When you are thinking about online conversions, it is important to consider not just the actual buying of tickets online, but the entire customer journey - the whole process. Roughly, that will break down into pre-sales marketing, the buying process, and after sales.
While traditional marketing may still hold sway for some ticket buyers, by and large, digital marketing - and specifically social media - is the best method to get good buzz going about your event or show. Using pictures, videos (we love the show trailers on YouTube), and other rich media allows your patrons to really get interested in shows and events. But announcements and deals are not enough. To really get social media to act as a conversion engine, you need to create engagement, engender discussion and encourage sharing. While it may seem impossible to think about engagement ideas for some shows, simple questions can act as great catalyst to help spur discussion.
Once your customer hits your website - the opportunity to convert becomes critical. There are several things you can do to ensure a brilliant user experience and a solid sale.
1. Keep your design simple.
Too often customers are turned off from a purchase by an overly busy web design. Keep your web design simple and straightforward. Consider these modern web design trends in any future developments of your site.
2. Be brief.
Too much information can be overwhelming and swamp even the simplest of designs. Keep your content brief, but informative, with ample opportunities to buy now.
3. No forced registrations.
Online purchasers are often turned off by forced registrations. They appreciate giving over the minimum of information to buy their tickets. You can always ask for a registration after the ticket purchase is made. There are other potential opportunities for gathering information, such as membership programs etc. Consider these rather than forcing customers to register before buying tickets.
4. Few steps to complete the purchase.
The fewer the steps to the final ticket purchase the better. Fewer steps equal more conversions. We have some great examples, on how to do this, just ask us!
5. Be clear about prices.
Another big one for ticket purchasers is getting the prices upfront, without excessive clicks. Patrons are more apt to buy when they can immediately get the info they want.
6. Breadcrumbs are your friends.
A breadcrumb trail - looks like this: Home/Blog/News & Events/How To Get The Most Out Of Your Box Office
Breadcrumbs allow your customer to know exactly where they are, and gives them the tools to go back if they so choose.
7. Consistent branding.
Online purchases equal trust between the buyer and seller. For tickets, this means, that patrons should never feel like they have left your site, especially when they hit the all important pay now button.
8. Allow for all devices.
Another boost for conversions, comes from using responsive design, thus ensuring that customers can browse and buy from multiple browsers and devices without hinderance.
9. Go for the soft conversion.
Consider a "remind me later" option. This sort of option would allow customers to request a reminder for when tickets go on sale, or other sale parameters. Ticketsolve's alerts feature can be used in this manner.
10. Customise Google Analytics.
Customising allows you to delve deeper into your patrons online habits, and see where your bottlenecks to purchase are hiding. This will also allow you better insight into where your customers are coming from and where potential increases in conversion can be created.
Once the purchase is complete, don't forget to offer your customers the chance to share on social media. Consider deals and offers as encouragement to share. As always the right content, to the right audience, through the right channel will always help boost your online conversions.