This article is a summary of an interview conducted with Danny Aguilar, Director of Marketing and Sponsorship with the Delaware State Fair. In this interview, he discusses the usage of data in the marketing role and how he has the strategies for the non-profit. 

Technology has integrated into the daily operations for the marketing team at the Delaware State Fair. This includes sharing responsibilities, communication and tracking progress on marketing campaigns. Using collective cloud technologies to update the team in real time has reduced the amount of meetings and increased the transparent communication with collaboration projects. Some of the daily key performance indicators that Aguilar pointed out was zip code collection to recognize the areas with the most fairgoers, what purchases they might be making on the grounds and how their backgrounds may influence their decisions to come to the fair. Zip codes are collected at the ticket booths upon purchase, online for concerts and other sources using credit cards. The use of zip code tracking allows Aguilar and his team to determine the areas to advertise concert announcements, preparations for the fair and communities that have an interest in certain activities on-going throughout the promotional day. 

Aguilar also touched on content creation with the value of videography. When introducing the Bumper Cars On Ice, the team created a 30-second video advertisement reaching 800,000 views on YouTube and 250,000 views on Instagram and Facebook. The audience was able to easily digest the content while feeling the excitement of this new addition to the Centre Ice Arena. If this introduction was presented in photos, the audience may not have engaged with the product as much.

Data does not always provide all of the information on the audience, Aguilar explained. The best way to truly know your audience is to integrate into the crowd (especially during the fair) and ask the real questions. The idea of humanity can help gather the full story and reactions from the public. In addition, data is not controlled when collected from social media platforms. Marketers must trust that the source is giving the most accurate information and algorithms to provide the team with the best results.

Aguilar offered advice to future marketing professionals to invest their time into researching technologies, finding ways to offer your audience new opportunities in order to stand out from your competition. He also suggested dabbling in content creation to understand the process and have your own ability to create the image you envision. Without any doubt, knowing your audience is the most important factor to any marketing strategy and should influence your decisions.