I did have a conversation with somebody on another snooker forum once, who said that saying 'snooker needs more marketing' was a too simplistic view of the problem. But his idea was; "The Premier League attracts fans, so bring shot clocks to ranking events and there'll be more fans."
He wouldn't accept that there are other factors that make the PL well attended other then the shot clock. And, just for arguments sake, lets say shot clocks are the way forward, people aren't going to know that there are shot clocks in ranking events unless it's advertised.
And marketing stretches to promotion of the product too. Chosing the correct location, for example, is part of it. And loathe as I am to admit this, even scheduling of matches plays it's part. Advertising is only part of the package.
Though, that perhaps is the first thing that should be addressed.
The first year I went to Telford, I watched the afternoon session, and I went to the hotel bar afterwards (which was in fact a pub open to the public). The barman stuck the snooker on the telly, and some guy walked in and on watching the snooker for a bit, turned to me and asked where it was being held. He was flabbergasted to find it was being held within walking distance of where we were. This is particularly unaccpetable as just by walking around Telford I knew that The Krankies were in pantomime in Wolverhampton just by seeing adverts. This guy is obviously a casual fan, because most hardcore fans would know where each tournament is being held. But he should've been aware where it was. If he is interested enough to watch snooker with a few beers, he may have been interested in springing £10 for a first round ticket.