!

Special Project Report

Rebecca Pearson

HTM 4964 Professor Parsons August 22, 2014

The Problem:

Fauquier County Fair, Inc. did not have a Marketing Plan or a Social Media Marketing

plan when I first took on my internship in December. There were many hands taking part

in the Social Media Management for Fauquier County Fair, Inc., but there were no goals,

timelines, manger or person responsible to manage the day to day responsibilities of

social media. They had ideas, but no organized plan to bring their thoughts together or

steps defined to put a plan in to action. Fauquier County Fair, Inc. is a non-profit

corporation that is run solely by volunteers and depends on sponsorships, as well as

private donations to operate. The absence of a Social Media Marketing Plan puts the

corporation at a serious disadvantage when you rely on one major event per year to bring

in revenue to reduce debt and capital improvements. Sponsors, as mentioned above, are

the most important part of a non-profits’ success when putting on an event like the annual

fair. Sponsors will not want to participate if the company has no Media presence, because

there is lack of exposure and less benefit in the investment. Social media is a key in

today’s society, therefore without it you are missing the ability to capture a large

audience in a cost effective way. Since this organization’s main purpose is a single

annual event, without a strong Social Media presence they cannot reach their prospective

audience. Increased attendance is one of the organizations goals and Social Media can

help them reach their full potential. In addition to the fair, during the year the FCF also

holds two other large fundraising events, which also do not reach their full attendance

potential. A well-designed Social Media plan for the Fauquier County Fair, Inc. can

increase awareness about the fair and provide sponsors the avenue to get more value for

their sponsorship dollars.

The Symptoms:

The most obvious sign of the problem was their annual Fair, over the last several years

the event was not generating enough income for the amount of work that was put into the

event. Net revenues ranged from 13% to 28%. The year 2011 had the highest percent,

which was 28%, with the two years prior to 2014 only averaging 15%. Their

Sponsorships were covering their entertainment cost, so any additional revenues could be

used to cover other operational cost incurred during the year. Their Social Media

presence seemed pretty low. Their Facebook page only had 2,257 likes and the Facebook

page itself had no new posts since August of 2013. All Social Media was being poorly

managed. Another symptom was the way they had done their advertising. Their plan

relied heavily on newspaper ads, a radio spot, and in 2013 they mailed out a letter size

postcard. This plan had not been redesigned in years and was not really successful either.

For example, in 2013 they wasted $7,000 on sending the postcard that had a cut out

coupon and only saw a 2% return on that investment. When looking closely into the

operation it was the lack of organization and preparation that was the root of the problem.

Discover any trends:

A key pattern seen in the financial records in Appendix A is the lack of growth in

sponsorship revenue. The two largest sponsor categories are Corporate and

Entertainment /Events/Tents. Corporate sponsors had no growth from 2010 to 2013,

therefore when looking at past years you can see corporate sponsorships had the potential

to rise. The category for those that sponsored Entertainment/Events/Tents, on the other

averaged close to a 12% increase over the same time period. Overall from 2010 to 2013

sponsorships rose roughly 7%. Since sponsorships had a slow growth pattern and

promotional materials had not been redone in the past four years the decision was made

to redesign those materials. The committee wanted to increase the value for the sponsor

by giving them more exposure. This was accomplished by the Social Media and

Marketing strategy implement for 2014. When you look at the gate revenue one can see

that it has not been consistent in the past years either. From 2010 to 2013 the lowest gate

revenue was $67,058 and the highest gate was $99,906. When you look at Appendix B

you can see the organization had a good year in 2011, which was a year that the weather

played a roll. They had 80 degrees days, low humidity and no potential thunder showers,

which is abnormal for July. Gate revenue is also an area that would benefit from a Social

Media Plan and improved Marketing Plan. Sponsorship and attendance are key factors

and are linked together, because sponsors want exposure and the more attendance

increases the more exposure you provide for the sponsors.

