Last week, we announced the release of Fanbase, the first customer analytics suite for venues and event promoters. In 2012, we found that seven percent of ticket buyers account for a total of 24 percent of ticket orders. We developed Fanbase so our clients can leverage customer sales, attendance, and social sharing data to reward these top fans and keep them coming through the door.

You may be asking “How do I use all this data? What does it all mean?!”, so Marketing Services is here to help!

What promotions and contests should you run using Fanbase? We have ideas!

• Fan of the Week/Month – feature a fan on social media or blog. Give them perks.
• Top Fan contest – Encourage fans to compete in a contest to win Top Fan Status. ​
• Top Fan Email blast – Develop a regular email blast with perks for your Top Fans.
• Other Contest Ideas: Run a Comment or Pictogram contest on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram or a share/retweet contest on Facebook and Twitter.

What rewards should I give my Top Fans?

• Access to a VIP area in your venue
• Early entry, or skip the line privileges
• Access to promo code ticket types
• Top Fan only presale
• Free event tickets
• Free drink tickets
• Venue or talent merch

Be creative! You can use Fanbase data to drive more sales, reward top fans, and develop or promote your loyalty program and mobilize influential customers. So let’s dig in with a few examples, shall we?

Drive Ticket Sales – Create a contest to reward fans who share the event

1. Use Ticketfly Emailer to tell Event-level Fans to enter the contest by sharing the event link on Facebook.

• Create an email campaign using the Single Event template (recommended).
• Give it a snappy subject line about the event-specific contest, then use the custom content field to explain the rules – keep it simple, folks.
• Target your campaign to the specific Event and send…easy-peasy!

2. Monitor your event-level fans’ social activity to see who is sharing the event.

3. Select a winner (or winners), send them an email, and encourage them to share news of their win on social media.

Reward Top Fans – Perks, perks, perks! Everyone loves ‘em!

1. Contact Top Fans individually and surprise them with a reward.

Example: Union Transfer rewarded the Top Fans of a show with VIP seating and cocktail service and got great feedback from customers, including this one:

“I just wanted to thank you for offering us the opportunity to see/listen to last night’s Local Natives show from the VIP area.  It was awesome!…Keep the acts coming – we’ll keep buying tickets.”

2. Create customized monthly emails to your Top Fans with exclusive perks like special pre-sales, artist meet-and-greets, or unique promo-code discounts on tickets.

• Create an email campaign using the Themed Template – Custom Content template (recommended).
• Target your campaign to your Top Fans and send.

3. Create a Fan of the Week or Fan of the Month award

• Decide how often you want to recognize a Top Fan – keep it manageable for your staff!
• Determine what type of rewards your Top Fan will receive. Keep it standardized so that the fan rewards of equal value.
• Add a Fan of the Week/Month page to your website with info about the program.
• Every week/month, select a winner, confirm that they welcome you featuring them via social media or in your blog, then post it up!
• When you post, provide information about how others can win the award and include a link to your fan rewards program.

Here’s a Fan of the Month Facebook post from High Noon Saloon:

Raise Awareness – Share details of your loyalty program!

Get the word out using social media so that fans of your Facebook page can interact and share the news. The Vogue used their Facebook announcement as an opportunity to tell fans how to get in on the action by connecting their social accounts:

Still have questions? Take some time to review the Fanbase section of our help desk, then dive into your Fanbase data and get started!

If you are not a Ticketfly client, and you’d like to learn more about marketing your events using the Ticketfly platform, visit start.ticketfly.com.

Listen up everybody. We have some big news to share. As you may have seen in the news this morning, today we’re very excited to be announcing the release of Fanbase, the first customer analytics suite for venues and event promoters.

If you’ve been a regular at your favorite venue but never get so much as a high-five for your loyalty, Fanbase is here to make sure you get the recognition you deserve. Built into the existing Ticketfly platform, Fanbase allows promoters to easily identify their top fans and reward them with offers like exclusive presales, premium seating, merchandise and VIP access.

