Drama Teachers: How do you market your shows?

The Drama Teacher Podcast

Episode 177: Drama Teachers: How do you market your shows? If you want to build the audience that comes to see your shows, that means you have to do some marketing. Some people love it, some people hate it, and some are too busy trying to put the show together. Candice McMath talks about combining new marketing techniques with traditional in this week’s podcast. What worked? What didn’t How much was her budget? Tune in to find out. Show Notes Shuddersome Poster Shuddersome Trailer Little Theatre of Tuscarawas County Shuddersome: Tales of Poe Episode Transcript Welcome to the Drama Teacher Podcast brought to you by Theatrefolk – the Drama teacher resource company. I’m Lindsay Price. Hello! I hope you're well. Thanks for listening! This is Episode 177 and you can find any links to this episode in the show notes which are at Theatrefolk.com/episode177. Today, we are talking marketing. Ah! Marketing! Is that something you use to promote your shows to the community? Do you like marketing? Is it a dirty word? “Ugh! I hate marketing!” Is it something you never think about because, well, you don’t have time? You’re busy trying to put a show together! If you want to build the reach of your program and build the audience that comes to your shows, marketing is a must. We’re in a new age of marketing here in the good old 21st Century. Some of those old techniques, they don’t work as well anymore. But we’re so saturated online. How effective are new techniques? We’re going to talk with Candice McMath and her marketing strategy when she directed my play, Shuddersome: Tales of Poe. Let’s get to it. LINDSAY: All right, hello, everybody! I am sitting here with Candice McMath. Hello, Candice! CANDICE: Hey, Lindsay! How are you doing? LINDSAY: I am excellent! How are you today? CANDICE: I’m great! LINDSAY: Perfect. So, tell everybody where in the world you are. CANDICE: I am in New Philadelphia, Ohio, which is kind of in the middle of nowhere. But, if you draw a triangle between Cleveland, Ohio; Columbus, Ohio; and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, I’m right in the middle of it. LINDSAY: That is perfect! I love knowing where everybody is who we talk to, but I’m telling you, at least seven times out of ten, a name of a place is said and I’m like, “Well, I don’t know where that is.” But I’m a plain old visual learner so I am picturing the triangle and it’s given me exactly what I need. Candice, you wear a lot of hats. CANDICE: I do. LINDSAY: I know you as a director. You directed a production of my play Shuddersome – which is half of the reason that Candice is here – but you also do graphic design and posters. What is your true love? CANDICE: Well, my true love is art. I’ve always said that I am an artist, a teacher, and a maker of things. So, we didn’t have a whole lot of money when I was growing up. And so, I spent a lot of time entertaining myself and just, if there was something laying around that I could duct tape to something else or hot glue feathers on it, then I did it. So, that love of just creating things and being artistic translated into me getting a bachelor of arts in college. I majored in art because I loved it and business so I could eat. LINDSAY: So, you’re smart and creative. CANDICE: Well, I try to walk the line between the two. LINDSAY: Where does theatre fit into this puzzle for you? CANDICE: Well, theatre fits in for me the way I think it fits in for all of us who love to do theatre. There’s a part of me that just loves to show off and being able to do what I love and sing and dance or perform onstage for 90 minutes to 2 hours and just get to play dress-up and escape and entertain people is one thing I’ve always really loved. It’s just a really fun escapism to be able to partake in. You know, at the end of the day, you go back to your real life, but there’s a camaraderie and just a really fun exploration of art tha...