How to get people to come to your market.

• One page that answers the questions shoppers ask: date, hours, address, parking, free or ticketed, who is selling.
• A short reason to come that is specific, such as a night market with live food or a holiday market for handmade gifts.
• A graphic set: a main flyer, a story-sized version, and a square for vendors to repost.
• A way to count interest, such as free tickets or an RSVP, so you can see how many people are coming.

1. Months out: announce the date and venue, and open vendor applications. Vendors you recruit bring their followers.
2. A few weeks out: share the confirmed vendor lineup and publish the event on local calendars, neighborhood pages and community groups.
3. Every week after that: post one or two vendor spotlights and tag each vendor. Behind-the-scenes setup posts also work.
4. Final week: put up signs near the venue, send a reminder email or message to your list, and post a map and parking details.
5. Day before and day of: weather and parking updates, a short video walk-through, and a pinned post with the address.
6. After: thank vendors and shoppers, post photos, and announce the next date while attention is high.

Each vendor has their own followers, and a post from a maker they already buy from carries more weight than an announcement from a new market. Make it easy.

• Give vendors a shareable graphic and a caption with the date, place and link.
• Tell them in the acceptance email that sharing is expected, and when to post.
• Tag vendors in your posts and repost their stories to show the variety of the lineup.
• Run a small giveaway where vendors each donate an item and entrants must follow you and share.

• Local event calendars from your city, library, chamber of commerce and neighborhood newsletters. Many are free.
• Neighborhood and parenting groups, subreddits and community social pages, where a short, friendly post beats a flyer.
• Instagram and Facebook events, with clear photos of the products and the venue.
• Local newspapers, bloggers and radio. Send a short press note with the date, place, a hook and a photo, a few weeks ahead.
• Partnerships: the venue, neighboring businesses and community organizations can share your event with their own audiences.
• Signs and flyers near the venue, at coffee shops and on community boards.

• Get a public organizer page; followers hear about each new event and when applications open.
• Approved vendors appear in your event's public directory, which you can also embed on your own site.
• Sell free and paid tickets with QR codes; free events never touch a payment processor.
• Set up automatic emails to vendors, ticket holders or shoppers before and after the event.