Fanbase measures more than a dozen key factors to generate its rankings, including number of tickets purchased per order, number of shares and tweets per order, and sales that originate from social activity (when customers explicitly grant us access to their social activity on Facebook and Twitter). Fanbase also includes sophisticated technology that helps clients flag ticket resellers to protect music fans.

“Fanbase gives fans a voice and gives venues new insight into who their best customers are.” – Sarah Marasco, Box Office Manager, World Cafe Live

Our team recognized the need to develop Fanbase after observing how important hyper-loyal customers are for live events, and seeing how hard it has been for promoters to connect with these fans. In 2012, we found that seven percent of ticket buyers account for a total of 24 percent of ticket orders for venues and promoters using Ticketfly. Fanbase helps promoters reward these top fans and keep them coming through the door.

“Fanbase gives us a lot of different options to reward our top fans. For the first time, it’s making social media quantifiable.” – Reid Benditt, Marketing Director, Union Transfer

We’re always looking for new music, and since Twitter Music launched last month, life has gotten a lot easier. Twitter Music keeps a running tab of the top 140 (clever, right?) trending artists: popular and emerging. You can sample all the songs from the landing page, and if it’s love at first listen, iTunes, Spotify, and Rdio are just a click away.

Not only does Twitter Music give you the low-down on trending artists, whether they’re Top 40 radio-sensations or indie rockers, but it also recommends artists and keeps you updated on music #nowplaying by all the people you follow. What else could a music junkie need?

Now that Twitter has merged two of our favorite things: social networking and music, it’s more important than ever to hone your Twitter skills for marketing and promotional purposes. Follow these tips to improve your online-cred and catch the attention of your followers:

8 Rules for Tweeting Better Than Your Teenage Daughter

1. Use #hashtags.

This will always be the #1 rule for Twitter. Hash tags set Twitter apart from any other social network. They organize information, group tweets like clockwork, and bring people together. Isn’t that the purpose of social media? If you want your tweets to be seen by people who don’t already follow you, you have to use hash tags.

2. Always @ mention.

If you’re tweeting about an artist or a venue, why not @ mention them? Mentioning other users enters you into the pool for a potential retweet or mention. Maybe you’ll hit the jackpot and your favorite artist will retweet you to millions of their followers. Cha-ching!

3. Timing is everything.

Just like there’s bumper-to-bumper traffic on the highway during rush hour, there’s also high-traffic on the interwebs, given the time of day. You might be nocturnal and tweet at 3am, but barely anyone is going to see your middle-of-the-night posts (maybe for the better). #Twitterafterdark (yes, that’s a commonly-used hashtag) is not the most thrilling time to be lurking your feed, and not a good time to spread the word. Save your important tweets for the daytime.

4. Use symbols, abbreviations, and acronyms. 

Twitter is great because nothing is taken too seriously. Not saying that everyone using it DGAF, but the simplicity and character limit deserve a lot of credit for the success of the company. Symbols, abbreviations (sci-fi, gov’t, prof., tix), and acronyms (TGIF, lol) are crucial to get your message across within 140 characters.

5. Keep it simple.

With so much data available online, our attention spans are limited. We easily stray on to the next article, profile, etc., and we rarely read block text or novels on a computer screen. When (and if) you have someone’s attention, your message needs to be potent and succinct.

6. Put pictures and videos in your posts. 

People love pictures and videos. The “Corgi Flop” has 8 million (and counting) views on YouTube. Need I say more?

7. Don’t fear CAPS. They don’t actually BITE. 

CAPS get a lot of hate, and if you keep them on lock, they can be too aggressive, like an online shouting match. It’s even a cardinal rule of public relations to STAY AWAY from CAPS at all costs. They can look like spam, especially in e-mail subject lines.

