Clay Mabbitt talks to theatre and marketing specialists about the challenges they’ve encountered in theatre marketing and the most effective approaches they’ve found to promote their stage productions as well as shares his insights on the state of arts marketing, specifically the promotion of live theatre.
Clay Mabbitt: Arts Marketing Consultant and Blogger
If you ever feel like arts marketing is something that only an expert can tackle, this episode is for you. I'll be the first to admit there are very smart people who have a thorough understanding of how to build an audience. A few of them like Alli Houseworth and... Read More »
The Indy Fringe Festival starts up this week. There are a lot of shows that I've been hearing about for weeks now, and some of them really have me chomping at the bit to see them. The kicker here for someone in Tim's position, though, is: all of the shows... Read More »
It feels very appropriate to have Shara Ashley Zeiger as my guest on the Sold Out Run podcast because in this episode we talk about her recent… sold out run. In fact it was an extended run that sold out, and she was kind enough to share a little about... Read More »
A few weeks ago, I got a notice through Twitter that someone mentioned me in a tweet. That's not at all unusual, that happens fairly regularly. But what was unusual was that I was mentioned by Ken Davenport. I'm guessing many of you listening recognize that name, but in case you... Read More »
You're probably already familiar with some of the major players in the online ticket space. Vendini. Brown Paper Tickets. My guest today is William Rader, and none of the available ticket services were doing exactly what he wanted them to do. So he got to work creating one that did.... Read More »
Thom Britton reached out to me recently to talk about a problem that is usually overlooked here at Sold Out Run. Almost everything I create here is about growing your audience larger and larger. The assumption is that we always want more people. Well, after many years of dedication Thom... Read More »
A few weeks back I wrote a post on the blog about exactly when I send press releases to media outlets, and what I say when I'm reaching out to them. Almost immediately after I hit publish on that post, I started wondering how actual arts journalists would grade this... Read More »
I had the pleasure a little over a year ago of appearing in a show at the Lilly Theatre here in Indianapolis, which is a theatre that is contained within The Children's Museum – a very large, well-respected… children's museum… here in Indianapolis. It was a great experience for me... Read More »
This episode I want to talk about a question that was sent in by a listener. (Thanks, Jaco!) He asks about what to offer… he calls them investors, I use the word sponsors a lot… but these people that give you some money for the purposes of putting on a... Read More »
If you're new to Sold Out Run, I make a marketing calendar available to download for free on the website. It's a spreadsheet that lets you plan out when all the marketing activity for a show needs to be done. You can see how all the pieces fit together in... Read More »
Kelly and I come from the same school of thought in marketing: tell a story. And that's not the only lesson she brings from her corporate marketing experience into the world of promoting theatre. In this episode: what theatres could be learning from “corporate” marketing – it involves knowing who you're audience is and... Read More »
Season subscriptions are great for you, but are they great for your audience? The key to gaining and keeping subscribers is to make sure you provide them with something they feel is well worth their financial investment. Notice I didn't say you need to provide them with something you feel... Read More »
Joni Lambert is not a marketing expert. She's an artist who wanted to promote her show. With a little online searching she stumbled upon Sold Out Run, and that led her to completely sell out her show more than a week before she opened. I wanted to know how she... Read More »
A mutual friend introduced me to Curtis Shepard, and I'm very glad she did. Fringe festivals area a hectic time, and without that introduction I might not have made it out to see Curtis's show Unmasked. (That's marketing lesson #1.) Curtis is a thoughful, articulate guy who doesn't have a... Read More »
In just a handful of years Bob has earned a reputation for consistently putting on quality productions, and the crowds that his shows draw are a testament to that. I wanted to bring him on and pick his brain about how he approaches finding the audience for each show. In this... Read More »
I wanted to bring Katie on the show because a lot of people in the general public have misconceptions about what her productions (burlesque) entail. This presents unique marketing challenges, and we dig into how Katie tackles these. Extra bonus this episode: In the comments below I invite you to... Read More »
I have a great listener question in this episode. Joni shares that booking agents she's worked with swear up and down by using flyers to promote shows. She's running into legal issues and wants to know what's the right way to use them. The short answer is I think flyers can be a... Read More »
