An event marketing plan that fits on two pages

A usable event marketing plan answers five questions: who's coming, where do they already pay attention, what will we say, when, and what does each ticket cost to sell. Here's the structure — steal it.

1. Audience, defined till it's useful

'Everyone who likes music' plans nothing. '25–40s within 25 minutes who went to things like X' picks your channels for you. Write three sentences: who they are, where they hear about nights out, and what their alternatives cost — the last one sets your price ceiling too (see pricing).

2. Channels, ranked by evidence

3. The timeline

1. T-6 weeks: announce + on-sale (list first, 24–48h early), early-bird urgency.
2. T-5 to 2: one reason to care per week (lineup, story, collaborators). Silence is the campaign's commonest death.
3. Final fortnight: paid retargeting on, momentum facts, practical content.
4. Final 72h: last-release mechanics, 'know before you go', the door-price anchor working for you.

4. Budget and the only five metrics

• Budget: 10–15% of target gross all-in; most of it time — track time honestly or the plan lies.
• Metrics: tickets/week vs target, cost per ticket by channel, list growth, page conversion rate, advance-vs-door share. Everything else is dashboard theatre.