Please click on the buttons on the left for further information.
Unfortunately successful advertising is not always that easy and straightforward and many different avenues should be tried. Ask if anybody within your organisation has had any promotional/marketing experience during their working life, perhaps they can give some useful and realistic advice. Before setting off in a vague "all-comers welcome" direction determine just who the target audience is. Of course this is easier said than done because the natural target audience (the traditional organ/keyboard fans) are disappearing fast. There's little point, for example, trying to entice 'younger' people if the sounds and music they enjoy is different from that enjoyed by the club's current audience. They'll simply try it once and that'll be it. Or, worse still, the club will change the musical style and alienate its current members in the process. We should concentrate on finding people who like the kind of music that prevails in the organ/keyboard world - but who are not aware that reasonably priced concerts are held regularly. Maybe to focus on the type of music rather than the instrument? After all, there are lots of people who enjoy older instrumental music. One day last week my neighbours were playing music in their garden - a CD of West End / Broadway musical hits. We don't have a club in this immediate area but I could imagine them enjoying their kind of music played on a keyboard/organ. People are willing to travel further than you may think so cast your advertising net wide. If residual funds allow, consider paying for some particularly eye-catching advertising - after all, that particular sum of money would still be in the bank if the club closes because of lack of either bums on seats or willing committee members. Do it before audience numbers dwindle too far. The concert audience catchment is very similar to that of sequence and ballroom dances. The music (live or recorded) is usually organ, keyboard or instrumental music, so if any of your attendees are dancers there is an opportunity to cross promote concerts at dances and offer promotion at concerts in return. You could also consider organising a social dance, promote it in the various dances around the area then when you've got the dancers there it is a good opportunity to promote the concerts. Consider booking a player who plays for dances as well as concerts and have a 50/50 dance/concert. Or a dance during the afternoon followed by a concert in the evening. Ask your local/city (or even county) council if they have any kind of advertising literature you could get your club's name included in - whether in general as in terms of raising awareness that you actually exist as a music club or being able to advertise specific concerts in a monthly/weekly publication. Reciprocal Advertising
Download one of the many free calendar templates that are available on the internet these days and customise it for your club. Highlight the dates of your concerts etc. and include photos of the artistes appearing during the year, the address of the venue and other appropriate information including website links.
|