Every day I see upcoming events posted.

Great!

But they’ve just been posted by the hosting organization for that same evening or the next night.

Folks need to know a little more in advance if you want guests other than those associated with the event or program. I had to ask some families about a yearly marching band competition last week, thinking it might have been canceled. No, it is for this weekend and today, I finally saw a post for the event.

“Come eat at this restaurant to support our cause” – almost always posted on the day of the event. No! No! No!

I see high schoolers posting that they are in a show or have a big concert. “Come see me perform in my school’s musical.” No further details.

When I’ve commented to folks hosting or associated with poorly advertised events, I receive responses such as, “I’ve been so busy,” “my friends posted it and I just copied and pasted,” or “if we post too early people will forget.”

If you’re too busy, hand your marketing off to someone else to accomplish.

If you copied and pasted from a friend’s post, at least take a second to locate the needed information.

Too early? Well, first, you can never be TOO early with letting folks know. Then, post regular reminders that occur more frequently as you get closer to your event.

One theatre company posted its show’s information on July 5th. I wanted to see the show at the end of July or early August but could find nothing. I went to their Facebook site and needed to scroll all the way back to July 5th and it was the week of the show – nearly a month later.

Ironically, I often run across posts saying there are many seats remaining for shows or later comments about how poorly attended their production or concert was. Hmmm… the marketing math to figure this out is pretty simple.

There is often a part of me that wants to boycott an event that is not marketed in a timely manner; however, it usually boils down to what I did not know in advance. I am also connected via social media to many of the organizations, events, and personnel who are lazy with their communication.

Alter High School does a fantastic job of alerting its audiences to the upcoming start of the ticket sales for a show, and they always include all the information needed for the production itself.

Today, Beavercreek Community Theatre announced its season which begins in the fall of 2023. Yes, it is a long way off but I am confident they will continue to masterfully handle their communications and marketing as they have done so for many years.

It’s very simple to plan and organize a marketing strategy.

Congratulations and THANK YOU to those organizations that communicate! I appreciate you and I am sure others do as well.