So you booked your show and you’re all set to rock the house out. You’ve got your set list and you are super excited to put on a great show. Congratulations! You’ve gotten through half the battle. The next step is to promote the heck out of this awesome gig so you can play to a full house. With so many events and responsibilities competing for attention, how do you make your show stand out and entice people to come? In addition to tried and true show promo models such as posters and Facebook, there are many other unique and wildly effective ways you can promote your next gig. In this article, we’ll show you 5 insanely effective ways to promote your upcoming show.
The first thing we want to stress is that you’ve got to give your audience enough time to plan for the event. People have lives and plans are made in advance. Therefore, you only have a certain window of time before each show to promote it effectively. That window is about 2 to 3 weeks. Three weeks is the optimum time to promote a show. If you can get ahead of the game and start promoting your show three weeks ahead of time, you can really make some waves. Here’s how you can put those three weeks to good use.
Hype it Up
If you can make your show an ‘event’ instead of just another ordinary show, you’ll give people a more enticing reason to come. What can you do to make this show an event? Whatever you do, the more unique you can make it, the better. The opportunities here are endless. You can glamorize your show by creating a theme around it. Any theme will do the trick as long as it entices your target audience. Pajama Party, All White Affair, Adult Prom, Tribute to Vets, Comic Con, Gaming, Dungeons and Dragons themes, you name it! You can also learn a handful of songs from a popular artist or band and do a tribute show. How about recognizing certain members of the community? Do you have a cause? Make it a charity event. What about a contest of some sort? Any special holidays coming up? Use the holiday to build your event theme. You can also connect your show to any other popular local events going on before or after your event and call it an Unofficial or Unauthorized After/Pre Party of whatever other event is going on at the time.
Send out postcards
Snail mail is still happening! There aren’t too many artists promoting their shows this way. While most communications have gone digital, you can set yourself apart by utilizing snail mail. Send postcards to local addresses you already have on your mailing list. You can also expand this promotions effort by generating your own list for free and sending a postcard out to homes in local neighborhoods close to the venue. This is a great way to get the word out about your show in the real world. Combine this tactic with the tactic above to maximize your efforts.
Text Your List
Have you been collecting phone numbers on your mailing list? If not, here’s one reason why you should. Text marketing is even more effective than emailing. According to a recent study, SMS open rates are as high as 98% compared to an average of 20% with email marketing. People tend to open text messages a lot more quickly than they would an email. For this reason, we recommend texting your list to let them know about your next show. You should use this approach wisely though. Not all shows warrant a text message. You should save this approach for those shows in which you really need a large showing. Ticketed venues, house concerts (with the permission of the host of course), tour dates, and independently hosted shows are top candidates for this type of promotion. On the other hand, weekly local gigs would not be appropriate for this because you’ll be texting your list every week. You might end up over-texting and build a reputation for spamming your audience. You don’t want to do that!
How do you get phone numbers? One way is to include an entry line for phone numbers with your online mailing list sign-up forms. Another way is to ask for it on your sign-up sheet. You know, the one you keep on your merchandise table?? You can also get phone numbers from your online store. Ask for phone numbers as part of the check-out process. Even if you are giving away freebies. Do it through your online store so you can get this information. You can get physical mailing addresses this way too!
Find a Blowhorn
A lot of decisions are made based on recommendations from a trusted source, especially when it comes to spending money or time. Deciding which events to go to is no different. Is there a person or organization you can align yourself with that can be a blowhorn for you and shout out your event? We all know about getting our shows listed in the paper or getting a DJ to mention your upcoming show. But you can also apply this approach in other ways. One of the latest trends in marketing is Influencer Marketing. There are lots of people who are active in the community and they know a lot of people. These are influencers and they can serve as your blowhorn either for free or for a price. Is there a way you can get an influencer to mention your show on their social media, in their newsletters, on their websites? Is there a way you can get an influencer to promote your event to their group? You could even include them in your show by finding a way to recognize them or their group as part of the show, or giving them an opportunity to speak to your audience, or collaborating with them on your event. This way they will help you promote your show organically. You could also simply ask them to promote your show if you can come up with a reason why they should. Or you can simply make them a cash offer to promote your show if you think it’s worth it. I’ve done this before with Meetup Group Organizers and non-profits. It’s super effective.
