Phoenix Show will be returning on SUNDAY 28th June 2020
Just thought I'd post that here.
If you have any ideas of how we can improve advertising I'd love to hear them, I can only do what I know about and so far that consists of:
Making a post on every forum I have access too (If you're a member of one I don't post on, either let me know, or copy the post there for me?)
Contact Wargames Soldiers & Strategy, Wargames Illustrated, Miniature Wargames, Tabletop Gaming magazines and ask them to put us in their magazines in the shows section (done so every year to all of them and never got a listing yet! They've already been contacted for 2020, so done well in advance)
Advertise the event on Facebook.
- Paid advertising by promoting the event page (3 hour travel radius round Penrith)
- Paid advertising promoting the actual page (3 hour travel radius round Penrith)
- Sharing the event page in every group I can think of that may have a relevant audience
and also allows occasional posting of events (not as many as you'd think)
Flyers. Last year we handed out 6000 flyers. Most were through going to events in the
North of England and in Scotland and physically handing out flyers to people (as well as putting a
stack "on the door"
Flyers given to our traders to put in orders, take to shows we couldn't attend
Website, which has the date for the next show and a list of traders (obviously at the moment the list is for last year's traders until this year's confirm!)
Local Radio, we've been mentioned in local radio "what to do this weekend" events
Event Venue promotion, we appear in the printed literature produced by the venue itself, as well as appear on their website
contacting show calendar sites (like bhgs, tring wargames club etc)
Twitter, we've got one of them too!
Join individual club pages on facebook and post in those (these usually get a frosty reception, as you aren't a proper club member
In the past we've also paid for half page adverts in a couple of the magazines but these were very very expensive and did absolutely nothing for us in return (at £100-£150 for a half page, and £3 per head entry, you have to get 50 extra people through the door just to pay for the advert!).
It's really hard to promote a wargames show, you'd be surprised how aggressive some facebook groups are at actively banning even a hint of promotion to an event. Traditional forums like this one are much more open but are increasingly getting less traffic, harder to find and in some cases can't sign up or are behind paywalls (As much as I'd like to I can't afford to join the society of ancient wargaming just to post on their forum about our show!)
We've got really good Search Engine Optimisation on the show's website too Just search the really generic "Wargames Show UK" and the Phoenix page will more than likely come on page 1! localise it to Penrith, Cumbria etc and it should come right at the top!
I'm genuinely open to more ways to advertise, and more places to put the adverts too. If you think there's something I've missed here PLEASE let me know. I share this to let you know what I've done, so if anyone spots any gaps you can help me fill them
Wargames shows are a tricky balance of traders, games, customers, without one the whole thing falls apart. Getting traders isn't as difficult as I thought it would be when I first started out (getting the right mix can be tricky though!), Getting games is pretty tough, but luckily we have a solid core of clubs and gamers round us who love to support the show and make the effort. Customers is by far the hardest part, convincing people to give up a day off and travel (potentially hundreds of miles!) then pay money to get through the door is really hard!
I try to promote the show as much as I can, and I realise we'll ALWAYS get people say we don't do enough, but realise I can always do better, so anywhere I've missed, please let me know!
This year we even got a world class sculptor to design a figure to give away on the door, it was really well received by those that attended, this was advertised well in advance, even by the sculptor himself!
Remember though, the best advertisement a show can get (any show, not just Phoenix) is YOU.
you came and liked your day? Post about it. Anywhere and everywhere.
Bang a tweet out "Had a great day at @XXXXX Show today, thanks for organising it!", Stick a post in your local wargames group's facebook group "Went to XXXX show today, more of us should attend next year, I really enjoyed it", seen a show report on a blog? Comment. "I went too, great day! thanks for the post!"
it doesn't take a lot of effort but it can have a HUGE impact on the attendance of a show.
People trust people they already know.
I can pop up on a forum, with my 5 posts and write about how awesome my show is, and it'll largely get ignored, but if YOU do it, when you're a 2000+ post veteran on your on local club's page saying how you're thinking of attending this wonderful show, people will take much more notice!