanent.

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