What Can Internet Marketers Learn From The X Factor?

After reading ShoeMoney’s ‘Things internet marketers can learn from…’ series of posts I decided to do my own.

After watching last night’s X Factor final, I realised how powerful the marketing of that show is. For anybody who doesn’t know what X Factor is all about, it’s a talent show where the public votes for their favourite talent, thus whittling down the contestants to just one talent who is promptly taken to market with a £1 million record deal.

So with that sorted, lets start the learning

Multiple streams of income

The makers of The X Factor could have taken the easy route and assumed as it’s a television show, the best way to monetise it is by selling the advertising spots in the breaks. Whilst they did capitalise on the advertising spots and made sure they gave the viewer a good chance to see the adverts, they also saw the bigger picture and took every opportunity to monetise the situation. Along with the TV ads, they also charged for voting via phone lines, sold advertising space on their (highly involving) website, charged for tickets to the live show, sold merchandise and I would be surprised if they don’t get a cut of the Christmas song soon to be released by the winner (Leon Jackson).

Empower and involve your audience

Ever trawled gaming forums? If you have, I’m sure you will have seen what are known as ‘fanboys’ (and ‘fangirls’ of course). These people will do anything to defend and promote their cause, and will of course jump at any chance when their vote will influence the outcome of a competition/debate involving their cause. The X Factor used this belief of the audience in their favourite talent as a way of monetisation. This idea of dedicated fans can also be applied to sites themselves, not just monetisation and interactivity within the site. If you provide a great service that people believe in, you can potentially build your own fan club without intending to. This will make it much harder for a competitor to move into your niche.

Celebrities don’t have to be expensive

In the final of The X Factor, Kylie Minogue made a guest appearance as the duet partner for Leon. You could argue that her sister, Dannii Minogue persuaded her to do it to help Leon to victory (Leon was in her category), but the fact that Kylie then went on and so kindly gave the audience a taste of her new song suggests that she was in it more for the publicity. There was exposure for Kylie’s new song in exchange for Kylie helping to raise the profile of The X Factor. The fact is celebrities need exposure or their fame fades away. If there is a particular celebrity or well known person within your niche, you may be surprised what you can offer them in exchange for the exposure they need.

Got customers?

I can almost guarantee that the UK Christmas number one will be Leon Jackson - When You Believe. Why? Is it because it’s a great song? Well partly, it is a very good song, but even if it were a mediocre song it would do well in the charts. The reason for that is The X Factor has a targeted and motivated customer base before they have even released the song. This can be compared to having a good mailing list or a lot of rss subscribers. Remember, it’s easier to keep hold of existing customers than find new ones.

Keeping an open mind

Sometimes a judge may not instantly like a contestant at the audition phase, but that contestant may go on to be extremely strong in the competition and vice versa, sometimes the judges may unanimously agree in the audition phase that a contestant is right for the competition and that contestant goes on to be a disappointment. The message in this is not to pin all your hopes on one strategy or website. Businesses rarely take the exact path they originally planned; be prepared to adapt to what your customers want and don’t get too attached to one strategy. This ties in with the multiple streams of income point.

Filed under: Marketing. Maybe online, maybe not by Ryan