Your guide to successful events. Festivals

Transcription

1 Your guide to successful events Festivals Concerts, Art, Wine and Food, Writers, Community shows, Music, Comedy, Film, Folk, Blues, Dance, Cultural, Open Garden, Horse racing and many more Why Sell Tickets Online? Selling tickets online is an integral revenue tool and an enormous service and convenience for your audience or guests. Online ticketing is not new for festivals, but what is new is the quantum leap forward that TryBooking represents. TryBooking is different in a lot of ways; not the least of which is a much lower cost, no contracts and no transition time or third party staff training. It is also different because you manage it yourself, so it takes no time to smoothly integrate into your existing system and streamline your entire ticket management process. If you ever need help, we re here with free support and advice. A sophisticated program that is elegant in its simplicity, you can manage an unlimited number of tickets for general admission or create state-of-the-art interactive seating plans for any venue or type of performance. You can manage one-off events or multi-day, multi-venue festivals with ease and efficiency. Create an unlimited number of ticket types and design exciting tickets for every event. And if you ever need help, we re here with free support and advice. Already TryBooking has dramatically increased sell-out performances across Australia. It s all about enhancing the ticketing experience for your customers. From their first contact point, your tickets will be accessible, convenient, cost effective and easy to acquire. Now your Box Office is open 24/7 Festivals sell-out quickly - online sales are more convenient and easier for everyone Online sales increase with only 30 cent booking fee Slash all ticket-related administrative work Barcode scanning with GateKeeper improves security and speed of entry It s easy! Set up online sales from any computer. TryBooking requires no special IT skills or training General admission or superfast interactive seating plans your choice! Ticket prices are automatically applied allowing you to offer I have seen TryBooking handle the smallest run of a general admission show to multi show festivals running 50,000 tix and the 5000 seating venue Plenary Hall at Melbourne Convention Centre I reckon anyone could get online and create an event in less than half an hour - of course, it will take a little longer to explore all of the amazing features of the system. But that's the beauty of it. Mark Crees Auspicious Arts Incubator Tips to Success - Make the Switch to Online Bookings. If this is your first online ticketing experience, make sure you discuss and promote the change with your staff and stakeholders. This document provides useful suggestions about how to successfully engage your stakeholders and ensure your online transition is easy and comfortable for everyone. Click here to download this free resource. Page 1

2 different ticket prices for adults, children, daily and multiple day passes a breeze (anything you need) No cost to issue COMPs or refunds Eliminate cash and cheque management issues all monies are collected online with clear audit trails and records TryBooking is free for free events (important for crowd control open space events and for security to still ticket) No posting of tickets, manual s or data entry Book tickets from any internet enabled phone instant access to a suite of financial and marketing reports, with the ability to export data (waiting lists, door lists, guest lists and a range of booking reports, graphs and maps). Build your Customer Database - you always own your customer data. Improves future marketing with valuable customer histories. Venue Access codes - Set up specific access codes to give individual venues access to the specific reports they need to manage their own event Transfer Funds at anytime to help pay for the event Lowest fees in the industry everyone can afford it! Free and friendly customer support. We re here to help! TryBooking leaves you free to concentrate on festival preparation and promotion! Ticket Sales were higher than expected and I worked a whole lot less. Sandrine Bonython Souled Out Film Festival I hadn t set up an event before, but even if you re a first time user, TryBooking is still easy to do. Rebecca Elmes, Events and Promotions Coordinator Warrnambool City Council It s Easy to Sell Online Setup wizards will guide you through this simple process at 1. Login to your account or create a new account. It s free and takes just 2 minutes! 2. Create a new event named accordingly. For a festival with multiple venues, set up an event for each individual venue, as each venue will have different capacities and ticket requirements. 3. Enter your Festival Name and a description. 4. Set the Date that your tickets will be available to purchase (ON SALE DATES) IMPORTANT NOTE: No one can book tickets until the ON SALE DATE is reached. Until this time only you the account holder can view and change your booking information. What a great system. The flexibility is Impressive! Susanna Matters, Vice President Sydney University Symphony Orchestra 5. Select General Admission or Reserved (allocated) Seating 6. Set the type of tickets you wish to sell (adult, family, day, or festival pass whatever you need) Page 2

