Marketing Handbook - Guidelines For A Successful Show
CONTACTS | ARTWORK | LINKS | ONLINE PROMOTIONS | AD MATS/FLYERS | RADIO/MUSIC | VIDEO
Dear Dark Star Orchestra Presenter,
This manual is designed to help presenters of Dark Star Orchestra understand some of the most effective ways to market the show(s) booked with DSO. These are guidelines that have worked effectively for the band over the past 12+ years as attendance crowds nationwide continue to grow as the nation’s premier group recreating the Grateful Dead live concert experience. 99% of Deadheads agree.
Each market has its own unique nuances that presenters must tap into to reach the target demo. Results of a DSO marketing campaign are considerably improved with a coordinated, tag-team approach of the venue/promoter side collaborating with our artist side. These ideas and concepts are meant as a guide to help you accurately target and promote your Dark Star Orchestra concert effectively.
Mixing the promotional outreach over various media formats along with the show’s specific marketing plan of paid advertising and targeted, strategic marketing can effectively sell the show and put butts in the seats.
On average, Dark Star Orchestra will sell 30-40% of their tickets leading up to the final days prior to the show. The majority of tickets sold for the DSO are sold the week of the show and the night of the performance.
Publicity:
Contact DSO Publicist Dave Weissman to coordinate any media inquiries and all interview requests 614-396-7000 or dave@darkstarorchestra.net
DSO is available for interviews! Additionally, Dark Star Orchestra has an extensive press database made up of hundreds of writers and editors for daily newspapers, alternative weeklies, college publications and more from across the country. However, if you can share your local media list with us or know any particular writers, editors or publications that you would like us to target or that you may have any personal relationships with, please email DSO Publicist Dave Weissman with that list and other vital local information as these local connections can be key in securing press.
Target Demography:
Age: 13 – 65+
Dark Star Orchestras wide age range makes great use of mainstream media.
Important Dark Star Orchestra Contacts
Dark Star Orchestra Marketing Materials
*Please only use these materials in you advertising, as they are the most current*
Dark Star Orchestra Ad-Mat: http://tinyurl.com/DSOAdmat
Press Archive: http://tinyurl.com/DSOPressArchive
Premise: http://tinyurl.com/DSOPremisedoc or http://tinyurl.com/DSOPremisepdf
Press Release Template: http://tinyurl.com/DSOPressReleaseTemp
Band History: http://tinyurl.com/DSOHistory
Music Sampler: http://tinyurl.com/DSOCDsampler
Online Promotions:
Music fans are flocking to the web. Reaching Deadheads and DSO fans there provides value in dramatically lower CPM (cost per 1000 impressions) costs than nearly any other outlet: thus a cornerstone of our marketing.
Email Blasts:
Take advantage of all email lists you have access to when promoting a DSO show. Do not rule out any past ticket buyers or email subscribers as we have found time and again our fans come from a variety of musical backgrounds. In addition to using your venues/companies email list contact your ticket provider (TicketMaster, Ticketweb etc.) about having the show featured in their emails to push the show from all possible email angles.
Follow this link: http://tinyurl.com/DSOemailsample to view one of the Dark Star Orchestra Emails for reference.
Jambase:
A web based concert database. In addition to an extensive concert database the site has a wealth of band information as well as an extensive festival and contest listing. This is a way to reach a niche demographic and can provide very specific targeting. Advertising options include banner ads that can be placed on their web pages or targeted to specific zip codes and email blasts to their members. Make sure to cast a wide net (60+ mile radius), DSO fans will travel long distances for shows.
Social Network Sites:
Facebook is the biggest (more on advertising there in the next section) but there are many different ones out there. If you have a Twitter page make sure to get the word out there as well as posting the show on your Facebook page, MySpace page and Yahoo events. Be creative. Engage people by offering them something about the show they would not receive elsewhere. This will get them talking and build a buzz for your show. These networks are great resources; they just need a little spark to get the excitement started.