Analysis:

When analyzing the critical issue it was obvious it was a lack of organization and

preparation. This in part is a negative outcome of the way the organization is structured.

Everyone is a volunteer. The board had committees that weren’t accomplishing the task

they were given because the individuals assigned to the job did not always have the time

to give to the committee. They had responsibilities outside the fair that hindered them in

accomplishing what they were set out to do. When I began my internship the board had

made a point to do a better job of emphasizing the responsibilities of committees. This

helped the lack of organization and in turn helped everyone allocate more time to

preparation. The chair of the advertising committee, Patty Leonard, started much sooner

than previous years on developing an advertising budget. From 2010 to 2013 advertising

was a line item on the financials, but they didn’t have a set budget until 2013 when Patty,

at the last minute, was named the new chairman with little time to prepare an advertising

campaign. She decided to try something new that was not successful. As mentioned

above $7,000 was spent on postcards that were mailed out to a limited number of

residences. The postcards were not even sent out to all the zip codes in the county.

Based on the number of coupons used this added no value to the number of fair attendees.

As I evaluated all the issues that began to appear, it was obvious to me that even though I

began my special project focusing on a Social Media plan, the overall marketing strategy

needed improvement and was directly related to social media. So when I was ask to be a

member of the advertising committee I could see how everything was related. The cost

for the solution was minimal. The management of Social Media and research I did for

finding the best way to market to individuals was cost free. I was an unpaid intern so

there was no compensation expense for my services and although the advertising budget

for 2014 was increased the portion allocated to the fair remained the same. The key then

became using the dollars smarter and the committee decided to focus on the number of

people that would be reached by the budget. This moved the organization away from the

more traditional forms of advertising previously used. Prior to 2014 the local paper and

radio station had been the main focus. Appendix C is the Advertising Budget created by

the advertising committee. Many hours were spent researching different ways to

advertise and ways to get the event on message boards for free. The market research I

did indicated that WMZQ was the radio station of choice, so the committee decided to

end the relationship with WFLS. We signed a contract with WMZQ and also decided to

use a small station C103 to give us exposure to three more rural counties close by. The

main reason for this decision was that on Friday we were having a truck/tractor pull for

the first time and the committee felt our audience for this event was located in more rural

area. We also advertised in the Valley Trader, because we thought their readers would be

interested in what the fair had to offer and captured yet another audience. The Valley

Trader is sold at over 600 convenience stores throughout the Shenandoah Valley where a

lot of the pullers that follow Interstate Pullers, the organization sponsoring the

Truck/Tractor pull, are located. I made the ad for the Valley Trader to emphasize events

going on at the Fair that attracted to a more rural mindset as seen in Appendix D. To

attract families in the Northern Virginia the committee utilized Certifikid. This

organization is web based and focuses on reaching families that are looking for

entertainment and other discounted opportunities. We interviewed individuals that

redeemed those discounted tickets and found that most were families that home schooled

their children. We also used Facebook push option, which was also used by Culpeper

Star Exponent. Culpeper Start Exponent was an amendment to the budget attached and

reached 30,000. We estimated our total reach was well over 750,000, including the

companies that did not provide a figure for their estimated reach. This does not include

the benefits from the Social Media plan.

Identify and Evaluate Alternative Solutions:

When identifying and evaluating alternative solutions I first wanted to see how the

organizations audience would be best marketed too. As mention above, I conducted some

market research. I did this first by creating marketing questions that served multiple

goals. I wanted to find out what form of media individuals use to find out about current

events and what were the sources of those media outlets. Fauquier County Fair, Inc. has

one of their fundraisers in February every year, so I took that opportunity to interview

those who attended and filled out surveys from the attendee’s I interviewed. Therefore, I

asked questions based on media preferences; such as newspapers, radio stations, social

media influence as shown in Appendix E. After conducting the surveys at the event I then

turned to our social media to add some of our current follower’s preferences. We kept

that open as a contest so our followers would have an incentive for filling out the survey.

