First things first. What is publicity, and how does it relate to your show in the Rogue?
Is publicity:
A. Getting your name in the papers?
B. Getting your face on TV?
C. Getting your name on everyone’s lips?
D. Getting butts in the seats?
The answers are:
A. Maybe
B. Perhaps
C. Possibly
D. Most certainly, 100%, absolutely yes!
Publicity is a means to an end, not an end in itself. In publicity, as in everything else, effort doesn’t matter — it’s results that count.
The goal of your publicity campaign is not just to reach people. It’s to reach people who are actually going to come to your show.
You could do a million things to promote your show, from hiring the Goodyear blimp to getting your back tattooed with show times and ticket prices.
But you can’t do everything. You don’t have the time or the money to do everything you could do for publicity. So what you need to do is to figure out what you CAN do — and out of that, select what efforts are going to produce the most results.
But don’t put all your eggs in one basket. No one publicity medium is going to reach all the people you want to reach.
You want to use a mix of different media, but you also want to budget your time and money carefully, and make sure that your efforts get results.
This extremely little guide is going to give you a few pointers on what publicity tools you can use and some advice from the Rogue Promo team on how you can most effectively use them.
(Some of you are going to find this advice extremely elementary. Mallory Moad, for example, could teach us all about effective marketing. But if you’re new to promotional work, or you want to go beyond your current promotional efforts, I hope you will find this pamphlet helpful.)
Why do I have to promote my show? Isn’t that your job, Rogue Promo Guy?
That’s Mister Rogue Promo Guy, buddy. The Rogue Promo team publicizes the Rogue Festival as a whole. Our job is to make sure people know that the Festival is happening and get them excited about going to the Festival and seeing shows — all the shows.
Out of necessity and fairness, the Rogue Promo Team has to promote all the shows in the Festival equally.
But who’s going to make sure people come to see your show? Keep in mind, thousands of people come to the Rogue, and they have about 50 or more shows to choose from. So you can’t expect that you’re going to get large audiences just because you’re in the Rogue Festival.
You want to get your fair share of the total Rogue audience, and that’s going to take a publicity campaign of your own to promote your particular show.
I encourage you to think, just a little bit, of this being a competition between you and other Rogue participants. Try to outdo the other guys. At other festivals, I’ve seen a competitive spirit among the performers make promotional work and the entire festival more fun, both for performers and the audience.
Also, an aggressive promotional campaign from individual performers helps the Rogue Festival as a whole. The people you bring in to see your show are going to want to see other shows. The more you promote your show, the more you’re helping everyone in the Rogue Festival.
Finally, we certainly want to promote your show just as heavily as every other show. So be sure to complete your Rogue PR info form and return it by the deadline.
How to Get Started with Your Promotional Campaign
You’re going to need some organization, a clear message, and media in which to deliver that message.
First, designate a member of your company to be your official PR spokesperson. (If you’re a one-person act, your choice is easy.)
Media people like talking to one person who can give them all the answers. Your spokesperson should handle all contacts with the media.
What are the qualifications to be a media spokesperson? You should be comfortable talking to people. You should be able to give an instant description of your show in 25 words or less at any moment. Most importantly, you should be reachable by phone during business hours.
Your media spokesperson’s name, phone number and e-mail address should be on every item of material you send to the media.
Your media spokesperson should be diligent to respond to all calls, e-mails and requests for information. Editors and reporters are not going to spend much time on you, so if you get a call, be there and be ready.
Second, create a clear CORE MESSAGE about what your show is about, what kind of people would like to see it, and why they should go to see it.
The core message is a resource you can use to create all kinds of promotional material — press releases, posters, handbills, e-mails, your Web site, etc. It will also give you talking points when speaking to reporters, making appearances on the radio, or even talking to people you meet on the street.
Don’t be vague about your core message. Craft it out, write it down on paper, and rewrite it until its short, to the point, and compelling.
I’m not going to tell you what your core message should say. You know what your show is about and what it means to you — and that’s what your promo message should communicate.
