Have you heard of the 80/20 rule? Also known as the Pareto Principle, states that roughly 80% of outcomes come from 20% of causes. It was first observed by economist Vilfredo Pareto, who noticed that 80% of Italy’s land was owned by 20% of the population. Ever since Pareto pointed it out, people have been seeing versions of it everywhere. Richard Koch even wrote a whole book about it.
The exact ratios in everyday life aren’t always 80/20. They might be 70/30, or 90/10, for example, but over and over, when you look at the data, you will see dramatically unequal results.
For example, you might find:
- 20% of patrons account for 80% of revenues
- 20% of your time accounts for 80% of the work you accomplish
- 20% of your posts generate 80% of social media shares
- 20% of content gets 80% of your website traffic
- 20% of your followers are responsible for 80% of your likes, comments, and shares
The Pareto Principle reveals that doing more doesn’t always lead to better results. Some actions are more effective than others. Focus on what works, and you can actually do less — and achieve better results.
Focus on the 20% of activities that generate results
Performing arts marketers often report feeling overwhelmed by all the different ways they can promote their events. The 80/20 rule means that of all the ads you might create, only a few will be top performers. Of all the audiences you try to engage, only a small segment will be highly engaged. Of all the promotions you might try, only a few key tactics will drive the majority of results. One well-crafted piece of content will outperform five boring ones.
If we apply the 80/20 rule to social media for selling tickets to performing arts events, we need to focus on the 20% of actions that will drive 80% of results, rather than stretching ourselves thin trying to do everything.
In short: don’t pour resources into tactics that just don’t work.
Social media platforms are always evolving, but here’s my opinion on the most effective social media event marketing tactics today:
Top 5 ways to effectively promote events on social media
- Paid Social Ads (Especially Retargeting & Lookalike Audiences)
- Run highly targeted Meta (Facebook & Instagram) ads to people who have interacted with your venue, artists, or similar events.
- Retarget people who visited your website but didn’t buy.
- Create lookalike audiences based on past ticket buyers.
- Focus on conversion-based campaigns (purchase tracking, not just engagement).
- Video Content
- Sharing high-quality clips of performances, artist interviews, and audience reactions.
- Focusing on short (15-second or less) vertical videos to maximize reach (Instagram Reels, TikTok, YouTube Shorts) .
- Behind-the-scenes footage to build anticipation.
- Strategic Email & Social Integration
- Social media should be a lead generator for email (e.g., contests, exclusive pre-sale signups).
- Email marketing drives conversions better than social, so use social to build your list and then nurture those leads.
- Influencer & Community Partnerships
- Engage local influencers, bloggers, and cultural leaders who can promote the event authentically.
- Partner with arts organizations, venues, and community pages to collaborate and share content.
- Event-Based FOMO & Urgency Tactics
- Countdown posts and last-chance reminders for ticket sales.
- “Limited tickets remaining” updates.
- User-generated content sharing past audience experiences.
The best social media platforms for event marketing in 2025
There are many different social platforms you could be on. The most effective one will be the platform where your audience wants to engage with you. Like it or not, the social media platforms that are most likely to be effective to promote ticket sales and facilitate local promotions at this time are Meta’s Facebook and Instagram, especially:
- Instagram Reels & Stories: Drives organic discovery and engagement, great for video content. When you find a winning piece of content, use it in your ads.
- Facebook & IG Ads: Best ROI for ticket sales via retargeting & lookalike audiences. Works even better if you use video creative instead of text or a static image.
- Facebook Events: High organic reach potential, and especially in smaller communities, the FOMO effect of seeing several friends or people you know mark themselves ‘interested’ in an event can be influential. Marking ‘interested’ is easy and doesn’t always lead to ticket purchases, but it does opt a person in to get reminder notifications as the event approaches. Don’t just boost the event though — use the full Meta ads tool for best effect.
Other platforms can be effective too, depending your needs, approach, and the preferences of your target audience. All require an ongoing commitment to content creation that is tailored for that platform:
- YouTube (Shorts & Long-Form) – For global discovery & authority
- Shorts can reach new audiences, especially if you have virtual events, paid online content, or want to reach global audiences.
- Long-form videos can build credibility with artist interviews, full-length performances, and behind-the-scenes content.
- Best for organizations that have the capacity and in-house talent to consistently produce video and who are willing to learn the ins and outs of YouTube’s platform.
- TikTok – Powerful for reaching younger audiences
- If your target includes under-40s, TikTok is a discovery engine.
- Use trends, behind-the-scenes clips, and audience reaction videos.
- Best for organizations that are focusing on engaging younger audiences, and have in-house talent to produce lots of short videos tailored for TikTok.
- LinkedIn – For networking & sponsorship
- Not really a ticket-selling tool but useful for industry networking and exploring potential sponsors or partnerships that could have a role in event promotion.
- Best as a complement to other kinds of networking or outreach.
Give yourself permission to scale back or stop the 80% of activities that don’t move the needle
Letting go of less effective activities gives you more time and resources to do more of what works.
- Instead of generic posts, notice which posts get the most attention, and make more like that. Likewise, if you see that certain kinds of posts don’t get much response, don’t post more like it.
- Instead of counting on organic reach to get your message out, use it to test-drive content ideas, and boost the ones that work best.
- Instead of trying to be everywhere, master one or two platforms. Don’t spread yourself thin. Each social platform and algorithm is a little bit different and you need to learn the nuances of them to get meaningful results.
- Instead of text-heavy posts without visuals or video, get better at video content creation, or find someone who can help you do it better. Video outperforms text 10x in engagement on the most popular social platforms. It is worth it to invest in video creation that is optimized for your chosen platform.
Stop or scale back less effective tactics that suck your attention and resources away from what matters.
To recap:
📌 Use Meta (Facebook & Instagram) for ticket sales, ads, and video content.
📌 Use short video (Reels, YouTube Shorts) for discoverability.
📌 Consider TikTok if targeting under 40s.
📌 Focus on retargeting ads, email capture, and video-based FOMO content.
📌 Avoid generic posts that don’t drive action.