How Print Marketing Material Can Help You Sell Your Show

By Cathy Mercer


When setting up a professional theatrical production, promoting it properly is crucial for getting an audience. Creating print marketing material is a very good way of doing that. Usually this would include posters, fliers, programs and business cards. Other marketing options are available however, social media and coverage in traditional media for example.

Business cards are a simple and effective method of promotion. They are usually rectangular cards with your contact information on them as well as some information about you, your job title for example. You can print on either side of the card, in color or just black and white. Give them out at networking events when you tell people about your production. It will help them to remember.

Fliers tend to be larger than business cards and can contain much more information about the show. Typically this information would include the play's title, the dates of the production, the cost of tickets, directions to the theater and a description of it. The description should give a feel for the play, if it is a comedy for example, then the tone of that comedy should come across in the flier.

You can send out fliers by the thousand. Hire people to hand them out to passers by in busy locations. You might send out a mail shot and have them posted directly to peoples' homes. It's crucial that they look good because consumers receive so many marketing messages nowadays that it's hard to get them interested.

Getting programs printed is another way to help market your show. The program would contain biographies of the actors and backstage crew. Consumers buy them before going in to see the play and use them later to let their friends know about it. It can create very good word of mouth publicity.

Getting posters printed is also a good way to promote your show. It's important that the artwork is superb in order to gain the attention of consumers. Employ a graphic artist to help you create really professional visuals. Depending on your marketing budget, you might want to get advertising space for the posters, billboards are very popular.

Social media can support your printed materials. Start a Facebook page and get as many people as possible to become a part of it. This is good for spreading the word. Twitter is good for this too. Your followers share your updates and this disseminates the details about what you are doing still further.

Starting a blog for the show can be effective too. You can use it as a production diary and offer more in depth information about what you are doing. You might post interviews with members of the cast and crew or talk about how rehearsals are going. This is a good way of engaging your audience.

It's well worth doing some research before deciding on which print marketing material is best for you. Look for the shows most similar to your own and assess their promotional work. Try to find out what has worked best for them and adapt it for your own production.




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