How to Maximise Profit From Your Gigs

Get 13 tips for how to make more money at each gig: from show promotion and fan base comms to music merch & more. 

From the stomping sounds of the loud speakers to the pulsing energy of a packed-out crowd, there’s nothing quite like a live concert.

You’ve got the venue booked, your equipment’s ready, everything’s set to go.

But how do you make sure of a packed out crowd? If you’re a small band looking to gain extra revenue from your shows, there are a handful of tricks to help maximise profits from your gigs.

Promote Your Show

It may seem like an obvious point, but promoting a show is essential. This doesn’t just mean using social media, either, although that is hugely important. Create physical flyers, draft up posters to fill the venue walls, and get talking to people. It’s vital to communicate with your fan base and allow the message to spread.

Spread the Word on Social Media

Making use of all available social media avenues is a fundamental part of music promotion. If you haven’t got one already, create a Facebook page for your band or act and write up all the dates of your future gigs. Keep in contact with those who comment on your posts and let your fanbase know about any information they need.

 

You may also like: Best Music Promotion Apps

 

Be As Visual As Possible

Promote your poster designs, merchandise and album covers on Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat to get fans talking. It’s also useful to have someone record your gig for you and post it on your social media stories as it all unfolds. You could even live stream to keep your whole fan base engaged.

Promotional videos are also an extremely useful, and effective tool to quickly give information about upcoming events. With social media content increasingly focusing on video, offering a short clip to publicise your gig may be more effective.

If you need a quick, affordable means of creating visual content, Rotor Videos has you covered.

Physical Promotion is Important!

It’s not just the social media side of gig promotion that can get your act recognised. Getting out and talking to people, artists and industry specialists will open up new opportunities and allow for as wide a circle of recognition as possible.

Create flyers for your shows and place promotional posters around the local area. You could also talk to and partner with local public art spaces, providing exposure in the places you most want it. Create clear, informative advertisements to make it as obvious as possible where and when you’ll be playing.

Sell Your Merchandise

Offering a range of products, whether that be t-shirts, posters, or CDs, is a great way for fans to give back to creators. Not only does it help boost your overall profits, but it’s also an excellent means of music promotion.

Perfecting Your Merchandise Stand

A booth is crucial.

Make sure it’s in a visibly obvious position and somewhere practical. You’ll want gig attendees to know immediately and easily as to the whereabouts of your merchandise. It’s important to offer variety, too, so if it’s financially viable make sure your fans have plenty of merch choice.

Presence is paramount! If possible, try and attend the stand before and after the show. It’s a great way to meet the people supporting your work and you’ll draw more attention to your merchandise booth. Fans will want to hang out with you and providing them the opportunity, surrounded by products, will improve the likelihood of sales.

Make Your Band’s Brand Obvious

Be certain to include your brand, logo or image on anything you sell – it’ll make it obvious who you are and fans will be more compelled to purchase. It’s also a useful means of self-advertisement and will help spread the word about your art.

Include large spreads of your posters and T-Shirts at your merchandise stand and be as visually-focused as possible. Strong design and a pleasing aesthetic will draw more attention from potential buyers. You’ll want to include products that are relevant to your current act, so include dates and locations of your gigs on your designs.

Put On a Show

It’s important to remember the core of the experience – the music. While you may have excellent band merchandise, social media feeds and branding, none of that matters if the music isn’t up to scratch!

Pick the Right Venue

A suitable venue is a huge aspect to a successful gig. Pick somewhere based on budget limits, realistic audience turn-out numbers, availability and your music genre. If you’re a smaller, more relaxed artist, you’ll want to create a space that feels intimate and personal, while a rock-heavy or electronic-based act may opt for something larger and more spectacular. An environment appropriate to the music will create a significantly more enjoyable experience.

Practice and Prepare

While it’s obvious that you need to practice, rehearse and be ready for a great show, you also need to decide how your gig will play out.

Are you a more acoustically orientated act, or will you need a more lights-focused stage presence? Determine which songs you’ll play and when, how many covers or jam sessions you’ll include, and whether the audience will be able to participate.

It’s good to recognise what type of band, artist or act you are, and tailor your gig plan accordingly. Make sure to create an experience that people will like and talk about.

You want fans to return to your shows the next time you play and having a packed, well planned performance will work wonders for growth.

Contact and Network

If you want your fan base to expand and ticket sales to increase, you’ll need to actively engage with your audience and genre.

Offer Fans a Mailing List

While social media feeds can be a good way of broadcasting necessary information and promotion to as wide a group of people as possible, mailing lists are a direct way to contact fans about gig news and events. It’s a more personal option than social media and may encourage fans to bring others to your act.

 

You may also like: A Guide to Crowdfunding for Artists

 

Interact With Your Audience

Wherever possible, make the effort to attend other local gigs and support artists of a similar nature. Follow artists on social media pages and provide music promotion for acts that show mutual interest in your own work. Underground music is a particularly social scene, so you’ll want to be as involved with other events as possible.

 

Visual content is now essential for music promotion. If you’re looking for an effective, economic and simple video-editing and publishing tool, Rotor Videos is used by over 50,000 artists around the world. Create and sample your video for free – only pay when you’re ready to download.