As a local business owner you've likely been approached about sponsoring program ads before. Fundraising requests come from all types of organizations like schools, nonprofits, sports leagues, and performance venues.
For a long time these solicitations have been for a printed program or printed signage, but now digital programs are becoming more popular. What should you expect from buying an ad in a digital playbill? What's the process and how do you know it's worth the investment? That's what this resource aims to answer.
Benefits of Advertising in a Digital Playbill
Digital formats offer great benefits for your business which is important if your interest goes deeper than benevolent philanthropy. It is an advertisement, after all, and so it's natural to wish for sort of return on your investment.
What makes a digital playbill better for you as a sponsor compared to a printed program? Let's dive in...
ROI
Consider how print ads reach patrons and what is required of them before the convert into customers.
In a traditional printed program, a patron takes their seat in an auditorium and flips through a small booklet or brochure. They see many ads, and your only hope is that they notice yours, remember it after the play is finished and they return home, go to bed, and wake up the next day. That length of time and distraction between exposure to your ad and the potential conversion point is the biggest obstacle to a positive ROI.
Analytics
Next consider - how do you know if a new customer acquisition is the result of your ad in a printed program? You have to ask them, either with an online form or on the phone or in person "how did you hear about us" and that question NEVER adds value to the customer journey through your conversion funnel.
Digital playbills on Cast98 track analytics for the studio so they can tell you exactly how many patrons saw your ad ("impressions"), how many people paused scrolling on it ("reads"), and how many people engaged it ("clicks"). After the show, ask for a report from the production company!
Publicity
A digital playbill is easily shared with family and friends who are not able to attend the show. More eyes on the playbill means more impressions on your ad.
Heck - you may even encourage the director to share their playbill on social media accounts, knowing good and well your ad is there waiting.
You should do the same on your business's social accounts - help promote the show, casually mention you're proud to support the organization producing it, and link to the online playbill as an easy bit of fun and interesting content.
Trash Proof
Maybe the best part of advertising in a digital program is that it will never get thrown into the recycle bin and lost forever! Your ad will remain in the playbill so if someone does remember your advertisement a day later the same way they would a printed ad, they can pull up the playbill and engage it.
Submitting Ad Content
Cast98 enables directors to create custom playbill ads for sponsors that include the following:
Name (text)
Button Label (text)
Click Destination (URL)
Graphic (image file)
Keeping it simple makes the content creation easy on everyone involved. Let's dive into some best practices to keep in mind when submitting your ad content.
Name
This is the easiest info as you will most likely want the ad to represent your business, your personal brand, or to remain anonymous. Just make sure you're explicit about the name you want to use so that the theatre can copy and paste it. You wouldn't want any typos or assumptions to sneak their way in!
Button Text
The button text is your call-to-action ("CTA") and should be a short (18 characters maximum) actionable phrase that you hope potential customers will complete.
This is when you should do some critical thinking about what message you want your ad to convey to a patron sitting down to enjoy a show.
Try to avoid a button that says "learn more" or "visit our website" as these are generic and not very meaningful or enticing for someone to engage. Instead, consider saying plainly whatever a conversion means for your company.
Here are some suggestions that may or may not be relevant based on your industry:
Make an appointment
Get a quote
Get a free estimate
Book a tour
Make a gift
Download the app
Enroll now
Sign up online
RSVP now
Register today
Book a consultation
Browse our menu
View this recipe
Claim this offer
Shop now
Download our guide
When you settle on an appropriate call-to-action, now you can more strategically decide how to approach the rest of your ad content.
Ad Graphic
Your digital playbill ad on Cast98 is enabled with a custom graphic.
Patrons viewing a digital playbill will be using their mobile device 97% of the time, so your ad should be easy to read at only 400 pixels wide. However, since modern phones have extremely high resolution your ad should be designed with an 800px width at minimum, keeping in mind that it will appear at half size or smaller in most cases.
You should ask the theatre company for precise requirements of the ad size based on their policy - some theatre groups will use a standard size for all ads simplicity while others might offer sponsorship tiers for smaller/larger sizes, just like in a printed playbill.
You can refer to the graphic at the top of this article for a general depiction of how big your ad will appear at various size dimensions on an iPhone 14 Pro Max.
Some theater companies may ask you to design and submit your own ad based on the size requirements. Other theater companies may ask that you let them design it for you - particularly if they are striving to maintain a consistent theme. Still other groups may give you the choice - DIY or collaborate with their in-house team. Make sure to double-check with the theatre before spending time on your own design.
If allowed to design your own, make sure the graphic conveys a relevant message that reinforces your call-to-action (the button text you already defined above) and entices patrons to engage.
Free marketing advice - Remember your ad will be seen on a very small screen, so any text embedded in the graphic should be minimal and the imagery should be compelling to give the patron pause. Working in tandem, if your image makes them pause you only have about 1.5 seconds to capture them. In that moment, they should be able to read all the words on your graphic and understand what product, service, or promo you're offering.
Ad Destination URL
Lastly, the destination URL is a web address where the show's patron will go when they engage your ad. Both the button and the graphic will be hyperlinked for this destination.
Now wait - before you instinctively just drop in your website URL, pause and consider your call-to-action. If you are a restaurant owner and your button CTA is "Get a catering quote", the best URL to use is a link to your catering order form. It is NOT your website's homepage where the person will have find and touch another button or two before making contact. Adding steps creates friction and that's where you miss out on closing a sale.
Remember - the audience seeing your ad is most likely sitting in an auditorium. The lights could dim at any moment as the show begins, so you want to shuttle them to your point of purchase or conversion as quickly as possible with no obstacles.