How do you promote a gig and sell the tickets?

Who actually buys a ticket to a small gig?

Before you post anything, write a list. For a first or second headline night in a room of thirty to a hundred, almost every ticket comes from four places:

• People who know you. Friends, family, people from work, other musicians. They're the first ten to twenty, and they come because you asked them, not because they saw a post.
• People who came last time. If you took names at your last gig, this is your warmest group. If you didn't, start at this one.
• The other acts' people. On a shared bill, each act brings their own. A bill where every act is asking their own people fills a room, and a bill where one act does the work doesn't.
• The room's regulars. Some venues and nights have people who come whatever's on. That's a bonus, not a plan.

Strangers who see an ad or a post and buy a ticket do exist, but for small rooms they're the smallest group. Count your first three groups honestly. If they add up to less than half the room, the fix isn't more posts. It's more people on the bill, a smaller room, or a later date.

When should you start promoting a gig?

Book everything three weeks out and have it ready two weeks out. That means the announcement, the posts and the ticket link. Kimberly, our founder, holds every event we run to the same rule: it's drafted and in the diary two weeks before, so nothing is being made on the day.

Don't announce more than six weeks out for a small room. People don't buy that early, and you'll have run out of things to say by the week that matters.

What should the announcement say?

One post, with everything on it, on every channel at once:

• Your name, the venue, the town, the date and the time you're on.
• The ticket price and the link. On Instagram, the link goes in your bio and the caption says "link in bio". Check the link is actually there before you post.
• Who else is playing, tagged.
• One line on why this night is worth leaving the house for. A new song played for the first time, a full band, a launch, a theme.

The announcement image carries the details as a banner: name, venue, date, time. Make it 3:4 so the profile grid doesn't crop the words. Use a photo you haven't used before. After the announcement, Stories are photo only, with the details added as stickers (location, a link sticker, the date).

What should you post in the three weeks before?

Less than you think, and none of it on the same image twice:

• Week three: the announcement. Pin it.
• Week two: one post that shows what the night will feel like. A short clip from rehearsal or your last show, with sound, not a still with text on it.
• The last ten days: one Story every couple of days (a rehearsal moment, the setlist being written, the other acts), and the ticket link every time.
• The day: the time you're on, and that tickets are still available on the night if there are any left.

Post the other acts' things too. They'll post yours back, and their people see your name.

Which message sells the most tickets?

The one you send to one person. In the last ten days, go through your list and message people individually. Not a group chat, not a broadcast:

> Hi [name], I'm playing [venue] on [day, date], on at [time]. It's [the one new thing, such as the full band, the new songs or a launch]. Tickets are [ticket price] here: [link]. Would be really good to see you there.

Then reply to everyone who answers. "Maybe" is a yes waiting for a reminder, so send one more short message two days before. Most people who say "I'll try" don't buy until someone they know asks them twice.

If you have an email list, send one email when you announce and one five days before. Keep the second one short: the date, the time, the link, and one line about what's new.

How do you make the night itself easier to sell?

Small, specific nights sell better than general ones. A themed night, a launch, a full-band show, an early show that ends by ten, a listening night with the new songs: each gives people a reason to pick this date over any other. Across our community, the artists who ran their own small nights around something their audience already liked doing often filled the room. Mixed-genre bills where nobody shares an audience rarely did.

When you're choosing a bill, pick acts whose fans would like you, and who'll ask their own people. That matters more than how big they are.

What do you do on the night so the next gig sells itself?

Take names. Lists only grow where someone collects them in the room. Many artists who gig regularly still have no way to reach the people who came last time, so every gig starts from zero. A sign-up sheet by the merch, a code on screen, or a card with a link: anything that leaves you with a way to tell those people about the next one. The gigs guide has the four things that turn a room into fans, in order.

And it pays beyond the night. Across our community, artists who'd had live wins were more than twice as likely to also have made money directly from fans.

Where this fits

This is the live part of artist development, between booking a room and playing it. Getting the room comes first, in how to get gigs as an independent artist. What you do with the names afterwards is in your first 1,000 fans. If you need a pitch for the gig itself, our free booking email tool writes it from your own words.

• Artist development: what it is, what it costs, and how to tell it's working
• How to get gigs as an independent artist: the first rooms
• How to get your first 1,000 fans (not streams)
• Artist development for bands
• Artist development for singer-songwriters
• How to grow as an independent artist: the next 90 days
• Booking email builderfree tool

FAQ

How far in advance should you promote a gig? Announce three weeks out, with everything ready two weeks out. Most tickets for small rooms sell in the last ten days, so save your personal messages for then.

How do I sell tickets to my first gig? Write a list of everyone who knows you, and message each of them yourself in the last ten days with the date, the time and the link. For a first gig, nearly every ticket comes from people you ask directly.

Should I pay for ads to promote my gig? For a small room, only after you've messaged everyone you know. Ads reach strangers, and strangers are the smallest group of buyers for a first or second headline night. If you try one, keep it local and small, and point it at the ticket link.

Is it better to sell tickets in advance or on the night? In advance where you can. An advance ticket is a commitment, and it tells you and the promoter how the night is going. Keep some back to sell on the night for people who decide late.

How many people should I expect from my posts? Fewer than from your messages. Posts remind people who already know the date. Personal messages are what turn "maybe" into a ticket.

What if ticket sales are slow a week before? Go back to your list, message everyone you haven't asked yet, and ask the other acts to do the same. If the room still won't fill, tell the promoter early. It's easier to fix together a week out than on the night.

Should I make a Facebook event? If your audience uses Facebook, yes, and add the other acts as co-hosts so everyone can invite their people. Wherever you post, one shared place with the date and the ticket link keeps everyone pointing at the same thing.

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