Marketing and Publicity Guide

As a registered event, you'll receive:

• An event listing on the Midsumma website
• Inclusion in the festival program and event marketing campaigns
• Opportunities to be featured in Midsumma eNews and social media content
• Access to Midsumma branding assets
• Marketing advice and support from the Midsumma team
• Potential publicity opportunities through Midsumma's media activity

While Midsumma promotes the Festival as a whole, producers are responsible for promoting their individual events.

If you only do three things, do these well:

1. Create a strong event image

Your hero image is often the first thing people see.

Choose an image that is:

• High resolution
• Clear and easy to understand
• Visually striking at small sizes
• Representative of the event experience
• Free of text, logos, borders and overlays

Simple images usually perform better than complicated ones.

2. Write clear event copy

People should understand your event within seconds.

Answer:

• What is it?
• Who is it for?
• Why should someone attend?
• What makes it special?

Avoid jargon, artist statements, and overly academic language.

3. Know your audience

Don't try to market to everyone.

Think about:

• Who will love this event?
• Where do they spend time online?
• What communities are they connected to?
• Which organisations already speak to them?

The more specific your audience, the easier it is to reach them.

Your event will be listed in the Official Festival Program Guide and on midsumma.org.au. Your event 'promotional copy' (event description) is an important component to make your event stand out from the crowd.

Positioning

This is where you describe what you are presenting to the public. It is the key messaging used to communicate WHAT your event is and WHY your audience should buy a ticket.

In deciding your positioning, you should consider the following:

• The key elements of the event: cast, venue, themes, story, dates, conditions of entry etc. For example, La Mama will be transformed into a Kit Kat Club, featuring stunning performances by drag queens Bianca Del Rio and Peppermint.

• The aims and objectives of the event: Does your event have an end outcome for the attendee?
  e.g. You will leave the Beautiful Women exhibition with a new appreciation of beauty that is more than skin-deep.

• Special interest area: Does your event raise awareness of a cause or explore a specific theme? e.g. STATUS is aimed at educating about HIV stigma.

• Experience offered: can you boost people's experience, such as "drinks on arrival", or "book signing with author" etc.

• Unique elements: mention elements that only your event offers. e.g. "For only 15 audience members at a time" or "Melbourne premiere screening".

• By asking yourself these questions, you will be able to keep your communication concise, your key messaging consistent, and, hopefully, your event more attractive to potential attendees.

Other things to consider about your event positioning…

Price

• Is the ticket price right for your target audience?

• Is the ticket price right for your venue?

• Is there value for money at your price point?

• Is there an appropriate range of ticket options? (eg. concession, group, family)

• Do you need to alter price points to encourage attendance at particular sessions? (eg. Cheap Tuesdays)

• Are there additional costs the attendees will need to consider? (eg. parking, beverages, meals) 

Convenience

Making your event easier to attend:

• Ticket distribution – ensure you promote midsumma.org.au as the main point of sale to ensure uniformity across the entire Festival program.

• Are the dates and times appropriate for the target audience?

• Is your venue easy to get to?

• Public transport information will be included in your Festival guide listing.

Target Audience

In order to ensure your marketing and publicity campaign has the best impact; you need to be aware of your event's target audience. Your target audience is the demographic most likely to attend your event. Think about their behaviour (e.g. enjoy attending cultural activities), demographic (e.g. lesbians who live in and around Melbourne, aged 30+) and where do they go to hear about upcoming events (e.g. local radio stations such as JOY Media and Triple RRR). Identify the best mediums to reach members of your audience and tailor your communications to suit them!
 

When communicating with your audience, aim to appeal, differentiate and spark interest.

Event Title

You can call your event whatever you like. We recommend you keep length to a few words rather than unwieldy long titles. While it might seem clever at the time, it can compromise where your event is ultimately listed (website and social media character limits for instance).
 

Please note that you can't use "Midsumma" in the title of your event (only events produced by Midsumma may use this). However, we do encourage you to use the words 'As part of Midsumma Festival' as well as the Midsumma logo on your own promotional material.

Event tagline

This is one line of text to sum up the tone and premise of your event, e.g. "T Dance: Melbourne's ultimate queer outdoor dance party". Or it can be a media quote, if you have one, for example: "Queer comedy genius! ****" - Rolling Stone.

Event promotional copy

You will need to provide two versions of the event copy, one for the Official Festival Program Guide (200 characters max, approx 30 - 40 words) and a slightly longer version for the website (200 - 300 words).

