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12 Hottest Event Trends of 2019

event-trends_2019Don’t you love the new year? 2019 will be the year of the pig, the year of living coral, the year of amazing events and big moments.

Kick it off right with our annual trends list.

1. Fika

Hygge made our 2017 event trends list and we’re happy to report the phenomenon of knits, candles, and fireplaces is still going strong. Enter Fika – the art of the Swedish coffee break. Like Hygge, Fika is all about the simple things in life—a cup of joe, good conversation and a pastry to go with it. How will this make it into the events’ world? Fika is the perfect theme for networking events and conferences and sounds a lot cooler than “coffee and pastries.”

2. The Ultimate Experience

According to the CWT Meetings and Events report, “treehouses, rooftops, and even islands will become increasingly popular.” Attendee experience is everything and we’re seeing that reflected in 2019 event trends. Instagram use is on the rise and so are “experience” museums. Like the Museum of Ice Cream, the Rose Mansion and the Museum of Pizza (#MoPi). Because of this new er … culture, expect to see more uses of alternative and unusual venues.

If you have a space that sits empty some of the time, check out our webinar on transforming any space into a working venue.

3. Japan

CWT Meetings and Events also reported that the land of the rising sun will be hot, hot, hot in the coming year. Japan will host the Rugby World Cup in 2019 and the 2020 Olympics. Expect a surge of travel to the country and a lasting influence on event trends.

4. Themed Fitness

Goats and yoga. Beer and barre. Super hero 5ks. We’re seeing fitness events up the creativity with themes, beer, wine and/or animals. If it takes wine and mini-donkeys to get us all off the couch, so be it.

5. Wild Edibles

Mushrooms, truffles, fiddlehead ferns. Our Food and Beverage Coordinator reports that people are increasingly curious to try wild edibles. We will see this event trend appear in restaurants, but perhaps even more so at special dinner events and classes. It’s a re-connection to the natural world one plate at a time.

6. Supper Clubs

Many chefs are turning in their starched chef coats for an apron and forming supper clubs. And it’s not just the pros. Would-be home chefs are also hosting secret dinner parties. This is tied to the eat-at-home trend combined with a desire for slower, more intimate dining experiences. The overall appeal is interaction with the chef and other guests.

7. Dietitian-based Eating

With all of the special diets out there, families are looking for a custom meal plan to get them through the week. Those that seek to increase their productivity, stamina, lose weight, live longer, or just feel better are turning to both nutrition and biochemistry to get that edge. Not only will we see an up-tick in fad diets, dietitians and classes will be huge going into 2019. Specialty products in this arena have already started to creep into stores, and we should expect much more to come.

8. Culinary Cannabis

Cannabis, whether for recreation or medicine, will be on the menu in 2019. Legalization in many states has driven a huge influx of cannabis-based food businesses, including culinary schools. Those in the know have touted the health benefits of ‘sticky icky’ for a long time now, but the benefits are now recognized on a national level. We should see a rapid expansion of pot-based products, services, and events. Look out for tastings, pairings, pop-up dinners, and educational events.

9. Artisan Cooking Classes

We will see a rise in artisan cooking and maker classes focused on things like sourdough bread baking, cheese making, pickling, and curing meats. We aren’t talking about any old bread baking. We are talking about test-kitchen quality recipes taught by renowned artisans. With the increasing interest in eating at home comes the desire to eat well at home. This can be largely attributed to both economics and technology, such as home meal delivery services.

These events are popping up both in restaurant spaces as well as homes. Search for cooking classes near you.

10. Hotel Bars

Our friends at the Seattle Metropolitan spotted this event trend. Hotel bars are old-school glamorous. The martinis. The warm lighting. The mysterious guests: where are they from? Where are they going? Whether it’s a ground-floor bar or a rooftop terrace, hotel bars make a fantastic venue and offer exposure to a new, non-local, typically captive audience. Genius.

11. Video Event Promotion

If you want your event promotion to stand out, you got to have video. And no, shaky smartphone clips just won’t cut it. If you’re not a videographer, programs like Slidely can help you put together fun and interesting promotion videos for social media.

12. Chatbots for Event Organizers

Everyone is talking about voice assistants. Chatbots can help wrangle attendees and also assist planners in their own task management. Which is great because event planner consistently makes Forbes’ list of most stressful jobs. “Alexa, make my life less stressful please.”

