PHOTO : JANINE KROPLA
DAVID SCHELLENBERG
LEAN ON FRIENDS & FAMILY FOR SUPPORT It ’ s not glamorous , but you can and should lean on friends and family to come out and support your tour stops .
Contact your friends and family personally and well in advance . Let them know when and where you ’ re playing . Send them some live video or some interesting promo
probably fine too . Two or three emails in a month won ’ t lose loyal subscribers .
A mailing list is even more important on tour than it is in your hometown . Hometown shows can easily be publicized in other ways . On tour , you need to reach your fans quickly and cheaply . Your mailing list is your best friend .
After a gig , offer a free download in exchange for an email address . Most people won ’ t even bother to download it , but it ’ s a great way to get people to sign up .
When somebody does sign up , send them a personalized thank you . Seriously , do it . My band started doing this a year ago and people love it . You almost certainly have
tising in magazines would do good things for attendance ,” says Fitzgerald , “ but more recently , I ’ ve found that targeted Facebook ads are getting people out .”
We all know by now that posts on your page do not reach all of your fans . Despite the fact that you worked hard for those “ likes ,” you still have to pay to reach your fans . Ugh .
It ’ s not all bad though . Facebook ’ s Ad Manager is very easy to use and actually gets results . By targeting a Facebook ad to fans in a specific city , you ensure that your fans see it in their newsfeed – and probably more than once . At the very least , your fans will know you ’ re playing . We ’ re constantly bombarded with invites and ads , so it ’ s hard for people to find out about a show .
“ I don ’ t even look at posters anymore ,” Fitzgerald adds . “ There ’ s too many ! I just walk right by .”
Here a few things you can do to make your ads more effective :
• Use the Ad Manager to make actual “ ads ” for each city . Don ’ t just boost a Facebook post . This way , you can have multiple ads running at the same time without sewering the
Solid booking strategy + strong independent promo + killer live set = a great tour .
and ask them to send it around to their friends .
To be honest , getting people to come see “ my nephew ’ s rock band ” is kind of a tough sell , so just be happy if they bring themselves . That said , I ’ ve seen friends and family turn into friends and family plus a bunch of actual fans in markets that I ’ ve played repeatedly .
It takes a lot of hammering to build an indie fanbase , but it can happen .
USE YOUR MAILING LIST If you ’ ve been building your mailing list , you need to use it . Having access to a fan ’ s personal inbox is incredibly powerful .
Of course , you don ’ t want to overuse your mailing list . Considering the amount of email we all get on a daily basis , I think anyone can understand why one should be careful about the email you ’ re sending .
All you really need to send is one email before your tour with a list of all your dates , and then another email sent to subscribers in a specific market the day before you play it . Sometimes bands will send out a thank you email at the end of their tour , and that ’ s time to email people whilst sitting in the van . People appreciate the fact that you appreciate them .
Always make sure to get people ’ s name and location along with their email . This allows you to better organize your list and send personalized emails targeted at specific markets .
Social Media & Other Online Promotion
Social media is deserving of its own section . “ I ’ ve seen more success through Facebook ads than through anything else ,” says Calgarian troubadour Michael Bernard Fitzgerald bluntly .
These days , advertising and promoting on social media should be the focus of your tour publicity campaign . The fact is that it ’ s the cheapest way to advertise , has the highest potential reach , and you can get very creative with it .
TARGETED FACEBOOK ADS “ When it comes down to concerts , I always thought that a poster campaign or adver- rest of your content by posting too much .
• Experiment with boosting a Facebook event . Depending on the interest in your event and the amount of people who like your page , this can be a great way to get more people to click “ Going .”
• Experiment with running ads with different text and pictures . Eventually , you ’ ll find out what resonates with people and what doesn ’ t .
INSTAGRAM ADS Instagram ads are becoming more and more important as young people leave Facebook behind . The good thing about Instagram is that you can still reach your fans by simply posting high quality content and not paying for it ; however , it ’ s worth putting a few dollars behind some Instagram advertising , just to see how it goes .
“ I think Instagram has the most engagement ,” says Schellenberg , comparing the platform to others .
44 • CANADIAN MUSICIAN