However, strategic capitalization is smart on social media. Capitalizing one word of your tweet, or a tweet that is very brief, can be an extremely effective way to catch someone’s attention. So RELAX, it’s okay to use CAPS to attract attention and make your tweet POP once in a while.

Take it from upcoming Oakland artist @chippy_nonstop. Her tweets always catch my eye and are more entertaining thanks to her use of CAPS:

Use CAPS when tweeting a direct command like @VICERECORDS:

BREAKING news should never be announced in lowercase:

8. Have fun.

This is a social network. You’re tweeting, not writing legal documents. Enjoy yourself, and your enthusiasm will shine through to your followers!

PORTUGAL. THE MAN:

Alaska’s prolific Portugal. The Man ambitiously (and impressively) released seven albums between 2006 and 2011. The guys may have broken their album-per-year streak, but they’ll be taking their eccentric rock show back on the road in support of their Danger Mouse-produced eighth record, Evil Friends, slated for June release on Atlantic.

Concerts currently on sale via Ticketfly:

6/8: 9:30 Club – Washington, DC
6/11: Phoenix Concert Theatre – Toronto, ON
6/18: The Vogue – Indianapolis, IN

Check here for newly announced events.

THE NEIGHBOURHOOD:

Mysterious and brooding, yet unmistakably pop, the Newbury Park, CA quintet, The Neighbourhood, have stepped out of “Sweater Weather” into spring with their Columbia Records debut album, I Love You.  WIth a tireless tour schedule on the horizon, The Neighbourhood‘s atmospheric, genre-bending blend of rock and R&B is proof that hipsters and boy bands can co-exist.

Concerts currently on sale via Ticketfly:

5/22: Fremont Country Club – Las Vegas, NV
5/28: Club Congress – Tucson, AZ
5/30: The Gothic – Englewood, CO
6/4: The Vanguard – Tulsa, OK
6/11: The Social – Orlando, FL
6/22: Main Street Armory – Rochester, NY
6/25: Union Transfer – Philadelphia, PA
7/5: Varsity Theater – Minneapolis, MN
7/12: Wonder Ballroom – Portland, OR

Check here for newly announced events.

SEA WOLF:

Part poet, part melodic illustrator, Sea Wolf frontman and songwriter, Alex Brown Church, continues to bring his honest melancholy to the stage in support of his fourth release on Dangerbird Records, Old World Romance.  If mellow, acoustic balladry is up your alley, this tour is not to be missed.

Concerts currently on sale via Ticketfly:

5/17: The Glass House – Pomona, CA
5/23: Doug Fir Lounge – Portland, OR
5/29: The Riot Room – Kansas City, MO
6/1: Mad Planet – Milwaukee, WI
6/11: The Pour House Music Hall – Raleigh, NC
6/16: Club Dada – Dallas, TX
6/19: Crescent Ballroom – Phoenix, AZ

Check here for newly announced events.

BottleRock Napa is this weekend. Are you ready for The Kings of Leon, The Black Keys, Zac Brown Band? (Neither are we.) It’s going to be a wild weekend in Napa, so be prepared! Here’s a checklist of everything you’ll need:

1. TICKETS 

Still don’t have tickets? No worries. Tickets are still available online and there will be a Box Office at the festival entrance.

2. TRANSPORTATION

• Carpool: BottleRock is providing plenty of parking, and shuttles will take you the short ride (~2 miles) from the parking lot to the festival gates. Parking pass prices are determined by how many people you arrive with: 1-3 people/car will be charged $30, 4 people/car will be charged only $3, and more than 5/car will be FREE. We highly recommend getting your parking pass in advance so you can cruise right in.
• Uber, Lyft, SideCar, or just a traditional ol’ cab: Uber will be sending a fleet of black cars north to Napa just for BottleRock. Download the car service app to get rides to and from the festival, after parties, and your bed. Download Lyft or SideCar too. They’ll also take you all around the SF Bay Area. Want a traditional taxi? Call Yellow Cab Napa Valley: (707) 266- 3721
• Walk, bike, or take public transit! If you’re a local, please walk, bike, or take public transportation. The weather is going to be beautiful!