Don’t be afraid to communicate your passion about your work, or how much fun you have on stage. The individuality of your show and your performance are very compelling marketing copy. You have a personality for a reason, so use it.
But when you’re crafting your message, always keep your audience in mind. What makes other people care about you and what you’re doing? Why would someone who doesn’t know you at all be interested?
Get some photos to promote your show.
This is very important. Newspapers and magazines love free artwork, and a press release with a photo is much more likely to get published than one without. Plus, photos look great on handbills, fliers, and posters.
Collect photos from past performances, or just go ahead and stage some promotional shots.
Get all your facts straight about who, where, when, and how much. Make sure you’re right about your show times, show dates, the address of your venue, and your ticket prices.
This may seem elementary, but people do screw up on this stuff. When I did a Rogue show in 2001, I sent out I don’t know how many posters with the wrong dates.
DO NOT use the venue phone number on any of your promotional material. The people who work at the venues aren’t with the Rogue Festival, and it’s not their job to answer questions about your show.
How to Write a Press Release
Rule #1 for press releases is make it short. Rule #2 is make it interesting. Rule #3 is make it complete.
Your press release shouldn’t be more than one page, and it should be interesting from the very first sentence. Editors are deluged with PR, and they usually make a decision about whether to read a press release or throw it away within 5 seconds.
Start off with the most interesting thing about you or your show: “They said Shakespeare couldn’t be performed by trained cats, but ...” or “I stole $476,012.59 from a bank, and got away with it. I’ll be telling my story at ...”
But a press release shouldn’t be a puff piece. Your goal is to get your press release published as you wrote it, so it should look like a real news story: write in clear, conventional English, make your most important points first, and include as much information as possible and no more.
Your press release is much more likely to get printed if it can run without being edited. Editors are lazy (I know — I used to be one — and I’m still lazy) and they will throw away your release sooner than rewrite it.
You must include all info about show times, venue locations, and ticket prices. Editors love press releases that tell them everything they need to know. Remember, they’re lazy.
You must include your contact info: your spokesperson’s name, phone number, and email address. If you hit the jackpot, someone will call you and actually want to interview you and give you some coverage. They can’t do that without contact info, so make sure it’s there.
Press release format
Give your press release a headline, just like a news story. Headlines should be short, compelling, informative and eye-catching. Headlines are hard to write. The best headline-writing advice I’ve read is this — write 100 headlines, and then pick the best one.
Date your press release.
Indicate when your press release can be published. If it can be run immediately, write FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE at the top.
It’s old-fashioned, but I believe still customary, to end a press release with “-END-” or “-XXX-” to indicate the end of the story.
You can find more information on press release format on the Web.
Where Do I Send My Press Release?
The Rogue PR team is currently compiling an up-to-date list of all our media contacts. When it’s completed, we’ll share it with you.
Some Special Notes: The Rogue PR Team is currently negotiating with the Fresno Bee and Clear Channel radio for coverage of the whole Festival. Both companies want to deal with one person, so the Rogue PR Team is handling all contacts with them.
We must request that you do not send any PR material to the Bee or Clear Channel.
This may change in the future. If it’s OK for you to send material to the Bee or Clear Channel, we’ll let you know.
In the meantime, here are some categories of good places to get coverage:
Your hometown newspaper
If you’re from an outlying Valley town, the local paper will be very interested in your activities.
Specialty newspapers and magazines
A whole lot of new little papers and magazines have appeared on the local scene. You’re local, you’re newsworthy, so go for it.
Look for publications that cover your kind of work: music magazines, fanzines, dance newsletters, Finger Puppet World, etc.
Web sites
There’s approximately a gazillion Web sites that cover arts and entertainment news, both locally and worldwide.
Don’t think it’s not worth it to send your press release to a non-local publication or Web site. A lot of publications give coverage of events from all over for the benefit of travelers. One of our goals for the Rogue Festival is to promote Fresno as a tourist destination, so we’ll be pleased as punch if you can get some out-of-town ink.
