Advance ticket sales are the best way to predict the final outcome of a concert. The more tickets you sell before the auction, the lower the risk to assume and therefore the more peace of mind to face it, at least financially.
A few weeks ago I revealed to you the recipe to promote a musical product successfully but now I want to focus it only on the promotion before a concert.
Today you can’t play your cards depending on final decisions because the consumer, with very little, diverts his attention and what today could be a priority for him, tomorrow it won’t be.
Selling tickets in advance of a concert is for my art, especially because the real success is in your ability to attract attention and seduce the subconscious brain to make an early purchase decision. Selling tickets in a cold way works less and less.
Nine magic formulas for selling more advanced tickets
Activate the promo in time
One of the main red points of the failure of a concert is the inadequate activation of the promo plan in time. Unlike a few years ago, today it takes a lot of time to try to get the message to the consumer, the fault? the same as always, the massive bombardment of proposals that a person receives throughout a week and the increasingly demanding mind of the consumer.
Think that for large capacity (stadiums), ticket sales are being activated 12/6 months in advance. For medium seating capacity (auditoriums) it is normal to do it with 4/6 months and for small seating capacity (halls) it is consistent to activate the promotion plan with about 2/3 months.
It may seem an outrage but we live in a bubble in the field of concerts where there has never been so much supply as now and you should try to be in the priorities of the person you are addressing, taking into account that this person is receiving many other leisure proposals equal and better than yours.
Reward the first ones
A good up-selling strategy should be based on incentivizing the first sales. If you succeed, it will be difficult to miss forecasts.
To do this, you should launch the first phase of communication with a unique offer to the first x people to purchase a ticket. Many of these people will naturally become “promotional vehicles” of your own event and this promotional model is magnificent.
Here are some ideas to sell more advance tickets by boosting first sales:
- 40% discount to the first x people to purchase their ticket.
- Activating a comprehensive contest in social networks (we will see it at a later point in this post).
- Selling first the tickets of the best visual area of the venue.
- Selling 2 x 1, buy a ticket and your companion gets in for free.
- Selling the first x tickets with gift included (exclusive t-shirt).
Remember that to sell tickets well in advance you have to go with a good pre-determined idea to drive the buying action. Otherwise, even if the fan is interested, he/she will always leave it for later with the consequent risk of not buying.
Seek support from local media
For a pre-sale to work, you have to attack on several fronts. One of them is to reach a media-partner agreement with a local media whose audience is similar to your audience.
The media can be radio, print, TV or digital. It doesn’t matter, the important thing is that it is influential in the area and connects with your audience.
In this type of agreement, both parties should benefit. On the one hand, the media should benefit from a series of resources provided by the artist (x number of tickets, meet & greet, presence at the venue, presence in the campaign, product placement, activations, etc…) and the artist from the media (promotional campaign in its support, interview, etc…).
The most important thing in a negotiation is to listen to what is not said.
Activate Facebook Ads campaign
Yes, it is highly recommended in these times. With a Facebook Ads campaign you will achieve:
- Target your potential audience according to geographic area, tastes, and behaviors.
- Target people who follow you through this social network. You know that if you do not pay, only 17% of your followers see what you publish.
- Create similar audiences to target new potential fans. This is created on the basis of an audience already made up in advance.
- Activate several ads at the same time and keep the ones that are really getting results.
- Get a measured return on what you are really investing.
Launch a contest on Facebook
Facebook contests work, why on Facebook and not on the other networks? If you have the possibility and potential to do it in several, it is never too much. Facebook is nowadays the social network where your audience spends the most time.
In addition, its own mechanism of operation makes this type of action bring you more results than for example on Twitter where the consumer is looking for other types of content and where what you publish now, in a few hours will be lost among so much content.
The contest can be done manually with this method that works great and requires three requirements:
- Those fans write about the post where you announce the concert.
- That they share it.
- That they tag a friend who might be interested.
The better the gift, the greater the participation. This way you will get your followers to be your own “promotional vehicles” for your concert since nothing has more value than a friend’s recommendation.
The second format for contests on Facebook is through specialized platforms such as Easy Promos.
Record resources in the city where the concert will take place.
Another important aspect to try to retain the consumer’s attention is to record a series of visual resources in the city where you celebrate the concert to move it in social networks and through them, carry the message without looking like advertising.
You could also do it live through Facebook Live and here’s how to do it.
I recommend that in the middle and at the end of the video you mention the concert that you will soon offer in that city and comment on where tickets can be purchased.
Don’t underestimate the one to one sale
Also to sell, especially if it is for concerts in small venues, it is interesting to go to the traditional sale or known as “one to one” because, I repeat, if it is for small venues, it works.
This formula is very simple. Make an agreement with a series of public relations people that move well around the city and offer them a percentage per ticket sold. Many influential college students make their salaries selling tickets to events with very good results.
Sell attractive packs
Another formula that you should put in place to attract attention and therefore get the sale.
Everything that reduces the fan’s mind is a winner, so look for packs with expiration dates and a limited number of units, use it as a final resource to sell the last tickets, or, failing that, the first ones.
Some ideas that may inspire you:
- Sell tickets + experience (like meeting the band after the concert).
- Sell ticket + merchandising
- Sell ticket + access to an after-party with the band
- Sell ticket + pack of your own songs
Unveil the added values
Now I focus solely on the show. One of the ways to attract attention is to look for attractive and powerful partnerships. If in your show you have prepared unique moments with collaborations, use it as a resource to boost sales.
Be careful, because if the sale is going well and you think it is unnecessary to “burn” this cartridge, don’t do it and surprise the audience.