Upgrade Your Poster Game
Sending posters to the venue is a definite way to promote your show. Everyone knows that. But, you can take this a step further by creating takeaways. Make smaller flyer versions of your poster and setting them out in strategic places at the venue so patrons can take the flyer home. If you send these to the venue at least two weeks before your show, you can increase your attendance a lot more. These people are already patrons of the venue, so they’ll be more inclined to come. Plus, they’ll remember the details of your event, because they’ve got a take home flyer. If you want to make an even bigger splash, you should consider doing Promo CDs! Setting up a small point of service stand to give away promo CDs at the venue is an excellent way to get the word out about your show. You can just make the CDs and send all the equipment to the venue. Everytime someone comes to the venue, they can take one and voila! You’ve just promoted your show to yet another person. The thing that makes these CDs so effective is that it’s an enticing freebie that provides value. People love freebies. Make a track of you saying hi and promoting your show and include that in the CD as well. While they’re listening to your music in the car going home, they’ll also hear about your upcoming show! I explain how to make these Promo CDs in this article. To accomodate for technological advancement, you might want to consider creating a downloadable version of this so people can listen to it via bluetooth in their car, which can actually be a cheaper route to go.
We asked our readers their take on this subject and they shared some advice of their own. Here are some of the highlights…
This tip comes from Altered Roots Band…
Use your email list that you’ve been building to send out your show date/time. Create an ad on facebook, post on IG as well as twitter.
This tip comes from Alfie and Teenie…
Attend similar events and hangout spots for artists & their enthusiasts and start a buzz. Handout flyers. Network and get a buzz with new contacts. You can accomplish this all at the right music venue. Do the old school promotions then back that up with the new school promotions. Get people from your network to agree to promote your social media promos to their people. Old School + New School equals ultimate promotion.
This tip comes from Ashley Feller Music…
To promote your shows start early and post as often as possible. Use the Facebook story feature. A great way to promote is to go on your event page and share your event to your story. Share your event every day on whatever social media platforms you use. For me its mainly Facebook and Instagram. Use all their features. Several days before the show share the event and tag your friends and fans who are most likely to be interested. Sometimes I tag up to fifty people. You can also make short snip-it videos and share that to your story/newsfeed. In the video talk about how awesome the venue is. Share what people can expect from your show whether it be debuting a new song, a new band member etc. Print is also not dead. I make posters for most of my performances and drop them off or mail them to the venue to display. Sometimes I get postcard size posters that the venue can display on a table or bar for people to take to put on their fridge. I also call the community radio stations and ask the DJ to help share the event on the air. Another way is to have your tour dates printed on hand fans. On one side you could have your logo and a promo pic and then on the other side have a list of your tour dates with locations. This comes in handy at festivals when you’re playing multiple stages. Give the fans out, it’s hot at festivals in Florida so people are happy to take one. Now they are a walking sign holder. Finally, ask your super fans to share your event on social media so that your ad goes further to people who might be unfamiliar with you. You could even make a contest with the person who shares it 1st, 5th, whatever number gets a prize. This could be a piece of merch, lunch with the artist, or whatever you feel is appropriate.
Want more tips and advice for promoting your shows? Take a look at these related articles:
11 Things You Should do to Promote Your Show
How to Promote a Show on Facebook
Make Venues Your Street Team
15 Ways to Get People to Your Show
So what’s your advice? Did any of these tips resonate with you? Have you tried any? Are there any ideas you’re hoping to try? Tell us about it in the comments section. We’d love to hear your take.
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Thanks, Anitra! : )