How To Increase Performing Arts Ticket Sales

There's an art to stretching time and budgets, and arts marketers know it all too well. With constrained resources and countless items on their schedules, it can be challenging to find the time to brainstorm new strategies and leveraging the tools to implement them.

For those looking to brush up their current campaigns or start a new plan from scratch, here are five arts marketing strategies that you can use to boost revenue.

1. Upsell and Cross-Sell

Take a close look at the ticket buying path and brainstorm where to upsell patrons additional items they might purchase or cross-sell shows they might be interested in. Leverage data to see where it's possible to ask patrons to add tickets to more shows, for a percent discount, and include a donations web component on your website to encourage online giving.

Look for opportunities to add value to existing offerings and sell them at a higher pricing tier. This might mean packaging a ticket with a drink package or backstage tour. Many patrons will opt for a premium experience when given the option, but zero will pay for it if they're never made such an offer.

2. Pre-sell Concessions and Merchandise

Creating a memorable evening doesn't have to start and stop at the stage. Encourage patrons to pre-order drinks or even food online. This doesn't only benefit their on-site experience, but can help the theatre as well. Such strategies keep patrons from having to wait in a busy line. It also tells the front of house team how much inventory to stock, and makes room for more patrons to order on the day of the show.

This doesn't have to stop at concessions; Think of creative ways to prompt patrons to pre-order t-shirts, souvenirs or any other merchandise.

Realted Reading: Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival: Growing business through exceptional visitor experience

3. Set Up Supplementary Events

Introducing experiences that stem off from the main event can be a great way to increase your secondary spend. Consider post-show talks, meet and greets with artists, opening night receptions, or any other event that can make for a more all-encompassing experience.

4. Segment, Segment, Segment

One of the strongest ways organizations can improve how they market to their patron bases is by having a customer segmentation model. Segmenting an audience helps you determine what data is available to create strategies around and ultimately generates more revenue by delivering value to that specific audience.

Related Reading: CRM Segmentation for Arts Marketers: Setting Up Your Database

5. Send Automated Emails

There are many email automation tools out there, and marketers should use them to streamline key touchpoints with their patrons by scheduling automated emails. Pre- and post-show emails are great for building off patrons' excitement from attending a show to share practical and promotional information.

Drip campaigns that fire off multiple timed or action-based campaigns are another great too. It's worth taking the time to implement them to win back lapsed visitors, target members to provide more value to them, and grow donor loyalty.

Automated emails are a huge asset to busy marketers because they don't require much attention once they're up and running. They're also versatile and can help move patrons up the funnel at any point in their journeys, from new attendees to repeat buyers and donors.

Time to get started

All of these strategies are building blocks. It's up to each marketer to apply their own arts marketing campaigns by seeing what fits their organization and finding creative ways to make them take off. Together these tools can round out existing strategies and increase their organization's revenue.

Spektrix is an organization dedicated to providing arts organizations the tools to maximize their revenue and provide the best experience for their patrons. To learn more about how Spektrix can help your organization contact us. Or read about how we can help your team increase secondary spend at arts organizations.

Maximize Revenue for Performing Arts Organizations