Radio stations
There are other stations besides Clear Channel, and ethnic and independent radio stations can be very effective for reaching your audience. If you have personal connections at KFSR, KFCF, or non-English radio, use them.
Community-based publications
If you have ties to your local ethnic or religious community, use them. Your community wants to support you, and they want to hear what you’re doing.
Spanish or other non-English language publications, radio and TV
Reach for the widest audience possible. If your performance is wholly or in part in another language, or if you have ties to a non-English speaking community, you’re surely of interest to these media outlets.
Other Ways to Promote Your Show
A press release is important, but it shouldn’t be the sole focus of your promotional campaign. Here are some other effective ways to promote your show.
Posters and handbills
These are absolutely essential, because they’re probably the most effective way to promote your show.
You can spend crazy money on printing if you want to get into full color, glossy paper, and large-size posters. Don’t spend more than you can afford. A well-designed cheap poster is more effective than an expensive cheesy one.
Print more handbills than posters. Handbills are great because people take them, and they’re a constant reminder of your show — and they’re cheap. As an audience member, I like handbills, because without them I’d never remember where the show is or when it’s playing.
Spread your posters and handbills all over town. The Rogue Promo Team is trying to colonize the vast wilderness north of McKinley and east of Van Ness. Join us in our missionary work! Believe it or not, north Fresnans and Clovisites will be very interested in seeing your show. And those benighted regions even have coffeehouses and other businesses where the owners will let you put up posters and leave handbills. Don’t limit yourself.
Regularly check up and re-supply every location where you place handbills and posters. You’re hoping that a lot of people your handbills, so keep your supplies refreshed at all your locations.
Your posters and handbills can use a lot of the material you collected to write your press release:
Always include show times, venue locations, and ticket prices. You might also want to include a phone number that people can call for more information.
Your core message is a great resource for writing poster and handbill copy. Of course, you need to keep it very short. If you can express your core message as a slogan, a phrase, or a very brief snippet of copy, use it.
Include photos and graphics. (I used to promote my shows with posters that were all text. I thought they looked cool and Bauhaus-like, but I don’t know how eye-catching they were.)
You may already have an e-mail list of your friends and fans. If not, start building one today. A personal e-mail to everybody who will be interested in seeing your show can be very effective.
I would suggest sending an initial e-mail announcing your show about a week before the Rogue Festival begins, and follow it up with some reminder e-mails the day before and the day of your shows.
Don’t go nuts with the e-mail — you don’t want your audience to think of you as a spammer.
Personal Contacts and Word of Mouth
As soon as possible, tell everyone in your personal orbit about your show. And encourage your friends, family, and random strangers in the checkout line to tell everyone they know about your show.
If you belong to a club or church, or work for a company, use your fellow members and employees to spread the word about your show.
If you send e-mail, encourage each recipient to forward your e-mails to their friends.
Keep some handbills for your show on you at all times, and hand them out whenever possible.
A lot of this is obvious — the key is to be creative in using whatever resources you have to reach more people. In publicity, as in everything else, success depends more on how much energy you exert than how clever you are.
The Rogue Festival itself is one of your best publicity opportunities. Think about it — your goal is to reach people who want to see shows, right? Well, while the Rogue Festival is going on, thousands of members of your target demographic are walking the streets, just waiting to be persuaded to see your show.
DON’T shut down your promotional efforts when the Festival starts — in fact, it’s during the Festival that you should work your hardest.
There will be official places for you to leave handbills at all Rogue venues. Use them — and don’t forget to periodically refresh your handbill supply.
The Rogue Promo Team is preparing a hand-billing schedule. You will be assigned a timeslot in which you will be expected to hand out handbills in between shows at a Rogue venue. Do not miss your handbilling timeslot, and don’t poach on anyone else’s timeslot.
When hand-billing or talking to audience members, be polite, friendly, and use your personality. The personal touch will go far.
Find a Rogue Promo Buddy. Make an agreement with another performer or company that you will promote each other’s shows. At the end of your performance, give a plug for your Promo Buddy’s show. This really works — the audience wants to know what else they should see.