No more "Secret Concerts": How to connect with audiences
Connecting Your Concerts and Your Audience
Suzuki Association of Utah Conference Jan. 25, 2020
By Sara Penny
Communication is a huge challenge in music, just like communication is crucial in any business, school, or family. Let us avoid “secret concerts”. This is a concert that your friends and family wanted to attend, but didn’t know about it. On the handout below the poster examples is a basic marketing plan for concerts. You can have a student or parent be in charge of publicity if you are overwhelmed. I am a big believer in communication to the students, to the parents, and to the community. The marketing research indicates that it takes 10 times seeing the publicity for an event for it to register. That’s why you need posters, flyers, social media posts, and emails to parents. Just telling the students one time is a guarantee that the parents will not know what is going on and there will be students missing concerts. Through the Cedar City Arts Council, I am able to promote all art forms and even facilitate financial support for art projects through our mini-grant program. (https://www.cedarcityartscouncil.org)
What performances are you planning that you want to promote?
Here are the basics:
Plan ahead: Setting a seasonal schedule allows you to post concerts to community calendars as well as social media sites. This also guarantees that you have your venues scheduled on the dates you want instead of discovering conflicts that interfere with your plans. Now Playing Utah, the Chamber of Commerce, and local tourism offices maintain event calendars. You just need to take the time to post your concerts to connect with a wider audience. It helps to have a poster with a strong visual that you can add to calendar postings.
Target Your Audience: Your main audience is student family and friends. Provide students with a half sheet flyer so they can invite their family and friends. You can use the same poster image printed on colored paper so you don’t have to pay for full-color flyers, but it is more festive than white paper. Time the distribution of the flyers to the week before the concert so it is close enough the recipient won’t forget.
You can also send the poster and invitation to parents so they can share by email and social media. Encourage them to get the word out. The most effective communication is word of mouth and a personal invitation goes much farther than a poster at a store.
Do you have a local newspaper that will print a press release? Maybe a neighborhood or regional weekly?
The Newspaper Press release can also go to parents for sharing. Write short direct sentences in the active voice. Get the main information in the first paragraph because if the newspaper is short on space they will usually cut out the last paragraphs.
The basics are: Who is presenting the concert; What is the cost and highlight a few of the musical selections; Where is the concert being held; and When includes the date and time. The Why and How parts of the article can go in the next paragraphs and can include some background on a few of the special pieces on the program or on your group classes. You can include the names of the participating teachers and pianists as well as any soloists. This is an opportunity to do a spotlight on special achievements for your students. The article offers an opportunity to do some public education on your overall program and even a little music history education. Short and sweet is best for newspapers. 300 to 500 words is about right with a good photo or graphic as a visual.
Have someone else read the article for clarity and to make sure you haven’t forgotten something crucial like the location of the concert or the time or date. It is easy to miss details and the extra set of eyes is a good backup. It is helpful to read the article out loud to see if it flows naturally. Spellcheck is also important.
Even if the article isn’t printed you have communicated with the parents and you can use the article to set up a Facebook event or share on other social media. For the groups that I help I use Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. We also maintain a website. For the Orchestra of Southern Utah, we also use Linked In, Tumblr, Blogspot, Mailchimp, Alignable, and Pinterest. When the article is printed or shared the impact is amplified and the students see that their hard work is valued. So if the article is printed in a newspaper and you share that on your Facebook page it has more weight than if you just share the article yourself.
Check with your local paper and submit your article and visual before their publication deadline. For our Iron County Today, that means submitting about eight days before the desired publication date. It is wise to put the information in the body of the email as well as an attachment. Some publications avoid opening an attachment. Others like the ease of editing through the attachment.
Photos: Use the highest resolution available for clearer photos.
Some families are sensitive about having their children appear on any public site, so if you are using student photos it is good to get permission from the parents and the student. Most parents like having their children publicly recognized, but they will also appreciate seeing the photo before it is published. It shows respect to the student to make sure they are happy with the photo. Using close-ups of one to three people in the photo with instruments is more engaging than a big group.
You can save the big group photos for your blog or in an email thanking everyone after the concert. You can never thank people too much.
Posters: Be sure you cover Who, What, When and Where on the poster. Include logos from any sponsors or the names of sponsors. Have someone proofread because it is easy to forget the date, time, place, or admission cost. You know it so well you might forget to get all of the crucial information on the poster. Print posters in full color if possible, at least letter size.
Develop a distribution list so you cover the community without wasting the time of several people going to the same business. Put up about 10 days before the concert. Too soon and people forget. Too late and they are upset they missed the event. Music stores, banks, businesses you frequent, and schools are good locations. As mentioned earlier you can use the poster with black printing on colored paper and do 2 or 4 images to a page to create flyers. Plan on four flyers per participant.
A visual option instead of a photo is student artwork. It is usually colorful and can be very engaging on a poster because it is out of the ordinary. Talented parents or siblings may wish to contribute a visual.
What Social Media do you use?
Social Media: I use Facebook events a lot because then it is easy to share with other pages and groups. Once you have your poster and your article it is pretty slick to set up the event. We use a sponsored boost for our community orchestra events, but it will depend on your budget whether you want to go to this extra step because realistically your main audience will be the friends and families for a student performance.
Exceptions would be if you have a guest soloist or are doing some kind of fundraiser where you really want larger community participation. Be clear if the concert is free or if there is an admission charge. We often do the $5 suggested donation so we have a little income to pay for expenses, but the concert is still welcoming to those who may not be able to pay.
