Promotion can take place through many different mediums. Within the past few decades, online promotion has seen a huge increase. With social media presence skyrocketing, it is important that brands and musicians keep on track with the latest trends in order to keep audiences engaged and excited.
Websites and apps such as TikTok, Facebook and Instagram are great for any artist and brand, and give the opportunity to reach millions of people. However, they are all extremely saturated with many different types of content, so getting yourself recognised can be a difficult task. Posting consistent, engaging content is key for success within these channels. For gigs, posting rehearsal/performance videos is a no brainer, people want to see what you are up to, and snippets of rehearsals give them ideas of what the show will include, and whether they would be interested in attending. It also gives the musicians a chance to show off their talents prior to any performance. (Keyes, 2022)
If you have any budget available for promotion, it may be wise to use portions of it towards paid social media advertisements. Ads and posts on Facebook and instagram have the potential to reach thousands of viewers, with around 41% of Facebook users interacting with pages each month (Jacklin, 2019). Retargeting those who have visited your page, are local to your event, or who may be on the fence about purchasing tickets is the most ideal use for any paid ads. (Keyes, 2022)
By 2021, 46% of all advertising was expected to be online (Jacklin, 2019). Online presence can be great for reaching wider audiences. However, if you’re putting on a local gig, and would like people within the town/city to attend, then traditional methods such as physical posters and flyers are ideal. It is important that you make the posters stand out and interesting, and find out where the most pedestrian traffic is within the area to guarantee maximum exposure (Keyes, 2022). As well as this, trying to book in smaller gigs, or street busking can be an easy way to broadcast the show’s musicians, alongside easy to access ticket links or QR codes, and links to any social platforms. Making sure all ticket links provided are easy to navigate is extremely important; nobody likes websites that are hard to use and difficult to understand, this can drive away potential ticket buyers. Doing prior research to ensure your website is accessible, or using a well known and trusted ticket provider will attract more potential attendees.
Email marketing can be a very cheap, yet effective way to reach an audience, when done correctly. A social media post may become lost within someone’s feed, whereas an email typically doesn’t. Developing a list of subscribers who regularly interact with your content, gigs, or music is a great place to start. Choosing a well established email marketing platform will ensure that no emails become lost in spam or junk folders, and will also allow you to keep track of who your email is reaching, and how they are interacting with it. (Carter, 2022)
Emails should be persuasive – Why should people listen to your music? Why should they come to your gig? People need a reason to be excited and continue following you. If they aren’t receiving this excitement, they will lose interest and possibly unsubscribe.