After conducting the research I analyzed the data. I determined the most popular, radio

stations, papers, and social media tools, most used multiple Social Media sites. These

findings were used heavily by the advertising committee. Once I went over everything

with the advertising committee we decided what changes we would make for the

advertising strategy. We had no previous commitments so we could change our

advertising any way we wanted. I elaborated on changes to the Advertising Plan in the

Analysis section above. Social Media was redone too. We decided in order to get better

Social Media presence we would post more online information related to the upcoming

fair and figure out ways to attract potential customers. One of the best decisions was

starting the social media and advertising campaigns earlier. Typically things would get

going in May, but we started the beginning of March. This was a great time to start,

because they had just had a fundraising event. We knew we had a very wide base of

potential customers so we decided to look at not only Fauquier County, but we tried to

attract surrounding areas too. Part of my Social Media plan was developing and

scheduling post revolving around three different campaigns. I developed a timeline with

a campaign concentrating on past fairs, bringing back memories that would create a

desire to make more. I labeled my campaign “Throwback Thursdays” and utilized

pictures of past fairs to bring some nostalgia to the event. I also developed a campaign to

feature the events and entertainers coming to the fair. I called this campaign “Who’s

Coming Wednesdays” to try and create some excitement for the event in the weeks prior

to the fair. The last campaign I developed encompassing the Sponsors, which is a key

factor in the success of the fair was name “Sponsor Sundays”. This was used as a perk in

our Sponsorship material too. This change allowed us to provide a perk to our sponsors

for increased exposure and the potential to gain more sponsors, because with changes to

social media and advertising the reach for everyone was dramatically increased. Like us,

sponsors wanted to get as much exposure as they could with dollars spent. Therefore by

increasing exposure via Social Media and Advertising Plan it provided more exposure for

the business. This is what of the top concerns for Corporate Sponsors and as a Corporate

Sponsor you were listed on all printed material. The advertising committee felt they met

the challenge for our Corporate Sponsors by increasing the reach for them and getting

their name in the public eye. Ultimately getting potential customers to see their product

and visit there business is what we wanted to see. Creating the multiple timelines and

scheduling the events, and actually managing the page made the page more interactive.

Potential customers were finally getting their questions answered. I was able to interact

by posting comments that were important for creating more awareness about the fair.

If no changes had been made the growth in Sponsorships and Gate Revenue would have

not increased at the same levels they did. Sponsorships may not have increased at all. In

order to get better and have success you must continually evaluate the business and make

changes to improve. Change can be good and with so many factors that have changed

about the way organizations conduct business now as compared to five years ago you

can’t ignore them or it will have a negative impact.

How success was measured:

Success was measured by an increase in social media presence, increase in sponsorship,

and increase in gate revenue. We measured Social Media presence by their potential

customer worth by total likes and total reach. For every person by “likes” we had given a

$20 worth for the $10 gate fee and the $10 they would spend inside. The $10 they

potentially would spend inside is factored in because we receive revenue commissions off

of rides, games, and food. We used this amount to be conservative because we know

these potential customers would not be coming alone. In late December there was 2,257

“likes”/potential customers giving our Social Media a $45,140 worth by fair time in July

their was 2,758 potential customers giving our Social Media a $55,160 worth. That is an

18% increase in Social Media presence in 7 months. We also contributed our Social

Media “total reach” into measuring success. Total reach is defined as the number of

people who are served any activity from the Facebook page including posts, posts by

other people, mentions and check-ins. The total reach in December and January did not

get over 2,000 people but by the time the Fair came along the total reach rose close to

19,000 people, all due to increased activity and social media presence. The rise in total

likes and total reach can be seen visually on Appendix F.

