5 Ways to Increase Your Arts Organization’s Online Ticket Sales

Increasing your online ticket sales is more than just an optimistic conversion goal; it’s getting more people into your theatre, sharing more of what you love, and celebrating your team’s hard work and dedication. Every ticket sold is another chance to connect with a user over a shared love for the arts.

But how do you communicate the value of a performance? What is preventing users from committing to your show? Here are 5 ways you can get ticket buyers to switch from a “maybe later” to a “YES, I need to go!”.

Add Everpresent Call-to-Actions

Descriptive and enticing Call-to-Actions (CTAs) encourage your users to take action on your website. The better your CTAs are, the more likely users will buy tickets or special promotions. The question is, how do you get users to follow through on that final click? Although there are many reasons why a user might not follow through, one is the lack of a clear CTA. That’s where a sticky header can help.

A sticky header is a menu or bar that follows you as you scroll so that it is always in view. You can use it to position important CTAs you want your users to remember. 

A CTA that’s everpresent can capture the users that are most likely distracted and busy. Think of the distracted parent using their phone or the dedicated manager with a free moment between meetings. These types of users have a shorter attention span and need less time to convert before they’re on to their next task. You want to reduce any thought of “I’ll do that later” by making offers eye-catching and clear.

Showcase Shining Customer Testimonials

Event descriptions are important for intriguing potential viewers, but sometimes a description or an image isn’t enough. They want to know how someone felt after going, which performance touched their heart, or who’s their standout artist. That’s where showcasing positive reviews can encourage or even excite a user to attend. 

As people, we like to connect over shared experiences and reading a personal experience can help build the hype. This is more true when someone well-known and trusted is providing the testimonial. Maybe you won’t be able to get a review from New York Times, but any respected individual in your industry that gives their stamp of approval is worth showing off.  

Another way to provide social proof is to update users on ticket sales. If they get the sense that tickets are going fast, that will validate their interest and encourage faster buying.

Build Personalized User Journeys

A personalized user experience is all about providing timely suggestions based on a user’s previous interests or behaviour. If your user is always looking at jazz performances, the logical step is to show them your upcoming jazz events. With that in mind, it makes sense that a personally curated experience can lead to more sales. 91% of consumers are more likely to shop with a brand that provides personalized recommendations.

To do this, you can use your website’s data to create unique recommendations, special offers, or dynamic content. The more you understand your audience through your first-party data, the higher conversion rates you’ll see across your CTAs.
And if tracking your users feels a tad evasive, you’ll be happy to know that 83% of consumers are willing to share their data for a personalized experience. Just ensure you are upfront and transparent with how you use it.

Prioritize Your Users’ Trust

On the same wavelength of being transparent and upfront, prioritizing your user’s trust is crucial for building customer loyalty. Customers want to know your organization can be trusted when they commit to membership packages or spend big on first-row seats. Whether it’s keeping their credit card info safe or ensuring there is an established cancellation policy, you want them to feel protected. The more you can provide a sense of online security, the more likely they will purchase tickets.

A great way to build trust is by providing a safe and secure payment process. You can do this by adding trust badges on your home page and during payments. Another way is to offer multiple payment options, including PayPal and ApplePay, to give users the option they feel most comfortable with.

Another way to build user trust is by answering important questions. Provide a FAQ page to preemptively answer questions or add a messaging system on your website to easily communicate with customers. Make sure to include a section on returns or exchanges and your privacy policy. Also, be aware of which questions are asked the most! If some issues are consistently brought up, consider having a dedicated page addressing them.

BLOG: Security Measures For Your Website

Create A Winning Ticketing Experience

Your users might click your CTAs, but the purchase isn’t complete until they finalize their payment. To help avoid cart abandonment, focus on creating a simple, stress-free ticketing experience.

Many software and plugins can help you build a seamless ticketing process including our favs Tessitura and Spektrix. They help you create everything from timed admissions to subscription renewals to automated discounts.

Increasing Your Online Ticket Sales

Finding the best strategies to increase ticket sales is not always easy, but starting with our 5 tips can lead to positive changes. By prioritizing your users and personalizing their experience, you can build stronger connections to your organization and ultimately encourage more ticket sales.