Archive for June, 2011
To Groupon or not to Groupon …
That is the question!
I would suggest that the challenge for the arts (in particular) is not attract audiences once – but to get them to reattend, let alone with frequency.
“It is a great way to get people in to try your arena,” says Chad Nason, a Groupon spokesman.
Yes discounting can be one way to encourage trial, but the real risk is discounting the perceived value.
“… the burden is on us to put the best deal out there for places that people will go back to for full prices,” says Chad Nason, a Groupon spokesman. That seems an unwinnable challenge to me for a discounter?
The opportunity cost is significant “You are only making 25 percent of the full-ticket price,” says Melissa Grande, director of marketing for Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theatre.
But beyond the size of the discount, the major handicap to the audience development potential of Groupon and similar discount schemes is that they do not provide the names and contact details of purchasers who redeem the offer. So, there is no way to continue (or even) start to engage with these first time attendees attracted by the discount and build an ongoing relationship.
Read more about Groupon in Can group coupons deliver what cultural groups want most: Repeat customers and revenue?
20 June, 2011 at 1:08 pm Tim Roberts ARTS Australia Leave a comment
The Tangled Web that Social Media Weaves
Theatre Bay Area commissioned Devon Smith of 24 Useable Hours (now Threespot in Washington, DC) to conduct a Social Media Audit of the arts and cultural sector.
The results have just been published and provide a valuable insight into a rapidly evolving area that seems to be characterised by enthusiastic adopters and sceptical recalcitrants, and little in between.
The study looks at 207 cultural organisations using over 20 networking platforms. I am not sure how internationally representative the sample is, but it does include a sprinkling of non-US organisations.
Two interesting top line findings are:
- The average arts organisation is active on 3 social networks (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube) and uploads 66 new pieces of content each month.
- Facebook Pages that are updated multiple times per day, use a customized URL and feature a custom Welcome tab have more fans, who interact with the page more often, than those who do not.
The full report is available online here: “The Tangled Web: Social Media in the Arts”
It is well worth a read.
16 June, 2011 at 2:07 pm Tim Roberts ARTS Australia Leave a comment
Is a scalping bot a bot, if it looks and smells like a bot?
I was surprised by the candour of this website TicketBots – automating human efforts.
“Ticketmaster Helper Application is designed to help brokers, so that they get more organized and save time while purchasing tickets. This product is legal and developed by authorizing the lawsuits. Ticketmaster helper application just helps the user to reduce manual work that user does while purchasing tickets. It is just a transformation of human efforts into an automatic process of buying tickets.“
It appears that they are covering a fair few of the scalping opportunities with a suite of offerings:
8 June, 2011 at 3:11 am Tim Roberts ARTS Australia Leave a comment
