Abbey Arts Seattle - Music Industry Guide #1:    

How to Promote a Concert

 [PUBLIC DOCUMENT: Last updated 4/2/25]

  Note: This guide is intended as a reference for shows in the 100-300 person range.
Have an affordable idea to share not seen here?  Booking (at) fremontabbey.org  

[If you have a show with us, Please also read this Marketing Note About Abbey Arts

As an Independent Venue & How We Collab with Artists]

Past Contributors include: Nathan Marion (Abbey Arts), Andrea Friedman (Vera Project), Kevin Sur (Timber), Karli Ingersoll (The Bartlett),

Cody Kilpatrick (Various Bands), Elyse Lankford (All-Camp), Katie Kuffel (band), Leigh Bezezekoff (The Tractor), The Sunset website and the interwebs

Alt Read on How to Promote a show (for volunteers or artists)

THE TOP METHODS FOR PROMOTING A SHOW:  

  1. In Real Life, personal invites, friends inviting, etc.
  2. Personal invites with link or flyer via text, email, IG DM’s, Whatsapp groups, etc.  (Don’t DM or text too often though, make it special)
  3. Intriguing Video and Photo posts on Instagram
  4. Facebook Event boosting - via video posts & engaging people on Discussion tab, or paid boosts sometimes
  5. Partner with another company like a local business, yoga studio, other band, food/drink vendor, etc. to reach their audience and give them a reason to promote an event

They used to say it typically takes 7 “impressions” for people to really remember something and act on it.  That may be changing in the modern world but the concept still applies.  

You can lower that needed number though by making the information more compelling/unique/memorable or having it be personal. Many people go to shows because the band or a friend invited them and then they feel that social connection and they actually show up even on a tired Wednesday in winter.

 

So an invite from a friend may only take 1-3 impressions, whereas a general PR or poster campaign will take many more impressions to draw anyone to the show.  A beautiful video might take 1-2 if it’s really captivating and emotionally engaging or shows a unique experience that compels people to buy a ticket or invite their friends. .  

These impressions can be ads, posters, mentions in media articles, blogs, videos, friends talking about a band, being mentioned in another bands Instagram post, etc.  

Real life (ie. word of mouth) is absolutely key to a show selling well, so don’t spend all of your time on social media or take too long working on a poster!

You’ve got to be out there in person in the real world, connecting and inviting people to an experience.  It can be good to help them understand why the show is important to you personally as well, dig into the craft or the excitement of a new song or something new.  This can loop back to online sources like Instagram, Facebook or ticketing event pages, but that real life side is key. Encourage friends & fans to help by giving them incentives or thank you’s from stage or upgrade reserved seats or a table if they promote the show and invite a lot of people.

SOCIAL MEDIA:

Social media is not the only way to promote shows.

In fact, It may or may not be all that effective these days due to overload on most people's screens.  Only a small % of your fans will ever see your posts or paid ads.  It can help to post something every few days a week or two out when you have a show coming up, but don’t think doing just social media means you are promoting a show effectively.   

Be sure to post a nice IG post with the particular show visible and ideally a video preview or an image with music behind it so people can easily be sharing that 4-8 weeks out.  

PRINT:

Abbey Arts’ Printer:  G&H Printing  2370 Eastlake Ave E, Seattle, WA 98102
                         PH: (206) 329-9888   EMAIL:  hello@gandhprint.co 

WEBSITE:

A few tips on how to have a good online presence.  What a venue (and usually fans) look for is a central website with all these items easily found (and easily copied/saved to share).  Be sure your site also has an easy to access EPK (Electronic Press Kit).

1. Photos  

2. Press quotes  

3. Videos  

4. Shows Link Visible

PRESS:

MORE:

It may seem obvious but don’t book other competing shows in the area. Build up the excitement and focus for one show at a time. If you get booked for festivals, or other free events consider not promoting those or listing them even until after your club/venue show.  

You’ll end up making more $ that way anyhow.  For newer bands the spacing between shows generally can be about 1 month, and consider 2-3 months for an album release show, bigger bands, or touring acts.  For Seattle shows, that would mean it’s ok to play Tacoma or Everett, usually, but not Edmonds or Columbia City. Be sure to know the policies of the venue you’re playing at. Some shows have blackout dates, or prefer you don’t announce your next show until you play that one.

If your show is all ages, consider contacting local colleges to advertise. Talk to whoever heads students events, clubs, their radio stations, and tell them about the show! Don’t forget to poster these places, as well.

Andrea at the VERA PROJECT (Seattle) adds:

“I think my biggest piece of advice is to not be bashful/embarrassed about plugging your own show. TELL EVERYONE!!!! Talk to all of your friends about it, have open communication with the venue about promotion plans, reach out to local zines, newspapers, radio stations, art spaces, etc. etc., post on social media, distribute handbills and posters. Also, connect with other bands in your scene/community and the city at large. The more people you get excited about your band the better!

