You know what they say, Familiarity breeds contempt. Well it can happen with your fans and your shows. Most musicians assume that they can send out an email about their show and everyone is going to be excited as them about it. This is not always the case, especially if you play the same market more than a few times per month. This marketing tip for creating shows that attract people is akin to hosting a ‘theme party’ instead of just a ‘show’.

Whether or not theme parties turn out to be more fun (and they usually do) they usually draw more fun-seekers because they just ‘sound’ more fun. After your fans have been to say 2-5-10 of your ‘shows’, they have a pretty solid mental image of what your particular ‘show’ is like. Maybe you’ve established a quality image in their mind and they are perpetually excited to attend your shows. Or maybe they are losing interest...

Have you noticed a drop off in show attendance? Do you always see the same loyal faces but never anyone new?It takes a lot to get people out of their house and to your shows, especially if your fans are over 21 and have what we adults call “real jobs”. Perhaps it’s time to market your shows as ‘events’.

This easy-to-do marketing tip gives color and character to your shows and can beef up your promotion efforts.  Instead of a generic show date & location on a flyer or bulletin, invite fans to a good time. You can tie show events to a myriad of different real world events, such as:

• a band member’s birthday (everyone loves birthdays)
• a seasonal change (Mid-Summer Bash at Billy’s Backyard Oasis this Saturday!)
• a completely random event (Come to Marty & Doc’s Back to the Future Bash starring the _____ band)…
• etc.

The more outrageous the better! Kudos to the artists who follow through and infuse their show with the theme.

This little detail will keep things fresh for your fans and never let your “shows” get boring. It may be enough to entice a potential fan to make that effort to see you for the first time.

The word of mouth value is high with this technique as well: imagine your fans saying with confidence that this Saturday they are attending Jimmy Johnson’s Night of a Hundred Santa’s where everyone is dressing up as St. Nick. It’s ridiculous! And fun! Try it out…your fans have been invited to a million “shows”. 

Shows suck. Give them a party. Give them something colorful. They are not there to watch you tune your guitar. They are there above all to have a great time. Think about the big picture! Treat your fans to an Event!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 18th, 2007 at 5:14 pm and is filed under Music Promotion Articles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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