Tag Archives: theatre

4 Ticketing Strategies Arts Orgs Can Learn From Sports Teams

Austin Wranglers Fans

Austin Wranglers Fans

During a discussion at a recent Austin 501 Tech Club event a new friend reminded me that the challenges faced by small, producing arts organizations are in fact very similar to those faced by regional “for-profit” sports teams.

Connected with a Shakespeare theatre company in Texas Hill country, my friend’s litany of difficulties in creating both appealing and profitable pricing scenarios for all patrons, from first-time attendees to deeply engaged sponsors is a familiar story to nonprofit managers everywhere. Reconciling rising costs from vendors, such as ticketing systems, with the producing organization’s own need to increase margins to continue operations is a challenge universal to performing arts and sports events alike.

Small to mid-sized sports teams are more successful at marketing and reaching new audiences than their nonprofit counterparts because they treat the entire fan experience as a revenue opportunity, not just the sale of tickets. In fact, there are four key strategies performing arts organizations can learn from the way sports teams produce events and create exceptional experiences for fans while maximizing revenue.

Packaged to Sell
Sure you have single tickets and season tickets. Now get creative! Most ticketing services charge fees based on ticket price, so create packages that include more than just tickets. For example, the Austin Wranglers, an arena football team, included drinks, food, and table service with prime-front row seating. The setup required the sacrifice of an entire section of regular seats from the normal seating map, but the total revenue for the premium packages, which were often included as part of a sponsorship deal, exceeded the maximum revenue that could have generated from that section (if it sold out) by 10 times! In fact the revenue from the premium seating section was almost equal to the entire rest of the house!

Create smaller group packages. Groups don’t have to be ten or more. Include smaller group packages that net the same gross revenue to your organization by providing other “extras” such as coupons to be exchanged for food or drink at the concession stand, t-shirt, or collector’s program book, etc. For example, a family 4-pack including 4 sodas and 4 hot dogs might be priced similarly to a group of 10, and reaches a previously potentially under-served market segment. This kind of creative packaging has the added benefit of maximizing ticket revenue margin–since you sell fewer seats, you pay less ticket fees, and make up the revenue in additional services.

Reward early orders with special printed commemorative tickets. Even if your venue entrance system requires barcode scanning, most ticketing databases allow blocks of seats to be batch printed so you can create custom printed tickets which include barcodes. Companies such as National Ticket Co and Worldwide Ticket Craft are a good place to start getting quotes. If you don’t need barcodes, printing custom tickets is as easy as getting the seat numbers right. The effort you put into to designing and creating collectible tickets season after season, not only creates an urgency in your customer base to order early, but also also creates a deeper engagement with your best, long-term fans.

Something Special
Have a special promotion for every event. Rotate special deals, so it spreads the revenue “hit” across different operating budgets. The Round Rock Express use this technique for almost every home game. Examples of their promotions include: dollar hot dogs and sodas (concessions budget), get in free with a donation to local food bank (tickets budget), fireworks (game operations budget), special program (eg, kids club).

Creating special promotions is limited only by your imagination. Don’t let your ticketing or database system limit you. Think outside the box to create promotions that motivate ticket buyers. Listen to your sales staff, and be open to test new ideas. Don’t be afraid to fail. The promotions that fail never need be repeated, and ones that are successful can become traditions!

Include the Kids
Want to make sure the adults have a good time? Include children’s activities at every event to keep the kids distracted and out of mom and dad’s hair. For sports teams, this often means games or activities that happen during the game, off to the side. If your event allows it, consider creating a safe “kid’s zone” with low cost supplemental activities for families. Parents who want to attend the arts usually budget for childcare. Price the cost of your planned activities less than a night’s babysitter.

Don’t be dissuaded from this tactic if your organization produces art that isn’t necessarily considered “kid-friendly.” Get creative and find ways to include activities for the younger set. For example, most 11-year olds wouldn’t sit through Macbeth, but they would attend a fun Shakespeare “quick camp” while mom and dad see the show. Your organization can potentially supplement revenue and create life-long fans, all while providing a convenient service to parents!

Turn Fans into Cheerleaders
The Austin Wranglers had a very vocal set of fans, nicknamed the “Rowdy Wranglers.” These year-after-year season ticket holders made their presence known at every home and away game, traveling many miles, at their own cost, to support the team. The team recognized these raving fans by officially sanctioning the group, providing “uniforms” (in the form of custom printed official jerseys, which the fans paid for themselves) and allowing the group onto the field to perform pre-game. They literally paid to become cheerleaders for the team!

While pre-show public performances with pom-poms may not be appropriate for all producing organizations, arts groups can leverage their most loyal supporters by engaging them in peer-to-peer fundraising and advocacy campaigns, as well as volunteer opportunities. Have an engagement ladder that lays out the path from first-time ticket buyer to donor to board member. Always consider that butt in that seat gave his/her time and money to be at your event. What else might they be willing to do, if you ask them?

Nonprofit Doesn’t Mean “Doesn’t Make Money”
Being a nonprofit organization doesn’t mean you don’t make money; you just do something else with your profits. Instead of paying shareholders, you provide programs or serve the community. The same as all businesses, nonprofits must maximize revenue while minimizing costs. By following the example of successful events produced by local sports teams, regional producing arts organizations can garner that extra winning edge for themselves!

Summer Acts at the City Theatre

I am technical director (and stage manager, and marketing director, and photographer, and lighting designer…) for the Polish Thespian Project production of Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure as part of the Summer Acts! festival at City Theatre in Austin, Texas.