That’s it for our event trends 2019. What do you predict as the next big thing in events?

Event Tips >

5 Promotion Secrets to a Packed Holiday Event

Holiday-promotions-eventsTick(et) tock. The holidays are coming up and so is your event. Holiday events require special love because there is a lot of competition (we’re looking at you Nutcracker), but you can use the season to your advantage.

Here are 5 holiday promotion strategies that will get your attendees lining up to buy those tickets.

1. Have a Black Friday ticket sale

Sure, Black Friday (Nov. 23) is kind of divisive, a little bit scary and definitely over-saturated with sales, but you can use the day to your advantage. More and more, people are gifting experiences instead of material goods (think: tickets vs. TVs)—so Black Friday is the perfect day to give a special discount on tickets. Add a discount code to your event that is valid only on Black Friday, then post your code on all of your social media accounts.

Here’s how to add discount codes to prices—you can always call us if you run into trouble.

2. Partner with restaurants

’Tis the season for gorging. Turn your single event into a special night-out. Partner with restaurants near your event to offer a “set meal” as a part of a ticket bundle. The eatery chooses the meal and sets the price. You add the cost to your ticket price and offer the package on your event page.

Now, not only do you have an attractive night out for event goers, you’ll have double the promotion, as the restaurant will promote it to their followers.

3. Let kids get in free

School is out and families are looking for events and activities. They will flock to your event if the brood can get in for free. Contact schools and ask them to insert a promo into their newsletters or post a flyer on their bulletin board. Submit your event to family newsletters like the Red Tricycle.

4. Add a giving component

The holidays put everyone in a giving mood. Find a local nonprofit or cause to partner with and bundle a donation with a ticket level or collect donations at your event. Not only does this offer cross-promo opportunities and compel attendees to spread the word, you can contact local press and ask them to feature your event.

Plus, giving back is just a good thing to do.

5. Talk to our promo experts

We have a knowledgeable and creative promo squad, waiting to help you with your strategy. Our team can explain the best social media tactics in minutes, talk you through setting up a holiday Facebook campaign and help you boost ticket sales. All of it is free — just email our promo team to set up a consultation.

Sharing is caring. Comment below with your own promotion ideas. What has worked and what hasn’t?

Event Tips >

How to Create Marketing Personas for Events (And Why You Should)

Throughout my illustrious career as a marketing word weaver (copywriter), I’ve heard some variation of this line: My product is for everyone. My young adult fiction novel is for … everyone. My charity 5K is for anyone who can make it.

Where’s that facepalm emoticon?

Whether it’s an event, a product, or a one-act play, start with your tribe, the people most likely to be interested. Lucy, the thirty-something mother of three might not be into your late-night EDM festival, but your start-the-day, wake-up rave with full juice bar? She’s there. (Heck, I’m there).

Find your event’s target audience and create marketing personas so that you’re serving digital content in the right places to the right audience, and also so that you don’t waste time (and money) pursuing those likely to skip.

Start with Current Attendees

Consider your last event. Who attended? What were they wearing? What were they doing?

Were they glued to phones or carrying around moleskin journals? At the events I attend (book readings, tastings of any kind, live music and comedy), most people are kind of like me.

This isn’t to say they have the same physical attributes, but that they are in the same life stage, consume similar media and generally share interests.

Write an Event Questionnaire

Write an event questionnaire to find out more about your attendees and use the responses to inform your personas and your social media targeting.

Ask what region they live in, what interests them, what they read and listen to. Use this info to tighten up your social media advertising. If people aren’t flying to your festival from out-of-state, don’t waste money on a national campaign. Narrow your advertising to within a drive-able range until it grows.

Lastly, be brave and ask what you could do better. Some feedback might feel like a punch in the gut, but resolve to take a “know better, do better,” approach.

The Data Dig

Use insights from your social media platforms to clue you in on your demographic. The data will tell you what region your attendees come from and you can tell what posts are working and what aren’t based on how many people engage with them. Find out what key terms your attendees used to find your events.

Optimize your Facebook event and your Brown Paper Tickets’ event page to include those key terms and definitely try to use them in the title. Blueberries & Rolling Pins isn’t likely to be found in a search, but Blueberries & Rolling Pins Pie Making Class is much more SEO-friendly.

