Experiment Results Sarah Barden and Matt Aufiero | August 9, 2019 - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

▶
experiment results
SMART_READER_LITE
LIVE PREVIEW

Experiment Results Sarah Barden and Matt Aufiero | August 9, 2019 - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Oct 01, 2022 655 likes •1.12k views

Experiment Results Sarah Barden and Matt Aufiero | August 9, 2019 BizLab Summer Research Fellows Intro to BizLab WBURs Revenue Sources Our primary sources of revenue are dependent on the nature of broadcast radio. If radio audiences

slide-1
SLIDE 1

Experiment Results

Sarah Barden and Matt Aufiero | August 9, 2019 BizLab Summer Research Fellows

slide-2
SLIDE 2

Intro to BizLab

Our primary sources of revenue are dependent

  • n the nature of

broadcast radio. If radio audiences migrate to on-demand platforms, pledge drive donations and on-air underwriting revenue will decrease.

WBUR’s Revenue Sources

Underwriting 46% Donations 41%

slide-3
SLIDE 3

What is BizLab?

Our work is urgent. We are a small team testing ideas for new revenue for public radio, at WBUR and other stations. Funded by WBUR, individual donors, Knight, Lenfest Institute, CPB.

slide-4
SLIDE 4

Our method is to build just enough that we can measure and learn

slide-5
SLIDE 5

2019 BizLab Fellows

Sarah Barden

Project: WBUR CitySpace Wellesley College and Olin College of Engineering ‘19: Mathematics, Engineering, and UX Design

Matt Aufiero

Project: WBUR Guides Boston University Questrom School of Business ‘19: MBA + MS Digital Innovation

slide-6
SLIDE 6

CitySpace Audience Revenue

Sarah Barden

slide-7
SLIDE 7

80 events at CitySpace since opening

Conversation and book signing with Glen Johnson “City Space is on to something

  • terrific. Your

programs are interesting, current and exciting.”

slide-8
SLIDE 8

Sold over 8,000 tickets (+ partner events sales)

Alisa Amador In Concert

“What a great space and the performances were superb. A friend came late so sat outside and was SO taken with your sending the music

  • ut into the street.”
slide-9
SLIDE 9

~60 more events until the end of the year

“I like this space very

  • much. This is the third

event I've attended and will be coming to many more!” “We came in from outside Boston by commuter train. It was a schlep across the city. A good topic would bring me back.”

slide-10
SLIDE 10

Summer Project Goals

CitySpace’s financial sustainability from audience revenue. Did not include:

  • Rental pricing
  • Sponsorships

My projects included:

  • 1. Audience data analysis

○ Ticket sales data ○ Summer event survey

  • 2. Ticket revenue and pricing
  • 3. Asking for donations
slide-11
SLIDE 11

Audience Data Analysis

slide-12
SLIDE 12

Questions to Answer through Data Analysis

  • Is the audience loyal to WBUR or not? Donors? Listeners?

Not aware of WBUR? How do they hear about events?

○ If they’re already donors, will they donate to CitySpace too? ○ If they’re not donors, will they donate to support CitySpace events? ○ Can CitySpace be an introduction to WBUR for those unaware?

  • Do people like CitySpace events? Are they returning to

multiple events? Would they pay more for tickets?

○ If few repeat attendees, how can we encourage coming back? ○ For repeat attendees, how can we capture their love for CitySpace?

slide-13
SLIDE 13

Only 30% of ticket buyers are WBUR donors.

Out of people who bought tickets, 70% of are not WBUR donors.

This does not count duplicate tickets (i.e. does not count their guests).

slide-14
SLIDE 14

Many of the 70% non-donors are still listeners.

Survey: CitySpace is run by WBUR (Boston's NPR News Station). Had you heard of WBUR before today? (161 responses)

slide-15
SLIDE 15

Most people heard about events through radio spots and word of mouth.

About half of “Other” said friend or family (161 responses)

slide-16
SLIDE 16

CitySpace has few repeat attendees

# Events People Attended 2+ 246 9.4%

As of July 31, 246 ticket buyers came to 2 or more events, which is 9.4% of all ticket buyers.

slide-17
SLIDE 17

Ticket Revenue and Pricing

slide-18
SLIDE 18

CitySpace Ticket Pricing

Most events have been $0-20. $0 17 events $5 5 events $10 17 events $15 12 events $20 7 events $50 1 event

“Very reasonably priced which makes it affordable for a broader audience than many

  • ther events.” ($20 show)

“Thank you for making this affordable for the whole family.” ($20 show)

slide-19
SLIDE 19

Lower prices result in lower attendance

$0 $5 $10 $15 $20 $50 Ticket Price Percent Attendance

slide-20
SLIDE 20

Ticket Pricing Methods

Flat pricing: one price for everyone.

E.g. $20 for Ophira Eisenberg.

Tiered pricing: 2 or 3 levels with different perks.

