There’s no sense in booking a Pay-to-Play gig if you cannot
sell all of the tickets you obtain. With careful planning, selling the required
number of tickets can be done without annoying your friends and family. 

With sufficient
enough time to plan, and the proper usage of your marketing resources, a band
can make the required number of ticket sales and even sell extra tickets.

Planning a Promotions Campaign

A new band’s first question is always how far ahead should
they begin to promote. Some experienced bands believe that you don’t need to
promote until a couple of weeks before the event, where as others believe that
you should begin promoting as soon as you set a date no matter how far out in
advance it is. 

Bands I know have the perception that lot of people are more
spontaneous when it comes to live local music and are less likely to plan ahead
just in case something better comes up, as opposed to people who are willing to
plan to see a major-label act a couple of months in advance.

I believe you should do both, start promoting right away and
continue promoting up until the event, in graduating intensity of the
promotions. 

Suppose you book at Pay-to-Play gig four-months in advance. It would
be wise to make an initial announcement about the event, even before you’ve
obtained sponsorship
dollars.

Make a promotions schedule and gradually increase your promotions
efforts as you near the date of performance, starting with once a week, then
once a day the week of the event. 

Overcoming Pre-Selling Challenges

Potentially the hardest part of pre-selling tickets will be
convincing fans to set aside a night on their calendar ahead of time, that
is if the ticket price isn’t too high. 

If you are performing at a Pay-to-Play
gig then your challenge is the same as the promoter you signed with, to sell
the show out before it happens to ensure the investment is recouped
immediately. 

Although you may be able to sell leftover tickets at the door the
night of the show, the point is to book out the show long before you arrive to
the greenroom so the band can relax and concentrate on performing.

If you encounter fans that are reluctant to invest in a
ticket ahead of the show try to offer incentives to get them to buy now. People love free stuff, so try
offering a item from your merchandise table, or maybe even a free beer, for the
first n people to buy a ticket. 

If you’re short on cash, and if your band can raise enough sponsor money to pay
the booking fee, then the band can use some of the ticket money to buy
merchandise to give away at the show.

Using Online Resources

There are a lot of options for promoting the band’s show
including the obvious choices like your band’s website or social media profiles
on Facebook, Reverb Nation, Twitter and others. 

Don’t forget to post on
community boards like the Community section of Craigslist or local forums on
websites specific to your city. 

Also don’t forget the many event calendar
websites that many bands don’t use enough including Eventbright, Patch,
and Meetup.

Using a Mailing List

More important than a Facebook, or any other social
network, following is the band’s mailing list. 

Central to any marketing
campaign, the mailing list is yours and cannot be taken away when the fad of
particular social networks wears off. 

If your band has not already started a
mailing list, begin today using some advice from the How
to Create an Email Marketing Plan tutorial.

Once you’ve begun a mailing list and have your fans email
addresses, tailor an automatic
campaign to run as soon as they sign up. One of the best ways to get people
to sign up is by offering an incentive. 

Besides the obvious things like keeping
your fans up-to-date with the latest news, aim to offer things like entries into
contests (for example win a chance to name the band’s next album) or prizes
like band merchandise. 

Using a Sponsor’s Resources

When you snag
a sponsor, don’t be afraid to ask them to post your
marketing materials to their website, social networks, or their physical office
bulletin board. 

The sponsor will likely be happy to advertise the band’s flyer with their logo on it, so
essentially this is like your band being paid to advertise to their customers.

Using Offline Tactics

Street Teams

Begin building a street team if you haven’t already. A
street team is usually constructed from your fans. Smart bands will give their street
team members prizes and incentives to help pass out flyers and other
promotional messages for free. 

Once you have a few people on your team, discuss
a project where they get something in return for helping sell tickets, for
example for every ten tickets they sell they get a free drink ticket at the
show, or an autographed band t-shirt.

Work with the street team to determine the best places and
times to do promotional events. For example, you can go to the parking lot of the venue that the band will
be playing and pass out promotional material to the venue attendees when they
leave the show. 

Posters

Posters have long been a staple in the marketing of band
shows and even with the internet. The printing and posting of these large
graphical promotional items will probably always be a viable way to effectively
advertise your band. 

Ensure you speak to the management of the establishment
you will be playing at to arrange to put your posters up in conspicuous places
both inside and outside of the venue at least two weeks before the gig.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, I have shown you how to market pay-to-play gigs and have given you a number of suggestions to ensure that your gigs are successful and profitable.