The Importance of Keeping a Music Festival Online Presence Up to Date

To maximise ticket sales and customer reach it is important that music festival entities have a strong online presence. This can include the event’s website and social media channels but it can be challenging for organisers to keep all these constantly up to date and current. What are the common mistakes that organisers should be aware of and how is the online presence managed?

As a music festival grows over the years it may have created websites and social media accounts on a piecemeal basis. This can be further complicated by a relatively high turnover of marketing staff which leads to a confusing mismatch of branding, information and promotions. Having a consistent well managed approach can keep branding and communications clean and concise which can increase trust, ticket sales and festival-goer engagement. What are the common mistakes organisers make and how should they manage their online presence to maximise the benefits. 

Common Mistakes and Consequences. 
Whilst a festival’s website will have the same URL over time it is not unusual for it to be created for a specific year which can cause confusion for future events so it’s probably better to keep to a generic URL name. In addition, social media pages are often set up for a specific year’s event and organisers just create a new account for following years. The links to various social media pages may not have been updated sending users to the wrong destination. This sloppy online presence management leads to confusion amongst festival-goers with a loss of credibility and trust. If potential customers cannot find the relevant up to date information this will also impact on ticket sales as users cannot find dates, line-ups or where to make purchases. The engagement with fans and followers on social media will fall and could even generate negative feedback. 

Content Management. 
Festival organisers should appoint someone internally or an external agency to manage their entire online presence to achieve a consistent approach. For a festival that has multiple identities and accounts it may require an audit of what is currently live so that old social media accounts can be closed leaving a single account on each platform all linked correctly from the main website. The content posted on the website and social media platforms should be consistent and comprehensive including contact details like email addresses and phone numbers. The person responsible for content management should ensure they have a detailed schedule of activity so that line-up announcements are posted across all accounts simultaneously. Other key content can include ticket availability and pricing plus FAQs and any relevant policies for example. 

Benefits of a Consistent Online Presence. 
A festival that has the same relevant and up to date content across its entire online presence ensures that visitors can obtain the identical information whichever platform they prefer to use. This approach increases audience engagement and provides more opportunities for online promotions to generate ticket sales. Consistent professionally presented content helps to build a strong brand and creates trust and creditability in the organising entity. 

For festival organisers planning their next 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 TheDigitalArtist via Pixabay

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