Email Campaigns
I figured one of the easiest ways to reach the target audience for the showcase was to email everyone who booked tickets/attended the previous showcase in October. Therefore, I created a list on Eventbrite of everyone who attended the last showcase and put together an email to let them know that the show will be returning in May, and where they could book tickets.
The email above was sent out, which created some encouragement for people to book tickets. I chose to include a clear link to the event’s instagram page, where possible audience members could see visual content for the showcase, as well as rehearsal clips and updates.
This campaign did work, within the first week or so of the campaign being sent out, we went from around 6-8 tickets sold to over 50. Therefore, I thought it would be beneficial to send out some additional campaigns to other groups of people. These included past students, and current applicants.
This is the email that was sent out to applicants. The showcase is a great opportunity for them to see what kind of projects they could get up to should they choose to join the course next year. However, I made sure to be understanding that it may not be the best time to attend the event due to GCSE exams.
With around 2 weeks to go until the showcase, over 50% of tickets had been sold. It was essential to make sure that students had made sure to reserve tickets for their friends and family, and therefore I sent several messages out on teams, along with the ticket link, as a visual reminder for them to do so before tickets sell out.
social media posts
https://www.instagram.com/amplifiedbfd/
Instagram was the main/only form of social media used within the promotion for the event. The account was already well established following previous events, so continuing with the same account seemed to be the best option.
This was one of the first uploads I posted to social media, before any other promotion took place. I like how it is quite subtle yet stands out within a feed.
After posting photos of the event poster, and links to tickets, I began uploading rehearsal videos, so that a potential audience had a small insight into some of the acts, potentially pushing them to book tickets.
After the show, I posted some of the photos taken by Abi alongside a small message to thank anyone who attended the showcase. As well as this, I also included a comment about other student’s projects and where they could be found.
I tried to stay consistent with Instagram stories, as this is where the account gets the most engagement. I posted a few different videos, photos and links whilst promoting the tickets as much as possible.
In order to increase engagement on YouTube, I recorded some small interviews with other students, asking questions about their final project and what inspired them. This was my first time using Final Cut Pro, and it was surprisingly easy to operate. I was able to extract audio from a rehearsal video to put behind everyone’s interviews, which turned out great. I did have some problems with corrupted files which unfortunately didn’t make it into the final video, but it turned out quite professional considering how little time it took to film and edit.
I do feel like I didn’t post as much as I probably should’ve on social media, to get the most engagement possible. However, this didn’t have a great impact on ticket sales, as over 130 tickets were booked in, and there was a great turnout of people at the final performance. The engagement across social media was usually by the same few people, but with this being a college event I didn’t really intend on reaching people further than family and friends, potential and current students, and staff members within college. That being said, if I were to do this event on a bigger scale I would research more into promotion and how to increase engagement on social media. In addition to this, I would probably promote the event outside of social media too, whether that be through small performances, radio shows or busking.
In my initial project idea, I planned to live stream the final event. Due to lack of time to prepare, alongside small social media engagement, it didn’t seem worthwhile to have this as an addition to the in-person show.