Bands that start up in Seattle, or are transplanted for that matter, are blessed to be surrounded by such a supportive community. I have never been in a city where EVERYONE cares SO MUCH about music & art and genuinely want to help artists succeed. It is truly special. So don't be afraid to reach out to "music industry professionals"!

THE BARTLETT (Spokane) adds:

“One thing I've found to work pretty well for us in growing social media presence is a monthly giveaway on instagram. I post a pic of our month poster and people can tag a friend to enter to win two month passes. Each time we do it we get a bunch of new followers and obviously a ton of people see the full calendar because they get tagged.”

THE SUNSET TAVERN (Seattle) adds:

“Update your website and all social networking sites. We encourage you to send emails and post bulletins to promote your show. Let the local radio stations and newspapers know and don’t forget… TELL ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS!

 

Make a poster, bring some to the club, and distribute the posters around Seattle. The sooner they’re up, the better the show! Also, email a web size jpeg of the poster for our website and social network pages.

 

We also request that confirmed bands not play anywhere else in Seattle within 10 days before or after the scheduled date (2 weeks for touring bands). This will only increase the anticipation for your show at The Sunset and make ours that much better… we promise! Please let us know if you are hoping to book another Seattle show in that time frame as we can make exceptions in certain circumstances.

 

Please do not send packages to The Sunset that require a signature for delivery (UPS, FED-EX, USPS Certifed etc.).The bar is not open during normal delivery hours.”

Elyse at ABBEY ARTS (Seattle) adds:

“Make sure there’s a Facebook event for your show that you can invite people to. You can reach a lot of people and even though it’s not quite the same as inviting someone in person, I’m always happy to have been invited and will consider going to the show more than if I would have just seen it in my feed. Also, if someone responds with “interested” or “going” Facebook will make sure they don’t forget about your event so it’s not as passive as a post, tweet, poster, etc.”

Abbey Arts - Marketing & Promotions Info

We are an independent nonprofit and our approach is to aim for collaborative, low stress, easeful promotions and productions working with artists and their team.   

We encourage collaboration and creative thinking on marketing, and want to acknowledge up front that we aren’t able to base our work on each group’s marketing expectations.

We encourage bands/agents/promoters to help get the word out in various ways that are working for them in other markets too.  

Remember - the fans mostly care about the ARTIST, not the venue.  

We have a strategic marketing roll out for our events and are not able to feature every show on our Instagram feed due to our wide array of events and working to keep follower engagement high.  

Depending on the season and many other factors we try a variety of marketing for shows including email list, print and/or web ads, posters, social media, some social media spending if strategic, google ads, announcements at events, network of yoga teachers & other arts advocates inviting their students,  and much more.  

We share in the offer sheet other commitments and agreements and do our best to accomplish those for each show as capacity allows.

Over the years we’ve found that audiences mostly respond to the artists, not so much the venue or promoter.  So you, promoting your own show, is likely going to have the highest return on time/$ investment in terms of reaching your audience or new fans.  

Unless noted, we are working in our own independent ways and will sometimes be able to coordinate posts and other ad buys. At other times our team capacity or marketing strategy may vary.

For example - if you don’t see your show on our Instagram yet, feel free to tag or create a compelling reel and see if we’re able to accept as a collaborator to crosspost.  Sometimes we are!  

We can also reshare stories more easily without overloading the feed.

(Note: We can’t guarantee that we will share artist created content unless it has live music or something compelling and creative within it (ie. an informal shout out / other informal videos may work great for your accounts, we may not post them on ours).  

Have fun!

~Abbey Arts Team

 Nonprofit, all ages, all incomes, since 2005

Curator-Led Events (workshops, classes, etc)
Abbey Arts is honored to serve as a venue and facilitator for Producer and Curator-led events, offering space, resources, and support to independent curators and collaborators. Our goal is to ensure clarity and respect for the creative independence of curators while maintaining transparency with our audience about the roles and contributions of all parties involved.

  1. Curator Independence:
    Curator-led events are conceived, organized, and produced by independent curators or external collaborators. Abbey Arts respects the creative autonomy of curators and does not claim ownership or primary authorship of these events or their content.
  2. Attribution and Labeling:
    Curator-led events are not normally labeled as "Abbey Arts Presents." or with the Abbey Arts logo / information centered above the curator and event information. Our goal is that the curator's role is prominently recognized while acknowledging Abbey Arts as the hosting venue.
  1. Marketing and Promotion:
    All promotional materials on Abbey Arts’ platforms, including digital and print media, may be edited per our discretion as an independent venue. While we work hard to support curator-led events through our marketing channels, the methods of promotion may vary, depending on available resources and new/creative marketing efforts. Curators are encouraged to promote their events independently, and     Abbey Arts may provide guidance or amplify these efforts at our discretion.
  2. Exceptions:
    In rare cases where Abbey Arts plays a significant role in the conceptualization or production of a curator-led event, the "Abbey Arts presents" label may be used with prior written agreement from all parties involved.