3. LODGING

Tickets to BottleRock are going fast, and so are hotel rooms in Napa. BottleRock has partnered with a bunch of nearby hotels, and will help you find a place to crash. Check out all their suggestions here.

Once your tickets, transportation, and lodging are all figured out, prepare your senses for an overload of great music, comedy, wine, beer, and food. Check out the BottleRock map below so you know your way around:

You can also download the BottleRock Android + iPhone app for FREE. Create a custom schedule, get info about wineries, see map and more, all from your phone!

Photo Credit: Barr Brothers Band via Courtney Lee Photography

(Note: This is a guest post from Dave Lock in our Toronto office, who will be bringing us a regular update on all things north of the border.)

It hasn’t been very long since we announced our official expansion into the Canadian market, but a lot of heads are already turning; and we couldn’t be happier with our early success. Since our big coming out party at Canadian Music Week in March (thanks again to Caplansky’s & The Horseshoe Tavern!), Ticketfly Canada has been extremely busy working with a variety of new partners to improve the live event experience in Canada.

Without further adieu, we are proud to introduce the following clients to the Ticketfly Canada roster:

TURF – The Toronto Urban Roots Festival, in its inaugural year, is taking place at Fort York – Garrison Commons, July 4-7, and promises to deliver set after set of incredible acts, including the likes of The Arkells, Belle & Sebastian, Neko Case, Hannah Georgas, Matt Mays, She & Him (we all have the biggest crush on Zooey), The Wooden Sky, Yo La Tengo, and a ton more. Early Bird 4-Day Tickets are already sold out, and the “All-In” pricing means no hidden taxes or fees (Yay Ticketfly!). Purchase your tickets here.

SLED ISLAND – I would end up with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome if I wrote out every single one of the amazing bands playing Sled Island this year. From Bear Mountain to Walter TV (the Mac Demarco side project), and everything in between (including the Thermals and Mac himself), this Calgary festival is always a “must-attend” on my list. In fact, you might just see me rocking my Ticketfly hoodie next to the stage. You can check out the full lineup here, and grab your festival passes too.

DAKOTA TAVERN – Everyone’s favourite bar [Ed: See, he's a real Canadian!]. Well, at least it’s mine. And, I might be a bit biased. But some of the most magical shows in Toronto have taken place in this legendary bar, and we couldn’t be more excited to have them on board. The room lends itself to a relaxed, comfortable vibe, and delivers a true party at every show. If you’ve ever been, you know exactly what I’m talking about. And if you haven’t, I suggest you put it on your list. Just remember to get there early. The place is always packed. You can check out the upcoming shows at the Dakota here.

SEAHORSE TAVERN – Welcome to the East Coast! The Seahorse Tavern is the most recognizable venue in Halifax; if you’ve ever played in a touring band in Canada, you know the Seahorse. They’ve been kicking around for over 60 years and are still going strong. And if that wasn’t enough, they were the first establishment in the city to EVER be granted a license to sell beer. A venue after my own heart. Check out upcoming shows at the Seahorse Tavern here.

Photo credit: Dwayne Gretzky via Andrew Williamson

On top of these amazing new clients, we’ve been very fortunate to have even more incredible promoters, festivals, events, and venues come on board in the past few months. Here are just a few more clients who have joined the Ticketfly Canada family:

• S.C.E.N.E. Fest
• Young Lions Music Club
• The Rivoli
• Comedy Records
• Indie Week
• Wavelength
• Cadillac Lounge
• Rancho Relaxo
• Indoor Shoes
• Power Juncture
• Good Kids
• Gravity Events
• Music City North
• Country In The Woods

