The classic Faberge shampoo TV ad touts the power of word of mouth using the memorable tagline: “They’ll tell two friends, and then they’ll tell two friends, and so on, and so on…“ Ever since the commercial first aired in the late 1970s, advertising firms have cited it as a reason businesses - including venues - should strive to increase word-of-mouth advertising. Now in 2013, word-of-mouth advertising has been eclipsed by the phenomenon of social sharing - and for good reason.
Share Ticket Purchases on Social Media
Free event advertising. Social sharing as a business practice is now on par with the traditional forms of event advertising (TV, radio, newspaper, etc.) and should be thought of as a first-class citizen. When used correctly ThunderTix social sharing features are effective, free ($0.00) event advertising, exceeding the value of traditional advertising for certain types of event demographics.
Event awareness = ticket sales. By enabling social sharing through the purchase process, your ThunderTix account can help amplify event awareness to a wider audience of ticket buyers. The more people are directly aware of your event, the more potential ticket sales. It's that simple.
Buttons, embeds, and email confirmations. Rather than make social sharing an "all or nothing" proposition, ThunderTix provides you with a suite of social sharing tools that you can mix and match to best suit your event. Our sharing buttons embed codes and email confirmations that make up the social sharing feature are sophisticated, yet easy to use.
When comparing ticketing software, look for a wide variety of social sharing features that can be applied on an event-by-event basis. Some ticketing software assumes all events need every social sharing tool enabled at all times. We know that one type of event may have a customer demographic that uses a specific social media platform or none at all. While another type of event does indeed require extensive social sharing tools liberally applied before, during, and after the ticket purchase.
The Value of Social Media Is Free Event Advertising
While the shampoo TV ad above may seem like a mere pop-culture camp, it is actually a glimpse at the powerful way in which social sharing can generate additional ticket sales through free advertising. Here’s how it works...
Traditional advertising has a finite audience, usually measured by a third-party service like the Neilsen ratings. The advertiser states that they will bring your event to an audience of 10,000 newspaper subscribers, or 100,000 TV viewers for an agreed-upon amount of money. Of course, your event will benefit from this kind of traditional advertising, but in this modern age, its reach is capped by the number of readers or viewers the advertising channel has. Even more restrictive, once your event ad reaches prospective new ticket buyers, there are no feasible means for them to share your event with others.
Social media, however, has no theoretical limit to the number of people it can reach. When your event displays the ThunderTix share button, it can be a one-click affair to instantly bring your event to the attention of thousands of new people - for a cost of $0.00. After that initial social share, the event awareness can continue perpetually via Twitter retweets, Facebook 'Likes', and Instagram re-shares (1 x 4 x 8 x 16 x 32...). Twitter describes its social sharing action as:
What is a Retweet? A Retweet is a re-posting of someone else's Tweet. Twitter's Retweet feature helps you and others quickly share that Tweet with all of your followers.
It is important to note that the free advertising from social sharing is to be in addition to, and not in replacement for, the productive event advertising you already have in place. In fact, one of the most popular ThunderTix features related to traditional advertising is the ability to search orders by zip code.
More Event Awareness = More Ticket Sales
The free advertising created by ThunderTix social sharing tools means increased event awareness. And the more people that know about your event, the more tickets you have the opportunity to sell.
Our core competency is online ticket sales and we build social sharing tools with that goal in mind - not the other way around. You may already have a solid set of social practices in place that cultivate interactions with your customers.
The problem is, all those Facebook 'Likes', retweets, and Instagram photos evaporate into thin air since each interaction does not route back to your website. As fun as it all may be, the big social platforms have their own business interests in mind (page views) and not yours.
Since ThunderTix is riding on the roller coaster with you, our social sharing features are designed to end up as additional ticket sales for your event. When your event gets shared by your customer, all the resulting event awareness brings people back to your shopping cart, where a new sale is just a few mouse clicks away. ThunderTix does not reroute social sharing activity back to our own website. When comparing ticketing software, ask if your social sharing results are re-purposed for the ticketing company’s own use, like to increase their website’s page views, or if they present other events to the attention of your buyers.
When we say "It’s your data, not ours", regarding your patron management, that includes the event awareness from social sharing.
ThunderTix Social Sharing Features
ThunderTix provides you with the choice of enabling just the right amount of social sharing. You can mix and match ThunderTix social sharing features to work with established social media practices, the type of event, and your customer demographics. We are well aware that every event has its own unique set of circumstances and demographics.
Have an elegant, high-end fundraising event? Great, you'll probably want to display a limited set of social sharing buttons (if any) during the ticket purchase process. Have a rowdy rock and roll event at a nightclub? Awesome. Add every social sharing bell and whistle there is - they'll be put to good use by that type of event demographic, and then some.
Pervasive sharing buttons
When creating a new event, as seen in a ThunderTix account, you have the opportunity to add just the right social sharing buttons. The sharing buttons appear as a complement to your website's Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram buttons. When your customers share the excitement of buying your tickets, a link is included that brings all those new people back to your event, rather than evaporating into thin air.
Embed Codes
A lesser-known aspect of social sharing is B2B sharing, which we make possible through embed codes. Having your roster of vendors sharing your event can result in just as much increased event awareness as consumer social sharing. ThunderTix embed codes make it possible to sell your tickets on just about any website you choose (a sales agent’s personal blog, a vendor or business partner's website, a booked band’s website, etc.). And just like when tickets are purchased on your website, the embed codes placed on other websites gather up the same valuable sales data. Show your events with our event calendar HTML, events listing, or events date search.
Email Confirmations
ThunderTix email confirmations have a one-click sharing function that enables all of the potential event awareness described above. Every event can be configured to send email confirmations with the all-important 'Like' and 'Tweet' buttons, so your buyers can become your newest salespeople. Our custom email confirmation feature can display your upcoming events right on the confirmation email. That way, even if your customer isn't in the mood to share their ticket purchase with others, they are made aware of your other events...while they still have their credit card in hand.
Word of Mouth Made Easy!
We like to call social sharing a "perpetual dynamo", meaning the simple act of one ticket buyer sharing the excitement they feel with others causes their friends and family to buy tickets to the same event.