E.g. $25/$50 for David Byrne. Can also lower prices for students, seniors, etc.

slide-21
SLIDE 21

Asking for Donations

slide-22
SLIDE 22

GiveLively donations

Made $217 from 11 donors over 4 events (378 attendees). But time consuming for the CitySpace team.

slide-23
SLIDE 23

OvationTix donations

Turned on option to donate when buying tickets. Since Aug 1, $111 from 22 donors (403 transactions)

slide-24
SLIDE 24

Recommendations

  • 1. Continue to track audience data, like repeat
  • attendees. Conduct a fall event survey.
  • 2. Continue collecting donations through

OvationTix and try GiveLively at one or two more free events.

  • 3. Tier more ticket prices to create different

levels of demand with higher prices.

slide-25
SLIDE 25

Thank you!

Amy MacDonald Joan DiMicco Candice Springer Ted Fuller Alex Schneps Lindsy Goldberg Desiree Arevalo Sarah Bloomer Katie Stack

slide-26
SLIDE 26

CitySpace Event Experiments Affiliate Marketing Experimentation

slide-27
SLIDE 27

Affiliate Marketing

Online retailers pay commission on traffic or sales generated from

  • nline referrals.
slide-28
SLIDE 28

WBUR : Podcast Donations

Affiliate Marketing Trends

According to marketing firm Custora: Affiliate marketing now drives as many e-commerce

  • rders in the US as email, with each channel accounting

for 16% of US e-commerce orders. Approximately 15% of the digital media industry's revenue now comes from affiliate marketing.

slide-29
SLIDE 29

WBUR : Podcast Donations

Affiliate Marketing Trends

“In an effort to balance editorial integrity and revenue needs, publishers are taking a more native approach to affiliate marketing by embedding product links within organic content and it seems to be working.”

https://www.businessinsider.com/

slide-30
SLIDE 30

Books mentioned on air which end up in an article generate revenue for WBUR through affiliate links. Book linking led to approximately $10,000 in annual revenue FY19. These results spurred continued experimentation with affiliate marketing.

Initial Exploration – Book Links

slide-31
SLIDE 31

Website development to support our experimentation Content creation and testing Iterate approach based on insights from tracking and analytics

April May June July

Project Timeline

slide-32
SLIDE 32

Project Results

39,000 Readers $200 in Affiliate Commissions 111 Products Sold

slide-33
SLIDE 33

Awareness 850,000 users reached through Guides promotions Interest 39,000 users visited WBUR Guides Consideration 5070 users did not bounce from Guides Evaluation 1872 users clicked from Guides to retailer Purchase 111 users purchased, earning WBUR $200

4.6% 13% 37% 6%

slide-34
SLIDE 34

Preserving Journalistic Integrity

slide-35
SLIDE 35

guides.WBUR.org

slide-36
SLIDE 36

What topics perform best?

Product Category Top-Banner Clicks Product Clicks Eco Straws 3.12% 8.73% Womens Shoes 2.92% 9.32% Outdoor Gear 2.83% 6.14% Home Decor 2.73% 3.64% Eco-Friendly Goods 2.65% 2.80% Mens Shoes 2.60% 6.67% Travel Tech 2.31% 6.45%

slide-37
SLIDE 37

Would the audience prefer explanatory style guides or a blogger style guides?

slide-38
SLIDE 38

Would the audience prefer explanatory style guides or a blogger style guides?

Users on Page Product Clicks Product Click Rate Journalism Tone

399 24 6.02%

Blogger Tone

366 29 7.92%

slide-39
SLIDE 39

Would WBUR.org in-article links and banner ads drive significant traffic?

slide-40
SLIDE 40

Would WBUR.org in-article links and banner ads drive significant traffic?

Channel Traffic Ad Clicks Ad Click Rate

Facebook Ads - Most Successful Ad

17,652 1470 8.33%

WBUR.org - Header Banners

22,383 1486 6.64%

Facebook Ads - Overall Ads

171,405 5543 3.23%

WBUR.org - Mid-page Banners

6713 106 1.58%

WBUR.org - In-article Mentions

3758 20 0.53%

Twitter - WBUR Extra

2929 3 0.10%

slide-41
SLIDE 41

Would WBUR.org in-article links and banner ads drive significant traffic?

Channel Traffic Ad Click Rate Product Click Rate

Facebook Ads - Most Successful Ad

17,652 8.33% 0.27%

WBUR.org - Header Banners

22,383 6.64% 0.19%

Facebook Ads - Overall Ads

171,405 3.23% 0.13%

WBUR.org - Mid-page Banners

6713 1.58% 0.36%

WBUR.org - In-article Mentions

3758 0.53% 0.03%

Twitter - WBUR Extra

2929 0.10% 0.00%

slide-42
SLIDE 42

Project Results

39,000 Readers $200 in Affiliate Commissions 111 Products Sold

slide-43
SLIDE 43

27,000 Readers $1950 in Affiliate Commissions 1400 Products Sold

Summer Reading List

slide-44
SLIDE 44

WBUR : Podcast Donations

Affiliate Marketing Trends

“In an effort to balance editorial integrity and revenue needs, publishers are taking a more native approach to affiliate marketing by embedding product links within organic content and it seems to be working.”

https://www.businessinsider.com/

slide-45
SLIDE 45

Thank You!

Questions?