Running a youth performing arts program is a labor of love. Whether it’s choosing a show you know they’ll love or running lines with students, you put your heart and soul into helping the next generation express themselves through singing, dancing, and acting.
Don’t let this hard work go to waste with subpar marketing efforts. To reach as many potential performers as possible, keep current students engaged, and sell out shows, you need a dedicated performing arts marketing strategy. In this guide, we’ll help you get started by answering frequently asked questions and introducing relevant marketing strategies to promote your program and performances far and wide:
Auditions are one of your biggest lead-generating activities. While your primary goal is to cast your show, you’ll also have prospective students who aren’t right for your current production but could still participate in your program in some capacity.
To engage these leads, send them a registration link for classes at your organization, such as beginner acting or audition preparation. Not only will these offerings boost your revenue, but they’ll also help new students build their skills and encourage them to audition again in the future, retaining them as part of your program.
Instead of focusing your marketing for an unknown show or a straight play on the plot, focus on the spectacle surrounding the show. For example, you may generate interest by highlighting:
Impressive set design
Complex stage combat
Engaging storytelling elements
Additionally, put the actors at the forefront of your marketing efforts. If potential audience members aren’t familiar with the show, they can at least connect with the hardworking students who make it all possible.
It’s important to include ensemble members as well as lead roles in your marketing efforts to show parents that you care about every student. Market the ensemble's value by communicating the educational benefits of supporting roles in parent newsletters, such as:
Teamwork
Stamina
Stage presence
Additionally, create leadership roles within the ensemble like dance captains or section leaders to help students interested in larger parts build their skills, differentiate themselves within your program, and prove to parents that their tuition is well-spent.
Compete against larger community theatres and school drama clubs by emphasizing your program’s educational value and production quality. Typically, independent youth performing arts programs have fewer resources than community theatres, but they’re also more expensive than school drama clubs, so you need to strategically position your program as worthwhile by highlighting what makes it stand out, which may include:
Low student-to-director ratio
Specialized training
Professional final product
Many parents will be willing to pay a premium for a high-quality program where their child gets a chance to shine, so lean into what makes your program the perfect in-between offering.
To measure whether your performing arts marketing strategy is working, use lead management software. Lead management systems show exactly which channels new students came from, so you can determine which strategies are generating revenue and which you may need to revamp.
While you might focus a lot of your marketing efforts on promoting your performances, you can’t forget to market your organization itself. Often, if a parent is interested in putting their child into performing arts, they’ll start by searching for terms like “youth theatre programs near me” on Google, and you’ll want to make sure your program shows up in the accompanying search results.
That’s where local search engine optimization (SEO) comes in. By strategically positioning your website, you can reach audiences actively seeking offerings like yours. With a strong local SEO approach, your site can show up in the top search results like the ones below:
To help your website rank for relevant queries and convince interested searchers to click, make sure to:
Optimize your website for specific keywords. To help Google and other search engines understand what your content is about, you must incorporate relevant keywords throughout your site. Then, search engines can connect your website to users’ searches, displaying your site in related search results. For example, the top heading on your homepage may be “Best youth performing arts academy in Denver, Colorado” to clearly signal to both Google and users what your organization is all about.
Update your Google Business Profile. When someone searches for your business specifically, they’ll see your Google Business Profile, a panel to the side of regular search results that includes key information about your business. By maintaining a robust and accurate profile, you provide Google and users with the most up-to-date information and offer interested parents a snapshot of your program.
Ask for reviews. Google reviews attached to your Google Business Profile build social proof and can win over a parent deciding between your program and others. Consider including a QR code on your show programs that prompts audience members to leave a review, and ask your students and their families to write a review at opportune times, such as after a show closes.
In addition to content relevance, Google also considers how user-friendly your site is—among other factors—when determining search engine results page placements. By making your site mobile-friendly and facilitating fast load times, you not only provide a better user experience but also improve your chances of ranking.
These days, it’s not enough to simply create social media accounts for your business. To actually reach your target audience and make your program stand out, you need a strategic social media approach that considers the right channels and content for your audience.
To start, you’ll want to know the difference between the two main types of social media content:
Organic social media posts. Anyone can create an organic social media post, ranging from an Instagram story to a TikTok video. These are the posts that your program account’s followers will see directly on their feeds.
