Earlier this week, one of my friends called to pick my brain. She is a part of an artistic group called the Carroll County Artists’ Studio Tour (please click to go learn more about them – what an awesomely talented local group!). They hold an annual event with multiple locations (think “gallery hop”). They love their followers – very loyal patrons that visit them annually, but they see a need to grow. Like any entrepreneur, they want to spread the word and increase attendance, but how?
After a brain-dump, I have many an idea to share. These ideas could be used for not just an Event / Group / Artists, but for general marketing for your business and your team members. Though I’ve left the “artist” and “event” wording, be creative and see if you can apply some of these same ideas to your marketing plan.
- Social Media Posts (using a tool like www.HootSuite.com would make this easier)
- Encourage everyone to share the Facebook Page’s posts to their own Pages, both personal and business.
- Encourage everyone to invite their contacts.
- Facebook Page Posts with images and lots of tags (about the event, introducing each artist, showcasing their work, featuring the various locations, etc.)
- Facebook Event Page set to Public
- FACEBOOK LIVE! Encourage each artist to go LIVE on Facebook each day and invite people to come out.
- Other Social Media Accounts (twitter/Instagram/LinkedIn/etc.)
- Encourage attendees to take selfies with you (the artist) and post on Facebook.
- Email Campaigns (i.e. email newsletter)
- Press Release to artist industry media and associations as well as local media outlets
- Submit Event to various online community calendars and tourism websites
- Create group on www.MeetUp.com – encourage sign up and send out event reminders (this is an events database, somewhat, so people go to Meet Up to find things to do)
- Reach out to local industry organizations and groups/venues
- Create a Hashtag just for the group, something that isn’t being used yet and could be unique to your group. Then encourage the use of this hashtag in all postings across all social accounts.
- Give posters/flyers to local downtown shops that encourage community events and activities.
- Market to / Invite local colleges and other communities
- Take video this year (encourage each artist to record video at their location) and it can be compiled into a video for advertising with next year? You could also collectively have a video done with a local videographer.
- And of course, an up-to-date website! 🙂
…and, in all of these efforts, the goal is to remind and increase reach. So, your current followers may need a friendly reminder to SHARE this with their friends… so focus on “Call To Actions” that encourage posting, sharing, forwarding, inviting, etc.
Take time to re-strategize what you do on a regular basis to strengthen your marketing efforts. Please let me know what has or has not worked for you, or what I may have missed. Suggestions are always welcome!
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