Marketing your event can be one of the scariest things when putting on a show. Often, we don’t consider ourselves marketeers, and it can feel very overwhelming.

We’ve put together some top-level advice for how to market your show.

• SMART goals stand for specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and timely. Keeping your goals SMART helps you avoid running with vague goals like “sell some tickets” 

• SMART goals have a dual purpose: to give you direction when planning and implementing your event and to help you decide whether or not your event was a success (and if it wasn’t, to know how to improve). 

• An example of a SMART event marketing goal would be to “sell 100 tickets for my Brighton Fringe event.” This goal is specific (selling tickets for this event) measurable (100 tickets), attainable and relevant (assuming you carry out enough marketing), and timely (by the end of the event).

• To engage your audience, it’s best to promote your event throughout the weeks and months leading up to it.  

• It helps to outline a promotion timeline so you know when and what to release. 

• It’s also wise to organise multiple touch points for audiences i.e. include a variety (social media, print ads, paid ads, emails) to reach the maximum amount of people. The most times people come across your poster, the more likely they are to become interested in your event.

• To market your event, you must know what information and content to market. 

• Before moving further, establish your event’s name, theme, brand, and purpose. Why should people attend? What will they gain? Who might enjoy it?

Who does your event appeal to? 

Think about: 

• Characteristics such as age, gender, sexuality, race.  

• Lifestyle such as what they do for work, if they are a parent,  

• Interests – hiking, music, comedy etc. 

• Location - are they likely to be based in a certain area of Brighton and Hove? E.g. families are likely to live in areas like Hollingbury, and LGBTQ+ people might live in Kemptown. 

• The Audience Spectrum is a useful tool for determining who your audience is.

• Good design catches the attention of event-goers.  

• Make it fun or dramatic, and include an engaging design and clear copy.  

• Use pictures of real people or past events where possible — stock photos and AI generate images can be off-putting for audiences.  

• Write catchy copy that draws people in, intrigues them about your event, and gives them a taste of what to expect. 

• When creating marketing content, aim to create video trailers and teasers if you have the capacity.  

• Videos are more effective than still images in social media and capture what your event is about, letting audiences know whether or not your event is for them.  

• We have a previous recording of a Green Room Session (FKA Fringe Academy) on Creating a Trailer. Watch for cheap, free, and easy tips on creating video marketing. 

You must use the correct version of the Brighton Fringe logo on all posters and flyers. Though the purple we use is synonymous with Brighton Fringe, often white or black will stand out better on your poster. 

Download the official Brighton Fringe logo in purple, black, or white here.

*If you would like to request the official logo in an alternative colour to better suit your advertising, please email [email protected] and we will do our best to help. Please note: this will not always be an option depending on capacity and deadlines. 

Check out the Brand Guidelines for best practice on using the logo and fonts here.

We no longer offer footer/header templates for your flyers, as we want artwork to stand out, and all posters with the same header and footer tend to blend in. If you need support with how to format your details in poster, or need help with a footer (your poster may have a complex image where text isn’t visible), book in a call via The Green Room Hotline. 

If you are using Canva or another online free software, you will need to use:

'Brighton Fringe Purple'  

CMYK: 62 84 0 0  

RGB: #7F3F98

Font: DIN Next

Your posters and flyers should include: the Brighton Fringe logo, times, dates, location and prices of your event and performances.  

Please note: If you edit your event title in Eventotron after your listing is live on the website, the URL will also change, please take this into account when making QR codes.

Please ensure you have read and understood flyering restrictions set by Brighton & Hove City Council before printing materials. 

You can download our Press Release Template here.

Brighton Fringe is committed to supporting and guiding all participants as much as possible to boost their experience, but we only hold the responsibility to market the festival itself, not the individual events. 

We have several in-house marketing options that can support events and venues; A0 and A2 correx posters, A4 and 3-sided lamppost boards, and heras fencing all in key locations around Brighton. Additionally, we have several digital advertising options as well as ad space in our official Brighton Fringe brochure. 

Event Managers can book all physical advertising through our registration platform, Eventotron, while digital marketing can be purchased through emailing [email protected]