Write Event Marketing Personas

Before you design flyers or write your event description or pick your marketing channels, create up to three personas using your research.

Include standard demographic data, such as age, salary, location. Look for photos in the public domain that match this fictional person. Give them a name and include their values and motivations.

If you’re starting a series of cooking classes for example, marketing personas will help you identify whether you’re marketing to a “Johnny-who’s-never-cooked-before” or “Cheyenne, a whiz in the kitchen psyched to brush up on her techniques.” Or say you’re working on messaging for a music festival—are you marketing to GenX Jimmy or Micah the Millennial? Jimmy is more likely to see your flyer, while Micah would more likely be brought in by your event’s Insta story.

Sure, you might want both to buy tickets, but narrowing down your audience will help define your marketing channels and the language you use to communicate. Pick one persona as your target and the others as your secondary audiences.

Once the persona is created, speak directly to them in all of your social media posts and in your event description. However, avoid exclusionary language–you’re not trying to make people feel unwelcome, you’re custom-tailoring your marketing.

Rely on what motivates your persona (saving money, helping others, escape) and speak to that.

Here’s an example:

Example: Hey moms, have dad watch baby for a change and relax at our spa weekend…

Vs.

Hey, need a break? Come in for well-deserved R&R at a special spa event. The palm trees are a’swaying… 

The first example makes a number of assumptions and doesn’t feel inclusive. The second speaks to what most appeals to the persona (escape).

Run an A/B test to see what messaging resonates better with your perspective attendees.

Keep Interest

Now that you created your persona, keep them engaged by refreshing your content and offers. Make an offer that speaks to their values.

If they’re more budget-conscious, offer discounted tickets. If they’re active on social media, create a ticket giveaway contest on their preferred channel. Consistently post third-party content from websites they’re most likely to read.

What did you name your marketing personas? That’s the most-fun part.

 

 

Event Tips >

5 Simple Steps to Attracting Media Coverage for Your Events

Throwing your first event? Looking for press attention for your established events? Either way, media coverage builds fans and boosts revenue.

Here are five simple steps to attracting media and press coverage:

1. Identify Your Objective Value Propositions

Value Proposition describes an innovation, service, or feature intended to make a company or product attractive to customers. In the realm of promoting your event, you will want to find the “golden nugget” of your event, i.e. your event’s value proposition. To help you find it, ask yourself these questions:

What is it about your show that makes new ticket buyers want to spend their hard-earned dollars?

What makes your event worth the price? Ticket at any price, but the higher the price, the more you will need to justify value.

The answers to these questions are what will attract press to cover your event and ticket buyers to your show. Add your unique value propositions to the event title, description and headline of your press release.

Find Your Superlatives

Superlatives can raise the value of the event. Brainstorm, research and highlight your event’s objective (not subjective) superlatives. Journalists rely on facts, not opinions, so your event superlatives must be provable.

Examples of objective superlatives:

– Award-winning performers (specify award and date received)
– Largest or only event by any measure? Any metric can be used to make the superlative accurate, but you have to be able to back up your claim in one sentence. (Examples: Biggest beer tasting in _____. First film festival in ___ . The longest running theater in ____. )

The press won’t be able to use the following superlatives because they aren’t provable by objective measures:

Wildest
Most fun
Greatest
_____ -est of its kind

2. Identify 5 Target Media Outlets

Ask or poll your fans what media outlet they read or watch regularly. The answer is more and more likely to be a blog, a newsletter, a social media outlet, or other non-traditional media. This is good news, as many non-traditional media have shorter deadlines and more spots for stories.

Gather your fan’s responses. Then take out media outlets that do not influence your local market because locals are more likely to buy tickets to your event. The remaining top 5 on this list are your targets.

3. Localize to the Largest Community Possible

Localize your event to create an attractive angle for the press to cover. Readers and viewers have more interest in what happens to people and places they know.

Add a location name to the title of your event and choose the largest community possible (i.e., the Northwest Beer Festival would attract more news value than the Bellingham Beer Festival).

However, if the smaller place of localization generates greater interest, use that. For instance, a Hollywood burlesque festival could sell more than a Los Angeles burlesque festival because of Hollywood’s caché.

