Marketing and Audience Engagement.

We live in an age of self-promotion, where everyone from the largest corporation to the beginner-influencer must be able to sell not only their products, but themselves.

Though marketing is import for any journalistic organization, it is a pulse point in the world of yearbook-making. As the only Braswell Media publication with the ability to make a substantial profit, being able to advertise (and advertise well) is not just about increasing readership - it is how we fund the entire journalism department.

Let's take a look at how we did it.

Marketing.

How we used multiple mediums to generate consumer interest in our product.

Sales blitzes

We shape our promotions and advertising around four sales blitzes, or campaigns, throughout the year. These dates are strategically placed and shape how and when we post promotional material on social media or around campus.

For example, we did not post nearly as much in the first sales campaign as we did in the third in order to encourage more purchases during the latter's higher markup period of $80 (therefore increasing our profit).

The sales timeline as it appears in the "marketing" tab of Yearbook Avenue. Braswell media used this Josten's service to track sales, set sales goals, and create tasks specific to each blitz.

Giveaways

In September 2022, Braswell Media held a giveaway for one winner and one friend of their choosing to receive a free yearbook.To be eligible for the drawing, students had to follow our account, share the giveaway post on their story, and leave a comment tagging a friend.

The giveaway ended up being a win-win situation for both the winner and Braswell Media: they got a free book, and we got free publicity!

Braswell Media announces the rules for the yearbook giveaway promotion.

Cover reveal

The student body does not get to see what the book looks like until well into the third sales campaign. So, in order to generate some anticipation, Braswell Media did a cover reveal.

We did this through posters of the cover's proof throughout the school that were covered by a second poster cut into puzzle piece shapes. Each week leading up to the big reveal, a piece was removed.

At the same time, we promoted the cover reveal through Instagram stories and on TikTok.

Aliyah Esteban, business manager, "wipes" away the remaining puzzle pieces to reveal the cover. Click here to see the original post.

Braswell Media removes another piece from their cover reveal puzzle.

Contests

In addition to the cover reveal, Braswell Media also challenged students to guess what our 2022-2023 yearbook theme was. We uploaded the guessing form to our Instagram story, then determined the winner based off of answer accuracy and time submitted.

Adding the incentive of a prize generated more interest in both the yearbook and our program.

The winner of the Braswell Media Theme Reveal Contest receives candy, assorted school supplies, extra signature pages for their yearbook and a hand-signed card from The Ambush staff.

Contest winner Maria Rivera Figueroa, senior, stands with Ambush editor-in-chief Reagan Netherland, senior.

Social Media

We primarily used Instagram Reels and TikTok videos in our online sales campaigns. I was mindful to use school appropriate yet trendy audios when making these videos in order to better appeal to our high school age audience.

I elaborate on our use of social media here.

Click here to view the original post.

Click here to view the original post.

Audience Engagment.

A quick look at how our audience has grown during my time with Braswell Media.

Engagement reports

Though hard numbers cannot measure the success of a program, they do give insight into the success of a program's ability to market itself. I check our Instagram and TikTok engagement reports weekly to get an idea of what types of posts are getting the most hits and who is viewing our profile.

The report to the right depicts Braswell Media's Instagram engagement report as of February 11, 2023.

The gist.

Successful journalists understand basic business models.
Marketing, at its best, involves multiple forms of media.