SMS Messaging for Artists and Performers

The entertainment industry is in the throes of a revolution. New technology, such as online streaming, has forever changed how artists and performers present themselves to the world. Many remain independent from big company labels. They schedule their own shows, and build their fan base using social media. There’s one tool though, they may be missing: SMS messaging.

Most artists and performers probably use SMS messaging all the time to talk with friends, family, and perhaps even their crew, drivers, or event managers. But it can be used to create demand for their shows, fill event halls, and increase sales of promotional items too.

The best way to explain the possibilities is with an example. Enter comedian Carlos Mencia. He travels to perform throughout North America and is often called an “equal-opportunity offender” as his jokes make fun of anyone and anything. He’s also been accused of plagiarism by other comedians, but his career is still thriving. That’s in part to his ability to get his fans to his shows whenever he’s in town.

And he certainly doesn’t rely on the event venue to do his advertising. Instead, he uses SMS messaging.

To get started, the first thing he needed to do was create a list of fans. So, at every show he asks the audience to text their email address to a specified number (a VMN probably). Ardent fans would willingly do so to get notified of upcoming events. But he makes an offer that’s too good for even casual fans to turn down: a chance to win free VIP tickets to one of his events in a “hot” location, like Las Vegas. Mencia says that they get about 300 new people on the list every week.

The second thing he needed to do was use that list effectively. It wouldn’t make sense to send out event notifications to people in New York when he’s performing in Ontario Canada. In fact, people might get frustrated and opt out if they kept getting notifications that weren’t relevant to them. So, he sorted the signups into cities – also known as “segmenting” in marketing language – so he would only send out notifications to people in the region he was performing. This way, people in Ontario get the message about his shows without bothering people in New York, Miami or LA.

The SMS messages about his events always include a link to buy tickets, and they send them out about a week in advance. He says that they sell out their shows faster using text messaging than they do with social media.  And that makes sense. Social media is a one-to-many medium. Chances are only a small percentage of followers will actually see any announcement in their feed.

But SMS messaging puts the information, and the ability to buy tickets, directly in front of his fans. His sold-out shows prove how effective it can be, especially when it’s used in a smart way that excites, not frustrates, fans.

If you’re an independent artist or performer, you can see from Mencia’s example of how SMS messaging can help increase ticket sales. But it can also be used to promote other items fans may like.

For example, you could send links to purchase a recording of the live show that the fan just attended. They were there, hopefully enjoyed the show (they are a fan, right?), and might jump at the chance to add it to their collection. They’ll have a personal connection to that recording, more so than just any live recording.

You could extend that to other promotional items too. DVDs, MP3s, pictures (signed perhaps?), T-shirts and any other items you think fans may want. Of course, you’d need to test out how these offers worked with your fan base. Some may work better than others.

SMS messaging offers an effective, easy, and relatively low cost way to directly connect with fans even better than using social networks. Give it a try and see how quickly you can sell out your next event!