Market Your Livestream Performance
So you’ve decided to livestream your next performance. You’ve setup your show, now it’s time to start selling your tickets.
But how do you even go about doing that? Well, here are a few ideas that’ll help get you started!
Give Fans A Taster Via Youtube
Youtube, in my opinion, is the most underutilized tool available to musicians. If you already have a Youtube channel with subscribers on it, why not post some taster footage of what to expect during your livestream? Give viewers enough that they get excited about what’s the come, but not so much that they feel like they’ve experienced everything.
Be sure to leave calls-to-action both during the video and in the description. By simply asking people to sign up, your sign-up rate will generally increase. Sometimes people just need that small nudge in the right direction.
Pro Tip:
Be sure to use keyword friendly headers and descriptions to maximize the chance of you getting found via Youtube search and their suggestion engine. Mastering keywords is too big of a topic for this blog post, but you can see more details about it here. They talk specifically about keywords for music licensing, but many of the mentioned tactics are still relevant to selling gig tickets via Youtube too.
Create Hype With Your Existing Audience
It’s not enough to simply tell your existing fans that you’ve an upcoming show; if you want to increase ticket sales you really need to get them excited about it.
Present your show as something bigger than just a livestream. Maybe create a theme around the show and make it about more than just you and your music.
For example, right now in the UK there’s a big government campaign around supporting the NHS. If you’re from the UK, you could always have an ‘NHS support show’ where you’re playing some of your best songs to support and raise awareness of the work these doctors and nurses are doing. You can also let ticket buyers know that a portion of their ticket fee will go directly to the NHS.
Consider trending topics right now and see if you could take advantage of any to increase gig attendance.
Consider Paid Ads To Promote Your LiveSteam Performance
If you have a relatively small (or non-existent) fan base but still want a good number of people to join your show, you may want to consider using paid advertising.
This isn’t a route I’d typically recommend for your first live stream due to the steep learning curve and likely expensive cost per attendee while you’re still experimenting. That said, if you’re willing to risk losing money upfront to increase your attendance, this could be an option.
I’d generally go for Youtube ads as they’re more personal and connections can be built easier, but you can also advertise on Facebook and Instagram as well if you choose. A simple Google search will provide you with guides on how to use each platform.
Alternatively, you may get better results approaching established musicians in your genre and paying them to let their audience know about your upcoming show. While you’ll likely get higher attendee conversions using this method, often working with musicians one-on-one like this can be slow or unreliable. But it can give good results when you get a reliable influencer.
Remember, It’s Down To You…
When you put on your own show, it’s 100% up to you to get attendees.
The above tactics should give you a good head start, but if you have any other marketing strategies you want to try, there’s no harm in giving them a go.
So what tactics have you used to promote your live stream shows? Let us know in the comments friend.
Other Resources
MyAfton Livestream Virtual Performances
