These cost effective ideas help motivate new families considering attending their first Teddy Bear Band show!

This page is designed to give you numerous resources for promoting your event from Free Publicity to Promotional Tips to Live Performance Descriptions For Press and Other Promotional Materials for Your Event. Have fun and we will see you at the show!

Link

Please link www.teddybearband.com to your event/organization website, Twitter, or BLOG. Encourage everyone connected to your event to use their social networking to make a connection to your event. Contact TBB for ideas.

Post

Post your event for free at Twin Cities Kids Directory and MPLS/St. Paul Magazine.

Local News

Encourage your local news to do an article on Teddy Bear Band, its acclaim from child development experts, its award winning history and that you are having Teddy Bear Band at your event because you want to connect families and set children up for success. TBB will be glad to help with interviews and more background information.

Cable TV

Contact your local cable channel. If they cover your event you will get free publicity every time they replay it or we can give you our DVD to play on your local cable channel.

Tips for Promoting Your Programs and Events

How Great Copy and Good Planning Can Lead to Increased Attendance

Your organization has spent months planning an event or program, you have hired your performers and entertainers…now it is time to promote your event. Where do you start?

Many organizations place a paragraph or story in upcoming event in their newsletters. Some print up flyers or mail out postcards to their target audience. Before you start spending a lot of staff time on promoting that next event take a look at some of these following tips that may help you along the way…

It All Starts With Great Copy

Whether you are promoting a full-blown community event such as a festival or fair, or holding a smaller program, it all starts with one thing: great copy. It is great copy that is going to draw people in and get them interested enough to sign up and attend your event. When writing copy keep these tips in mind:

  • Use Copy that Sells Use effective copy to grab the attention of your reader and sell the benefits of attending your event.

  • Don’t Assume Never assume that your audience already understands the value and benefits of participating in or attending your event.

  • Get an Outside Perspective Take the time to get a fresh perspective on the benefits of your event. Why someone should attend your event? What are the benefits to the user? What will they gain by attending? What will they take away?

  • Describe Effectively Allow more than a few sentences to describe an event. The general rule of marketing is to keep things short and simple, but this can still be achieved by adding additional details that are relevant and important to the end user or participant. Take out the “fluff” and give them details on why they want to attend and how they will benefit from attending.

  • Use Correct Grammer and Spelling Ask someone to proof your materials. Writers who have worked on the same material sometimes become blind to seeing grammatical errors in the material they are working on. Ensure that there are no typos, misspellings or broken hyperlinks (for email communications). Is everything included in your materials to make it easy to sign up? Is there an event date, time, and directions for signing up?

  • Headlines and Sub-Headlines Use headlines and sub-headlines to your advantage. Keep headlines short but to the point. Use headlines to create excitement or promote the benefits of attending an event.

  • Variation is Key Use variation in your materials. Take advantage of font sizes, colors and pull outs to highlight the important aspects of a program such as the date, time and benefits. Many readers skim the copy and only absorb the key facts. Make sure your key facts and benefits stand out!

  • Benefits Did you mention the benefits of attending? Step in the shoes of your target audience. Why do they want to attend? What is the benefit to them? What will they learn or walk away with? How will they enjoy themselves? How have previous attendees benefited from attending a past event or program?

  • Testimonials If and when time allows, use testimonials from previous attendees. Encourage and gather feedback from your attendees, both positive and negative. Use the positive quotes in your next promotional piece. Take the negative comments and use them to improve your future programs.

  • Start Early and Promote Often Start as early as possible when publicizing your event or program. Community organizations are not only competing with outside obligations but also with each other in the events that they offer. Libraries are competing with local park districts and schools with the variety of programs being offered…not to mention the great festival going on in the neighboring city. You need to let people know early about your event to ensure you get on their calendars as early as possible.

    By starting early you also allow yourself the luxury of promoting often. Your patrons, customers and users are now allowed the luxury of being reminded once again about the wonderful benefits of attending your programs. They might have thought about it the first time but seeing it again has made them realize that they really want to attend that event. The reality is that our society is living busy and hectic lives and a reminder can go a long way in ensuring a successful attendance rate at your program. Always allow yourself time for at least two “impressions” with your audience, three if time allows!

  • Take Full Advantage of Your Communication Tools One of the benefits of many community-based organizations is the luxury of having an exclusive target audience. Simplified this means that community organizations function through the use of tax dollars. Anyone within your tax district, is a member of, or has rights to use your organization. This is your pre-selected target audience. Many businesses struggle daily trying to find and/or refine their target market7#46; For many community organizations this target market is already in place. (This is not to say, nor diminish* the fact that organizations can and should look for new customers outside of their already defined community borders.)

    With a set target market, communities can and should take full advantage of any communication tools they can to market and promote the benefits, services and products of their specific organization. Samples of communication tools include newsletters, flyers, brochures, postcards, direct mail pieces, e-mail newsletters, posters and informational displays. All of these mediums can be an effective form of communication.

    Use all of the communication tools available to you. Use them to showcase that great copy you have written to sell your program or event; and use them to get out your message early and often. Start with a summary in a newsletter, wow them with a flyer or postcard and send them another reminder using your email or e-newsletter.

There is nothing more disappointing then spending a lot of time, money and energy into planning that great program or event, only to have a disappointing attendance rate. By starting early, promoting often, using great copy and taking advantage of all of your communication tools…you may just be on your way to increasing those attendance figures.