Marketing Ideas to Promote your Theater

Marketing Ideas to Promote your Theater
Photo by Ronen Sigan / Unsplash

As a small theater, you may feel like you're at a disadvantage when it comes to marketing and promoting your shows. But there are a number of social media techniques that can help you reach your target audience and get the promote your productions.

Below are a few tips and suggestions to help promote your theater among your community and ultimately grow your ticket sales.

Get the word out about your theater and performances

The first step is to make sure people know your theater exists. Invest in marketing and advertising to get the word out about your venue. Use social media, local publications, and word-of-mouth to get people interested in your theater.

Email campaigns are also quite effective, especially for reaching out to past customers. Platforms like [LINK] MailChimp can provide email campaigns, and a platform like [LINK] Fourth Wall Tickets makes it easy to collect customer's emails and opt into email updates.

Offer discounts

Offer discounts and promotions to lure people in. Many people are hesitant to spend money on theater tickets, so offer them a deal they can’t refuse. For example, offer a buy-one-get-one-free deal or a percentage off their total purchase.

It's also help to entice groups with discounts. Group rates can help pack the house and spread the word.

Partner with other businesses

Partner with other businesses in your community to help promote your theater. For example, offer a discount to customers who show their receipt from a local restaurant. Or, team up with a nearby hotel and offer a package deal for theater tickets and a night’s stay.

Create a loyalty program

Create a loyalty program to encourage people to come back to your theater. Offer rewards for people who purchase a certain number of tickets or who refer their friends.

Patreon [LINK] is also a popular platform for theaters to continually engage patrons. It can also enable a continuous stream of income, which can in part help other marketing revenues.

Start a Festival

This one is a little more work than just posting a few social posts, but starting a festival, especially for a specific genre such as "alternative sketch" or "dramatic improv". This helps provide a space for specific art and can raise more awareness for your theater.

Make it easy to purchase tickets

Make it easy for people to purchase tickets by offering online ticketing. Many people don’t want to deal with the hassle of waiting in line at the box office, so offer them the convenience of buying tickets online.

A great platform specifically designed for theaters to sell tickets online is [LINK] Fourth Wall Tickets. It provides email capture for newsletters, discounts,

Traditional marketing

Finally, don't forget about traditional marketing techniques like flyers and posters. While these may not be as effective as they once were, they can still be useful in getting people's attention and directing them to your social media accounts or website.

By following these tips, you can grow ticket sales for your small storefront theater. Remember, every ticket counts, so do what you can to sell as many as possible. It's also important to remember that it can take weeks and months to start to see results, so don't give up!