Paid social media ads. On the other hand, you can also purchase paid ads on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok to target specific audiences. While these can look very similar to organic posts, they’re marked as paid advertisements and configured to appear to relevant users, regardless of whether they follow your account.
Combining these two types of content helps you build brand awareness and expand your reach.
To really engage your audience on social media, you’ll need to consider your dual audience: current and potential students and their parents. Check out the channels and content we recommend for each group:
Studio Pro can help you develop strong performing arts marketing campaigns by:
Creating simple registration and ticket-buying links you can easily share on social media.
Enabling push notifications to current students and families that encourage them to help promote your program on their personal social media accounts.
Gathering UGC through our mobile app.
Tracking how effective your social media campaigns are for acquiring and engaging new leads.
While digital marketing allows you to exponentially expand your reach, more traditional methods like print and direct mail offer something tangible that makes your program stand out. Capture and hold your audience’s attention by investing in:
Broadway-style posters. Give your promotional efforts a professional look and feel with glossy, high-quality posters. Ask local businesses and organizations, like libraries and coffee shops, if they’d allow you to hang up your posters to drive traffic to your upcoming performances.
Postcards. Send performance announcement postcards to past ticket buyers and family members of current performers to encourage them to attend your shows. You may also work with a data provider to pinpoint households with children so you can specifically target families who may be interested in seeing your performances.
You may add QR codes to these physical media elements to track whether they’re successfully generating leads via Studio Pro’s lead management system.
Think about the other youth organizations and businesses in your local area. By partnering with them, your program gains access to potential students and performance attendees.
For example, you may ask a local elementary or middle school whether your performers who attend that school can put on a quick teaser of your upcoming show during their morning assembly. That way, you can give students a taste of your performance and potentially even inspire them to audition for the next one.
Then, see if the school is willing to add a quick recap of the teaser and a ticketing link in their next parent newsletter. By showing students what your show will look like and sharing details with parents, you can capture both audiences.
People trust recommendations from people they know, and kids love to do their favorite activities with their friends. Encourage your current customers to refer you to friends and family who may be interested in your program. Incentivize these referrals by:
Launching a “bring a friend” audition strategy. When current students bring prospective students with them to an audition or trial class, they’re giving you a prime opportunity to grow your program. Consider offering a reward like a tuition credit or free merchandise for families who successfully refer a newly enrolled student.
Implementing ticket referral codes. Strike up some friendly competition by giving cast members unique promo codes they can share with their extended family and friends to see who can get the most people to come to the show. Give a prize to the student whose code is used the most.
Encourage customer referrals with Studio Pro by:
Reaching out to current students and families to introduce referral incentives and opportunities.
Implementing tuition credits or discounts to families who successfully refer new students.
Creating ticket referral discount codes to inspire competition.
Tracking leads generated from customer referrals.
To engage as many potential visitors as possible, your website should support the following conversion pathways:
Take a class.
Sign up for an audition.
See a show.
Ensure your homepage includes buttons that support all of these actions, leading users to the content that best suits their needs. Additionally, meet users where they are and capture their interest by:
Including a newsletter pop-up. A newsletter is the perfect catch-all lead capture. Whether users are parents eager to sign their child up for your beginner acting class, friends of your upcoming show’s lead looking to purchase tickets, or aspiring performers looking to learn more about your program, a newsletter helps you stay in contact with them and ensure they’re up to date on everything your organization has to offer.
Offering gated audition packets. If you simply post audition dates and information publicly on your website, you’re missing out on potential leads. While you’ll want to provide the basic information that potential auditionees and their parents will need to make an informed decision about whether to participate, consider turning audition materials into a lead magnet. That way, you can collect their contact information, and even if they don’t show up to auditions or get the lead part, you can follow up with other opportunities.
Providing multiple points of contact for different user types. If your team is getting questions about show tickets, audition season, and your current class schedule to the same inbox, some messages may slip through the cracks. Instead, you may create different email addresses for different segments, such as tickets@shiningstars.com, auditions@shiningstars.com, and classes@shiningstars.com, and display them prominently on your website so interested users can send their questions to the right place.
In addition to your regular newsletter, your performing arts email marketing strategy should feature segmented communications to address the needs and interests of different audiences. These highly targeted messages may include:
Automated audition-to-class funnel emails. When you send your official cast list announcement, there will inevitably be performers who didn’t make the cut but may still be interested in participating in your program. Automate an email to these families offering them a discount for an introductory class, such as audition preparation or beginner improv, so they can still be part of your organization.