I was spending some time poking around Twitter on the subject of theatre marketing, and I came across Lollipop Marketing. They are an agency out of London with roots in Sydney, and I convinced founder Dave Levett to talk with me about what he's figured out so far about marketing theatre.... Read More »
I talk a lot at Sold Out Run about the importance of having a marketing calendar for your theatre productions. (At least if you care about people seeing them.) But what goes on it? You can download the template I use and start making changes, but how far do you... Read More »
Some very successful discount aggregating services have popped up over the last few years, and they offer an interesting outlet to reach a new audience for your shows. As you might imagine there are both pros and cons to working with them, so when you balance all those out are... Read More »
I have a production coming up in about 5 months that I'm promoting, and this past weekend was the brainstorming session to start dreaming up ways to market it. I got a lot of fresh ideas and energy from the conversation, largely because I had the chance to bounce around... Read More »
If you haven't heard of the One-Minute Play Festival before, please allow this episode to serve as a humble introduction. My guest is producing artistic director and founder, Dominic D'Andrea, who talks about the value that the festival brings to each local host city as well as the larger community.... Read More »
One of the challenges in marketing a theatre production is that we're usually on a limited run. As soon as you start to learn which message and tactics are really connecting with the right audience, it's time to move on to the next show. ComedySportz is an improv comedy show... Read More »
It was an absolute delight to once again share the mic with my long-time podcasting compatriot. Way back in 2012 Raquel Richardson and I were the regular hosts of the now retired Marketing Brainpower podcast. Raquel is one of the sharpest marketing minds I've ever met, and in this episode... Read More »
At the end of last year I did a series of blog posts where I chronicled the process of promoting a show at a small professional theatre as it was happening. I called it the Open Book Project, and I went into great detail about my thoughts and conclusions from... Read More »
Based on the responses I've been getting from readers here at Sold Out Run, there are a lot of people who are looking around their community and concluding that there are more theatres than their market can comfortably support. How do you thrive as a theatre company when there just... Read More »
Previously I've shared on Sold Out Run how powerful Facebook events are. Although there are still a lot of things that creating an event can offer, it isn't quite as powerful as it used to be. Status updates on your event used to appear to everyone who had been invited... Read More »
NoExit Performance is an Indianapolis-base theatre company that has been mentioned by several previous guests of the podcast. The company has experienced some remarkable growth in recent years, largely because they have been so successful communicating their voice to the community. Local arts writers consistently look to NoExit to see... Read More »
Ever see a movie trailer so many times that you actually got sick of it? The first few times it seemed interesting, but after too many viewings you wouldn't have gone to that movie if they paid you. That's promotion fatigue, and you want to avoid making people feel that... Read More »
In this episode I welcome Catherine Cardwell. I'm excited to bring her on because of the variety of perspectives she has in promoting theatre. By day she handles group sales and season tickets for Indiana Repertory Theatre, and by night she wears a few dozen hats as a cofounder of... Read More »
Giving away free tickets can be a polarizing topic. Most (although not all) theatres would prefer to be selling all of their tickets, but when does it make sense to give away a complimentary ticket? I'm not focusing in this episode on press passes (always good) or providing comps for... Read More »
A good press release is going to make life as easy as possible for the journalists you are inviting to cover your production. There are some standard practices for the type of information that needs to be included as well as how the release should be formatted. I am not... Read More »
In this episode I pick the brain of Kayla Hulen, the social media general behind the sold out run of Footlite Musical's Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Not content with the already sizable time commitment of stage managing, she jumped in and started engaging in the online conversations about the... Read More »
Producing a well-established show can make your job as a marketer easier, but it's not guaranteed. You're automatically alienating a contingent who believes they've already seen everything anyone could do with this show – a group who make up some of the most frequent theatre goers in your community. Some of... Read More »
