The role of the promoter has changed over the years. That is to say that more often than not, in today’s electronic music scene, DJs and producers are finding themselves doubling up as promoters of their own parties. Starting a label may sure be a way of releasing music, but the real money is in monetizing the label brand with organized showcases and parties the same way some of the most respected imprints have been doing for years. The likes of Cadenza, mobilee, Dirtybird, Knee Deep in Sound, Suara, All Day I Dream and Diynamic are just a few examples that come to mind.
Selling out an event is always the ultimate goal for any promoter, and if you’re already selling out events the idea is to always be able to do it faster than before. There’s industry techniques and skills involved in speeding up ticket sales, especially when you’re battling with small budgets, tough competition or are an emerging brand in an already existing market.
Here are some important tools at your disposal:
Fear Of Missing Out is often such a strong driving force of its own that it can drive most of your event sales without the need of anything else. This is easy to do if you’re armed with marketing material from previous events which you can use to promote your upcoming show with. Videos, photos, testimonials and word of mouth all work wonders in this regard.
Find ways to market your show in such ways that event-goers are themselves letting their friends and social media contacts know that they will be attending. Use contests, giveaways, article/image sharing and other tools to encourage your audience to share their attendance, participation and ultimately, their experience. You can turn your attendees into affiliate promoters, for example, by offering credit for any ticket sales they might get from their friends or networks.
Incentivizing peer-to-peer sharing is possibly the best way to create FOMO alongside using smart marketing strategy to spread the message of your event’s experience from past editions. Organizing flash sales can be another effective way of building up FOMO, driving potential attendees to purchase tickets as they fear that they will miss out on the opportunity once gone. Ensure the period of a flash sale is short and make the discount significant if you want this strategy to be effective.
It’s best to start small and work your way up. By creating scarcity you’re increasing people’s fear of missing out (see above) and are setting yourself up for a more fun, memorable party.
Ensure your budget and business plan allow for your event to start small while generating more interested than expected, rather than to go too big too soon ending up with a half-empty dance floor. Create scarcity but never go back on your word: if you issue early bird tickets for attendees that buy before a certain time period, make sure you don’t extend it. Stick to your word.
Too often promoters attempt to make money from attendees before working to provide them with something of true value. Value will in-and-of-itself translate into revenue, so don’t forget to work that important element into your event strategy.
Some promoters adopt the “freemium” approach, where they provide free access for some but tiered priced tickets for others who want access to more perks. Other promoters simply decide on the simplest and most budget-friendly way to add a unique and valuable twist to their event, aiming to stand out against the competition and win their brand new, faithful customers. Another way you can do this when launching an event series is to provide free entry or free perks when you launch, drawing first-time customers who will then be willing to pay for a repeat or improved experience next time around.
This is applicable no matter the size of your event. Letting your target audience know that key market influencers and names in your industry will be attending your event is an essential way of telling them that they should not miss out themselves.
Here are some examples of things you can do to get key influencers on board with your event:
Use any and all great press and feedback you receive to your advantage. Do not underestimate the power of authority in drawing people to your event: news coverage, Yelp or Facebook reviews or that fantastic unsolicited tweet you received can all be powerful tools in cultivating authority within your market.
If your event or brand has done something brag-worthy, tell your target audience about it!
This may be one of the most undervalued key elements of a successful nightlife industry brand. Building honest connection with your customers and other industry professionals is important. It established trust and a rapport that will likely continue for many more events to come.
Here are some key things to take into account:
Being authentic and real is key.
You can build that authenticity and respect by using great communication skills, transparency, honesty and by using the platform you’ve created for yourself and brand to do good in your community. Supporting a local non-profit, organizing charity events, giving out freebies, taking the time to really ask your customers about their experience and working to improve your brand based on their feedback are all vital elements to showing that you actually do care. Care and attention to detail are key to building a successful brand, festival or nightclub event series.
Sometimes even great events don’t sell out. Of course lineup, ticket costs, the right venue and even weather condition all come into play to create a successful and/or sell out event.
But if you follow the above pointers you will be a step closer to building a reputable, respected and followed event brand within the nightlife and electronic music industry. And with that comes the opportunity of selling out your shows and doing it quicker and quicker each time.
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