Facebook:
The mother of all social networks allows for hyper-targeting its user base by age, sex, geographic location, keywords, and other metrics. For the marketing of Dark Star Orchestra it has proven effective in driving web traffic to ticketing page or other site with show details at an extremely low CPM. (cost per thousand views). Many sites charge $12 – 20/CPM: the bottom line is that Facebook delivers this hyper-targeting for 80-90% less! It is a crucial piece of the puzzle for this band.
Contact DSO Publicist Dave Weissman for assistance setting up and maintaining the most effective online advertising for promoting Dark Star Orchestra shows:
614-396-7000 or dave@darkstarorchestra.net
Facebook Ads uses the IP address and a user's profile information to pinpoint each user's location and all their profile information (what pages they're 'fans' of) to determine who we want to reach: Deadheads! Brilliant!
Some examples of copy and images for Facebook ads:
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Targeting
This ad targets users:
- who live in the United States
- who live in your market & cities within 50 -100 miles
- over the age of 14
- who like ALO, All Good Festival, Barack Obama, Bob Dylan, Bob Marley, Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, David Byrne, Disco Biscuits, Frank Zappa, Furthur, Grateful Dead, Jam Bands, Jerry Garcia, Johnny Cash, Keller Williams, marijuana, The Meters, Michael Franti, Moe., Music, Phil Lesh, Phish, Psychedelics, Railroad Earth, RatDog, Robert Randolph, String Cheese Incident, Students For Barack Obama, Steve Kimock, Talking Heads, Tea Leaf Green, Trey Anastasio, Warren Haynes, Widespread Panic or Yonder Mountain String Band
[add MANY other relevant jamband band names and other key words]
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Example of Facebook’s geographic targeting component:
Demograpic count:
-Go with CPM model. (Paying per 1000 views)
-Bid 2-3x the amount suggested for for CPM
-YES, we suggest you OVERBID the highest 'suggested bid' (ie, if Facebook suggests $.35 - bid $.90 or more!)
-this helps
the ads get seen in the first position.
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Street Team:
Take it to the streets! This is another one of the strongest ways to reach our fans. You can find them anywhere: area concerts, lifestyle stores, bars, restaurants and festivals. If you have a pre-existing street team contact Dave Weissman, who manages the DSO street team, to coordinate your efforts. If you do not here are some tips to get the ball rolling…
- Provide incentive for people to get involved. Offer them tickets to the show in exchange for a set amount of promotion; you can measure that by time or promo distributed that is up to you.
- Evaluate your local area for hot spots to target potential ticket buyers. Bring the message to them.
- Make sure you hold your street team accountable for their work. Have them take pictures of their promotions or provide some sort of verification that they have done their due diligence.
Click to download Dark Star Orchestra promotional flyer templates:
Other Local Activations and Promotions:
-Enter to Win: coordinate an ‘enter to win’ box with local area music store, head shops (hippie outlets), or other music-related store aimed at the tie-dyed crowd and do a giveaway for one pair of tickets.
*** A note on ticket giveaways: Please limit promotional giveaways to 10% of the house capacity. With our typically late buying crowd it is best to hold as many sellable seats as possible.
“Traditional Media“
Local Radio:
Use area classic rock and AAA radio stations to get the word out as well. Work within your budget to maximize the advertising. Use ticket giveaways to leverage for more coverage and promotion.
For all radio ads please use our approved copy and music.
Suggested Ad Copy: http://tinyurl.com/DSORadioCopy
Entire CD worth of DSO music (approx. 85 MB, as .zip file): http://tinyurl.com/DSOCDsampler
Targeted/National/Syndicated Radio:
Find your local broadcast of niche radio shows like the Grateful Dead Hour, Keller’s Cellar and other jam band/Grateful Dead related programming. Consider sponsoring the program for a few weeks leading up to the show. This is a great way to ensure you are hitting the target audience.
*** A note on ticket giveaways: Please limit promotional giveaways to 10% of the house capacity. With our typically late buying crowd it is best to hold as many sellable seats as possible.
Video:
Please only use these DSO online video clips for your website embedding or linking to: http://www.youtube.com/Darkstarorchestra
Professionally shot, mastered and produced DVD footage available upon request by media seeking a Dark Star Orchestra video component.
Contact DSO Publicist Dave Weissman for all video and DVD requests 614-396-7000 or dave@darkstarorchestra.net