Being able to promote a show (or choosing one that's so popular it doesn't require much sophisticated marketing) isn't the only consideration when selecting a show. There are artistic and logistic concerns, but usually we want an audience to come see our productions. Instead of picking a good show and... Read More »
Jessica Redden is an account executive in the events and entertainment division of Bohlsen Group. Jessica is the type of person you would be working with if you had a significant PR budget for your production, and she was kind enough to answer a few questions about media outreach. From... Read More »
In addition to a charming British accent, Tom brings his experience with theatre both in the UK and the states to the podcast. In particular I wanted to bring Tom on as a guest because EclecticPond Theatre Company is bringing Shakespeare to a new, younger audience. That's a topic that... Read More »
At this time of year, it's useful to reflect on how things have gone over the last 12 months and what you'd like to change moving forward. Usually this takes the form of setting goals for the coming year. That type of striving to improve can be good, but if... Read More »
I sincerely hope that I've said at least one thing on Sold Out Run that you don't agree with. I've shared a lot of strategic and tactical ideas on theatre promotion, and I hope you embrace no more than 90% of what I suggest. If everyone is following the same... Read More »
Thanks in large part to the Internet there's more information about theatre marketing out there then you could ever hope to incorporate into you own promotions. So how do you navigate that ocean of data for the bits that are going to help you out with your particular marketing challenges?... Read More »
Over the course of a theatre marketing campaign you develop a lot of material and hopefully a few insights about promoting a show. Don't let all of that hard work just fade away. If you are intentional about how you wind down this project, you can capture the fruits of... Read More »
Think of your audience's desire to see your show as an empty bucket. Each time they see your poster, here an ad on the radio, or see a rehearsal photo on Facebook a few more drops go into that bucket. When the bucket is full, they will buy a ticket.... Read More »
Marketing would be easy if you had unlimited time and unlimited money. You could implement every marketing tactic for each of your productions and know that you had literally done everything you could to promote your show. Unfortunately no one in theatre marketing (or any other kind of marketing) has... Read More »
Very popular with traditional businesses – especially online – repurposing content is the practice of taking really great promotions that you've created and modifying them to be used again in slightly different ways. You don't have to start from scratch, but you're just making some adjustments and edits to tailor... Read More »
Presales are great for cash flow, but they can also make your life a lot easier as a marketer. Strong presales can be both a powerful marketing tactic and a critical source of information about your audience. In this episode: social proof – how social proof is powerful before your show... Read More »
Many theatre companies use ticket sales as their primary (and something only) metric of success. It's critical as a financial and operational number, but it doesn't give a very nuanced picture of how you are meeting any objectives you have to create a meaningful relationship with your audience – which... Read More »
You need promotions that are interesting and creative enough that even people who are not interested in buying a ticket to your show will talk about your promotions. That can take the form of contests, special appearances, creative sourcing of costumes and set pieces, or anything else that stands out... Read More »
I'm very lucky to have Alli Houseworth as a guest on this episode of the podcast. She's worked on promoting productions both from within a theatre company and as an outside specialist through her consultancy Method 121. Her Digital Lobby Enhancement work with the Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company has been... Read More »
It's easy to say that you should seek out those individuals who will feel like your show was written to speak to them personally. The people who resonate with this production in particular on a level deeper than just appreciating good theatre are your niche audience. They will love being... Read More »
Promoting our performances is obviously critical to success in theatre, but it's also important to know how to marketing your auditions. Auditions can be crucial to getting good talent, but there utility doesn't stop there. In this episode of the podcast I talk about why and how to make a... Read More »
There are many reasons I'm pleased to welcome Shoshana Fanizza to the podcast. One is that she started her own company, Audience Development Specialists, that she has been running since 2008. Another is that she champions the idea of developing a relationship with the right audience as opposed to just... Read More »
© 2020-2025 Ivy Podcast Discovery LLC
