How Indie Musicians can sell more tickets to live shows

Unfortunately, even if your music is impressive, it’s not the only thing that will get people out to your show. Here are some key ways to motivate old and new fans to buy a ticket and see the show.

by Melanie Kealey of Bandzoogle

Playing as many shows as possible is a good thing for independent artists, and along with that, you may be exerting even more control over your shows. 

For example, if you are renting a venue and selling tickets directly, or hosting a house concert, you’ll want to be sure you have a process in place to make fans aware of your shows, and ensure they’ll show up. 

Selling tickets is an important way to market your music and get a good turnout. Here are seven steps you’ll want to follow to help you sell more tickets as an independent artist:

1. Set up a website with events 

Your artist website should be the first thing that pops up when someone Googles you and your music. Make sure you consistently add and update your upcoming events on your website, to be sure you’re making your fans aware of the time and dates you’re playing. 

Add your dates as soon as they are confirmed, and sell tickets directly through your website while you’re at it. You can also offer tickets for free through your website if you’d like to host an event like a house concert where people can pay at the door but you need an RSVP in advance.

You’ll want to make sure that your events are also showing up in search engine results. Your website host will need to provide event schema for Google, so that your SERP (Search Engine Results Page)displays a nice carousel of events.

Artist: Marc Martel

2. Make use of video

The power of video cannot be underestimated in everything you do to promote your music, including selling tickets to shows. Whether you are selling tickets directly through your website, or through a venue, make sure you have video in different formats ready to go.

To get more people out to your shows, you’ll want to create music videos that showcase your live performance. You can line up a videographer to film at a show, and then edit that into different clips to highlight the experience, or even just film a song or two in rehearsal before you head out on tour.

Add video to your website: right away on your Home page, in your EPK, and on your Shows page – anywhere that your visitors will see it, click to watch, and engage with your music. Seeing a taste of your live show will be a deciding factor for many visitors, especially if they’re not yet familiar with you.

Keep video in mind as you prepare to tour, and while you’re on the road as well. Use your polished clips on your website to sell tickets, and the rest of your video content for word-of-mouth and organic sharing.

3. Use social media

There’s no denying that platforms like Facebook play a huge role in your ability to reach your fans and engage interested listeners.

Whether you decide to run some ads to reach a wider audience, or inform your current followers organically, don’t ignore social media in your efforts to sell more tickets to your shows.

Creating a Facebook event and inviting your fans and friends gives people a link to share that includes full details. If TikTok or Instagram holds more of your demographic, invest some effort there with live streams, links in your bio, and relevant content to make your followers aware of upcoming show dates. 

You can also run social media ads to boost views on your posts. Many musicians use social media to run a contest to draw attention to upcoming shows. Just remember that the goal is to sell tickets, and ensure you’re clearly communicating how fans can do that.

4. Use your mailing list

This may seem like a given, but don’t overlook this trusted way to sell more tickets. Your mailing list is likely your best source of loyal fans – people who are there because they signed up at a previous show, or purchased merch or tickets from you before. 

So don’t forget to send a dedicated email to your list telling them about your upcoming shows. You can even offer a discount code to mailing list subscribers as a reward for their loyalty!

Artist: Kellie Loder

HYPEBOT EDITORS NOTE: In addition to emailing fans using a service like the free Bandsintown Email Builder, be sure to list your shows on Bandsintown.com, the top concert discovery platform with 80 million registered live music fans, and message your followers using free tools provided by Bandsintown For Artists.

5. Leverage local media

It’s easy to reach a large number of followers and fans through the Internet. But there is still something to be said for concentrating some effort on local media to promote shows within the community. Often these avenues reach people who are more interested in supporting events in their community, and who will buy tickets in advance once they know about the upcoming show.

To help local media promote your project, be sure to create an EPK that’s focussed on media outreach – include assets that journalists and reporters will need to profile your music, and cover your show. The dates you’re looking to promote should be clear, and you can also include hi-res photos, along with a succinct bio that describes your performances, and some video to make it easy for local journalists to report on your upcoming show. 

Take a bit of time to research relevant media that covers music in the areas you’ll be playing. This could include local papers or blogs with event listings, community television, and podcasts.

6. Use a landing page

Whether you’re looking to reach new audiences or connect reliably with your current fans, a landing page can help direct attention to your events. An event landing page puts full focus on one show, and encourages fans to buy tickets. You can set up multiple landing pages, per show, and drive traffic to these pages to convert visitors into buyers.

This approach was a huge success for the Adam Ezra Group. See how they did it in more detail, here: How the Adam Ezra Group boosts ticket sales using landing pages.

7. Optimize for mobile

With all of the effort that you’ve put into selling tickets, you’ll want to make sure that they are easy to buy on mobile.  

The majority of your purchasers will likely click through from somewhere on their phone. So the cart and checkout experience have to be seamless to be sure they get their tickets. If the purchase stream doesn’t work well on mobile, many buyers will abandon the transaction and move on. Test everything you’ve set up, from social ads to video to your website pages, and make sure it’s looking good and working well on mobile.

Selling tickets to your shows as an independent artist definitely takes some repetition and hard work. Start promoting early, don’t be afraid to encourage your fans to buy those tickets, and do more of what works once you find that sweet spot. You’ll be selling more tickets to your shows in no time.