So, here’s to us, Canada. Let’s grab a bottle, hit the front of the stage, and enjoy another great set. I’ll see you there.  - Dave Lock

]]> http://start.ticketfly.com/blog/news-from-the-north-ticketfly-canada-is-making-moves/feed/ 0 http://start.ticketfly.com/blog/ticketfly-causes-volunteer-adventures-with-our-employees/ http://start.ticketfly.com/blog/ticketfly-causes-volunteer-adventures-with-our-employees/#comments Tue, 30 Apr 2013 16:00:27 +0000 Will Payne http://start.ticketfly.com/?p=33779 Continue reading →]]>

Every day, non-profit organizations around the country depend on volunteers to carry out their missions, from after-school programs to health clinics, neighborhood watch groups to food drives. In fact, over a quarter of Americans volunteer for at least one group in a given year. That’s a great start, but we think that we can do even better, in part by helping make sure that busy workers are able to take the time they need to give back.

As part of our Ticketfly Causes initiative, Ticketfly is proud to team up with organizations like HeadCount and Sweet Relief Musicians’ Cancer Fund, and to support our full-time employees in taking up to three VTO (volunteer time off) days per year for the cause of their choice. Here’s the story of how Brandy Hartley, Senior Manager of Product and Client Marketing, spent a recent volunteer day in Yosemite National Park.

Brandy’s Story: Volunteering for the National Park Service

This past weekend, I returned to Yosemite National Park for the start of this year’s volunteer season, which kicked off on Earth Day (April 20th). As I am writing this, Arbor Day has just passed on Saturday! This resonates with me since forests remind me so much of my grandfather, Robert Coleman Beam. My grandfather lived a life of service to his family, his community, and his country. This quiet man’s well-read copy of “Meditations” by the Roman Stoic Marcus Aurelius was passed on to me after his death and continues to influence me. After he returned from serving in World War II, he worked as an arborist and forest ranger in the U.S. Forest Service. As a child, we would hike while he showed me how to spot a beaver’s teeth marks and snapped black birch twigs so I could smell natural wintergreen. These memories stand out so vividly compared to others from my suburban upbringing.

My first volunteer experience in Yosemite was in August 2012. A friend told me about a group of Bay Area rock climbers who volunteer ten weekends a year between April and November. I signed up on the PGVIP website for my first adventure. Entering Yosemite, I found myself in a tunnel of trees – Ponderosa Pine, Red Fir, and towering Douglas Fir. I’ve seen as many Ansel Adams photos as the next nature geek, but I was completely unprepared for my first view of the Yosemite Valley as I came out of one of the tunnels through the mountains. I pulled over and leapt out of the car and just gawked at the sight of the epic granite cliffs.

Since then, it fills me with great happiness to work with a community of people committed to preserving and maintaining this national treasure. We range in age from 20s to 50s and have different professions and life experiences. Our volunteers originate from all over the world, and we join around the campfire each night. We are lucky to work with veteran Park Ranger Ken Stowell on everything from building playgrounds, doing trail maintenance, to shoveling ash at campsites. We work together on whatever projects come our way, so if you see us walking in our neon orange or yellow vests, please say hello!

Copyright Bob Weder, used with permission

The bonus? After our hard work is done, we get to wander the park and hike, rock climb, or relax by the river! This past weekend, I lounged on a granite boulder by the Merced River, and ruminated on nature’s impact on me. Collectively, how we live impacts the snowpack in the Sierras, the volume of water in the spring river, and the lives of all that depend on it. Seneca, the Roman Stoic said, “All things human are short-lived and perishable” (To Marcia, On Consolation, xxi, 1). While this may seem morbid on its face, it brings me perspective and tranquility.

In the midst of majestic granite walls and cascades of rushing water, I witnessed the small thrills of life – watching ants going to and fro on the edge of the boulder, the male sagebrush lizard doing mating pushups, a spider spinning its web with glinting silk strands. This reminds me that we are all small beings that are part of something incomprehensibly grand, and that while I can’t control what we do collectively as a species, I can choose how to honor this life with my heart and my hands.

