MAKE A PLAN
Articulating your marketing goals and strategies from the get-go will organize and focus your efforts—even if it’s only an outline.
Here are some questions to ask and try and answer for your marketing plan:
TICKETING MECHANISMS
If you are using an online ticketing service like Eventbrite (see Ticketing Program), there are a plethora of marketing mechanisms that can really improve visibility for your event.
Discount Codes
Giving your makers, vendors, sponsors and other partners a custom code that gives X% off to their community is a great way of marketing your Faire. That custom code name is just enough reason to push your partners to message all their community on your behalf.
This can include a comp ticket code for 100% off for passing on to VIPs, neighbors, elected officials, media and sponsors you want to court for next year.
Affiliate Programs
Eventbrite also has an easy affiliate marketing program whereby partners can receive a % of a ticket sale. This is a good outreach mechanism for school PTA programs and other youth programs.
EMAIL MARKETING
Email is still a hugely effective way of promoting your event. Just use email sparingly; write carefully crafted, succinct messages, and don’t send them too often.
Sources for email lists include:
Keep in mind that using a personal account to send vast quantities of email can get your address marked as a “spammer.” E-blast tools like mailchimp.com and constantcontact.com help you avoid that—and they all have free trials, low prices, analytics, and helpful email creation and management interfaces.
HINT: “Members” of the sponsoring organizations (e.g., parents of the school, or especially active members of the museum) should be encouraged through email to forward promotional information about your Faire to other email lists they belong to. For example, almost every family in our school belongs to a sports team, book club, or some other activity group. Avoid HTML emails when you have this purpose in mind, as HTML is notoriously lost in translation when forwarded.