What makes good copy?

• Think simple and clear. It's important to remember that although your show might hold a complex message or be super-edgy, the primary purpose of your event copy is to get the audiences to your show.

• Cause some intrigue, but try not to confuse your audiences and turn them off buying a ticket.

  Check past programs: the best advice is to check out Midsumma Program Guides from previous years and see what resonates with you.

• Avoid slang, unless you only want people who are familiar with that slang to attend.

• Get feedback: show your copy to someone else first. It's best to get feedback from family or friends who you think might enjoy the event, but who are not already too familiar with the content. Do they know what to expect to experience at your event from what they have read?

• It's a free Program Guide, available to all. That includes children and young people so even if your event is pitched as Adult Only, your copy should not be.

Capture Your Audience

A promotional image is one of the most important elements to the success of your event.

Your promotional image (sometimes called 'key image' or 'hero image') is one of the most vital tools in attracting an audience or reviewer's attention. It should be striking; represent your event truthfully; and be taken by a skilled photographer to optimise your chances for promoting your event. Read on for some hints and tips to help you choose your best image.

TRY TO NAIL THESE:

Choose a single hero image and use it across all of your artwork: posters, flyers, advertisements, etc. This helps people become familiar with your show.
Keep it simple: Your image will be used in large and small formats so often the most striking images are the most simple (see sample shapes below).
Use a professional photographer if at all possible.
Consider the composition as there are a few basic rules of photography to keep in mind when taking your photo such as the rule of thirds, cropping, framing, etc. Have a read of 10 Top Photography Composition Rules for more information if you are shooting the image yourself.
Go for colour and contrast: Like bees to flowers, bright coloured or high contrast images are most likely to attract audiences and media.
Send JPEGS (or other high resolution formats .EPS or .TIFF). Do not send PDF images or screenshots as these cannot be used.
Keep your options open: Midsumma will sometimes have the opportunity to promote your event amongst others with paid (boosted) social media posts. Please note, Facebook and Instagram will not accept nudity, coarse language or text heavy images. Journalists in the media are also unlikely to pick up poor quality photos, or images with text on them.

TRY TO AVOID:

Including words/text on your image - even just the title is distracting, tricky for social, and shows up badly in print: It is important to send us an image with no text (titles, dates or logos) so we can use it in several shapes and formats across the website and potentially social media. The image we require should not be confused with flyer/poster artwork that you might create (which may have the title of your show, venue and dates on it). Your registration may not be accepted if you do not supply a non-text image.
Including logos on images can be conflicting: You will be asked to resupply a clean image if you have any logos visible in the print area of the image. This is for a few reasons such as potential conflict with Midsumma's overarching sponsors and it will reduce your chances of further promotion through Midsumma or other media channels.
A photo taken on your smartphone may not be the best quality: unless it is of a really high resolution. And we recommend getting the image professionally edited.
Highly detailed images can look too busy: avoid images that contain lots of content. The program guide images are small, so simplicity works best.
Rainbow filters: We recommend you don't use a rainbow filter over an image. Rainbow filters do not reproduce well in the printed guide, and let's face it, every event in the Midsumma program has a rainbow context. 
Image borders: don't add borders to your image as they will not be able to be resized if other promotional opportunities arise.
PDFs: We cannot use PDF images or screenshots.

Image Specifications

In Eventotron, you will be prompted to upload your hero image. Make sure you have a high quality (minimum 300 dpi) version of your image. Upload the same high quality image for each image request and Eventotron will automatically resize it for each platform.

If you do decide to, keep these things in mind:

• Keep it snappy, 30 seconds is a good amount of time for a promo video
• Make sure the footage is reasonable quality, that it's in focus, etc.
• If you use sound, make sure it's audible/ decipherable
• Make sure the credits include the key information about the event: title, date, times, location, ticketing info.
• Be creative, this is a piece of art in itself so go wild as long as the end result still represents your event.

You can upload MPEG files or links to your video when you register your event. After 23 August, please email them to [email protected]

Social media is still one of the most useful free marketing tools, but organic reach continues to decline across most platforms.

Rather than posting constantly, focus on meaningful content.

Good content includes:

• Behind-the-scenes photos
• Rehearsal footage
• Artist introductions
• Venue previews
• Audience testimonials
• Creative process updates
• Countdown reminders

Less effective content:

• Repeated "Tickets on sale now" posts
• Posters reposted every day
• Generic event listings

A useful rule:

Show people why the event matters before asking them to buy a ticket.