Total number of sponsors and total dollar amount was how we measured total

Sponsorships; our goal was to have a rise in both from previous years. The organization

realized a 49% increase in sponsorships when compared to 2013 making 2014 a record

setting year. Our number of sponsors rose from 51 to 69. A 26% increase in the number

of sponsors. The total sponsorship in dollars increased $29,996.00 or 33% when

compared to 2013. A detail analysis of Sponsorships can be found in Appendix A.

We wanted to also measure success by looking at gate revenue. This year we had a very

good weather year so it would not be fair to contribute all the gate success on our new

Social Media and Advertising/Marketing Plan, but from the increases we had we know

that the changes made to those plans had a positive affect. In 2011 the weather was near

perfect and we increased the gate right at 22.2% if you compare the two years, which

confirms our assumptions. Historically the Friday gate was weak so one of our main

focuses was to increase the gate on Friday. We made sure to advertise heavily to certain

areas based on interest of the event we had scheduled for Friday night. The gate more

than doubled from the previous year, which is a good indication of a success on

advertising to the right market for the event scheduled. To see the detail analysis you can

look at Appendix B. The total gate for all categories increased and the overall increase

when compared to 2013 was 66%. This was a tremendous increase. If you compare

2014 to the average of the previous 4 years the increase was right at 50%. If you compare

the new 4 year average to the previous 4 year average it rose 13%. If the organization can

continue the success of 2014 they will see increased profits in the years to come. They

will have to evaluate all the changes, not just the ones I worked on to see what the future

holds.

In addition to increases in the above there was an increase in overall Net Income, which

can be seen in Appendix G. It shows this years success compared to years in the past and

overall growth in Net Income. This displays the potential the Fauquier County Fair has

for success in the future.

Implementation

We had the time to implement this solution this year so we were able to see the benefits.

We started with Market Research to figure out the direction we needed to go in and

because this was done in late February committees were finalized in early March. This

gave committees two to three more months to get things accomplished. Since the

committees implemented timelines with drop dead dates that also helped people stay on

task. Once we found which media outlets best suited our audience we decided what

adjustments to make as compared to the past choices, assigned individuals tasks to

complete, and began working on getting things accomplished. I was able to make new

ads for the Valley Trader, which as I previously mentioned was a new organization we

decided to use. I enjoyed having the opportunity to create the ad and work directly with

the contact form Valley Trader from getting the quote to having the ad sent to print. The

Social Media plan was easy for me, since I was in charge of Social Media. I was able to

plan out all of the campaigns the Facebook page would have weekly and scheduled the

timing of the post. This worked really well. The implementation issues revolved around

making the advertising choices, since so many people were involved and sometimes it

took a long time to get ahold of the right people in a timely fashion. We didn’t always

have our best contact when we made our first connection. It took time for everyone to

proof ads too, again because everyone is volunteers it isn’t their top priority. Our

choices for advertising changes went very smoothly.

The challenges the company will have in the future will be the availability of time and

effort for managing the Facebook page. FCF is all volunteer and planning out Social

Media posts for the months before the fair is very time consuming. The other parts of the

Marketing plan should continue to be implemented efficiently as long as someone has the

time to commit to the task. I feel like the downside to the organization is that those

involved do have jobs and many have businesses of their own that demand a lot of their

time. The fair tasks sometimes get set aside, but miraculously they get done. The

organization would not be as successful as it is if the volunteers were not as committed as

they are. They all have a passion to continue the event and keep the heritage of the

county in the eyes of the public. They work hard to have the event and provide a facility

the community can rent at an affordable price. The net rental revenue is another source

that helps pay for capital improvement projects and the operation of the business. I

learned a great deal during my internship and value the opportunity I was given. Many

say that if you do not know where you came from you certainly will not know where you

want to go. This is so true. So now I will begin to create my future from everything I

have been taught at Virginia Tech. I feel well prepared and look forward to my next

opportunities.

