Making the Most of a Support Slot

Credit: Anna-M. W

Performing as a support act is one of the best ways emerging musicians can gain exposure and expand their fan base.

Today, we’re looking at marketing tactics that can help artists make the most of their support slots.

Collaborative Content

There's plenty of ways main acts and their supports can collaborate on content, whether they prepare artist vs. artist interviews to pitch to media, collaborate on live videos on social media, or film promotional content together.

By cross-promoting this content, both acts can help to increase the support’s reach. They’ll also be able to provide this audience with content that can spark meaningful engagement. 

Co-hosting Facebook Events

To boost interactions with fans, support acts should make sure they're listed as a co-host on any relevant Facebook events. This allows them to post directly to the event, and reach attendees with notifications ahead of their shows. As a co-host, artists can also use the Event to create a Facebook Custom Audience based on Event responders. You can read more about that below. 

Targeted Advertising

Instead of focusing on their existing audience, artists can extend their reach by targeting the main act’s fans and other users connected to the event. Here's some ways to approach this in Facebooks Ads Manager:

1. If the headline act is established enough, support acts might be able to create an Interest-based audience to target. They can also refine this group by targeting fans in specific locations. 

2. If the support act is a Co-host of the Facebook Event, they can create a Custom Audience to target punters who have responded to it. 

3. Lastly, artists can target event attendees, shortly after the performance with Location targeting. This is as simple as selecting the venue location at the Ad Set level, and using the 'People recently in this location' option.

To make the most of these options post-performance, the key is to ensure that ad creative is relevant to the chosen audience. Advertising using content from the event is a great way to tick this box.

Advertise During the Event

It’s important to remember that attendees tend to arrive to events at scattered times, so simply introducing a support act once or twice during a set might not cut it. Where possible, support acts should utilise promo materials like physical flyers and stickers. They can ask friends or family to hand them out, or if they have the budget, hire a street promo company - it's not as expensive as some might think.

Artists should also ensure that their logo is on display with other options like audiovisual screens, branded kick drum skins and well positioned merchandise.

The Old Fashioned Way

There's one thing that the live shows themselves will offer that online promotion won't - a chance to interact with punters face-to-face. If they can, artists should dedicate some time to hanging out in the venue during their show, meeting fans and selling merch. 

Whether it's for one show or a whole tour, a support slot presents an opportunity to introduce an act to potential new fans. Support slots of all sizes can be amplified with the right marketing approach.
 

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