3 7. During setup you will receive a unique booking URL.. This link brings people directly to your ticket booking pages.. Publish this URL on your website and any marketing collateral or advertising websites to direct people immediately to your bookings. 8. Once you are happy with your booking pages, don t forget to click on To make a Booking in your dashboard and run through a test booking to see if it goes as you expected. Exit just before you enter the shopping cart. It s Easy to Buy Online 1. Patrons purchase tickets directly from your website or any other promotional website. 2. They choose the type and number of tickets. For festivals with multiple shows, patrons can simply select the event(s) they wish to attend. The more we can drive people to book online the more savings and efficiency we ll achieve. Rebecca Elmes, Ticketing and Marketing Manager Fun4Kids Festival, Warrnambool 3. If your performance is a reserved seating event, patrons will be guided to select their seats from an interactive seating plan. 4. Credit card payment is processed through our secure service (Verisign) and tickets are instantly available to print at home or they are automatically sent to their address. Customise Your Event Details During your initial setup you will be prompted to input basic information like the number of tickets available and the date that you would like your tickets to go on sale. Many Festival run over several days and different locations... The Continue Shopping function allows your guests to purchase all their tickets in one transaction. Guests simply confirm each purchase in their shopping cart and then return to the list of shows and continue to select tickets until ready to check out. Too easy! Once you have completed this step, we encourage you to go back into your Dashboard, and customise the details of your event. Seating Plan: You can ticket any venue with Australia s most flexible seating plan editor. Add rows, stalls, tiers to create an exact replica of your seating plan. You can block out seats and even add /release reserved seats later Ticket Type and Pricing: add any additional ticket types with different prices: child, family, member prices any type of ticket you need NOTE: You can even have sectional prices to reflect the Page 3

4 seating location and indicate the entry gate to help direct people on the day Terms and Conditions: make sure you add any pertinent information related to the event, such as refunds Event Homepage: make this page match your event s promotional material. Add graphics, photos, sponsor logos and all the details people need to enjoy your event Create a ticket design that complements your booking page and promotional material Set up a promotional code to allocate VIP and comps and you can even set up different promotional codes for ticket types to generate sales A full suite of management tools to help you track your bookings. The Event Revenue Itemised provides real-time sales figures and with ticket sales by time or mapping of data, you know exactly how your tracking for sales and if you marketing is working. Think about whether barcode scanning will help your event. If you anticipate a large crowd, TryBooking s GateKeeper will quickly scan ticket barcodes to speed entry. Please contact us for more information Patrons had their tickets instantly and our money was in the bank all in 45 minutes! I can t even begin to calculate the huge amount of time we saved and most importantly, people did not need to queue for hours for best seats. Kevin Coyne Michelle Slater Performing Arts Centre On Event Day As soon as your booking window closes, print a Door List (for smaller events) so your people working the event have a record of ticket holders If you have planned barcode scanning, setup your GateKeeper stations Box Office? Easy to integrate all your sales at all time. Please enquire with TryBooking for more details. For tickets (if any) sold at your event, use TryBooking s Quick Sale Box Office function and credit card scanning to sell tickets more quickly Make sure any tickets sold manually after your online booking window has closed are recorded in your TryBooking event. This ensures you have an accurate revenue record and makes your event reconciliation fast and easy. It also helps enormously for next year s event planning and marketing Page 4

