You've written the show, booked the venue, and made it to the world's biggest arts festival. Now you need an audience. Targeted Meta Ads and Google Ads put your show in front of the right people — tourists already in Edinburgh, locals looking for something to do, and fans of your genre — before and during your run.
Over 3,000 shows. Dozens of venues. Millions of leaflets. Every August, performers from around the world compete for the same finite pool of audience time and ticket spend. Getting noticed takes more than talent — it takes a strategy.
Most Fringe runs are 2–4 weeks. Empty seats early in the run hurt reviews and word-of-mouth. Ads need to be on before doors open, not after the reviews land.
Even great shows get lost among thousands of listings. Paid ads let you cut through the noise and reach people who would genuinely love your show — before they've made their plans.
Edinburgh's August population explodes. The people filling seats for most Fringe shows aren't locals — they're visitors who've come specifically for the festival, browsing their phones between shows.
Most Fringe performers aren't running large budgets. Every pound needs to count. Poorly targeted ads are money down the drain. Precise audience targeting changes the maths entirely.
Not every platform is right for every show. Here's how each one fits into a Fringe campaign.
Instagram is where Fringe audiences live during August. Visually striking ads in feeds and Stories can stop the scroll and drive ticket sales. Facebook works well for slightly older audiences and event promotion.
Capture people actively searching for your show or genre. Search ads put you at the top of results when someone Googles your name, your venue, or terms like "Edinburgh Fringe comedy 2025".
Most people who see your show page won't buy tickets on their first visit. Retargeting follows them with reminder ads across Instagram, Facebook, and the wider web — bringing them back when they're ready to book.
Fringe campaigns have a natural shape. Here's how a properly structured campaign runs from first brief to final night.
I'm not just a paid media specialist who happened to take on a Fringe client. I'm an amateur theatre performer and a lifelong theatre fan — which changes how I approach this work entirely.
Outside of running campaigns, I perform on stage myself. I know what goes into a production — the months of rehearsal, the creative decisions, the nerves before opening night, and what a full house actually feels like versus rows of empty seats. This isn't a category I'm learning about from a brief.
I'm also a genuine, passionate theatre audience member. I attend shows regularly, I understand what makes a Fringe listing compelling versus forgettable, and I can look at your show's marketing materials with the eye of someone who actually buys tickets — not just someone who optimises click-through rates.
That matters because the best Fringe ads don't feel like ads. They feel like a recommendation from someone who's seen something great. I know how to communicate what makes a show worth seeing, not just where it is and how much it costs.
Add a decade of professional paid media experience across Google Ads, Meta Ads, and beyond — and you have someone who understands both the art form and the mechanics of getting audiences into seats.
I perform on stage myself. I understand the culture, the craft, and the stakes — not just the marketing brief.
I attend shows regularly and buy tickets like a real audience member — so I know what makes Fringe marketing actually work on people.
Campaigns managed across Google Ads and Meta Ads at scale — from solo performers to large productions.
You deal with me throughout. The Fringe moves fast — so do I. No account managers, no briefing chains, no delays.
It's so hard to get a media partner who understands that cost is as — if not more — important than revenue gained. The Paid Media Company are this agency. Jamie completely understands the struggles a small business can face and why media spend has to be constantly monitored. He doesn't try to bamboozle us with jargon but talks plain English about what he's doing and why.