Sold-Out: The Complete Guide to Marketing Your Show
The road to a successful event is paved with effective marketing strategies. Whether you're an artist or host, we've got you covered with these essential tips to sell more tickets, regardless of your budget or fan base size.
Concerts are more than just performances; they're experiences. The thrill of performing or hosting a memorable show is undoubtedly exciting, but filling those seats is equally crucial. This blog post is designed to provide you with a roadmap to successfully market your show. Best of all, our tips are budget-friendly and work even if your fan or customer base is small.
Setting the Stage
Select the Perfect Date: Picking the right date is like planting the seed for a successful concert. Check the calendar for competing events in your city before finalizing the date.
Set Goals: A sold-out show is the best-case scenario, but how many tickets do you need to sell to be profitable? Working towards a goal will help you stay focused.
Know Your Audience
Audience Research: Use social media insights or surveys to gather data on your audience. This can guide your marketing strategy effectively by knowing when to post, what types of content they engage with, where they live, and more.
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Use streaming platform insights [e.g. Spotify for Artists] to gather in-depth analytics on your audience.
Ticket Pricing
Set the Perfect Price: Consider offering flexible pricing to make your concert more accessible. This inclusive approach can attract a wider audience and often results in folks paying more than your set minimum.
Must-Have Marketing Tools
A limited budget shouldn't limit your marketing creativity. Embrace free marketing tools! A few must-haves are a website, newsletter, link in bio tool, and social media. Here are our recommendations for each:
Website: Fans and customers want a one-stop shop where it is easy to find everything you do online, plus free website builders are plentiful (Wix, WordPress, Weebly). For a simple landing page, try Canva’s website builder. For design tips, check out Bandzoogle’s Dos and Don’ts for Website Design.
Newsletter: Build an email list and keep your subscribers informed. Mailchimp is a great email platform that offers a FREE plan. Their interface is user-friendly, with a wide range of customizable templates. Plus, you can easily turn your email campaigns into social media posts!
Social Media: Skip to social media section.
Link in Bio: It needs to be easy for fans to discover all your amazing events and platforms. Linktree allows you to place everything you do in one clean link.
Zero-Cost Design Tools
With a website, newsletter, and social media, we’ll need to create some content! Here are our favourite free—and easy-to-use—design tools:
Canva: Loaded with templates, tutorials, and so much more, this is a great option for both first-time designers and pros. You can even use our Side Door branded Canva templates: Stories | Posts | Posters (print)
Adobe Express: Offering integrations with Adobe Suite, Express is another great option with similar offerings to Canva.
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When creating content, think about the type of content you enjoy, and replicate it! Was there a post or newsletter that made you click “buy tickets”? Here’s a great post from DIY Musician: 8 Kinds of Content to Create When You’re Stumped for Ideas.
Social Media's Role in Concert Marketing
The role of social media is to raise awareness about your upcoming show and convert likes into ticket sales. However, with so many platforms to choose from, it can be overwhelming. The key is to invest the most time in the platform that has your target audience. This may require some experimentation. Here are the core platforms to start using:
Facebook (FB), Instagram (IG), and Threads: These three platforms work as a team and make your life easy. By connecting your Facebook and Instagram accounts, a single post can be shared on both platforms. When you sign up on Threads, your Instagram followers will be transferred automatically. You just tackled three platforms for the price of one.
TikTok: This standout platform shares your videos with people the algorithm thinks will be interested, not just your followers.
X (previously Twitter): Although Side Door is no longer active on X, we have included it in this blog for those who may still use the platform.
YouTube (YT): A popular choice for fans to discover music. It’s very likely your target audience is active on this platform.
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Place that nice new Linktree link in your bio on all these platforms.
Content Types for Social Media Mastery
Short-Form Video: A top trend and the most effective content type to reach a wide audience. Here’s a great example applicable for both artists and hosts.
High-Quality Images: an eye-catching image will stop anyone in their mindless scrolling. Check out this post from The Brockton, a Side Door host.
Memes: Funny and relatable content always performs well. It’s a nice way to break up content from show promotion, just make sure to relate the meme back to your music or space. Here’s how we related the Selena Gomez meme to Side Door.
Text-Based Content: Repurpose text-based content by pairing it with a graphic.
And the list goes on, but these are some of the most effective types of content. Remember that all these posts can include a call-to-action to purchase tickets. For content ideas, check out our content calendar below. For insights on when to publish, check out this guide from Hootsuite.
Who’s Got Time for That?
By creating content in bulk and scheduling all posts in advance, you are set up for the highest return on investment.
Create in Bulk: Once your show is published, pick a day when you will create the majority of your posts. It’s much easier to create 10 posts in 2 hours than creating 1 post every day for 10 days.
Schedule: You can schedule posts directly on almost all social media platforms. Space out the content based on how long you plan to promote. How to schedule posts with FB.
If you follow these tips, you can set it and forget it! One day of dedication can result in months of promotion with minimal effort. Did we mention repurposing content? Here’s an example of how one newsletter can create content for multiple social media platforms:
Start Early and Stay Consistent
Start Early: We recommend starting your marketing efforts 2-3 months before the concert. This provides ample time to build anticipation.
Consistency is Key: Consistent posting allows the algorithm to learn about your audience and suggest optimal posting times for engagement.
We've got you covered with a jam-packed content calendar that lays out a posting schedule, content ideas, and which platforms to post on. 😅 Don't sweat it though, you don't have to do it all. We've designed this calendar to be an idea factory and general guide. So take these ideas and run with them, mix and match, cut back on posting if you need to, and most importantly, have fun! Click here to use this calendar as a template.
Measuring Success
Monitor Goals: Continually monitor ticket sales on Side Door to measure the success of your marketing efforts. Use social media insights to monitor what content your following responds best to, and consider creating more of that.
In the world of concerts, the thrill of the show is closely intertwined with the success of marketing. Whether you're an independent artist or a venue, these tips provide a roadmap to ensure your next concert is a hit.
Regardless of your budget or the size of your fan base, the right marketing strategies can make all the difference. So, start planning, get creative, and prepare for an unforgettable concert experience that leaves the seats filled and the stage lights shining bright. Good luck!