Tag Midsumma

When posting:

• Tag Midsumma where relevant FB @midsumma IG @midsummafestival
• Use #Midsumma
• Include your ticket link (in a Linktree)
• Encourage collaborators and venues to share your content

A note about LGBTQIA+ content

Many social platforms continue to inconsistently moderate LGBTQIA+, trans and drag-related content.

To avoid unnecessary restrictions:

• Use clear, community-focused language
• Avoid excessive text on images
• Ensure event information also exists on your website and event page
• Build an email list where possible rather than relying entirely on social media

Don't put all your eggs in one platform.

If you have an email list, use it.

Even a list of 50 people can outperform social media.

Send:

• Event announcements
• Artist updates
• Special offers
• Final week reminders

Keep emails short and include a clear call-to-action.

One link. One action. One goal.

The most effective marketing is often borrowed trust.

Ask:

• Venues to share your event
• Artists to post about the project
• Community groups to include it in newsletters
• Partner organisations to promote it
• Other Midsumma producers to cross-promote

A single share from the right organisation can be worth more than weeks of posting.

As a Midsumma Festival Producer, you receive a 20% discount to advertise your event in the Midsumma Festival Printed Guide.

This is a unique opportunity to purchase extra promotion for your Midsumma event inside the printed guide at a reduced rate. The program guide will be launched in late November. The deadline for all advertising inquiries will be in August. View all of the prices and specs here, or during your registration in Eventotron.

Request the Midsumma Media Kit to view rates and specs or email [email protected] for more information.

Not every event will receive media coverage, and that's okay.

Media outlets receive hundreds of pitches during festival season.

Focus on what makes your event newsworthy.

Ask yourself:

• Is it a premiere?
• Does it tell a unique story?
• Does it highlight an underrepresented voice?
• Is there a timely issue connected to the work?
• Is there an interesting local angle?

Keep media releases simple

One page is enough.

Include:

• Event title
• Dates and venue
• Short description
• Your key story angle
• Contact details
• High-resolution images

If you're sending images, provide a download link with photographer credits included. Follow the Midsumma Media Release Template

Interviews

Know your audience before the interview. Research the station/publication/website so you know what the audience is and what they will want to hear.

Don't assume that the interviewer knows anything about your show, be ready to go in and explain everything!

Giveaways might assist in securing an interview. Inform the interviewer that you have tickets you can make available for a giveaway. Most media outlets will have procedures that govern how they manage giveaways.

We have created a draft timeline for you, have a think about what your event requires and expand upon the below. Each event is different though, so this should only be used as a guide and doesn't take into account long-lead publications for media releases.

• During your registration – finalise your promo image, event description and venue in time to register your event for the upcoming Midsumma Festival.
• Start September – collate all biographies of the team for Media and finalise all key information that might not have been included at registration.
• Start October – finalise media release and supply to Midsumma Marketing Team for the program launch (late November).
• End November (6 weeks out) - tickets on sale, brief media, stakeholders and advocates
• Start December (5 weeks out) - direct mail out, upload free event listings, cross promote through other networks, slow build social media campaign.
• Early January (2 weeks out) - social media really kicks off, send email specifically about the show to your networks, print distribution around town, advocates activate word of mouth.
• Early January (2 weeks out) - media coverage, social media continues, advertising commences.
• Early January (1 week out) - media coverage, email reminder, get production shots taken, if required.
• During the event – share reviews, media coverage, share stories and audience responses on social media.

Online listings are websites where you can submit your event to be listed for free.

Beyond Midsumma, consider:

• Local council What's On pages
• Community newsletters
• Local libraries
• Arts industry newsletters
• University and student publications
• Community radio stations
• Event listing websites
• Local LGBTQIA+ community groups

• Your local Council's "What's on" page
• Weekend Notes
• Arts News Portal
• City of Melbourne/What's on
• Eventfinda
• Eventful
• Visit Victoria
• Live Guide
• A List Guide

Posters and flyers can work, but only if people will actually see them.

Before printing, ask:

• Where will they be distributed?
• Who will distribute them?
• Will they reach your audience?

In many cases, digital assets shared through partners and community networks deliver better value.

For additional marketing support:

• Creative Australia Marketing Resources
• ArtsHub Marketing Articles
• Mailchimp Email Marketing Guides
• Canva Design School
• Meta Business Resource Centre