We all know we need to spend some $$ before we can make some $$. But the reality is that not all bank accounts are overflowing. So here are 5 hot tips for promoting your event on a budget:

• Facebook Groups – running ads/boosting posts are not the only ways to promote your event on Facebook. Identify who may be interested in your event and contact the interest groups via DM or leaving a post on their page. For instance, if you are performing Hamilton, reach out to the Broadway Fans Group (clearly a made-up group, but you know what we mean). Just be careful not to hit up a large number of pages at once, or you may get flagged as spam by Facebook. Not ideal before your season opens!
• Community Outreach – there’s nothing more effective than a personal message. Reach out to the communities/organisations that you think would fancy your show by sending them a lovely email. How do you find their emails? This is when Google becomes your best friend. For example, if your exhibition offers a tactile tour to audiences who are blind or with low vision, we’re sure Vision Australia would be thrilled to receive your warm invite.
• Giveaways – when you reach out to the groups above, sometimes you are more likely to get their attention by offering them a couple of free tickets, whether it’s for them to run giveaways on their channels or for a couple of their members to see the show for free (they may come in a big group of 10 so by giving away 2 tickets, you sell 8 extra!).
• Word of Mouth – believe it or not, the old school tricks really work. We’ve had artists in the past selling their shows to their Tinder match (not sure if they got a second date). The take-away is: tell everyone about your Fringe event. Your mum, your Uncle Jerry, Anya in the office, your barista, the cute masked person sitting next to you on the tram… EVERYONE.
• Cross-Promotion – Fringe is a community built by artists, so people are usually happy to help each other out. Reach out to an artist who may share the similar audience with you and see if they can promote your event on their channels or give you a shoutout at their performances, and obviously you will do the same in return.

Don’t forget you can also consult our resource Putting a Marketing Plan Together for more help with promoting your event.

Social Media - The most budget-friendly marketing tool for artists

Digital channels are highly effective and often deliver the best bang for your buck (and often don’t need to cost that many bucks!).

The first step is picking your channel. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Twitch, TikTok… they all have their place, so think about where your audience is likely to be, and the content you produce, and use that to help inform where you put your resources. Don’t think you simply MUST be on everything… if you’re time-poor you might like to stick to just one or two and do it really effectively. The most important thing is to create a bit of a content plan so you’re not just repeating the same thing and grasping for content.

When selecting your channels and creating your content plan, it’s good to know:

• Facebook is good for longer-form conversation, news and event updates.
• X or Threads is where people get their news and have conversations. Follow the trends and see if you can work with them. Tweet at people who might be interested in your show, but X usership has significantly decreased in recent years, and Threads hasn’t reached the same level of mainstream popularity, so unless you have a really clear audience who’s using these platforms, limited resources are likely better spent elsewhere.
• Instagram is where people go for short and sweet photos and videos, so make your messages visuals. It’s not a place for long paragraphs, it’s a place where you can generate interest and give people a real sense of your work. People who don’t use TikTok often get that same content via Instagram reels, and reels are a great way to get creative and engage audiences who may not already follow you.
• TikTok is good for video content, but keep it short and engaging (15 - 60 secs). This skews to a younger audience, and will work well if you have a teaser or snippet, which will allow your audience to get a sense of your work quickly. This another great platform to get creative with your content, and one where you can get discovered by audiences you don’t already engage.

Just starting out? Get going with some easy wins:

• Create a Facebook/Instagram page for your work as an artist. Invite everyone you know to like it and use it as the central point for all your work.
• Run a giveaway with a double pass to increase awareness for your show, get people to tag their friends, share your post, or sign up to an email list to enter. It’s a great low-cost way to increase your reachable audience.
• Encourage people to leave “crowd pleaser comments” on your event page after they’ve seen your show to generate buzz. You can post your favourites on social media.
• Opt in to flash sales and don’t forget to post about them when they’re on – create a sense of urgency to buy tickets!