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The 3 Absolute Minimum Things You Must Do To Promote a Stage Play or Musical in 2014

About three years ago I wrote a blog post titled The 3 Absolute Minimum Things You Must Do To Promote a Stage Play or Musical. To this day it is one of the pages on Sold Out Run that generates the most traffic from Google searches.

But over the last three years the landscape of marketing theatre has changed. Both technology and how we process the marketing information that’s put in front of us have evolved. I’ve also continued to learn new promotional tactics and approaches since writing that original piece. At this point I feel like it’s time (or more accurately: long overdue) to share three new critical tactics for marketing theatre 2014.

1.) A reason

The most important thing you need in order to promote your show is a reason why someone would come see this show, and I don’t mean a reason why someone would like theatre in general. Even the most ardent supporters of live theatre can’t make it to every production. They have to pick and choose, and you better have a solid rationale why people should put your show on their short list.

This needs to be a real reason. Something that can’t be said of every moderately decent production in your area.

None of the following are valid reasons for someone to see your show:

1. It’s a good show – so vague that it’s effectively meaningless
2. These people are talented – if they’re truly talented, then there will probably be other chances to see them besides this
3. We worked really hard – since I wasn’t with you throughout the process, I don’t see your growth – I only get to see the finished product, and depending on where you started hard work is no guarantee that the show is good

Think about your favorite shows of the last few years and what made them great. Was it the complex character relationships? Historical references that resonated with you? The most talented singers in your area? You laughed so hard you peed a little?

There’s an almost infinite number of reasons your show might be too good to miss, and you only need one. But you absolutely need that one reason. It’s what you’ll be telling people in all of your marketing.

2.) Show art

You may or may not decide to print posters. Some companies are having success with them. Others aren’t. In truth I suspect your success hinges on what you do with the posters after they are printed. (If you hand a stack of posters to everyone in your cast and wait for the ticket sales to roll in, you’ll be waiting a long time.)

Whether you do a poster or not, though, I do think you need compelling show art. You might end up using it mostly in digital form, but you should be using it. Compelling imagery goes a long way on social media and in emails.

3.) Facebook event

Speaking of social media you should create a Facebook event. You might do a lot more on Facebook, but this is the bare minimum. Communicating with events isn’t quite as powerful as it used to be, but it’s still the best game in town for leveraging the social connections of the people involved in the production.

Even if you don’t do much formal promotion on Facebook, it’s worth the few minutes to set this up because it gives a focal point for all the informal word of mouth that can occur over Facebook with the friends and family of everyone involved in the show. It’s also one of the easiest possible ways for anyone to invite people to the show.

Next steps?

If you’re ready to go beyond these three bare minimum pieces of promoting your stage production consider creating a marketing calendar and a theatrical trailer or two.