Developing the Best Prize Draw Strategy to Drive Music Festival Ticket Sales.

Music festival organisers are always trying a variety of marketing and promotional activities to boost ticket sales for their events. The prize draw is a common promotion that can generate great interest and activity but how should organisers create a draw that attracts the right audience and generates ticket sales for the lowest cost.

The prize draw format is a popular promotional activity for music festival organisers because they can generate festival-goer engagement, drive prospect data collection and are relatively easy and cheap to run. The key to running a successful prize draw campaign is to create an attractive prize structure combined with great marketing campaigns whilst complying with all the relevant legal obligations.

Prize Structure. 
Running a prize draw is attractive to music festival organisers because they often don’t have to purchase the prizes as they can be made up of services or products they already have. Determining the prize structure is an essential thought process as it needs to be attractive to prospective ticket buyers, generate interest in the event and be readily available at minimal cost. A main first prize would be something like a VIP package that has a high perceived value. This may include complimentary multi-day tickets plus glamping and back stage access for example. Organisers can structure first prizes depending on availability without incurring additional expenditure. A raft of runner up prizes could include discounts on tickets, accommodation and food or free festival merchandise. 

Marketing Execution. 
Organisers can promote their prize draw on their website and all social media channels plus personalised email campaigns to previous attendees and prospective customers. Promotional campaigns should emphasise the value of prizes and competition closing dates along with any relevant rules and regulations. Additional incentives can include giving additional entries for those who share details of the prize draw to their friends or gaining endorsements from recognised influencers and artists. Any campaigns should create online buzz and increased engagement about the festival and organisers should conduct appropriate campaign analysis to measure activity and success. 

Rules and Legal Regulation Compliance. 
Organisers of prize draws are subject to a plethora of legal regulations and guidance which they should be well aware of when creating their prize draws. A prize draw is sometimes referred to as a sweepstake or lottery depending on the region and is often defined as a competition using a random selection approach to determine winners. There is sometimes a crossover into gambling laws and where possible this may be avoided by adding an element of skill for entry (asking a trivia question for example). The key legal principles to consider are that the prize draw should be free to enter, have transparent rules and comply with GDPR data collection and use. In addition, some regions also have advertising standards guidance which dictates how the prize draw can be marketed and advertised. Failure to comply with advertising guidance may result in media and social media companies from refusing to run advertising campaigns. 

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, site planning, cashless payments and contactless ordering.

Image by Martin Lopez via Pexels

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