2016 Mobile Social Ticketing Survey Conducted by:
other Introduction As we enter 2016 there are several questions hanging above the future of the live entertainment ticketing industry. What are today's industry norms in regards to mobile ticket sales? What is the importance of social media in the ticketing marketing mix? Futuretix and Evento took on the challenge of finding out how event organizers use social media as marketing instruments, identifying the latest trends and developments in sales over mobile devices and investigating which problems emerge. In the second week of January 2016, an online survey polled approx. 200 event organizers and ticket sellers from Europe and the US. 64% of those surveyed sell tickets for sports events, 48% for music shows, 40% for performing arts, 32% for theatre and 18% other types of events. 64% 48% 40% 32% 18% *54% of respondents organize more than one type of event
Social Media To understand the current attitudes on the part of event organizers regarding the importance of social media, the question was posed to them about the extent of social networks usage in promoting ticket sales. To what extent do you use social networks to promote ticket sales? Integral part of our online marketing Sometimes Not at all The answers to this question show that in 2016 there are still many event organizers who don't use social media regularly as part of their day to day marketing efforts. 43% 3% 54%
Social Media Facebook remains the most frequently used social media channel at 84%, followed by Twitter, used by 61% of those polled. What s interesting is the rise in the use of instagram as a ticket marketing channel. This is definitely something to follow. Google+ is still struggling to make its way into the event promotion marketing mix, despite the advantages of using the platform for improving search results in Google. What social networks do you use for promoting ticket sales? 92% 51% 22% 8%
Social Ticketing Selling tickets through social networks is still one of the industry s untapped revenue sources. Purchasing inside Facebook and the Twitter buy tickets buttons are still new features not widely used. Incentivizing ticket buyers to invite friends to events and group sales via social networks were some of the rising social ticketing trends of 2015. The vast majority of survey respondents believe that this trend will get stronger in the future. To what extent do you think social ticketing will be an important sales channel in the future? Integral part of online sales An important sales channel Not at all 59% 38% 3%
Mobile The ticketing industry has yet to crack sales via mobile phones. Many ticketing systems are still lagging behind other ecommerce platforms in mobile user experience and conversions. Surprisingly, almost half of those polled do not even monitor the mobile usage statistics. The figures collected from those who do monitor their mobile phone usage show that the ticketing websites are still bellow the overall internet mobile usage which in 2015 exceeded 50%. Do you know what % of users use mobile devices on your website? Yes 51% No 49% What % use mobile devices on your website? 45%
Mobile Display The industry is still looking for the best way to display ticketing systems and to sell tickets via mobile devices. How is your ticketing software displayed on mobile devices? 11% 11% of those polled still use their regular ticketing website on mobile devices, 46% 43% which can be difficult for buyers to complete a purchase. Event organizers who do take care of their mobile frontend display, are evenly split between responsive designs and mobile versions. Regular display Responsive Mobile version
Mobile Apps Mobile apps are becoming an increasingly important sales channel with almost half of the respondents reporting that they sell tickets through them. Do you sell tickets on a native App? Yes 49% No 51% All mobile industry research shows that users spend the majority of their time on apps and less time using mobile browsers. It will be interesting to see if and how the ticketing industry will catch with this during 2016.
Mobile Sales Like in the case of monitoring mobile traffic on mobile, more than half of those polled do not know how many of their tickets are sold through mobile devices. Almost one quarter of all online tickets are sold through mobile devices according to the respondents who do monitor it. Monitoring and understanding buyers mobile behavior should be a must for all event ticketing managers as the technology and mobile usage habits both grow stronger. Do you know what % of your tickets are sold via mobile devices? (mobile web + native apps) Yes 44% No 56% What % of your online tickets are sold via mobile devices? 24%
User Experience One of the most interesting findings of the survey is that 65% of those polled are not happy with their mobile interface and user experience. Are you happy with your mobile interface user experience? This shows that there is still a significant gap between ticketing and the rest of ecommerce sectors when it comes to mobile sales. The complexity of getting ticketing software to properly display on mobile with features like seating maps, will be one of the ticketing industry s main challenges in 2016. Yes 35% No 65%
About Us: FutureTix provides consulting on ticketing practices and technologies for arenas, sports teams, universities, cultural institutions, and other attractions. Leveraging our years of ticketing industry experience and our proprietary analytical tools, we deliver strategic insight to our clients and drive smarter, more effective ticketing practices. See more at: http://futuretix.com Evento provides mobile and social ticketing solutions through API integration with ticketing providers. We deliver an enhanced purchasing funnel - driving stronger conversion rates and improving the fan experience. We Transform the primary and secondary buying experience with social tools that help our clients sell more tickets. Visit us at: http://evento.com