Analysis(of(Sponsorship(Revenues

(( 2014

Percent(of(Increase(from(2013 2013

Percent(of(Increase(from(

2012 2012

Percent(of(Increase(from(

2011 2011

Percent(of(Increase(from(2010( 2010

Sponsorship

Corporate 35,000$(((((((((( 40% 25,000$(((((((((( 0% 25,000$(((((((((( 0% 25,000$(((((((((( 25% $20,000( Corporate(B(In(kind 15,000$(((((((((( (

Entertainment/Events/Tents 40,800$(((((((((( 31% 31,100$(((((((((( 12% 27,825$(((((((((( 16% 23,950$(((((((((( 13% $21,200Trophy/Departments/Premiums 4,754$(((((((((((( 50% 3,165$(((((((((((( B42% 5,460$(((((((((((( B37% $8,650Sponsorship(B(Other 50$(((((((((((((((((( B$((((((((((((((((((((( 750$((((((((((((((( B$((((((((((((((((((((( $0

Total(Sponsorship 90,850$(((((((((( 49% 60,854$(((((((((( 7% 56,740$(((((((((( 4% 54,410$(((((((((( 9% $49,850

Note:(Changed(Sponsorship(Program(in(2014(dropping(the(Trophy/Departments/Premium(category.

Analysis(of(Gate(Revenues

(( 2014

Percent(of(Increase(from(2013 2013

Percent(of(Increase(from(2012 2012

Percent(of(Increase(from(2011 2011

Percent(of(Increase(from(2010( 2010

Gate(feesAdvance(Gate(Sales 7,731$(((((((((((( 79% 4,331$(((((((((( B19% 5,348$(((((((((((( B18% 6,492$(((((((((((( B1% 6,544$((((((((((((Friday 31,465$(((((((((( 154% 12,365$((((((( 24% 9,955$(((((((((((( B47% 18,933$(((((((((( 13% 16,740$((((((((((Saturday 43,805$(((((((((( 42% 30,855$((((((( 58% 19,530$(((((((((( B57% 45,918$(((((((((( 61% 28,505$((((((((((Sunday 17,283$(((((((((( 61% 10,731$((((((( B23% 13,880$(((((((((( 58% 8,762$(((((((((((( 45% 6,036$((((((((((((Thursday 17,460$(((((((((( 39% 12,590$((((((( B31% 18,345$(((((((((( B7% 19,801$(((((((((( 4% 18,995$((((((((((

Total(Gate(Revenue 117,744$(((((((( 66% 70,872$((((((( 6% 67,058$(((((((((( B33% 99,906$(((((((((( 30% 76,820$((((((((((

2014 Advertising Budget

Type Size Reach Company CostWeb Fair Facebook @$25 per push 500.00$ Radio Fair 138300 WMZQ- Washington DC 5,675.00$ Radio Fair WFLS-Fredericksburg with Personal Appearance -$ Radio Fair C103-Culpeper/Madison/Orange 800.00$ Radio Fair 150452 Fauquier Now-sponsored by BBT Bank -$ Web Fair Our KidsWeb Fair Certifikid discount ticket sales -$ Print Fair 32000 Discovery -$ Print Fair 48000 Discovery 1,295.00$ Print Fair 13520 Fauquier Times insert 3,337.75$ Catalog Fair 6480 Catalogue to distributePrint Fair Valley Trader 600.00$ Print 4- 1/4 page Fair 80642 Fauquier/Culpeper/ Prince William $812 per 1/4 page 3,248.00$ Print Leaderboard Fair 100000 Fauquier.com/Culpepertimes.com/Princewilliamtimes.com 600.00$ 4,448.00$ Web Fair Washington Parent 500.00$

Advertising Dollars Allocated 16,555.75$ Advertising Budget (18,000.00)$ Advertising Dollars Unallocated (944.25)$

Tractor/Truck Pull C103 $ 800.00

Radio 2- 1/4 pageTractor/Truck Pull 13520 Fauquier/Culpeper/ Prince William $812 per 1/4 page $ 1,624.00

Print 2,424.00$

Catalog Full Page Fair 13520 Fauquier Times- Annual Guide 750.00$

Homegrown, Handmade & Farm Fresh

2014

July 17 – July 20, 2014

Saturday(July(19th(

Tyler(Toliver(@(7(PM(Darryl(Worley(@(8(PM(Fireworks(after(the(concert(!

