Photo via Consequence of Sound
Ain’t no party like an afterparty, ‘cause an afterparty gets you a bunch of new fans.
How many times after seeing one of your favorite bands were you so jacked up that you wanted to stay out the whole night? Wouldn’t it be great if there was more live music to see? Even better, wouldn’t it be great if it was your band?
Coordinating an aftershow to try and capitalize on a similar fanbase that has already been warmed up at a show is a great way to gain exposure to potential new fans.
There are a few moving parts, but here’s how to make it happen:
1. Find out when your favorite band is in town
There are many show discovery tools to track when artists announce new tour dates, such as Bandsintown and Songkick. These apps will even send you email notifications. But the real way to find out as early as possible is by subscribing to the bands' email lists! This is key. Knowing far in advance gives you time to find venues that will have available nights, and will help you coordinate to keep your show schedule spaced out, so you don’t wear out your welcome in your hometown.
2. Find a venue nearby
Now that you know when the shows are, it’s time to pick a venue. You can start by combing through Sonicbids to find an opportunity nearby. Look for a venue in your location that your fans and potential new fans will like.
Send a follow up message or email, stating that you have an idea for a show on this specific night. Map out the details and reason why they should book you, while taking these things into consideration:
- Is the venue available that night?
- Can it stay open later?
- Would they be willing to do some cross-promotion with you?
- Adjust cover price
- Offer meal or drink deals to these potential late night show goers
When you can answer these types of questions, it makes the promoter's life a lot easier and instills trust that you can deliver. So the more details that you can highlight on why they should book you, the better.
3. Promote your aftershow online
Once you've been booked, you should do all of the marketing you would do for any show, like social media and PR outreach (careful though). But now you should go a step further online and generate conversations on the band’s fan forum sites, music category chat sites, subreddits, social media event pages, etc.
Detail where the show will be and why people should come. Make them feel like you're providing an extra special piece to make their night great. You want them to feel like they’re getting two shows for the price of one. At the very least this may be helpful exposure for you, but be careful to not be too self-aggrandizing, as this could be seen as spammy.
4. Promote your aftershow in person
In-person guerilla marketing and street teaming is an absolute necessity for a show like this. Printing out flyers for the aftershow location, handing out flyers to people waiting to go inside, and most importantly, handing out flyers after the show to direct them where to go are all key to getting these people to your aftershow.
If you can work out some sort of deal with the venue to put on your handouts, like: “If you show this flyer, you get __________” for drinks or appetizers, that will be very enticing for people to come. If the venue isn't down to offer any special deals, you could offer discounted merchandise or a free download to at least get some exposure and begin to build a relationship with your potential new fans.
As you know, capturing the attention of the right kind of fans is huge. If done right, you’ll be tied into to one great blur of an evening of music. You could end up being that fresh up-and-coming band that these people are trying to find and talk about. And who knows, maybe one day, some young up-and-comers will throw aftershows for you one day!
