5 PRINCIPLES TO DRIVING REVENUE
1
VARY THE PRICES
2
INVITE THEM BACK
3
OFFER PACKAGES
4
KEEP THE FEES
5
GO BEYOND TICKETS
The nice thing about these principles is you are making your customers happier. Ticket buyers appreciate being able to get better seats or pay less for less attractive seats. They are generally your fans and like to be kept informed of new events. They value being able to purchase a set of tickets via flex passes or subscriptions if that applies to your events. They are grateful for lower service fees. And items that go beyond the tickets like merchandise or special experiences are valued.
1 VARY THE PRICES
Let’s say your tickets are all priced at $50. Well, that’s unfortunate because some customers are willing to pay more for better seats. Why not provide that option to them. They’re happier and you get more revenue.
On the other hand, some customers may only be able to swing $40. They’re frustrated that they can’t go, and you’re missing out on the money they want to give you.
Some event organizers keep the same price for all events, thinking that’s what customers want. Actually, what your customers want is to attend. If it’s a sellout, and they miss out, they’ll be unhappy. Create popular events and price them higher so customers don’t miss out.
Action: Identify how you should vary prices –by seat, by event, by date, something else, or all. Experiment and monitor.
2 INVITE THEM BACK
If someone attended one of your events, chances are they’d like to attend another. Well, they won’t be able to if they’re not aware of it.
So, help them out. Be sure to collect their email address when they’re buying a ticket and get their permission to let them know about upcoming events.
Communicate out to your email list regularly, not just when you have an event coming up.Be sure to use a world leading marketing and communication tool like Constant Contact or Mailchimp.
Also be sure that the email addresses you collect are fed automatically to you marketing tool.
Action: Confirm you are capturing email addresses at every point of customer interaction and leveraging them.
3 OFFER PACKAGES
Dollar Shave Club quickly became a billion-dollar company by offering subscriptions –to razors!
Shows and other events are naturals for subscriptions –our many clients in musical theatre know that well. Perhaps your customers would love to purchase several events at once through a subscription.
They may also be interested in buying flex passes –a set number of shows that they select later.
It’s all about giving your customers what they want –the ability to buy several at once, instead of having to make a purchase every time they want to attend one of your events.
Action: If you’re not yet providing flex passes or subscriptions, think about how well your customers may respond to such an offer.
4 KEEP THE SERVICE FEES
Many ticketing systems claim they’re free. What that means is they’ll set the service fees and grab that money directly from YOUR customers, and they get it all.
How about a better approach: you decide what the service fees should be, and you keep that money.
If the cost of your ticketing system is low, you can pass only that amount to your customers, or you can charge a higher fee and earn margin on it.
Say your current ticketing system charges your customers $5 dollars per ticket. If you can find a great system that charges only $3, you could set your service at $4 –saving your customers a buck per ticket and earning you a buck per ticket. $10,000 tickets would be $10,000 to you.
Action: Be skeptical about “free”.
5 GO BEYOND TICKETS
It’s all a matter of providing your customers more of what they want.
Many of our clients sell show-related merchandise and most provide concessions. Here’s the hack: Offer these not just at the event, but at the point of ticket sales.
Consider selling advertising on your tickets. Customers may appreciate hearing about products or services aligned with their interests.
Many of our clients offer one-week workshops or classes. The registration fees for these can be lucrative and, again, they are something their customers love. Also, if there’s an education aspect to your events, consider providing classes at schools.
Action: Identify three additional things your customers may be interested in beyond tickets or other things you provide today.
