Features
Live Nation Rolls Out Facebook Concert Bot
Courtesy Live Nation – Live Nation
Chat Bot
An advantage to the bot technology is that it gets smarter the more it’s used. The Live Nation bot will learn a fan’s preferences and start building their concert profile in order to deliver concert and music suggestions for favorite artists as quickly and easily as a teenager can text.
Live Nation estimates some 1.3 billion people worldwide use Facebook Messenger each month, and its new extension technology will make it easy for groups of friends to interact and share events they are interested in. The company produces some 26,000 shows per year and every new pathway for concert discovery helps put tickets in fans hands, or phones.
Facebook introduced the improved extension technology – which allows third-party extensions and includes a “discovery” tab – at its developer conference in April. Live Nation didn’t waste time taking advantage of the opportunity to add its own product to Facebook Messenger’s new “bot store” — like Apple’s App Store, but for bots.
With Messenger’s extension and bot technology, it is possible to share and discuss events – or how many tickets to buy – with multiple users within the chat. At that point they can purchase tickets without leaving Messenger, and can link their Live Nation account to expedite checkout.
The new product is the latest to nudge ticketbuyers to mobile platforms. In Live Nation’s second quarter financial report, CEO Michael Rapino reported conversion in double digits on mobile sites, as opposed to single-digit conversion from desktop purchasing. Rapino noted the company was seeing a strong shift in purchase behavior to mobile, with apps and other mobile platforms accounting for 31 percent of its sales in the quarter, and 27 percent over last year at the same time.
And, of course, there’s a wealth of information to be mined from data-rich Facebook accounts.
“Concerts are extremely social experiences, and we’re excited to introduce a concert discovery tool that embodies that social spirit,” said Lisa Licht, Chief Marketing Officer, Live Nation Concerts. “Whether fans choose to interact with our new bot one-on-one, or get their friends involved in the planning, we think they’ll have a lot of fun finding shows to go to.”
Live Nation’s bot for Messenger is live now, featuring events across North America. To start chatting, fans can search for “Live Nation Concerts” in the Messenger app, or visit Live Nation Concerts’ profile page and click the “message” button.