How to do it
Get the hometown, neighborhood and professional high-resolution headshot for every performer in the event, and write an email to the appropriate reporter at his/her neighborhood blog (if it’s in your possible attendee coverage area) to alert them about the “hometown girl/boy done good story” with your event as the hook.

4. Make Your Pitch Picture Perfect

Media outlets need good visuals to get clicks, likes and shares. Find a photo or video that shows this visual aspect of your event. Keep in mind that media outlets typically won’t publish a photo or video unless it’s G-rated.

How to do it
Invest in professional headshots as well as at least one performance photo, all in high resolution.

If you are producing a show with multiple performers, ask them for headshots as soon as you book them for your show. You don’t want to lose a story because you don’t have photography ready.

Television stations aren’t likely to use promotional videos with music, graphics, credits or logos embedded over the video. Hire a videographer to get natural sound, close-up footage to maximize your media coverage.

5. Submit Free Calendar Listings

You have a great localized value proposition. You have an enticing event description and pitch subject line. You included at least one eye-catching visual. Time to get the word out.

Calendar listings are the low-hanging fruit of the publicity world. They are easy to get and almost always generate ticket sales (as long as you have successfully done steps 1-4).

Submitting a free calendar listing for your event is simple. Newsletter, blog or even The New York Times, every publication has an event listing. And you can be part of it if you complete the first four steps and closely follow event submission instructions.

How to do it
Take your new top five media outlet list. Go to the online events section for every special interest group, blog or media outlet. Search for “how to submit an event” and follow the directions. If you can’t find it, send the press contact a short email that describes your event. Ask the publication if they would write about it or include it in the topics they share with their community.

Boom. Your event is now listed on every single one of your top five media targets websites.

Editorial teams frequently look at their calendar listings when assigning stories. Therefore, this effort increases the likelihood of an additional, more in-depth story. There are many ways to amp the press for your event. But these basics ensure that the press you get goes further to help you achieve your goals and reach new levels of success.

Event Tips >

Going to a Conference? 4 Tips to Putting Your Best Foot Forward

Conference Networking RoomIn a digital age, it’s very easy to hide behind our screens. It’s much easier to be bold over e-mail than face-to-face. But direct, real life communication is still incredibly important, and as long as there are options for you to be present and involved in-person, there will be networking opportunities that you wouldn’t find otherwise. A writer for Adelphi University put it best when they said, “Though these events might not immediately score you the position of your dreams, they will certainly establish inroads with [other professionals].”

Let’s talk about the importance of putting your best foot forward when you attend events, and how to use this digital age — e-mails, social media, and the like — to enhance your in-person networking experience. Using all of the applicable tools at your disposal is of the utmost importance and undoubtedly helps your career and your personal brand.

1. If You’ve Met Someone Online, Go Talk To Them In Person

In the social media age, we’ve all experienced seeing someone we’re “friends” with or that we “follow” on a certain platform, and not knowing how to approach them in real life. This is perfectly normal and meeting people after these interactions is daunting for many. Nonetheless, you need to put yourself out there.

If we’ve had even the most minor interactions with them online — a few e-mails, comments back and forth, or any other kind of conversing — go up and introduce yourself. Chances are they’ll respect you being assertive enough to say hi, and it’ll not only put a face to your name and brand, but a memory with you in it.

2. If You Meet Someone In Person, Go Talk To Them Online

By nature of going to a networking event or conference, you have to meet new people. In fact, you would have to go out of your way to not meet anyone new. So that being said, when you make new connections, try to get the person’s contact information. It’s probably possible to find it online if you forget, but there’s no harm in sending an email or message saying “Hey, it was great to meet you the other day and I hope we can work together in the future.”

This follow up is very important. It reminds them you exist and gives you an advantage over everyone else they met at the conference who didn’t follow up with them. You are instantly more memorable than other people, and maybe more important. It also shows your own personal interest in what they do and who they are, which goes a long way when they need something you can offer.

3. Be a Person, Not a Sales Pitch

Networking is not a chance for you to put on your best door-to-door salesman outfit and look for people that can give you money. People who treat it that way are perceived as tools and don’t usually get very far. Rather, you should be personal and understand that the people you’re meeting are in the same business as you and are therefore your peers.