Thursday(July(17th(!

Friday July 18th

Friday(July(18th((Truck(and(Tractor(Pull(@(6(PM((

Broken(M(Livestock(Rodeo(@(7(PM(!

Rules(at(www.interstatepullers.com(For(More(Information(Call(Chris(Johnson(at(703L509L3163(

Friday July 18th

Friday July 18th

facebook.com/fauquiercofair

www.fauquierfair.org

Admission:!!Thursday!–!Sunday!!$10!per!person!(13!&!older)!$5!per!person!(12!&!under)!!

Fauquier County Fair Fauquier Fairgrounds

6209 Old Auburn Road Warrenton, VA 20187

Hours:!Thursday!11:00am!to!10:30pm!Friday!10:00am!to!10:30pm!Saturday!8:00am!to!10:30pm!Sunday!8:00!am!to!6:00!pm!!

Appendix D

!!

Fauquier(County(Fair(Market(Research(Thank!you!for!helping!us!learn!how!to!best!connect!with!you!!

In(what(ZIP(code(is(your(home(located?(((((

!! ___________________!

!

!

What(Radio(Station(are(you(most(likely(to(listen(

to?(

! 98.7!WMZQ!

! 93.3!WFLS!

! 103.1!WJMA!

! Hot!99.5!

! BIG!100.3!

! 94.7!Fresh!FM!

! I!do!not!listen!to!the!radio!

! Other:!_______________________!

!

If(you(were(finding(information(from(the(

community(online,(where(would(you(look?(

! Fauquier!Now!

! Fauquier!Times!

! Fauquier!Chamber!of!Commerce!

! I!do!not!look!for!community!information!

online!

! Other:!________________________________!

!

Do(you(use(Social(Media(to(find(out(what(events(

are(happening(in(the(community?(

! Yes!

! No!

Have(you(ever(received(mail(from(the(

Fauquier(County(Fair?(

! Yes!

! No!

!!(

What(newspaper(s)(are(you(most(likely(to(

read?((

! Fauquier!Times!

! Culpeper!Times!

! Gainesville!Times!

! Washington!Post!

! Richmond!Times!

! I!do!not!read!the!newspaper!

! Other:!________________________!

!!!Do(you(view(these(newspapers(online?(

! Yes!

! No!

!!!!!(

Which(Social(Media(site(s)(do(you(like(to((

use(to(keep(updated?(

! Facebook!

! Twitter!

! Instagram!!

! Other:!______________________!

!

Appendix E

!

Annual&Fair&Net&Income&Analysis

2014

Percent&of&Increase&from&2013 2013

Percent&of&Increase&from&2012 2012

Percent&of&Increase&from&2011 2011

Percent&of&Increase&from&2010& 2010

Fair&Income $235,467 38% 170,331$&&&&&&&&&&&& 5% 161,818$&&&&&&&&&&&& A19% 199,596$&&&&&&&&&&&& 20% 165,750$&&&&&&&&&&&&Fair&Expensee ($160,444) 12% (142,837)$&&&&&&&&&&& 2% (139,732)$&&&&&&&&&&& A2% (142,855)$&&&&&&&&&&& A1% (144,844)$&&&&&&&&&&&

Net&Income(Loss)& $75,023 1.7&&&&&&&&&&&& 27,495$&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& 0.2&&&&&&&&&&&& 22,086$&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& (0.6)&&&&&&&&&&& 56,741$&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& 1.7&&&&&&&&&&&& 20,906$&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Income&as&a&percent&of&revenue 32% 16% 14% 28% 13%