Cast member-specific materials. For those who do make it into your show, you may create a dedicated cast email segment to send role assignments, scripts, music tracks, the rehearsal schedule, and any deadlines performers and their parents need to be aware of throughout the season.
VIP and alumni pre-sale announcements. When show time arrives, develop an email segment for past donors, program alumni, and parents of the cast, so you can notify them about ticket sales before they go live to the general public. That way, you can secure early revenue and make those most likely to buy tickets feel special with exclusive access.
Further personalize these communications by including recipients’ names and information about their relationship with your program to encourage them to click through and engage with your content.
Use Studio Pro’s email marketing tools, including:
Robo-Mailer™, where you can schedule messages, send attachments, and reach out to different segments, such as cast members, parents, or program alumni.
Lead Center, where you can create automated email sequences to follow up with leads, personalize messages based on each lead’s stage in the conversion process, and set up discounts and promo codes.
Emails are great for longer, more detailed communications, but for short messages, opt for text messaging. For instance, your performing arts program may use SMS marketing to:
Send pertinent updates and reminders, such as your cast list announcement.
Check in with leads.
Manage class waitlists.
Announce box office flash sales.
Before contacting anyone via text message, you’ll want to make sure to collect double opt-ins, meaning recipients provide their full consent twice to confirm you’re allowed to contact them via text.
Leverage Studio Pro’s text messaging tools, including:
Robo-Texter™, where you can customize, schedule, and send text messages to students, parents, staff, and alumni.
Lead Center, where you can automate texts to leads to keep them engaged.
Spread awareness of your upcoming show with the broader community through a press release. Local newsletters will likely be thrilled to feature behind-the-scenes content that showcases your students’ hard work and encourages people to attend the performances.
Additionally, depending on your budget, consider sending complimentary tickets to local arts bloggers, radio hosts, and newspaper arts editors. While their reviews might not come in time for you to generate more ticket sales for your current show, they’ll provide legitimate sources praising the program that you can use in the future to demonstrate to prospects why your performing arts center is worthwhile.
Earn some extra revenue and drum up excitement for your show by selling heartfelt keepsakes and cast engagement opportunities, such as:
Branded merchandise featuring your show’s name and date
Playbill messages where friends and family can show their support for their performers
Candy grams that parents and fellow cast members can send as a pre-show “break a leg” treat
Sell these items on your website and in the lobby before your show. Promote this offering on social media, email, and SMS to encourage participation.
With Studio Pro’s Point-of-Sale System, you can set up your very own Online Store, where you can:
Upload product photos.
Add descriptions.
Set your own prices.
Keep important program communications in one place with a personalized mobile app. Studio Pro enables you to tailor your app with your program’s branding so it’s clear it belongs to your organization.
Students and parents can download this app from the Apple or Google Play app store. Then, you can use your program’s mobile app to:
Share audition and class registration links.
Send rehearsal, event, and performance reminders and updates via push notifications.
Share behind-the-scenes videos and photos of performers.
Collect UGC from your performers for social media.
Ultimately, your mobile app acts as a central hub where you can easily stay in touch with current customers, keeping them engaged every step of the way.
See how well your performing arts marketing strategy stacks up by completing the health check quiz below:
To fill your audition slots, classes, and audience seats, you need a solid performing arts marketing strategy. With a mix of different online and offline channels, you’ll meet prospects, leads, current customers, and ticket buyers exactly where they are with the content most relevant to them.
Take your performing arts marketing to the next level with Studio Pro. By combining our marketing features with additional theatre program management tools, you’ll keep everything organized, providing a streamlined, stress-free experience for students, parents, and staff. Get a free 30-day trial of Studio Pro to ensure top-notch program marketing and management.
To learn more about how Studio Pro can support your youth performing arts center, check out the following resources:
Performing Arts Center Software | Start with Studio Pro. Explore our performing arts center software solution tailored to programs like yours.
Studio Registration Software | Get Started with Studio Pro. Learn how Studio Pro can help you manage classes, rehearsals, and auditions.
Event Ticketing and Management Tools | Studio Pro. Dive deeper into Studio Pro’s tools for event ticketing and management that you can leverage for your next performance.