Of course, there is a hope with anyone you meet that you’ll benefit from each other, but take the time to get to know each other on a deeper level. It’s not a waste of time, it’s what networking is all about. Hopefully you guys are able to link up in the future and this relationship proves to be productive.

4. Yes… Dress to Impress While Networking

All of this said, you are still representing a brand or business. The term “dress to impress” can be taken literally and metaphorically. Don’t dress like a slob; show that you care and are passionate about what you do. You are there to represent yourself and your brand, so go out with the intention of learning how you may improve, and share your own ideas with others. Be on your A game.

Be an accessible peer and come across like you know what you’re doing. Being personable does not mean being overtly casual. So watch what you say and do and of course, make sure all of your clothes fit you well.

Thoughts? Concerns? Disagreements? Agreements? Insights? Etc.? Send them all to me on Twitter @Robolitious.

P.S. Comment below with your own networking tricks and tips. Or find your next conference or networking event and put these new skills to use.

Event Tips >

How to Create FOMO with Your Event Promo

events-promo-fomo Fear of missing out, or FOMO is defined as “anxiety that an exciting or interesting event may currently be happening elsewhere, often aroused by posts seen on a social media website.”  It’s that little twinge that convinces you that you could be having the time of your life … if you went somewhere else.

 “My friends are doing something amazing and I am just sitting here.”
“Why am I not dancing … so and so is out dancing.”
 “I can’t believe I am missing That Band.”

In 2013, Mashable reported that 56% of social media users suffer from FOMO and we’re sure that number is a lot higher now. Tap into FOMO for your event promotions and get more attendees.

 

Creatively Name Your Events

The event name is the first thing your potential attendees will see on their newsfeeds. It’s important. Have a namestorming session. Write a list of words associated with your event and go two steps beyond what’s there. Create a double-entendre. Smush two words together into a memorable portmanteau. Make it rhyme or make it alliterative. If you get stuck, use the thesaurus.

If you’re promoting a reading with a new memoir author, instead of an “Evening with Elisa,” strive to stand out. Make it playful. “Elisa Shares Embarrassing Childhood Stories,” “Elisa Reads Her Diary to Strangers,” “Who the Heck is Elisa? Find Out.”

Use a creative hashtag from the beginning of your promotions. Put it on the fliers and in your event copy. That way, people may use it before your event to talk about it.

Facebook Event Promotion

The FOMO first step is getting your fans’ friends to go. Create a public Facebook event page and invite all of your fans and/or friends to RSVP and get tickets. For maximum success, start your Facebook FOMO promo 4-6 weeks out. That person’s friends will see that they clicked “interested,” or “going” and BOOM! the event is not only on their radars, it stays there.

• Tag the venue so that the venue can share your event too.
• Include a link to buy tickets in the copy.
• Experiment with targeted Facebook ads or boost the update, so more followers see it.

Go Live

Use Facebook Live to get potential attendees off the couch and to your event or to make them see that they’re missing out so they go to the next one. Go Live during one of your speaker’s presentations or send out an Instagram story of your band’s rehearsal.

Live video can be tricky. Make sure you’re in a well-lit spot close to the action and keep it steady with a phone tripod.

Photo/Video Promotion

In general, high-quality photos work better than graphics for your event pages. Nothing incites FOMO better than a photo or video, as it helps your visitors see themselves at your event. Don’t just focus on performers; take snaps of the crowd laughing, dancing and having a grand time. Use these to promote your next event.

Word to the wise: Ask permission before you use your attendees’ photos or include language in your event’s terms and conditions regarding photography usage.

What strikes your FOMO and gets you to an event? Comment below and share your event promotion ideas.

Event Tips >

Is It Time to Hire a Publicist?

Hiring-PublicistEveryone has a friend who “made it.” Maybe it’s your band’s former drummer, who’s in a new band that’s taking off. Or your MFA classmate whose novel sits in the recommended section of every indie bookstore you frequent. Or the person in your improv class who’s already selling out shows.

Sure, your friend is talented, hardworking and deserving. They also have a tenacious publicist … and you don’t. So you start to wonder if you should hire one too.

