Initiatives to Boost Music Festival Ticket Sales Close to the Live Dates.

This year is proving particularly challenging for some music festival organisers in generating sufficient ticket sales revenue to cover their running costs. With tight deadlines and limited resources festival organisers can attempt to boost their ticket sales in the final few weeks before their live dates but what realistic options are open to them.  

There could be a multitude of reasons why ticket sales for a particular festival are not performing as expected. It could be the artists selection or more than likely poor planning that has meant delayed announcements of dates and headliners. The overall pricing strategy could be poorly conceived with prices that are considered too high or a lack of ticketing options limiting the ability to spread payments. These factors, or a combination of them can make ticket sales sluggish but there are some quick wins for organisers looking to boost ticket sales.

Types of Offers. 
Any activity relating to selling tickets must have an offer associated with it. Potential customers are only going to consider a purchase if there is an attractive offer that increases the perceived value. Discounted prices are a common offer tactic when combined with a time duration or limit but don’t always work. These types of offers can include buy one get one free ticket sales or limited packaged deals where additional extras like camping passes or upgrades to VIP access are given to ticket buyers.

Channels. 
Any pre-existing customer details with email addresses can be used to blast out time limited offers and discounts as long as the data is GDPR compliant. The same offers can be posted on social media channels and can be very effective if the festival entity has a large following. If used in conjunction with engaging content about headliners a ticket promotion offer can generate good sales revenue.

Leveraging Contacts and Networks. 
Push last minute offers and promotions out to sponsors and vendors with an incentive to them for every extra ticket that gets sold. Similarly, an outreach campaign to local broadcast media linked to time limited offers can generate interest and sales. Guest passes can be given away in exchange for publicity and mentions from sponsors and vendors for example.

Ambassador and Referral Programmes. 
Not every music festival operates such programmes but if managed well they can be one of the most cost-effective ways to generate incremental ticket sales. Offering exclusive branded merchandise or VIP upgrades to anyone who generates extra ticket sales can assist in achieving final push objectives.

Competitions and Contests. 
A prize draw or similar competition type campaign can boost interest in a festival and can be used in conjunction with other activities that generate coverage like social media channels and local broadcast media. Organisers must ensure that they run any competitions according to prevailing rules and regulations linked to advertising promotions using prize draws and competitions.

A music festival entity should achieve their planned ticket sales revenue target if the event was well planned with an impressive curation of performance artists and a robust ticket pricing strategy. Poor ticket sales close to an event date does not look good and can be a caused by a combination of factors. If organisers are going to pursue ticket sales campaigns and initiatives with offers and discounts close to event dates, they should be cautious about generating any negative publicity. Where possible organisers should control the narrative so that the event does not appear desperate to sell tickets.

For festival organisers planning their events using a software management platform like Festival Pro gives them all the functionality they need manage every aspect of their event logistics. The guys who are responsible for this software have been in the front line of event management for many years and the features are built from that experience and are performance artists themselves. The Festival Pro platform is easy to use and has comprehensive features with specific modules for managing artists, contractors, venues/stages, vendors, volunteers, sponsors, guestlists, ticketing, cashless payments and contactless ordering.

Image by Okan Caliskan from Pixabay

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