Are you looking for ways to sell more tickets to shows at your performing arts nonprofit? You’re in the right place!
Finding ways to keep your existing patrons involved while bringing in new audiences is a tall order. Here are eight ideas to get you started.
The #1 Way to Increase Performing Arts Ticket Sales
Before we dive into the rest of these ideas, here’s the number one thing you need to know: If you want to sell more tickets, it needs to be really easy for people to buy them.
You could have the coolest show of all time, put together eye-catching promotional materials, and get your entire community hyped about your performance… but ticket sales are still going to be low if people can’t figure out how to buy them.
Before you try any of the other ideas included in this article, go through the purchasing process on your website. Can you easily find where to buy tickets? Is your purchase form short and to the point? How hard is it to choose your preferred seat? Do you get your ticket quickly?
Once you’ve identified and fixed any confusing or cumbersome parts of the ticket purchasing process, the rest of these tactics will be much more effective!
Psst: If you’re looking for a tool that will help you give your patrons a great experience next time they buy tickets to your performance, check out Arts People. It’s a ticketing platform built specifically for performing arts nonprofits!
7 Ways to Increase Performing Arts Ticket Sales
Once you’ve got your ticketing process in good shape, you can turn your attention to getting people excited about attending your next show. Here are some ideas you can use to spread the word and reach new and returning patrons alike!
1. Offer Early Bird Discounts or Limited Offers
If you’re looking for people to get in the door, try creating a sense of urgency and excitement with time-sensitive offers. This is a simple way to boost early sales!
Consider offering discounts to people who buy tickets within a specific timeframe or to the first wave of patrons. For example, you could try offering tickets for a lower rate for the first week or two of sales.
You could also experiment with limited offers, like a “buy one, get one free” deal for the first batch of tickets sold, or you could offer exclusive perks or add-ons for early purchases.
Once you’ve built some excitement around your upcoming performance (and once the word has spread that tickets are going fast!), that momentum can continue boosting sales even after the original offer has expired or reached its limit.
2. Offer Season Tickets or Ticket Bundles
There’s a reason this is a popular option for many performing arts nonprofits—it works! Encouraging people to buy season tickets or bundles of tickets is a great way to boost sales and attendance at your shows while also allowing you to secure multiple ticket sales up front.
By including several (or all!) of your shows in one package, you can engage your most loyal audiences and keep seats filled throughout the season.
There’s an added bonus, too. Season ticket holders are often more invested in your organization and are more likely to become long-term supporters.
Consider offering perks like priority seating, behind-the-scenes tours, or discounts on future purchases to make these packages more appealing.
3. Offer VIP Packages
Grab people’s attention by creating VIP packages for an upcoming performance. This can help you entice both loyal patrons and new audience members alike to splurge on something special.
These packages could include benefits like premium seating, a meet-and-greet with the performers, an exclusive pre-show reception, or other special perks.
Adding these extra amenities offers the kind of unique experience to your patrons that can keep them coming back for future shows.
4. Partner with Local Figures and Influencers to Promote the Show
You probably have your own social media accounts that you use to reach your community. But how do you reach new audiences?
Team up with others in your community to promote your show! This is a great opportunity to get creative and build relationships. Try working with people like:
- Performers from the show
- Local arts columnists or other journalists
- Arts bloggers and other content creators
- Board members and other highly involved supporters
These folks may have their own ideas for promoting your performance, but this doesn’t need to be a huge production (pun sort of intended). Simply doing something as simple as sharing a post about your performance to their own page with a note about how excited they are about it can make a big impression.
If you decide to go with a full-blown influencer, you’ll probably need to pay them for the exposure. But, if you can’t pay people to promote your performance—or if you want to build goodwill with influential people in your community—consider offering free tickets or exclusive experiences in exchange for their support.
5. Send Segmented Email Promotions
If you’re looking for a way to take your email promotions to the next level, try sending segmented emails to your supporter list.
A targeted email marketing campaign is a powerful way to boost ticket sales because you can send different versions of the same message to different groups of people.
Try creating segments for groups like:
- People who purchased tickets last season but not this season
- People who have purchased tickets this season but not for this show
- Different interests (example: People who attended matinees vs. people who have attended late-night performances)
- Demographics (example: You could promote that previously mentioned matinee to people with children)
- Season ticket holders (You could remind them about the upcoming performance and mention inviting friends)
There are so many opportunities to get creative here—have fun with this! Tailoring your emails to these different segments will make your messaging feel more relevant and make people more likely to purchase tickets.
Check Out How the Pacific Opera Project Uses Segmentation to Boost Fundraising
Not sure if segmentation is right for you? You don’t have to take our word for it! Check out this story from Pacific Opera House—they used email segmentation to boost fundraising by 30% in just one year.
6. Run Targeted Ads
If you’ve got a bit of budget to spend promoting your show, consider running some digital ads.
There are a couple of different routes you can take here. If you have a small budget and you know your preferred audience is active on social media, try paying to run some ads there. Spending even $20 or $30 to boost a post on Facebook or Instagram can get you a huge bump in reach!
Running ads on platforms like Google can be more expensive (unless you’re taking advantage of Google Ad Grants, which we hope you are!), but it’s a powerful way to promote ticket sales.
To make sure you get the most out of your advertising budget, narrow down who will see your ad by creating targeted audiences. Most platforms you use will let you show your ads to different people based on criteria like location, interests, or past engagement with your organization.
You could even experiment with geo-targeted ads, which focus on people near your venue or in your neighborhood. These ads, in particular, can encourage spur-of-the-moment ticket purchases!
7. Promote the Show at Community Events
Does your city or neighborhood have community events? Get involved! Having a presence at First Fridays, farmer’s markets, festivals, craft fairs, and other community gatherings can be a great way to get your performances in front of new audiences.
Try setting up a booth with promotional materials—you could even offer discounts for on-the-spot ticket purchases!
Even if you don’t sell a ton of tickets during the event itself, getting involved with your community will help you build connections with potential patrons who may not have been aware of your organization and your offerings.
Looking to Sell More Performing Arts Tickets?
All of these tactics can help you sell more tickets to new and returning patrons alike. Make sure you give them a smooth experience! Arts People makes it easy for you and your community to come together and celebrate the arts.
To learn more about our ticketing platform and how you can use it to increase performing arts ticket sales, set up a time to take a tour of the platform.
Join the discussion in our Slack channel on connected fundraising