Promoting a Tour Stop Independently
Most bands start touring with a small publicity budget . They don ’ t have a publicist , they don ’ t have much money , and they ’ ve never done this before .
When you ’ re promoting a tour stop independently , you ’ re relying entirely on your network and draw in a given market – which may be nothing . Basically , if people are there , it ’ s your friends and family , people who happened to come to the venue , and people who came for the opening band ( s ).
Those are your resources . How can you make the most of them ?
DON ’ T RELY ON THE VENUE Apparently , there was a time when venues did most of the advertising and promotion for shows they were hosting . You can pine for the days when this was a reality all you want , but it won ’ t make it happen in 2017 .
Sure , in an ideal world , every venue would have a $ 500 advertising budget for every show they bring in . But the fact is that most venues simply do not – and can not – promote their shows . Here ’ s why …
If you ’ re a relatively new indie band , you do not have much , if any , hard ticket value . Hard ticket value is the ability to sell tickets to a show simply by saying that you are playing . When a band has hard ticket value , it makes sense for a venue to spend money promoting a show , because they know they will make their money back ( and more ). People will see the ads and come out to the show because they know the artist .
An artist without hard ticket value could have a huge advertising budget but still have poor attendance , simply because nobody knows who they are .
If by some miracle a venue has a genuine built-in crowd , then that venue has soft-ticket value . This means people will come to a show simply because they know that the venue consistently books high quality artists .
All this to say : whether you like it or not , you should not be relying on the venue to promote your show . You need to do it yourself , and perhaps the venue will support your efforts .
MAKE IT EASY FOR THE VENUE TO PROMOTE I ’ m not saying that venues never promote their shows . In fact , some of the new and successful indie venues across the country are doing a good job of it ; however , you need to make promoting your show as easy as possible .
“ When I book touring acts , I expect the same things that I would from a local band ,” says David Schellenberg , co-owner / talent buyer for The Good Will in Winnipeg , MB – “ posts on their social media platforms , whatever publicity they can get … Just give it your all and make sure your bases are covered promotion-wise .”
Consider what you would do if you were promoting a hometown show :
• Send a poster - my usual policy is to send a blank poster for them to fill in . I think that it is a waste of time to fill out , print , and send off posters to every venue . Many of them will go unused . Of course , if a venue requests posters , send them !
• Send any publicity materials they require - pictures , live video , music videos , etc .
• Make a Facebook event - some venues like to do this themselves , but if they don ’ t , do it yourself and invite all your friends in that city . Send the event to friends and family . Share the event with the promoter as well .
MICHAEL BERNARD FITZGERALD
• Make one or more sponsored Facebook posts . It doesn ’ t need to be a lot of money , just a quality post , targeted at a specific market , with a little bit of money behind it .
• Try to get some publicity - if you have a publicist , great . If not , get on it yourself . Every little bit helps , and a venue will never turn down free advertising .
• Send personal invites to friends , family , and fans .
Doing these things will go a long way with any promoter . Consider these six things your checklist for promoting a tour stop - if you do them , your bases are covered .
DON ’ T RELY ON THE LOCAL SUPPORT We all know that booking local support is essential . Still , don ’ t rely on the opening band . For anything . If they said they would bring a bass amp to the gig , you had better have a backup plan , because they probably forgot it at home .
As much as getting local support is important , you simply can ’ t rely on them to fill seats . The fact is , nobody will ever put as much effort into promoting somebody else ’ s show as they will their own .
Many of the local bands that would actually draw a crowd are serious enough to realize that they can ’ t overplay their home market . They are selective about the shows they choose to play , and will often say no to an opening slot for a band without a draw . On the other hand , many of the bands that are willing to play an opening slot for an unknown touring act are a ) brand new or b ) just doing it for fun , and won ’ t promote the show .
This is why you want to be the one playing support slots in touring markets – the headlining band will promote heavily and so will you !
Instead of relying on a local band to pull a crowd , find a local artist that you actually like . If the music is great , that adds value to the overall show . Everyone in attendance will be happy to hear good music from start to finish .
“ If you know realistically that you have no draw , but you put together a good bill on a Thursday , that ’ s a good place to start ,” advises Schellenberg .
CANADIAN MUSICIAN • 43