A Checklist For Promoting Your Exhibition Or Event
We’ve read some brilliant journals announcing exhibitions and events but we’ve also come across a few that require an investigative team to piece together exactly what the event is and in which country it’s being held. We understand this may be a result of sheer exhaustion after orgainising a venue, framing all your work and arranging enough booze for opening night, so we’ve whipped up a few tips on writing an announcement about your event to help you over the finish line.
When writing your announcement, begin by thinking about your audiences. It’s likely that there will be more than one. Consider potential attendees, people who will offer their support and congratulations (even a small ego boost can help squash pre-event nerves), local press or media, your peers and potential buyers. What would these audiences want to know about your work and your event?
- Is it a solo or group exhibition, installation, meet up or other event?
- What shoud we expect?
- Does it have a title or a particular theme?
- Where is the exhibition being held? (We’re a global audience so don’t forget the country)
- What are the dates of the event or exhibition?
- Is there an opening night?
- Does the gallery or venue have a website you can link us to?
- Have you had any press or blog coverage? If so, son’t be shy about sharing these.
- How did the opportunity arise? Why were you motivated to take part?
- Are you exhibiting with other artists from the RedBubble community?
- Would you like to invite other Bubblers to attend if they live locally?
- Is there a Facebook event page for your event?
A copy of the flyer or advertisement can look impressive but keep in mind that the content or keywords on an image or graphic won’t be indexed by external search engines. A written announcement is better for SEO so if you do include a flyer, it’s worth combining it with written information about your event. You never know who might come across your work as a result of your post so don’t forget to tag and title your journal appropriately. We’re always looking for events to feature in the Weekly Wrap so good tagging will also increase your chances of a mention.
Both artists and art lovers like looking at pictures. A solid block of text can be a missed opportunity so try to include some images in your post. Perhaps share a few of the works that will be on show, a picture of the gallery or your workspace or studio. Consider taking some images of the exhibition or event – perhaps on opening night or behind the scenes as you set up. Artists reading your post will also be fascinated by details of how you put things together and how the event was arranged.
And consider that not everyone is just around the corner (or even on the same continent). If you can share a little bit of the magic with those on the other side of the world, we’ll feel like we came along for the ride. Perhaps consider a behind the scenes journal as a follow up after the exhibition, with a few highlights or lessons learnt from the experience.
Do you have any tips you’ve picked up from writing your own press releases or announcements? We’d also like to see some great examples of the event announcements or overviews you’ve spotted around the bubble. Are there any artists who have done a great job of plugging their event or exhibition? What nuggets of information did you find most useful or engaging? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below.