Publicists do more than write press releases—they frame your story just the right way. They develop relationships with journalists and know who will cover your project. A good publicist handles hard-hitting questions or crisis management if something goes wrong. And then there’s the most laborious part–crafting pitch after pitch after pitch.

When you reach a certain point with your events, band, book or any venture, hiring a publicist may make sense. Remember there’s only so much a publicist can do—your project should be ready to promote. If you lack concrete goals or a strong following, handle your own PR for a bit and see what happens. If the buzz becomes too much to manage on your own, it may be time to consider outside help.

Signs It’s Time

  • You don’t have time to correspond with media or you have a day job that does not allow you to do outside work.
  • You put on more events than you alone can handle.
  • Your event includes controversial or political material and you think you may be fielding tough questions by the media.
  • You’ve dealt with negative media in the past.
  • You’ve hit a roadblock or a lot of dead ends managing your own publicity.

Pros of Hiring a PR Pro

  • They are trained to reach out to media using the best tactics and practices.
  • They have existing relationships with media members.
  • Since they’re focused on publicity, they’ll be able to promptly reply to media inquiries and take a giant chunk of responsibilities off your endless to-do list.
  • If you have a mid-to-high-profile guests, performer, etc. for your event, a publicist will know the strategies to get them an interview.

How to Find a Publicist

If you organize long-running or frequent events, consider a PR agency, but be wary—agencies are costly. Before you start setting up meetings, have a solid budget and expectations in place. Know how the agency measures success and who they’ve worked with before.

In the entertainment industry, freelance publicists are easy to find. Check out LinkedIn or Facebook PR groups or contact a local university—you might be able to find an entry level publicist who’s willing to work at a flexible rate.

Brown Paper Tickets offers free promotion advice and resources. Email our promo team at promo[at]brownpapertickets[dot]com. They won’t manage your publicity, but they have a wealth of information on how to do it yourself.

Did you hire a publicist? How did you know it was time? Comment below.

Event Tips >

8 Secrets to Writing Event Pages That Convert

BPT_Icons_Typewriter-01The bad news: From email newsletters to Facebook posts to the New York Times, the moment your prospective customers arise, they’re bombarded with things to read. You get a few mere seconds to hook ’em, which means your event description and website copy needs to be polished and punchy.

The good news: You don’t have to resort to all caps headlines (YOU’RE SCREAMING), inappropriate visuals or sixteen exclamation points to sell tickets.

1. Talk the Talk
Burlesque performer Sailor St. Claire’s website is an amazing example of brand voice and well-done copy. “With her scintillating wit and copious charms, Sailor channels academic excellence into burlesque bravura …”

Scintillating wit, copious charms. Just by the word choice, we know she is one literary lady.

Fancy $2 words work well to attract a bookish burlesque audience, but could turn away down-to-earth attendees of a hot dog eating contest. Use nomenclature that appeals to your prospective event goers.

2. Sensory Details
Good writing helps readers see what you see. Vague writing gives a blurry image and puts your reader to sleep.

Eliminate “beautiful, great, fun, perfect, unique” from your event page. “What makes it unique?” “Perfect?” “Fun?” Draw out the descriptive details.

Flex your vocabulary. If your event is a poetry reading at a “burnt-out warehouse down by the docks” (yes, that’s a Seinfeld reference), avoid the descriptive term, “unique.” It’s edgy. It’s industrial chic, a hip hideaway, a creative hive with high ceilings.

3. Be Specific
Avoid writing “we will serve food.” Your prospective ticket buyers won’t know if you’re going to hand them a bag of Fritos or a Cornish hen.

You might not know ahead of time the specific dishes you’ll serve, but there are nuances between words for food. “Snacks” is more dips, chips and veggie plates, while “hor d’oeuvres” is toothpick and finger sandwich food. “Snack” lends itself to a more casual affair, “hor d’oeuvres” says black ties and heels.

When specific, little details wrangle expectations and offer a clear image of the event.

4. Don’t Dare Bury the 5 “W”s
Providing sensory details helps your ticket buyers envision the event, but don’t bury who, what, where, when, why. Include your performers’ or instructors’ names and past performances or awards in your event description. Read this PR post for more on how to find your unique value propositions.

Break up the text to three sentences per paragraph. Avoid huge paragraph blocks. Add the nearest subway lines or parking tips to ease commuter anxiety. Let your event goers know if they don’t need to be “on time” and can just drop in.

