Your Event is Not Just Another Concert at GOA...
Your Event is Not Just "Another" Concert at GOA...We believe that your event has the potential to have a tremendous impact on your community. One key element to making your event a success is promotion. Throughout the PROMOTERS Section of our website, GOA has provided some tools and information that can help make your event a true success and impact as many people as possible.
Promote Your Concert
BEFORE ANYTHING GETS DONE:
Keep your concert lifted up in prayer from the beginning. Remember that this event isn't just another concert, but a life-changing night for those attending. Seek the Lord's guidance in all the decisions you make regarding it!
First Things First
1. RESEARCH: Always ask questions, gather information, meet people, and learn more about your market.
2. QUANTITY: Enough has to be done to let all potential attendees know of this event. Many avenues must be pursued to make sure no stone is left unturned. Along with a massive blitz comes....
3. FREQUENCY & DISTRIBUTION: If you wait until the last six days to bombard the market, it is too late. People plan their "free time" weeks and months ahead. You must give your audience plenty of advance notice.
16 Weeks Out:
Here are a few reminders of things you should have already done or be currently working on for your upcoming concert.
Get a written agreement or contract from your venue. (If applicable)
If you are providing sound for the concert, contact your sound company & get a price quote (I would recommend 2 or 3 quotes). After deciding on a sound or production company….GET THE CONTRACT IN WRITING!!
Contact local businesses that might want to “Sponsor” the concert. With approval from GOA or the artist’s management, you can give them banner placement, stage mention, table or booth near artist product sales, logo on tickets, logo or ad in concert or event program (if you have one), etc.
Contact your local Christian Radio station, and see if they would “Partner” with you on this concert. Ask them if they would be the “Welcome” station. Look for a win/win situation with them. Offer tickets for on-air giveaways and staff tickets. With approval from GOA or management, you can also offer “in studio” interviews. You could even offer a “donation” for non-profit stations (if they don’t ask). If it is a “for profit station,” they will give you rates for a spot schedule. We recommend 100 to 150 sixty second spots over a 4-6 week period. If that is cost prohibitive, then start running spots 4 weeks out, with no spots 3 weeks out, & heavy promotion during the last 2 weeks.
Set up ticket sales at bookstores and churches so that you can list them on your promotional materials. For online ticket sales contact a ticketing agency such as ticketforce.com or itickets.com. Tickets don’t need to go on sale until 11 or 12 weeks out.
14 Weeks Out:
Order your tour posters, mailers, tickets, and flyers from Wall Printing (www.tourpostersonline.com or 615-799-5519).
Order a radio spot. Some tours or artists will provide radio spots. If not, ask your local radio station if they can produce it for you. (If you bought an advertising package, they should produce that for you at no charge). Make sure it has the artist or tour mentioned at least 2 times, along with concert location, concert time, and ticket outlets. Whether your station is for profit or non profit will determine if you can put ticket prices in the spot.
For your church mailing, acquire a mailing list of churches within 100 miles from the concert location. American Church Lists (888-733-1812) or Williams Direct (620-364-8431) can provide these to you. We recommend that you mail at least two to three times the venue capacity. For example, if the venue holds 500, then send between 1000-1500 mailers.
Get volunteers to call area churches. Make sure the churches know about it and put it on their calendar of events. Ask if you can send them posters and flyers to promote it at their church. See if they would be willing to run something in their bulletin on Sunday morning (perhaps the last 2 Sundays prior to the concert date). Also, offer them a group rate of some sort.
12 Weeks Out:
Send your mailing to all of the churches in your area. Use volunteers to help with your bulk mailing.
Distribute flyers advertising your concert to all area churches and youth groups. Also, provide flyers to interested churches for insertion into their church bulletins. If they cannot insert a flyer, check to see if the churches in your area would be willing to print a brief mention of your concert in their bulletin. Flyers also need to be distributed to your ticket outlets, and a poster needs to be displayed in a prominent location at the ticket outlets.
Distribute tickets to your outlets. We recommend that you work with Christian bookstores and churches in your area, as well as online at www.ticketforce.com or www.itickets.com. Be sure that they are adequately supplied with tickets, flyers, and a poster. Make sure that the poster is hung in a prominent location where it will be seen. Tell each location that under no circumstance should they tell anyone that the concert is sold out, even if their location has run out of tickets. Give them your phone number to replenish tickets. Only upon your instruction can they tell people the concert is sold out.
Place ads in all of the free event or activity publications including college & high school newspapers. Also, check into free internet listings as well.
10 Weeks Out:
Call the artist’s record company for product giveaways (for both radio station giveaways & large area church youth groups). Ask the record company if they can supply giveaway product at no charge. Some may and some may not, or they may limit the amount of free product. They will usually offer some sort of promotional rate for CD giveaways. We recommend that you have plenty of giveaway product, and a purchase of 40-50 CD’s at $5 or $6 is much less expensive than a radio spot on your local radio station. However, never substitute giveaways for a concert spot; giveaways will only enhance your on-air promotion.
If you can afford it, begin to run “teaser” radio spots to announce that tickets are going on sale with the on-sale date or announcing that they are now on sale.
Call your local newspaper to see if they will run a feature story on the concert. The Entertainment section is recommended. If you can think of any angle to make it more news-worthy or interesting would help. Make sure you supply them with all the details of your concert.
Venue name
Venue street address, including city and state
Show time
Ticket prices (specify ticket breakdown... $9groups/$12advanced etc...)
