Alternative Ticketing & Social Media

The giants of the ticketing industry may still dominate the market, but plenty of new players are nipping at their heels.

Unique platforms and social media are becoming a vital part of the ticketing experience and many of the initial adopters to embrace new business methodologies are seeing results in a big way.

Take Ticketfly, for instance. The company is known for integrating third-party technologies into its primary ticketing platform, and relies heavily on social media marketing to give clients a broad platform for moving ducats.

But where exactly do Ticketfly’s social media interests lie? Simply put, the company is a big believer in the power of Facebook.

“Facebook continues to be the most important channel for us in terms of the passage of tickets,” Ticketfly’s Andrew Dreskin said, noting the company was recently invited to participate in the launch of Facebook’s custom open graph.

“It’s sort of like ‘likes’ on steroids,” he explained. “There are a number of things you can do in the purchase process. You can like an artist, you can talk about which artists you’re excited to see and you can RSVP to an event. We’ve seen some very interesting conversion numbers based on that. It’s driving some interesting advance purchase behaviors.”

TicketBiscuit’s Jeff Gale also showed some love for Facebook during the panel. He explained the site has replaced simple word of mouth as the way for people to discover things and tell their friends.

“If you’re not leveraging that digital word of mouth that Facebook provides you’re really missing out on a huge marketing channel,” he said. However, he prefaced that comment by noting the site isn’t a panacea and companies need to make sure they have a solid backbone before they can offer customers bells and whistles.

“There are creative things you can do with Facebook but there’s also very rote stuff you have to do,” he said. “You’ve got to make sure you have Facebook events created, you’ve got to allow the customer to transact on Facebook if that’s what they’re comfortable doing. Find a tech partner that allows you to at least handle the rote side of social media in a cost-effective way.”

Social media isn’t the sole way to move tickets these days, however.

Companies like Scorebig, Goldstar and Groupon Live are carving out a niche in the primary discount market, where venues, teams or artists may try to offload tickets to move unsold tickets before an event.

Moderator Stuart Ross of Red Light Management wondered whether the practice could lead to the devaluation of an artist.

“When a show goes on to one of your sites, how do you protect the integrity of the brand?” he asked. “The brand of the event? Does it send a message to the buying public that, ‘Gee, that show isn’t doing so well. I can get tickets for half price on Goldstar.’”

Jim McCArthy of Goldstar disagreed, explaining that customers use his site to discover new live entertainment.

“Ninety percent of people who come to Goldstar are live entertainment-minded but they don’t have a show in mind,” he explained. “These are people who are interested in the concept of live entertainment. Maybe they’ll go to live entertainment this weekend, or maybe they’ll rent a DVD and stay at home. The real goal of the service is to bring live entertainment to the top of their lists.”

Scorebig’s Bill Ashton explained his company also facilitates discovery for fans.

“Our inventory is coming from shows that haven’t sold through at 100 percent,” he said. “They’re out there, they’re hitting their market, they’re hitting the hard core fan. But there’s a whole other market of people out there for who might not be willing to spend $65 for essentially what is a discovery. If they can spend $40 or $45, again from a bid model, you’re not leaving money on the table and those folks can come in and check out the show.”

Groupon Live’s Greg Rudin wondered whether there might be a better way to integrate primary discount sales.

“The majority of what we’ve done to date has been more last-minute inventory that hasn’t been sold. We recognize very clearly that the ideal way to leverage Groupon and the primary discount market is to sell a little bit earlier in the sales cycle as a marketing channel to create awareness and to create buzz,” he said. “We know the No. 1 reason people don’t go to a lot of events is the fact that they don’t know about them. We don’t want to be a last-minute dumping ground. Promoters and venues don’t want us to do that either. They want us to bring a little oxygen into the process.”

Justice Entertainment Group’s Daren Libonati complimented the primary discounters, but wondered whether venues and promoters that employ such means are shooting themselves in the foot.

“If I go to one of those sites and they fulfill my need and I got a discount, why would I ever go back to my ticketing source at the venue?” he asked. “I will sit and wait. Hence, if you’re the promoter, that’s a problem. My fans are waiting to buy at a discount. You’ve just killed yourself.”

Libonati added that arenas can and should to take ownership of their ticketing and use partnerships to sell tickets.

“These guys just proved they’ve gone to a new market and attracted new fans for our benefit,” he said. “When we wake up as arena people, and realize we can make everyone our partner, it’s no longer one giant running your ticketing company. You are the manifesto of your ticketing.”

Daily Pulse