5. A Few Words on Brevity
“I have only made this letter longer because I have not had the time to make it shorter.” Blaise Pascal, the Provincial Letters.

One mistake nascent writers make is far too much. Never assume your reader will pore over every word. In fact, assume that they won’t. Especially on an event page.

Go ahead, write it all out, but then go back in and trim, trim, trim. Here’s how:

Hunt down redundant terms and descriptions. Did you describe something twice? Are you guilty of duplicating details? (See what I did there?)

Just say no to passive voice. Passive voice is like an ill-fitting t-shirt. It isn’t wrong, but it isn’t doing you justice. Tattoo the words: am, are, was, were, be, being, been on the inside of your wrist. (OK, fine, just put them on a post-it near your desk.) When you notice these, switch up the sentence so it’s active.

Passive: The event was attended by more than 600 excited people.
Active: More than 600 excited people attended the event.

Punch it up. Employ one-word sentences and don’t fear phrases. 

“Amazing. Still a ticket left to see our band rock the Warehouse this Friday. Is it yours?”

“It’s amazing, there is still a space left to see our band rock the Warehouse this Friday night at 3:00PM in the afternoon. Could it be yours?”

6. Prominent Call-to-Action (CTA)

Marketing-BPT-CTA

Put a Brown Paper Tickets’ button or text link “above the fold,” (i.e. positioned in the top half) of your website. Never make your customers search for the link to buy tickets. Write your call to action in the imperative. Buy Now, RSVP, Join the Party. You can be creative, but for best results, give an action to take.

7. SEO for Success
Do not slap your flyer on your website and call it a day. Image files are not readable by search engines like Google. Fill out all related categories on your Brown Paper Tickets’ page and use keywords in your title and on the page (e.g. food and drink for a cooking event, etc.) More about SEO.

8. Hashtag It
Giving-Tuesday Advertise your hashtag on your event flyer and page and prominently display it on signage at the event. A hashtag points your attendees to where to talk about your event and streamlines feedback for your post-event analysis. Encourage your attendees to post photos. Research hashtags.

Have a writing tip? Ring in below.

Event Tips >

3 Secrets to Booking Great Shows

Music Festival Booking TipsI booked my first punk show in 1991 at the tender age of 18, so that’s 23 years of experience booking shows. Crazy.

A lot has changed. Nearly all communication was via phone or letters. Very few venues were keen on booking punk rock, so finding a venue (let alone an all-ages venue) was a challenge. To get the word out, you literally had to visit every town within a 100-mile radius and physically hang posters. Or find that town’s punk rock record store and give everyone with dyed hair or a leather jacket a handbill.

These days, it’s much easier to get the word out and to communicate with artists and venues. In fact, whole tours can be booked and promoted without making a single phone call or leaving home. That said, there are still some important things event organizers and producers should keep in mind when booking a night of music.

Here are three tips to steer you in the right direction:

1. Curate Your Bills

Back in the day, many things fell under the punk rock or “alternative” umbrella – a bill could feature a ska band, a psychobilly band and an electronic act. Today, music fans are easily able to fine tune their tastes and genres. The most successful bookers I know are ones who really got to know the bands’ sound and audience. They realize that even though the opener may not have a huge draw yet, the headliner’s audience will probably dig them. In this case, the sound of the bands, not their draw matters. This helps build the opener’s audience and creates a night of music tailored to the audience’s tastes. The audience not only gets to see the band they love, they also may discover a new favorite act.

2. Limit Your Acts

Playing or attending shows with five or six bands drives me crazy. It’s a disservice to everyone because bands have to play super short sets, get gear on and off as quickly as possible and audiences spend more time watching bands set up than watching them perform. Big bills can work for special events like festivals, but even then there should be a shared backline of drums and bass to ensure smooth transitions between acts.

Some bookers argue that more bands equals a bigger draw, but I’ve found the opposite to be true. Most fans would rather see a full set from their favorite band than a condensed one. They will likely hold out for a later bill where they can see a full set. Additionally, the bands know they won’t be able to flex their muscles performance-wise and will split the door amongst six other bands, so there’s little incentive for them to promote the show.

