This was the session that we couldn't wait to share. Ticketsolve is getting a brand new backend - a box office facelift if you will! Well, when we say facelift, we actually mean a total and complete re-write. Sean, our main man when it comes to all things IT, explained how the backend is looking now, and when it will be ready for customers. The development team have been hard at work for over a year on it, and Sean did a live demo of the system during the forum. It was very well received and we can’t wait to get it into beta testing in early December with a couple of customers.
Exciting times ahead!!
We were lucky enough to have Kate Mroczkowski from Supercool present at the UK Forum. Kate has been a prominent figure in the arts world for a number of years, and her talk on how to increase up selling and cross selling within the box office and online, was incredibly compelling. Her philosophy of marginal gains really hit home, “imagine £1 extra from all of your customers, things can start increasing very quickly”. Kate’s presentation mixed in practical examples of how our customers can use the tools within Ticketsolve such as the donations prompts, recommendations, product post and extras.
I was lucky enough to wangle myself into the talks as well, so I focused on Google Analytics. Yes, everyone's favourite subject (cough, cough). The goal of my talk was to show how easy it is to read the data within GA, and which reports are important for arts organisations (there are only a few). The main KPI I wanted everyone to look at is their conversion rate, in my view this is probably the most important GA stat for most cases.
I also covered other reports such as acquisition, shopping behaviour etc., and discussed how you can use Google URL Builder to combat Dark Social. Finally, during my talk, we looked at how using segmentation tools can help you get more data out of GA. Have to say I was chuffed when we received an email the day after from one of our customers saying "My colleague who is at present studying for a Masters in Digital Marketing, said he learned more from Nick’s presentation on Google Analytics than he did studying a complete module at college." Such amazing feedback - really glad my talk was helpful!
As part of the forum we really wanted to involve our customers and showcase all the good work they have been doing. We were thrilled when Mansfield Palace & Everyman Cork agreed to talk at the UK and Irish Forums. The two presentations were very similar and were centred around the data driven approach that both venues have adopted within their marketing teams. By analysing the data they pull from Ticketsolve, Mansfield and Everyman can measure ROI on all their campaigns, which has resulted in some amazing new ways of working.
For example, by adopting A/B testing with their season brochure, Mansfield have saved a significant amount of money. For Everyman, being data driven has helped them to really understand who their customers are, this in turn allowed them to secure a major sponsorship because they could clearly define who their customers are and how they fit with the ethos of the sponsoring organisation.
Róisín Ingle is one of Ireland’s gems; a really bubbly personality. We were delighted to have her as our closing speaker for our Dublin forum. Rósín is a columnist at the Irish Times, a novelist and a prolific podcaster. Her closing talk was about how podcasting can help organisations build their profile with audiences. It was a perfect ending to a wonderful day.
Rósín was kind enough to offer her platform to help arts organisations, so if there is an event that you think could be good for Rósín to cover - get in touch and she may pop along to help!
So, that is just a quick summary of what our Ticketsolve Forum included.
Special thanks has to go to both the Royal Court Liverpool and Smock Alley in Dublin for hosting the two days. Another huge thank you to all the speakers: Kate (Supercool), Ariadne (The Audience Agency), Iain (Royal Court Liverpool), Louise (Mansfield Palace), Anna Marie (Everyman), Cian (Project Arts Centre), Osgar (Smock Alley) & Rósín.
Finally, a big shout out and thanks to all the Ticketsolve team for making the two days so special and to all of our lovely customers who took time out of their busy schedules to come along.
From the bottom of our hearts, THANK YOU!!!!
Can’t wait to see you all again soon!