5 The Wrap-up: post event analysis Understanding this year s event is the best way to start planning for your next performance. Spending time and energy on post event analysis can be tedious, but for any items sold on TryBooking it s a breeze! When you accept online bookings, you receive instant data and a full suite of management reporting tools. Go to your Dashboard and click on All Event Revenue: which tickets sold, how many by ticket type and total revenue Door List: who bought tickets(great when people misplace their tickets) Ticket Sales vs Time: when people bought tickets instant bar graphs for more impact in your event reports and to assist next years' event planning Sales by Ticket Type: which tickets sold best Map Bookings: for a graphic snapshot of where your ticket purchasers came from Export Data: to bring all data into your own spreadsheets to store and analyse in any form that suits you Archive all reports and Files TIP: Ensure all phone sales, cheque or cash sales are entered directly into TryBooking for complete account reconciliation and reporting Tips, Ideas and Inspiration The more tickets you sell online, the less work you have to do before, during and after your event! Easy ways to encourage online ticket sales: Use an Early Bird Discount. Set up a promotional code in Ticket Types for specified dates. When your Early Bird date has passed, normal online ticket prices automatically apply Charge a Box Office Fee to encourage people to buy online and to buy early and to cover box office costs Make your unique URL work hard for you. Insert into all e- marketing; newsletters, s, text, phone (app) and your and promotional websites that list your event. The Simplicity was a welcomed addition to managing events. Milano Livera Series Producer C31 Fusion Latina For example: visit. (make sure you include your unique end code) Your URL makes it easy to access bookings from any promotional avenue, e.g. What s On websites, other promotional sites and all e- channels ( s, newsletters, and SMS campaigns) Page 5

6 Consider a follow up , SMS or other e-campaign a few weeks after tickets go on sale to remind people to book early to select best seats as 'tickets are selling fast!' Put a large BUY TICKETS HERE button on the landing page of your website Do you want to speed up ticket sales? Send a reminder or SMS to Book Now and include the URL link to direct patrons straight to your booking page Keep your online booking period open as long as possible, particularly if capacity is not reached Make your Answering Service work harder. Change your message to encourage patrons to book online. Succinctly communicate the benefits including their ability choose the best seats still available, instantly print their tickets and avoid the Box Office handling fee We've found the service and support fantastic! Easy ways to increase event revenue Maureen Hartley, Publicist/Education Coordinator La Mama Theatre Re-allocate staff no longer required to manage ticket sales to the festival itself so you can sell more food, drinks or to run other activities Sell programs, merchandise, ride and even food vouchers online at the same time they purchase tickets. People are more likely to purchase these items when they are buying tickets and it helps plan inventory. Also, the more you pre-sell, the more attendees have to spend on the day Open bookings to your wider community. Consider local paper listings and target publications and websites. Online bookings make tickets more accessible and can increase overall attendance Third Party Ticket Agents - increase your exposure and sales by giving re-sellers direct access to sell tickets in realtime. Set a promotion code to identify sellers and to control commissions Page 6

7 Tips to make your job easier! Consider saving your Seating Plans for next years festival. Create the plan as a Venue Template BEFORE you setup your event s ticketing. Now you ve always got the seating plan setup and ready to go! Reminder s are an excellent way to build anticipation and communicate pertinent information. TryBooking s Instant feature allows you to send a personalised to ticket holders when they receive their ticket. Include reminders about parking, dress code, maps and start times to reduce office queries What if I get stuck or need help? We are always here to help you with free phone and assistance and we provide a dedicated account manager to ensure your online ticketing experience is a success! Build your Customer Database - you always own your customer data for future analysis. Now more effective marketing is possible with valuable customer histories Free tickets for media, sponsors and VIPs. Set up a promotional code then send an e-invite with instructions about how to book their free ticket. You simply include the URL link into the and include the promotional code they need to enter during booking. This means you no longer hold seats for no shows! Venue Access codes: Now you can also set up specific access codes to give individual venues access to specified reports they need to manage their own event. Page 7

8 FAQ s How do you stop tickets being duplicated with print at home tickets? Tickets can not be duplicated as every ticket has a unique barcode number and TryBooking provide free of charge Gatekeeper software to scan the validity of each ticket upon entry. For smaller events, the 'door list' can be used to simply mark off tickets as attendees arrive. Do I need an internet connection to scan tickets? No. TryBooking can be used in any location. It's perfect for regional and remote locations and with no wiring required, it is robust to use in any weather conditions. But, like with any box office, if you choose to run the box office at the event and verify credit card transactions, internet access is required. Do I need to plan for training days and additional resources? No. TryBooking has been developed using very sophisticated technology that uses simple wizards to direct any first time user. But, if required, TryBooking can provide at no charge a simple half hour online training demonstration and assign a dedicated account manager to run through the process to ensure your online experience is Sophisticated technology made simple, accessible and affordable Ready to start? Visit or give us a call. Page 8