3. Promote (And Not Just on Facebook)

With the onset of social media, guerrilla promotions have fallen by the wayside. Often, producers and organizers seem content with creating a Facebook event page and shooting out a couple tweets. While this is an essential part of your promotional plan, don’t rely solely on social media, especially considering Facebook’s diminishing reach. Get out there and hang posters, contact the local press or bug some folks at your local independent radio stations. Basically, do all the old school “guerrilla” promotional tactics in conjunction with social media.

Nothing is more compelling than seeing a cool poster all over town or being handed a playbill by one of the band members. Get creative. You’ll see better results.

Share your thoughts and event tips for booking shows.

Photo Credit: Amanda Halm

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5 Social Media Best Practices for 2015

Social media continues to evolve and morph into our daily lives personally and professionally. Real-time sharing of photos, updates (tweets, posts, etc.) happen at all types of events. Here’s to using social media more strategically before, during and after events.

socialmedia-SS1. Instagram Dominates Visual Engagement

The visual revolution is driven by mobile smart phones and social media channels such as Pinterest and Instagram. They’ve turned browsing the web into a visual experience unlike any we’ve seen in web history. Photography and graphics drive engagement in these channels (and others). Twitter also allows photos to be added to posts and stats show tweets with photos often yield higher engagement than those without.

People love sharing selfies while they attend theater shows, parties, festivals or are exploring town. Instagram, like Facebook and Twitter before it, is now a must use social channel.

2. Video Content Explodes

Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn all now show preferences for videos uploaded and hosted on their platforms, cutting into YouTube’s market share of video engagement and views. Facebook recently surpassed YouTube for most video views on desktops, according to comScore in 2014.

You don’t have to be a pro to shoot or publish video now. Use your smart phone, select apps and simply share what’s happening at your shop, in your local area and with your products. Polished videos are less necessary with the rise of social video sharing tools such as Vine, Instagram’s video tool and smart phone capabilities. Authentic interviews, previews of products, welcoming words from entrepreneurs, backstage clips. Content is ready for filming and an increasing number of social site welcome it.

Ask a vlogger how important video is.

3. SlideShare Ideal for B2B Sharing

Content is king and SlideShare makes sharing content easier than ever, especially for businesses who service other businesses and don’t necessarily have loads of consumer-rich, delicious photos. Think of it as a simplified PowerPoint tool. Use SlideShare to distill benefits of using your service or company and allow your sales crew to share the presentation online, via email or even use for presentations.

Since SlideShare is owned by LinkedIn, which has made major strides to ramp up content publishing for all, new features and functionality have made SlideShare a necessary part of business marketing, thought leadership and relevancy.

4. Hashtags Focused on Tribes

Hashtags are officially ubiquitous sliced and diced methods of searching and finding across all social media platforms (except LinkedIn, bless its heart). They’ve become the norm (thanks to Twitter for introducing us to these utilitarian beauties).

Use too general of a hashtag and you’ll lose your audience. Instead, focus on highly targeted, localized or temporary hashtags that a niche tribe cares about and focus a conversation around relevant topics. Forget #food #socialmedia #events. I attended Seattle Interactive Conference and they annually use #sic2014 (etc) so attendees can hone in and join conversations or follow threads more easily.

Host an annual festival or conference? Use an acronym or abbreviation and possibly the year. BottleRock Napa Valley could use #bottlerock15 this year.

Want to search hashtags across all social platforms? Use a hashtag aggregator like Tagboard.

5. Paid Facebook Posts Become Norm

socialmedia2-SSYes, Facebook mucked with their algorithm much to the chagrin of marketers, small businesses and nonprofits. Gone are the days of your post reaching 50% of your fans instantly. Now you have to work for it. Or pay for it.

Facebook, after going public, monetized their news feed incrementally. Luckily, a little money goes a long way. Test boosting posts, one of the most cost-effective paid placements available. Write a post, include an eye-catching photo and promote it to your followers and their friends. Then do another post and target new users by geography, age and interest(s) and see which attracts most engagement, views or drives traffic to your site. I’d recommend setting aside $20/month to boost select content. You basically have to pay to play more and more. Other social channels are following suit and offer options to pay to expand reach of your content or offer.

What other trends or tactics are you planning to tap or try in 2015?

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