Performing Arts Marketing - Are Posters Obsolete?

Time was when distributing and putting up posters to promote an upcoming show, play run or performance made up the bulk of marketing efforts for a performing arts group. Between large posters and small handbills or postcards, advertising could be done relatively cheaply and potential audience members were trained to look for the posters on bulletin boards and shop windows to see what the upcoming performing arts events were. But, have those times changed? Are posters becoming obsolete, ineffective and a waste of money for performing arts marketing?

The fact is, it depends on your area, your community, your audience and your competition as to whether posters can still work for your organization or not. Chances are, you can definitely no longer get away with just using posters as the only way to spread the word about your upcoming shows. The world of advertising has become complicated and multi-dimensional. Before you give up on postering all together, you need to evaluate your other marketing options and find out how best to spend your limited marketing budget.

How are audience members finding available shows? Increasingly they are going to the internet to find entertainment calendars and order tickets. Others still gather their information from print advertising-newspapers and other print publications. Also, you've got television and radio advertising to consider. If you live in a relatively dense urban area, people may still see your posters-but if you are in a smaller town (even a mid-size town with a strong suburban element), you may need to really target your postering and scale down the efforts, or you might be able to do away with posters all together.