Lights, cameras, and packed venues are the dream of any artist going on tour. Talent can open doors in the music industry, like taking your show on the road, but it takes a stellar promotion strategy to deliver as many fans in front of the stage as possible.
The key to successful concert promotion is a well-built strategy that builds buzz, drives tour sales, and promises a memorable experience for your fans. This guide breaks down insider tips and tricks to teach you how to work your way to playing sold-out shows.
8 Ways to Upgrade Your Concert Promotion Strategy
These eight concert marketing strategies are guaranteed to lead to show-stopping success.
1. Create Compelling Tour Announcements
The way you announce your tour sets the tone for the event from the get-go. A huge part of playing a show involves selling the experience. The more exciting, interesting, or creative your tour announcement, the easier it will be to capture fan—and media—attention.
The best tour announcements are crafted with elements that generate anticipation. For example:
- Professional teaser trailers with glimpses of rehearsals, stage setups, or aesthetics
- Exclusive peeks at new merch or limited releases only available to ticket holders
- Concert details meted out in well-timed increments to keep fans engaged
Remember, this is your chance to make a lasting first impression.
2. Leverage Social Media
Social media platforms connect you to your fan base in an environment that simultaneously facilitates engagement and promotion. If you have an account on one or more of these platforms, now’s the time to use them to get the word out.
Different platforms offer different ways to post and engage with content. While you shouldn’t go overboard, it’s a good idea to diversify your concert promotion campaign by using as many avenues as possible to share the details.
There are a number of ways to do this:
- Offer behind-the-scenes content and updates on your feed.
- Create interactive polls and questions to encourage engagement.
- Collaborate with other content creators to tap into new audiences.
- Broadcast links where fans can sign up for access to exclusive content.
Keep in mind that billions of people around the world use social media regularly. It’s possible that some of your biggest fans don’t even know you exist. Spread the news about your upcoming tour with promotion by utilizing each platform’s advertising tools to target an even larger audience.
3. Collaborate with Lucrative Partners
Strategic collaboration can make a huge difference in your concert promotion efforts—as long as you find partnerships with the right brands, venues, or businesses.
These partnerships can open doors to:
- Cross-promotion opportunities
- Co-branded merch
- Unique fan experiences
- Sponsorship deals
The right partners can even contribute to your credibility. Suppose a popular radio station plays your music as they give away a pair of tickets or a music industry content creator hosts an exclusive meet-and-greet or afterparty linked to your show. In that case, it gives your tour a major status upgrade.
Partnerships like these are an excellent source of exposure, but stick to networks most likely to drive tour sales or improve the fan experience. Choose wisely by seeking collaborators that align with your fanbase.
4. Promote with Content from Your Past Shows
Your previous concerts are a treasure trove of promotional material that can help build excitement for your upcoming tour. Leverage high-quality photos, video clips, and fan testimonials from past shows to showcase what fans can look forward to from your live performance.
Share these assets across your social media channels, email newsletters, and website to give potential attendees a taste of what they can expect.
Additionally, consider creating a highlight reel or behind-the-scenes video to give fans an intimate glimpse into your touring life, further fueling their desire to experience it in person.
5. Book a Popular Supporting Act
It’s not uncommon for music lovers to attend a show because they’re more familiar with the opener than the headliner. It’s even more common for a talented opener to end their set, having earned hundreds of new fans and energizing the rest of the crowd.
Your opener can make or break the overall experience. Booking a well-liked opener, one that complements your sound and appeals to your target audience, can:
- Increase your ticket sales.
- Energize the crowd ahead of your set.
- Add additional value to your tour.
- Ensure fans are entertained from beginning to end.
This way, your audience is more likely to have a good experience. In turn, they may build on your concert marketing efforts with positive word-of-mouth promotion.
6. Update Your Tour Dates on Spotify
Spotify is the world’s most popular music streaming service, with 615 million users and counting, making this a prime location to amplify your concert promotion campaign.
As a platform, Spotify can help you tap into a highly engaged community of listeners in two major ways:
- Artist Profiles: Keep your Spotify artist profile updated with your upcoming tour dates. This simple step can expose your shows to a vast audience of potential concertgoers who may not follow you on other channels.
- Ad Studio: Leverage Spotify's marketing potential to create a compelling tour preview playlist curated with your biggest hits and fan favorites. Share this playlist with your dedicated fans, encouraging them to add it to their libraries and get pumped for the upcoming shows.
Keeping your Spotify presence tour-ready can increase the likelihood that casual listeners become new faces in the crowd at your shows.
7. Optimize Your Website and Ticketing Platforms
The modern concert experience is nearly all digital, and it will continue along that trajectory for the foreseeable future. In a digital world, your website and online ticketing platforms are crucial gateways to reaching and converting potential concertgoers.
Ensure a seamless user experience by:
- Prominently displaying tour dates, venue information, and calls-to-action for ticket purchases.
- Offering exclusive online bundle packages, VIP experiences, or merchandise deals to incentivize purchases.
- Optimizing your site for mobile devices, as many fans will be browsing and purchasing tickets on their smartphones.
Optimizing these digital spaces can also work to your advantage. Streamlining the checkout process can minimize cart abandonment, while including buttons for sharing could encourage organic promotion.
It also allows you to implement retargeting campaigns to re-engage visitors who didn't initiate a purchase initially.
8. Harness SMS Tools
Digital channels are crucial for concert marketing but don’t overlook the power of direct engagement through SMS. Text messages keep your most loyal fans in the loop with exclusive updates, presales, and special offers for your tour, and it all happens on their devices in real-time.
When you use text messaging in your concert promotion strategy, you can:
- Foster a direct relationship with your fans.
- Capture your audience’s attention quickly.
- Increase the likelihood of increased sales.
- Create a two-way dialogue with your fans.
SMS also has a much higher open and engagement rate than email. The best marketing tools have features that simplify concert marketing by scheduling and automating text blasts, allowing you to easily reach your fan base at scale.
Want to see how this is done? Here’s how artist ROSIE made it happen.
There are many ways you can leverage SMS channels to promote your tour:
- Build a subscriber list of fans and anyone who signs up for tour updates.
- Send personalized text reminders of upcoming presales and special offer codes.
- Offer VIP experiences to your subscribers, like special seating or merch exclusives.
- Drive excitement through concert teaser videos and exclusive behind-the-scenes content.
- Countdown to the tour with drip texts that offer crucial information or day-of details.
- Give fans the opportunity to give feedback through polls or surveys.
Advanced SMS marketing tools can target potential concertgoers by location and interests so every text message you send reaches the right audiences at the right time.
Here are some crucial best practices to guide your SMS strategy.
Use Text Messages for Concert Promotion Today
Forget waiting for your big break—take concert promotion by the reins and pull off a successful marketing campaign for your tour. Utilizing SMS can empower artists, managers, promoters, and event planners to effectively get the word out about upcoming concerts to their target audience. Subtext has what it takes to pull this off and more.
Subtext features a user-friendly platform with a range of features to keep fans informed, engaged, and ready for your upcoming tour. Check out how other Subtext clients use our platform to maximize their reach. Book a demo to see it in action today.