Copyright Bob Weder, used with permission

You may remember that Ticketfly dominated Rolling Stone’s list of Venues that Rock in the “Rock Club” category last month. Well, the good news just keeps rolling, pun intended. Ticketfly partner 9:30 Club just took the top spot of all the “Big Rooms,” amidst some very stiff national competition. The Trocadero in Philadelphia also made the cut, a great downtown theater and music venue that dates back to 1870!

Congratulations to two amazing venues and great partners. If you live anywhere near either of these venues and haven’t made the trip to check out a show, you’re missing out. Upcoming shows at 9:30 Club include Johnny Marr of the Smiths, The Presets, James Blake, the Dandy Warhols, and Father John Misty. The Trocadero is bringing some great artists as well, like Johnny Marr, 2 Live Crew, The Psychedelic Furs, Juanes, and She & Him.

Photo: Rebirth Brass Band at 9:30 Club, www.facebook.com/JeffKrentelPhotography

Diplo never sleeps. He just released the new Major Lazer album and continues to work on endless collaborations with other celebrated artists (like Snoop Lion’s “No Guns Allowed”). And last, but certainly not least, Diplo’s crazy-cool record label, Mad Decent, just announced the return of their summer block parties across the U.S. and Canada.

Early-bird tickets to the Mad Decent Block Parties are on sale for $20. Not only are they cheaper and for a limited time only, but purchasing an early-bird ticket also gets you a FREE 30 day membership to Mad Decent’s premium service on Drip.fm. The early bird gets the worm! Tickets are going fast, and prices will increase when the regular on-sale begins 4/30. Peep the 2013 schedule and get your tickets now:

7/19 • Calgary, AB, Canada

7/20 • Las Vegas, NV
7/26 • Toronto, ON, Canada
7/27 • Philly, PA
8/2 • Columbia, MD
8/3 • Fort Lauderdale, FL
8/9 • Atlanta, GA
8/10 • Brooklyn, NY
8/31 • Dallas, TX
9/6 • Pontiac, MI
9/7 • New Braunfels, TX
9/14 • Los Angeles, CA
9/15 • San Diego, CA

The line-ups are still hush-hush, but we expect nothing less than amazing (or mad decent). The core headliners will be consistent throughout the tour, but every city will be a little different. Like Mad Decent Block Party on Facebook and follow Mad Decent on Twitter to receive line-up announcements and find out which artists are coming to the MDBP near you.

Mad Decent Block Parties used to be free of charge, but their popularity has grown exponentially and the past years have been very successful. In order to book the best artists and venues, MDBP are now ticketed events. This is a summer experience you do not want to miss, and we’re happy to be providing tickets. Get pumped:

Most people go to a zoo expecting live animals, but at the Oregon Zoo in Portland, you can also expect great live music. In 1979, the zoo became the first in America to host a summer concert series and they’ve been throwing great summer concerts ever since. In celebration of their 35th anniversary, the Oregon Zoo Summer Concert series is back from June to September with an exciting schedule of world-class artists.

Get your tickets now! Concert tickets grant admission to the zoo the day of the show.  Also, you can become a member of the zoo today for exclusive concert pre-sale access and many other benefits.

No matter what music you listen to or genre you prefer, Oregon Zoo has a show for you. Upcoming concerts at the zoo include: Ziggy Marley, The B-52s and The Go-Go’s, “Weird Al” Yankovic, LeAnn Rimes, Los Lobos and Los Lonely Boys, Chris Isaak, and The Doobie Brothers.

Lions, tigers, and musicians– oh my! We’re thrilled to partner with the Oregon Zoo summer concert series and help this unique tradition live on. Like the Oregon Zoo Summer Concerts on Facebook and follow @OregonZoo on Twitter.