If you’re on a journey to sell more tickets, there are a variety of avenues to reach your objectives. You can implement savvy marketing best practices, offer promo codes, and start ticket bundling deals… the sky’s the limit! But one surefire way to sell more tickets is by making the entire ticket-buying process easier. This can be done with one simple change: implementing mobile ticketing via a contactless box office.
Did you know that recent studies show over 70% of ticket buyers purchase tickets on their mobile devices? So it’s imperative to meet your buyers where they are… on their phones!
Think of the last time you went to an event yourself – whether it was a concert, Broadway production, or community theatre offering. Did you go up to a counter and get a ticket ripped, or did you hand your phone to the front-of-house attendant to get your ticket scanned? Probably the latter. So why not create that same experience in your own theatre? It’s not as difficult as you may think.
Creating a contactless box office has a variety of benefits that will show themselves immediately. On the Stage explores just a few of them.
One major goal for your theatre should be to create an elevated, hassle-free, and exciting experience for your patrons. Creating digital ticketing and offering a contactless box office is one of the easiest ways to reach that objective.
With digital ticketing, you’re eliminating the need for your patron to visit a physical box office. Instead, they can take 2 minutes online to buy a ticket and have it sent to their phones. There is no stress about losing the ticket, they avoid a trip in the car, and the entire entry process to the show will take a shorter time. Convenience is key!
While we’re all about appeasing and delighting the patron, a contactless box office also creates convenience for theatre employees and front-of-house staff. With digital ticketing, your employees can enjoy a smoother ride come time for opening night, eliminating the need for ticket-ripping and/or answering questions on ticket pricing and seat location.
Additionally, digital ticket scanning helps FOH staff get through a line of ticket holders exponentially faster with scanning devices. A happier staff and happier patrons lead to better outcomes, guaranteed.
If people are purchasing their tickets online instead of in a physical box office, they have to access your show site or social media pages to do so. This means more eyes on your online content – so make sure it’s up-to-date!
A stronger social media – and general internet – presence opens a lot of doors, whether those are to sponsorship opportunities, higher engagement on posts, social media verification, or the ability to make money through myriad online channels. After all, you can leverage a strong social media account for a variety of partnerships and money-making opportunities, but you need followers and engagement to do so. Digital ticketing is a stepstone to reach that goal.
We theatre-makers must be good stewards of the Earth, and a great way to create a more sustainable business model is to make the switch to digital ticketing. With a contactless box office, you’re eliminating or diminishing your need for paper, single-use plastic, and ink.
Alongside going greener, digital ticketing eliminates the cost of printing and the labor associated with general ticket distribution. That means freeing up money that you can use for something more important – perhaps better light and sound tech, new costumes and set pieces, or a pay raise for a hardworking employee.
Digital ticketing allows for greater flexibility – in both the patron and front-of-house experiences. For example, with digital ticketing, ticket holders can swiftly and effortlessly transfer, resell, or pass mobile tickets to friends or family if something comes up and they can’t attend your show.
Because of this, digital ticketing helps decrease the number of unclaimed or unused tickets and helps patrons make the most of their purchases. It’s a win-win!
Studying digital footprints via ticket sales can help you leverage data analytics for stronger, more targeted marketing strategies and more tickets sold. With digital ticketing, you can easily track who has purchased tickets and attended your shows, creating demographics and ticket-buyer profiles that are incredibly valuable in creating data-driven decisions about marketing strategies.
Understanding your audience via data tracking will help you when deciding what shows to add to your season, what content to post on social media, and which marketing efforts to implement.
When you take away the managing and distribution of physical tickets and instead offer digital ticketing, you’re opening up your theatre to audiences you haven’t been able to reach before. Yes, digital tickets can save you time, hassle, and labor costs, but the sheer reach of your theatre will expand exponentially, as well. Greater reach means more tickets sold, which means more money for your next showcase.
Along with the amount of people you’re reaching, you’re also opening up your timeline. Instead of folks having to buy tickets the day of, they can now order in advance, giving you that much-needed capital earlier.
After a show, the last thing you want to do is count cash and receipts to see if you made a profit. With digital ticketing, your revenue is instantly streamlined, and the bookkeeping process is organized for you.
In short, you’re eliminating the need to reconcile accounts, make deposits, or search for missing capital. That time can be spent doing more productive things – like giving notes, planning for the next show, or just celebrating with your team.
With a contactless box office, everything’s in writing. When everything’s in writing, you avoid communication misunderstandings, human error, and financial inaccuracies.
Not only is this great for the theatre itself and your employees, but increased order accuracy also keeps the patrons happy and excited to visit your theatre. You should constantly be striving for a positive patron experience, and order accuracy will only help.
All in all, choosing a digital ticketing route also means choosing a more professional and elevated experience for everyone involved. It’s time to bring your theatre and its ticketing into the 21st century, which means going digital. If none of the other nine perks have convinced you, consider this: the way you are perceived by your patrons and potential patrons can make or break your business. So make sure you’re putting your best foot forward by offering the most up-to-date ticketing models on the market.
Now that we’ve convinced you that a contactless ticketing portal is the way to go, you may be wondering how you can jump into that experience. If you’re worried, On The Stage (OTS) can help. With the OTS Booking and Box Office Suite, theatres of all sizes can elevate their patron experiences, streamline their box office processes, and simplify ticket sales via a slew of digital offerings.
With OTS ticketing, you can:
If you’re ready to jump in, book a personalized demo today.