A few weeks ago, I wrote about how Adva Mobile can help you increase your revenue by merchandise sales. In this blog post, I would like to expand upon how Adva can help you not only sell merchandise, but also grow your fanbase using the contest feature.

So what is the contest feature and how can it be used?

Tim Lee, a comedian from Los Angeles, is regularly using the Contest feature to build his fan base at shows.  

Here’s how he does it:

1) Right at the beginning of his show, he sets up a contest on the portal to start at 8pm (show start) and end at 9pm (sort of the middle of his show)

2) Early into his show, he tells fans that they can win a T- Shirt by texting in (he’s GETFUN) to 444999.

3) The fans text in, get to the contest page, and they enter the contest.

4) Just after 9pm, the contest ends, and everyone who joined gets a text saying if they won or not.

5) The Winner brings his/her phone to the merch table after the show to pick up their T-Shirt.

And how are the results? He’s seeing about one third of the audience join the contest. This is very important because our purpose is to grow our fanbase here, and the more fans’ information you have (phone number, carrier, zip code) the more effective your future contests or merchandise efforts will be.

If you’ve set up an email sign up list at a show before, you probably noticed that despite the turnout, only a few people sign up. For this reason, having ⅓ or 33% turn out at the end of contests is a big win for the artist.

So let’s recap: First we announced the contest at the beginning of the show, then we asked if people want to win a tshirt and for those who said yes, we asked them to text in to 444999. After they text in, they get to the contest page and enter. After the contest ends, they receive a text giving them the result. The winner gets a second text announcing that he/she won.

But what about everyone else who did not win? For them, you can provide a discount coupon at the merchandise table. You would be surprised how much a small discount can incentivize people when it comes to merchandise sales, so this should drive up your revenue.

To sum up, by using contests at shows you can grow your fanbase and reach out to your fans, which should increase your future ticket sales considerably. Additionally, by giving away discount codes to those who have joined the contests, you reward them for both giving out their information, and also for being loyal fans. In the end, contests will help you drive up your revenue from your art.

Adva Mobile is a marketing services and technology company for creative artists. Using Adva’s mobile services, you can let your fans learn about your latest creative work, run contests, take surveys, reach out to your superfans and engage with them.

Visit our video on https://bit.ly/2Huqk31 to get started!

Alper Tuzcu is a Berklee College of Music and Denison University alumni, and a Boston based guitarist, songwriter and producer. His new EP ‘Lines’ was released on November 2017 and his debut eclectic album ‘Between 12 Waters’ featuring 8 different vocalists is available on Spotify. In addition to being a musician, he regularly teaches workshops and masterclasses internationally. You can follow him on Instagram or Twitter, and for more information you can visit his website www.alpertuzcu.com