Know-How Exchange : Advertising/PR

How much time do you have to increase the band's awareness in your area?
Has the band received any acclaim from other bands and/or critics?
Can you partner with a local non-profit to give them profits from the event?
Can the band do some quick pop-up concerts around the region to build awareness/likes?
The bottom line: you need to find people who'd enjoy hearing the band live and have them bring their friends.

How much time do you have to increase the band's awareness in your area?
***No limit but every progressing month worries me.

Has the band received any acclaim from other bands and/or critics?
***1 person (not a high profile guy but somewhat known locally). Maybe I should target a local celebrity to hear us. Honestly I think Open Bar does the trick but of course there's no guarantee. And I have band, alcohol, and space rental as given expenses. Hence my need for additional or perhaps alternative models.

Can you partner with a local non-profit to give them profits from the event?
***Not partner, but I've learned if you don't mention the non-profit's name you can say X % of proceeds go to xyz category eg) cancer, animal welfare, while not being encumbered with legal issues, contracts and so forth.

Can the band do some quick pop-up concerts around the region to build awareness/likes?
***I've just sent questions to Sofar Corporation as per your idea on this but I'm not hopeful. I have 6 band members to pay. My vision is to collect hundreds of followers quickly; Sofar I'm guessing generates maybe 50 attendees or so. If I found a very busy location and did it myself there's a whale of administration with the city and the venue. And i won't know anything about the venue except what I can see and guess.

CURRENT MODEL: Plan to rent space for 250 people to hear us. I don't need the money as much as the followers, which I can leverage to sell to clubs and casinos... they require lots of followers. Advertising would be on several local Facebook pages for music and entertainment.

I would create a simple website and a simple FB page with samples of the band's music. Then run highly targeted search advertising.

Mgoodman - I have all that, and more. And two Ppc and FB attempts failed.

For an unknown band a goal of attracting an audience of several hundred people might be a tad lofty. What kind of band playing what kind of music? What geographical area are you focusing on? How many other bands playing at how many other live music venues is this band competing against and with what kind of fan base?

What did you say in your PPC and in your Facebook ads and who were those ads targeted at? How long did your ads run? What keywords, regions, and audience age did you target? Do you know for a fact that potential attendees respond to PPC and Facebook ads? What about word of mouth, or what about making and sharing audio/video clips with messaging that ties in to these things to attract attention? Where else has this band performed? What about connecting with local club owners for short sets in front of a captive audience (for two or three songs), and with local radio stations for demos, interviews, and live studio sets through which an established audience might be keen on learning more? Does this band have its own social media presence and is it building a fan base through these channels by sharing its own videos of its own performances?

For an unknown band a goal of attracting an audience of several hundred people might be a tad lofty. What kind of band playing what kind of music? What geographical area are you focusing on? How many other bands playing at how many other live music venues is this band competing against and with what kind of fan base?
***Well, the wedding room for rent holds 250 ppl, its in a dense populated borough in San Diego...many people can walk to it. And remember free beer. Also, it would be on a week day 6-9pm so much less competition for their minds (there are billions of dives, bars, high and low-end clubs and other venues competing but karaoke is a lot of it during the week. I have 12,000 soc media members to target on various groups, and 4,000 more on a friend's local FB page. The band has 650 followers, between insta and its business fb page. It's a 7-piece band - two singers, two keyboard players who are all in multiple bands playing at the big venues - but they can't sell my band due to conflicts of interest. See us at www.themarcussyndicate.com

PPC and in your Facebook ads
***I appreciate you asking... but phew, it's an encyclopedia. I have 15 yrs direct marketing online and I used a consultant who's very, very good. It's all she does. We made landing pages, used my sites pages, cross-examined data over 8 mos. One gig was gotten.

Local radio stations for demos, interviews, and live studio sets
***Thought about this but honestly, I haven't know why the media would be interested in a cover band, til 2 weeks ago. I saw a startup band in a tv station - its possible. But I see even greater value doing that PR when in fact I have a gig, which we could talk about. So this self-funded Pop-Up thing of mine could fit that. The ideas, and conditions are a moving target LOL. One bad idea 3 weeks ago can become a good one 3 weeks later.

You're a devil. Pretty interesting. I plan to hand out business cards at the door. It has soc media icons. And we'll make several appeals on the PA system to follow. Beyond that, attendees will find links in our soc media ads. I suppose our music would decide for the bulk of our guests whether to attend - or maybe not. A very valuable thought. In the case of excess attendees, making them follow at the door manages our room limit, too. We could place a Follower sign up preceding the door. By the time they get to the door the deed is done. It may be tough to confirm, however, altho we'd have to appear to be checking lol. Or I could announce this requirement in our ads.

Actually checking wouldnt be too tough. The checker keeps his phone open to our Insta page.

Insta is more attractive to most, is it not? Or is it age dependent?

My son asked what if someone doesnt hv soc media on their phone:

The demographic for the immediate area of gig is 27,000 people. Median age 32. ie: renters. Prob not a problem.

I can prob coax mgt at apt complexes to reach their tenants for me.

Have you looked into Every Door Direct Mail from the USPS? Info here: https://www.usps.com/business/every-door-direct-mail.htm

mgoodman i used that usps saturated mail in another business. forgot about it. good idea.

"I have 12,000 soc media members to target on various groups, and 4,000 more on a friend's local FB page."

OK then: text messaging to those 16K people with a solid call to action (when, where), and a link to a short video of the band doing its thing.

No. I dont own their contacts. They're members in Facebook entertainment channels.

"The band has 650 followers, between insta and its business fb page." why not start there, then, with text messaging to this smaller group, with an invite for them to bring a friend.

Gary, all 650 get notified or just see my posts on insta and fb. No need to message them individually.

A) The magic number of followers is 1,000. FYI

B) much of the san diego club market is in the northern SD county. I just played there. But its way out of the way for my followers. Most live closer to SD, proper. In my area there are a few A list clubs but most arent. I'm trying to make deals with them.

Saul, I'm doing all that. I reach out with a pro email using Mailchimp. This is levitating me about 1/16th of an inch. Done 2 mailings. It will take a few more IMO. Got me 1 undesirable gig so far which led to another of same. Turnover at clubs is the oppty. Bands get fired, walk, venues re-arrange their mix, etc. Monthly mailing will catch em at the right time. Eventually.

Big challenge. Weekdays my band charges me $1350. Wkends $2400. (Ea member is in 3 other bands). B list venues cant draw on weekdays. So I'm offering to fund attendee incentives for tier 2 clubs. I'm 0-2. I'm also visiting managers but hitting them is hit n miss. It works dramatically when I do. But its a cycle just the same... clubs are scheduled 2+mos out.

My plan:
A list clubs targeting
B list clubs targeting with deals
C my own event... incubating

Sounds like you have a lot of good ideas. I hope things work out for all concerned.

The bands I know of took at least two years to get going - and it was hard work. Busking. Radio plugging. Free ticket give aways (eg at schools/colleges). Gig flyers (since it's all local, physical may work better). Online music podcasts or live performance channels - eg balconyTV. Find the people with the biggest number of contacts on the list you have, and ask them to plug you on their feed in return for a t-shirt or free tickets. Are you good enough to play at a car dealership or to help out some other business draw customers? Playing is the best publicity.