Venues of Note

How to promote your venue hire

Practical ways for museums, galleries, theatres and heritage sites to get more hire enquiries, from a better hire page to directories and repeat bookings.

By , EditorPublished

People looking for a venue rarely search for yours by name. They search for an occasion and a place: “wedding venues in Bath”, “conference venue Glasgow”, “unusual Christmas party venue London”. Promoting your venue hire means being easy to find for those searches, and then making it easy for people to say yes.

This guide is for anyone who looks after hire at a museum, gallery, theatre, arts centre or heritage site, whether hire is a full commercial operation or one part of a busy job.

Start with your hire page

Your hire page does more work than anything else on this list. Directories, search results and social posts all send people there, so it has to answer their questions and make enquiring easy.

Make it easy to find. Link to it from your main navigation, with a plain label such as “Venue hire” or “Hire a space”. Visitors and search engines both give more weight to pages a site links to prominently.

Answer the first questions on the page:

Don’t hide it all in a PDF. A brochure is useful to download, but put the key facts on the page too. PDFs are hard to read on a phone, and search engines read web pages more reliably.

Give each main use its own section or page. A page about weddings and a page about conferences can each answer their own audience’s questions, and each has a better chance of appearing in searches for that occasion.

Write titles that match searches. “Weddings at [your venue], Bath” tells search engines and searchers more than “Hire with us”.

Show spaces in use

Photos of empty galleries show the architecture. Photos of a dinner laid out, a conference in session or a ceremony in progress show what’s possible, and that’s what bookers need to imagine their own event. Ask past clients and their photographers for permission to use their pictures, and credit them.

Include at least one photo per space, a floor plan if you have one, and the view from the stage or top table if it’s special.

Publish your prices

Many venues say “prices on request”. A starting price, such as “Evening receptions from £2,500 + VAT”, helps people decide whether to enquire. You’ll get fewer enquiries that go nowhere, and the people who do get in touch have already accepted the ballpark.

If prices vary a lot, give a range by space or by time of day, and say what’s included.

Get listed where bookers look

Different bookers search in different places, so list your venue where each audience looks:

Keep the details the same everywhere, and update them when they change. A capacity or a price that differs between sites makes bookers wonder which to trust.

Answer enquiries quickly

People who are hunting for a venue usually contact several at once, and the first useful reply often wins. Aim to reply the same working day, even if it’s only to confirm availability and say when a full quote will follow.

A good first reply:

Write templates for your most common enquiries so a reply takes minutes, then add a line that shows you’ve read theirs. Follow up once if you don’t hear back within a week.

Ask everyone how they found you, and keep a note. It’s the simplest way to see which of your efforts bring in bookings.

Use the audiences you already have

Your organisation already reaches people who hold events, or who know people who do:

Work with suppliers and planners

Event planners, caterers, photographers and production companies recommend venues to their clients all the time. Get on their lists:

Plan around the calendar

Bookers plan different events at different times, so promote each one ahead of when people book, not when the event happens. Couples often book a wedding venue a year or more ahead. Christmas parties are often booked by early autumn, and conferences several months ahead.

Look at your quiet periods too. If January evenings or the days you’re closed to the public are empty, consider a lower rate for those dates and say so on your hire page.

Tell people what their booking supports

For many cultural organisations, hire income pays for exhibitions, learning programmes or looking after the building. Say so. It matters to many couples and to companies with social value goals, and it’s a reason to choose you over a hotel. On Venues of Note, full listings include a “Your booking supports” line for exactly this.

Use social media to show events

Short posts showing real events (with the client’s permission) do more than generic venue photos: a table set for dinner in a gallery, a stage being set up, a ceremony in your courtyard. Post when you’re set up for something interesting, and tag the suppliers involved, who will often share it.

Check what’s working

Every few months, look at:

Do more of what brings in bookings, and drop what doesn’t.

A checklist

  1. Is “Venue hire” in your main navigation?
  2. Does your hire page give capacities, prices, availability, catering, access and rules?
  3. Do you have photos of each space in use?
  4. Are you listed on the directories your bookers use, with the same details everywhere?
  5. Do you reply to enquiries the same working day?
  6. Do you ask every enquirer how they found you?
  7. Do your members, partners and staff know you hire out space?
  8. Have you invited planners and suppliers to see your spaces?
  9. Do you promote each type of event ahead of when people book it?
  10. Do you tell people what their booking supports?

If your venue isn’t on Venues of Note yet, you can list it free.

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