How To Sell Out a Nigerian Comedy Show
Nigerian comedy show has grown to be a huge part of the entertainment industry in Nigeria, with comedians raking more than thirty million for a single show.
Nigerians are generally very jovial and humorous, and it takes a lot of effort to be able to gather a crowd of Nigerians in one room with the sole aim of making them laugh all through the duration of the show. But if comedians like Basket Mouth, Ayo Makun (AY) and others have been able to crack their way in and establish a recognizable brand in this sector of the entertainment industry, just about anyone, with good content and unique style.
However, unlike the popular trend where people record videos and publish online to get people to laugh easily, Nigerian Comedy shows require a lot more for it to be successful. Wondering what the likes of Alibaba, and co did to create amazing shows that they have now? Read on…
Event Promoter and Event Manager
Don’t be a lone ranger or the ‘Me, Myself and I’ party. It’s okay to allow other qualified persons help you with your show especially if you are just starting or trying to break into a new city. There are persons who have commendable years of experience working with entertainers to plan and draw out promotions plans. So do your research well and hire a good extra hand.
Create Short Video Teasers
Basket mouth was known for creating short teasers prior to his show. These videos were shared online to tease people about his upcoming comedy show. This is a way to give people a snippet of what to expect without giving out the entire surprise lined up for the show. And this has worked greatly for him. Successful Nigerian comedy show do this a lot.
Take Advantage of Social Newsfeeds
Newsfeeds or timeline allows people to see current things happening within their network of friends. With Facebook putting friends and family above pages or celebrities in a user's news feed, you need to device other ways to be in people’s feeds. There are simple tactics to help your content pop organically in social newsfeeds like getting individuals to tweet about your show, doing an online contest, using social media influencers and so on.
Successful Nigerian comedy show target social account with a lot of engagement (views, comments and likes) and use them to promote their event to their friends. People are likely to pay attention to things that their friends talk about rather than the regular online advertising methods.
Giveaways
Prior to a Nigerian comedy show, promoters or comedians do a lot of giveaways to get attention because people love free things in Nigeria. It doesn't have to be an expensive thing. You can give out meaningful items and attach certain conditions for winning such items. You can also give popular magazines, websites or blogsite free entrance or tickets to come to your show with a mutual understanding of promoting your event on their platform before the event (to give it more publicity) as well as writing about your event after. You can also offer special discount codes via Twitter or Facebook only.
Engage Your audience or friends
Befriend a lot of people on social media by being amusing or engaging and try to post some personal stuff too, like photos of vacations. And these photos should be entertaining too. Your tweets and Facebook posts shouldn't be all about you and your lifestyle but be creatively constructed to suit what would interest your followers. And this shouldn’t be a one-time thing or something you do weeks to your event. If you watch these Nigerian comedians closely you would see this trend in their posts. Make sure you form the habit of engaging your followers all the time, so that when you decide to drop any update about your show you can get more than a handful of fans to support you by attending.
Bring In Popular And Upcoming Comedians
Popular Nigerian comedy shows like Basket Mouth Uncensored, AY Live, Ali Baba Show were known for featuring both popular and upcoming comedians. Asides from the fact that it is a way of showing support, it will also get people’s attention and increase their interest. When they see other comedians would also be performing at the show, they would be moved to get a ticket even if that comedian was the only reason they decided to buy your event ticket. The likes of Apororo, I go die and others were able to rise through the platforms that Basket Mouth and Ayo Makun’s comedy shows provided.
You can also read:
How To Build The Right Event Team In Nigeria
Boost Your Brand With Creative Event Giveaway in Nigeria