Robert Stevens and Martinique Duchene-Phillips star in Measure for MeasureJustice meets mercy and virtue encounters vice in Shakespeare’s probing dark comedy. The Duke leaves his puritanical Deputy Angelo in charge, hoping he will rid the city of corruption. Though Angelo enforces the law, he becomes entangled in a web of lies when he is attracted to a young novice pleading for the life of her condemned brother. The bard masterfully restores order and even creates a happy ending.

Please come out and see our show! The festival runs July 5 -15th.
Show times for Measure for Measure are:
FR6@7, SA7@6, SU8@6, WE11@7, TH12@7, SU15@4

For ticket information, please visit the Polish Thespian Project on Facebook.

 

Method Tweeting: Using theatre techniques to engage your social media audience

At SXSW interactive festival in March, I attended a great panel discussion, Method Tweeting for Non Profits (and Other Players)
Click here to view the slides from this panel on slideshare.
Panel presenters included: Carie Lewis, Dir of Emerging Media The Humane Society of the United States (@cariegrls); Dan Michel, Digital Mktg Mgr Feeding America (@dpmichel or @FeedingAmerica); Eve Simon, Creative Dir Beaconfire Consulting (@NaiEve or @thebeaconsxsw); Geoff Livingston, CMO Zoetica (@geoffliving); and Jennifer Windrum, Founder WTF? (Where’s the Funding) for Lung Cancer (@jenniferwindrum and @wtflungcancer).
We have recently been witness to a great example of method tweeting in action, as Eve Simon pointed out via her Twitter handle, @NaiEve. The twitter sensation, @BronxZoosCobra is a prime example of developing an online persona that inspires a fanatical response.   
The facebook page contains many comments of fans, similar to this one:
Despite the Bronx Zoo’s accident, the right social media capital has turned this potential public relations disaster into a gold mine for reaching new audiences and future donors for the organization. 
While most of us do not necessarily want a quarter of a million followers, most of us aren’t going to so far as to impersonate a snarky snake, either.  And with results like that, you cannot deny the method clearly works.

What exactly is method tweeting?

Method tweeting is the concept that nonprofits must create a brand persona via their online presence that embodies a voice for the cause. 
If Shakespeare tweeted would he use his voice or characters? Method tweeting is based on the theory of method acting.  It is about starting a dialogue and tweeting based on authentic emotional and intellectual ties.

Nonprofits use of social media

There’s no doubt that the use of social media among nonprofits in on the rise. In 2010, 60% of nonprofits were on Twitter, up from 38% in 2009 and have on average 1800 followers. But what do they do with those followers? What do they say to them?

To thine own tweet be true

To create authenticity, there must a real-world tie between the person at the keyboard and the cause.  Carie Lewis pointed out, “In order to do my job well, you have to love social media and love animals…tweet what you love.”
The key is to select a staff member or free agent who is motivated by the charity’s cause to promote the organization on social media. If that individual doesn’t believe in what they’re tweeting for, they cannot be authentic. And your entire Twitter presence is based on deception.  To be successful, they must take on the identity of the organization on Twitter and truly embody all for which it stands.

Conflicted loyalties

There are inevitably times when choices are made with which not everyone in an organization may agree. These are the times when it is most important to believe in the organization. Tweeting is believing and anyone responsible for an organization’s public social media persona must have the passion to support the organization even if they disagree with the choices being made.
There is a balance to be struck between personal voice and professional tweets.  Many folks manage multiple twitter accounts.  Dan Michel pointed out that your personal tweets are everyday expressions of your casual self, while your organizational twitter voice is more “like me at a wedding – on my best behavior.”  It is fine to publish snarky commentary on your personal twitter account (as long as it doesn’t conflict with the organization’s position) but institutional tweeting requires more a conservative approach. Talk to people as you would at a job interview or other formal setting.

#gettngslizzerd

Personalities blur across accounts when you manage multiple twitter handles.  What happens when your personalities cross?  It happens to everyone at some point.  You know – that tweet you meant to send from your personal account accidentally gets posted to the wrong twitter account.  
This happened to the Red Cross when a staff member accidentally posted to the @RedCross account:
You can read about the faux pas and how the Red Cross dealt (BRILLIANTLY) with the error on the American Red Cross blog.
While it may be impossible to avoid the inevitable twitter mistakes, one thing you can do to avoid crossing your personalities is to use different tools for personal and organization twitter accounts. For example, I use TweetDeck for personal tweets and Hootsuite for organization tweets.

Avatars define voice

How does your avatar represent your social media voice?  Is it a photo? Is it a logo?  What does it imply?  For example, if you are an individual tweeting for your organization, do you use a personal photo so followers know the person behind the tweets? Or do you use a corporate logo and speak with a broader organizational voice?  
Many celebrities use their headshot as an avatar, but very few actually tweet for themselves.  Set the proper expectations instantly by selecting a powerful avatar image that defines your twitter voice authentically.

Emotions and tone

Personality is key to successful tweeting. Greatness doesn’t necessarily translate on twitter.  People like to follow people – not brands. Tweeting for your organization should be a mix of the institution’s founding principles and speaking in a conversational way. 
It is true that personal spokespeople get more followers.  Michel pointed out the clear example of Livestrong’s official twitter which has over 100,000 followers vs Livestrong CEO’s account which has over one million!
The most important takeaway to remember is that authenticity and personality go a long in effectively using social media, such as twitter, to reach your audience. Maintain an appropriate and approachable tone and let personal passions that align to organizational objectives drive content.
My words fly up, my thoughts remain below.
Words without thoughts never to heaven go.
-          Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 3