Dance recital ads are crucial to boost attendance for your studio’s year-end performance. You want your students to showcase their talents and hard work in front of an audience. Your students want to experience the joy and recognition of applause.
The student’s family will likely attend, but attracting outsiders is important to cultivating a full audience and driving revenue for your studio. This is where advertising comes in.
Creating advertising to promote your recital in the community is critical to driving attendance. If you’re not sure what to put in your recital ad, this article will help guide you.
We walk you through the process, starting with identifying your target audience. Then, you’ll get tips for writing effective ad copy, including a call-to-action to fill those seats. Once you understand who your audience is and the elements you need in your ad, you’re ready to start. Enjoy a few suggestions you can use today to make the process easier as you focus on other tasks for your recital.
Understanding Your Audience
Before composing your dance recital ad, you must decide who its audience is. You may, in fact, have several target audiences, such as:
- Parents and family members
- Community residents
- Media and press
- Dance enthusiasts
- Desired guest artists or teachers
- Potential students
For instance, if your studio recital features mostly young children, your ad will mainly target their families. You may also want to invite kids who are most likely to become students:
- Friends of current pupils
- Children in after-school care
- Kids in activities that benefit from dance
Who’s in that last category? Think of gymnasts, figure skaters, and children who like musical theater, for example.
Did you know that dance classes are going viral for college gymnasts? With scores capped at a perfect 10 in NCAA women’s competition, athletes are looking for any edge they can get. And high school athletes planning to compete in college will want to get a jump on that.
If your dance studio is more of an elite academy, your audience will be different. You want to attract the best dancers in your area, especially those looking to broaden or level up their training.
You could also invite guest teachers you would like to bring in for workshops. Are you in a large urban area? Don’t forget to invite company artistic directors and university dance department chairs. These are people who may be auditioning your students in the near future.
General members of the community may not be interested in a dance recital featuring tiny tots. But if you’re presenting top-tier dancers or a story ballet, that will draw a bigger audience. Area residents may want to attend just like they would any other professional performance.
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Tailor your ad specifically to your intended audience. You may actually need several ads if you’re trying to appeal to multiple targets.
Say you’re targeting family members plus places where other kids would be interested in dance classes. Maybe that’s a gymnastics academy in the same plaza or an ice skating rink down the road.
You will probably need two different ads, one for each. The family ad will focus on supporting the kids and seeing how far they’ve come. Your goal is to highlight progress and encourage re-enrollment.
The ad may also include reminders about times, fees, and free tickets. For instance, you might give parents two free tickets and charge for remaining family members.
Your ad for nearby athletes, though, will concentrate on how dance improves performance in related sports. You might feature a photo of a student who excels in dance and acrobatics. Including a discount coupon for your next enrollment session with each ticket could also sweeten the deal.
Key Elements of Dance Recital Ads
All dance recital ads should include certain basic information:
- Recital location (and possibly directions or a map)
- Door and curtain time for the event (and length, optional)
- Ticket prices, seating information, and how to purchase
- Rain date and cancellation information if outside
- Show theme and who is performing
- Name of your dance studio and contact information
Next, add information that applies to your selected audience segments.
For example, imagine you’re putting on a production of Sleeping Beauty. There will be some small children performing, but there will also be several exceptional students in the lead roles.
You can include a photograph of the dancer playing Aurora, along with a brief bio. She might be heading to Julliard in the fall or have studied at the School of American Ballet summer workshop last summer.
You want your audience to appreciate your star’s prestigious background. And you can tell them it’s their chance to see an up-and-comer before she hits the big time.
Images are ideal because they translate well across all media. You may want to post your ad in multiple places, such as:
- Your studio’s website
- Prominent places at the studio
- Your studio’s newsletter
- Social media posts
- Posters at area businesses
- In the local newspaper
You’ll likely need different sizes. For instance, newspaper ads can be costly, so you may want a small one there. But you could print flyers or poster-size copies of your ad to hang around town to catch people’s eyes. Either way, images are helpful.
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Ensure you use clear, attractive graphics that match your studio’s aesthetic, too. Remember, all your ads should be part of your unified brand image. Colors and fonts should match your logo and other business design elements.
Every ad should feature a call-to-action (CTA). A CTA tells the viewer what you want them to do, like:
- Purchase your tickets today!
- Selling out fast — don’t wait to get your tickets!
- Reserve your seats now for the best views!
- See what’s going on in your local arts community!
- Support your kids and their hard work this year!
- Learn what dance classes are all about!
Place information about purchasing tickets or reserving seats near your CTA. This makes it easy for the ad viewer to follow through.
Then, be sure it’s simple for your audience to do that. You might use a ticket agency to handle seating for a major production. Or you could allow people to purchase tickets through your studio website.
Dedicate staff or parent volunteers to man phones for people who call with questions. Record an outgoing message pertaining to the recital for people who call after hours. Make certain to call back anyone who requests a response.
How You Can Start Writing a Dance Recital Ad Right Now
Ready to start writing your studio’s dance recital ad now? Here are some expert tips to get you started:
- Once you’ve identified your audience, start brainstorming messaging that might appeal to them. That will determine everything else in the ad. Create several drafts and run them by staff for feedback.
- Check out recital ads for other studios, especially your competitors. What works? What doesn’t? What can you learn from their marketing while still maintaining your own unique image?
- Don’t forget about your printed recital program for attendees. It should list performers in order of appearance and may include short bios or photos. You can use imagery from your recital ad to give everything a cohesive look.
- One way to make your recital more profitable is to sell program ads. Local businesses may wish to advertise. Parents may also want to take out congratulatory ads for their children. This has become a convention for graduating high school seniors.
- Short on time? Not gifted at writing or graphic design? You could hire a professional to help you with the ad. Think of it as an investment in growing your studio’s future roster.
- Another way to make the process more efficient is to use dance studio software. Some software programs give you templates for creating promotional materials, newsletters, and emails. Plus, they can help you manage email delivery, text reminders, and even costume inventory. The more items you can take off your plate at recital time, the smoother everything will run.
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Ready to see how The Studio Director software can help you target and promote your performances? Request a personalized 1:1 free demo now.
