Paid promotion multiplies what a show already is. Before it is worth anything, these are what fill a room.
1. Schedule it, so it can be found
A scheduled show appears in Coming up, ordered by start time, and anybody can set a reminder on it. Nothing in that list is purchasable, so you are on equal footing with every store. How are shows ordered?
Scheduling a day or two ahead is the single cheapest thing on this page.
2. Tell your followers
They opted in to be told. If you have few, this is small — which is why followers are the thing to build first. Getting your first hundred followers
3. Send the link to people who already buy from you
You can message a buyer you have dealt with. One short, specific message — "running a show Thursday 8pm, three of the blue ones you liked" — is worth more than any broadcast. Can I message a buyer directly?
4. Use your own channels
Wherever you already have an audience. The link opens the show in a browser with nothing to install, so there is no barrier between somebody tapping and watching. How to join a live show
5. Go live when your buyers are there
Not a promotion, and it outperforms every promotion. Your Timing tab is built from your own orders, and moving a show two hours is free. When should you go live?
What actually keeps the room once it arrives
Something happening in the first minute. Most people who leave a show leave early, because nothing is going on yet.
A cheap item early to get bidding started. A silent room stays silent.
Answering by name. Handling questions while you sell
Filling a room you then lose in ninety seconds is worse than not filling it.
When paid promotion is worth it
After you know your sell-through and your show holds people. Then a boost puts a working show in front of more people, which is what it is for. How to boost a show
Before that, you are buying witnesses to a problem.
The compounding version
Every show should end with the next one scheduled and announced. Do that consistently and promotion stops being a separate activity — the previous show promotes the next one.
More: getting your first hundred followers, when should you go live, nobody came to my first show.