Local phone number for ticket information
The name of the radio station(s) you are doing your primary promotions with. Include the call letters and phone number. Be sure to include area code.
Check into email lists to do an email blast about the concert. Check with the artist’s manager to see if they or the artist has an email list broken down by region that you could utilize for an email blast.
Check with local Christian bookstores to see if they would like to do an artist in-store event. If they do, make sure they agree to aggressively promote it. See if they are willing to run spots on the local radio station, create and hang a banner outside the store to announce that the artist is coming to the store, or place handbills in bags of every one that makes a purchase in that store. Also, if they are a chain of stores in your area, perhaps they would promote at all of their locations. Please note that you MUST get approval from the artist management before the in-store is confirmed.
8 Weeks Out:
Place concert posters in prominent locations throughout your community. We suggest local grocery stores, arcades, malls, Chick-Fil-A restaurants, and any Christian-owned businesses. Be sure posters are still up at your area bookstores and in churches.
Request a spot log from your radio station as to when your spots are running. We recommend that you monitor the station to make sure that they are running your spots as stated in your agreement. As you monitor the station, listen for them to play the artist you are promoting. They should give a concert mention before or after they play that artist. If not, ask them if they can or will.
Send out your email blast.
Arrange for catering for the day of the concert. Make sure you get it in writing!
Please remember that waiting too late to begin your radio promotion will adversely affect your ticket sales. Although radio advertising does cost, it is an incredible means to effectively communicate with the concert goers that will attend your concert.
6 Weeks Out:
Follow up to see that your local radio station received promotional giveaway product, including ticket giveaways. Also, see if they will do either an in-studio interview or call in interview with the artist.
Contact the artist's management about the radio interview. The interview should happen a week to 10 days out from the concert. (See if the station will record the interview to re-play a day or 2 before the concert.)
Reserve artist hotel rooms if you have not already done so. Refer to the contract or rider for type and quantity.
Confirm all of your volunteer staff needed for the concert.
Get your first ticket count. Send those ticket count numbers to GOA and the artist’s management.
4 Weeks Out:
Your Radio spots/underwriting announcements should be starting (if not already running). Radio spots should remain airing until the day of show unless you sell out your tickets.
Get your second ticket count.
3 Weeks Out:
Arrange for a volunteer to call all major local youth groups to remind them about the concert. This is a very important part of the last minute promotion of your concert. Even though you may have already contacted your local youth pastors and youth workers, please go ahead and give them another "reminder" call. Be sure to mention that you have group rate tickets available to groups of ten or more. Connecting with your local churches is a vital link to the success of your concert.
2 Weeks Out:
Get another ticket count and modify your promotion depending on how ticket sales are going. Contact your agent at GOA if you are concerned.
Contact the artist road manager to go over show details, arrival times, etc. His contact info should be on the artist rider.
Week of Concert:
Be sure that all ticket monies and/or tickets are picked up from the outlets no later than the day prior to the concert. This will give you time to make an accounting of all tickets sold at advance and group rates. Group rates will not be applicable at the door, nor should any tickets not already paid for be held at the door. It is not uncommon for people to call, ask you to hold 30 tickets, and then not show up or appear with just a few people.
Get ticket counts daily (or at least every other day) to monitor how sales are going. A good rule of thumb is 1 week out you should double your ticket sales by day of show.
Be sure to have hotels reserved and prepaid in the artist's name (unless otherwise specified in the rider). There is often confusion at the desk, so be sure that artist's name is correctly spelled out, and if possible, confirmation # is assigned and given to road manager.
Touch base with the road manager one or two days before the date to confirm arrival times and to make sure that nothing else has changed at the last minute.
Touch base with the following people to confirm arrival times, etc. and just to make sure all is in order: Production Company, Caterer, Venue, etc.
Re-read the rider to make sure you have everything covered.
Day of Concert:
Organize your volunteers; make sure they are on time and dependable. Also, be sure that enough volunteers will be present after the show to help artists with load-out (this is very important).
Brief ushers and staff on their duties at least two hours before concert time. Be sure they are aware of the fact that due to recording contracts, no tape recorders or video cameras are permitted in the hall without written approval of the record company or management. Photographs are not permitted.
Meet with your road manager to cover details on set-up and load-out as well as sound check, etc...
Have tables set up at the rear of the auditorium and volunteer staff available to help with sales of records and T-Shirts, etc. (see artist rider for number of volunteers)
Have an expense record sheet completed (door sales can be added following the concert) and receipts on hand so you can settle up quickly if percentages are involved.
Provide meal(s) for artists and crew.
Prayer time with artists, crew, and counselors usually takes place an hour or so prior to the concert. Doors usually open to the public 30 - 45 minutes before concert time.
Pass out mailing list cards to get the name, address, and email addresses of all who attended so that you can send flyers and email blasts to them in the future.
Settlement: Pay the artist road manager. If there is any kind of percentage, make sure you have the correct paperwork and documentation.
After the Concert:
Send thank you notes to all volunteers and counselors.
As a courtesy, go to all of the locations where you hung posters to thank them and remove the poster.
Pay all of your bills.
Other Facets of Effective Concert Promotion:
RESEARCH: Always ask questions, gather information, meet people, learn more about your market.
QUANTITY: Enough has to be done to let all potential attendees know of this event. Many avenues must be pursued to make sure no stone is left unturned. Along with a massive blitz comes....
FREQUENCY & DISTRIBUTION: If you wait until the last six days to bombard the market, it is too late. People plan their "free time" weeks and months ahead. You must give your audience plenty of advance notice.