I try to be very efficient with my social media time because it is easy to get distracted and spend too much time. For our community orchestra, I do a Blogspot post with the article and photos and then that links easily on social media. I also have a blogpost for myself with teaching ideas, videos, and other topics. It is an easy way to share a tricky concept like how to play harmonics or develop vibrato so the students have the information at home for reference.
Do you have local radio or television stations that will promote student performances?
Radio and TV: Many stations have a community calendar where you can submit concert information. A short and very clear description is all that is needed, about three paragraphs. For radio, type double space so it is easier to read on air. This can be submitted via email. Title it a Public Service Announcement.
Email: Develop a list of participants and patrons that you can send your article and poster. Encourage them to share. Our community orchestra uses Mailchimp newsletters. This is a free platform similar to a blog that allows you to develop an email list.
I use blind carbon copy, noted as bcc, for emails to protect emails. We had an unfortunate situation years ago with an orchestra musician trying to sell his products to the orchestra email list. It is better to protect email lists and with the dangers of hacking your families and patrons will appreciate your consideration. I strongly suggest using the bcc option.
Before we had email I did regular newsletters with the calendar of events and concert repertoire. I could also recognize students for special accomplishments and do short education segments to help parents, students, and teachers. Most parents and students need a physical piece of paper for practice guides and to be aware of upcoming events.
Do you do photos or videos of performances?
Document performances: Take a few photos and videos of the performances. Designate a parent or teacher to take care of this because the organizing teacher can’t do everything. This gives you photos to use on future publicity. It also helps you have a record of what you are doing for grant applications and to help in recruiting new students. I have used Blogspot for years. I do not put the names of children on photos, but it makes it easy for the parents to copy and keep the photos they like. The blog can be public or private depending on your program’s goals. Before the internet I kept scrapbooks and I have one here to give you an idea of what we have been doing in Cedar City.
Videos: We use YouTube for a few of our best performances. Be sure you include the Copyright notice so someone else doesn’t add advertising to your content. This means you write Copyright by your name or the name of your group, year, and add “all rights reserved”. So it might read Copyright Suzuki Strings Cedar City, 2020, all rights reserved.
The Youtube link can be added to your blog or posted on social media.
The students learn a lot from seeing their performances. Posture, intonation, and staying together are more evident through seeing a video than in the process of performing. You may choose to have private or public settings and share the link with families.
Overall remember that people appreciate being notified of concerts. It is their choice whether to attend, but there is no choice if they don’t even know about it. All of this work is also a way to let the students know that their music matters and you appreciate their effort. Everyone likes to be thanked and seeing their photo in the newspaper or on the blog helps motivate students to a higher level of commitment and work. No more secret concerts. Let your audience know so they can support your efforts.
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Poster and flyer samples from Orchestra of Southern Utah and Suzuki Strings Cedar City:
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| Orchestra of Southern Utah designed by Rollan Fell |
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| Using the poster to create flyers on 1/2 sheets of colored paper |
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| Another design by Rollan Fell |
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| Utah's beautiful scenery for artwork designed by Rollan Fell. |
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| Suzuki Strings concert showing small groups at Red Cliffs, Christmas program, and with Piano Guys. Parents helped with photos and graphics. |
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| Kindal Erickson designed this poster. The children love being highlighted, but check with parents first. |
Marketing Plan for Concerts
Basics for Engaging Students, Parents, and Public
By Sara Penny
Part of the joy of making music is sharing performances with an audience. This means that event planning must include publicity. This can be delegated to a dedicated student or parent.
Submit your concert dates to local event calendars at least two months in advance. Now Playing Utah is a valuable site as well as your local Tourism office.
Newspaper press release. Check with your local newspaper about deadlines so the article is printed before the concert.
Basics: Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How. Include whether the concert is free, suggested donation, or admission price. Use the articles as an opportunity to spotlight individuals or ensembles, to do a bit of music education, and to build support for your program.
Include one or two photos. Close-ups of 2 or 3 people are better than larger groups for newspapers and social media.
Submit a shorter concert description with the basics to local radio stations as a public service announcement. Type double space so it’s easier to read on the air.
Create a poster using at least one photo or some kind of engaging art that matches your concert theme. Print in color for display in area music stores, businesses, banks, etc. Have a distribution list and have the musicians check which places they will place the posters.
Print the poster at 2 or 4 to a page with black ink on color paper for flyers. Again, have your musicians help distribute as invitations for family and friends. (Print four flyers per participant.)
Social media can be your friend or a time sink. Put the poster and article on a blog like Blogspot. Use this link to quickly disseminate on Facebook and Instagram. Other sites like Twitter, Linked In, Pinterest, Tumblr, Mailchimp, Blogspot, etc. are optional.
Develop an email list of participants and patrons. Include your school administrators, school board, and local officials. They may not come, but then they know what is happening and you can build valuable support for your program. Use mail chimp or just bcc your blog post to your email list. For schools include the parents on this email list.
Document performances. Have someone designated to take some still photos. You can then do a new blog post with the best photos. Some parents do not want photos of their children posted publicly so you can make these available only to a closed group. I do not put the names of children on photos on blog posts. The blog allows the parents to have access to the photos they want easily.
Videos may be posted to youtube, either to a private group or publicly. Be sure to put the copyright notice to avoid problems. Sample: Copyright Orchestra of Southern Utah, 2019, all rights reserved. Our orchestra had problems where someone we never identified put ads on some of our videos because the new manager had missed this detail and it was a mess to correct.
Remember that friends and family want to know about the concerts. Share the Joy
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