The events world is going through a major digital transformation. At Arenametrix, we help festivals put digital strategies in place. Among our clients we have spotted ideas that genuinely transform the festival-goer's experience, reach a wider public and strengthen an event's reputation.
In this article we have picked a few of our favourite strategies. If they interest you, do have a look at our white paper for more detail.
Email is a powerful way to drive ticket sales. Among our clients we have concrete examples of festivals that have used it brilliantly.
The Les Nuits Courtes festival took an engaging editorial approach, while La Fête de l'Humanité played on a sense of urgency to reach impressive conversion rates. By personalising messages and targeting the right segments of their audience, they turned contacts into buyers.
Read our white paper to see the results of these campaigns.
[Newsletter : La Fête de l'Humanité - Last days before the price goes up]
[Newsletter : Les Nuits Courtes - 10 good reasons to come to Les Nuits Courtes]
Building new audiences is essential if your festival is to grow. Acquisition means capturing new data that is qualified, legitimate and usable, to grow your database and begin a relationship with new contacts.
To that end, the team behind the Cruïlla festival came up with a highly original way of winning new contacts, by partnering with a local pizzeria.
Thanks to a QR code printed on the pizza boxes, the restaurant's customers could enter the festival's prize draw and join the Cruïlla database.
[Acquisition: Cruïlla - pizzeria partnership]
The festival-goer's experience begins long before the first day. It starts the moment a contact joins your database. Communication naturally intensifies in the weeks before the festival, but keeping the conversation going all year round is what builds a lasting relationship with your audience.
At its best, the festival-goer journey is punctuated by the key moments of your festival: a welcome message, a post-purchase thank you that brings people into your world, a practical-information email that reassures, a post-festival email that extends the experience. Here is how our clients give their festival-goers a personalised experience.
The Jazz à Saint-Germain-des-Prés festival stood out by automatically sending personalised post-purchase emails — first-time or regular buyer, newsletter subscriber or not — enriched with playlists from the invited artists. This editorial approach created a strong emotional bond with participants, leading to remarkable engagement rates and stronger long-term loyalty.
[Targeted email : Jazz à Saint-Germain-des-Prés Paris
Post-purchase email for first-time buyers who are not newsletter subscribers]
The days that follow the event matter just as much for engaging your public, particularly by collecting their views. Your festival-goers' comments are essential to improving your event. People appreciate being asked, and it helps you understand the experience they had. It is also the moment to question the quality of the information you provided and the journey you designed, so you can rework them for future editions. And it is a chance to learn a little more about your public by letting them fill in details you do not yet hold, a date of birth for instance.
This step also lends itself to fine segmentation: send thanks only to people who actually attended, for example. Likewise, a satisfaction survey does not mean the same thing to a first-time buyer as to a regular. Regulars have previous editions to compare with, so you can ask what they make of how your event is evolving. The more your public feels that you know them, the more they will appreciate the personalisation of your communication.
[Targeted email: Cognac Blues Passions - satisfaction survey]
A festival edition is a goldmine of data and audience knowledge: who are the first-time buyers? Where do they come from? How do you read the cashless data?
This moment of analysis is necessary: it tells you precisely who your public is and sharpens the targeting of your marketing strategy. The audience knowledge gained after this edition is what lets you communicate in a targeted, personalised way with every potential festival-goer of the next one.
Beyond your audience, this quieter period is also the right time to analyse your sales, which is crucial for judging the success of the event and planning future editions.
That analysis reveals which tickets, offers or services were most popular and which sales channel festival-goers preferred, giving valuable insight into their preferences. It also helps identify weak points, such as slow sales periods or less popular products, so you can adjust the offer for future editions.
It is then worth comparing this data with previous years. The comparison brings out trends and shifts: attendance rising or falling, changes in what festival-goers prefer, and the impact of new marketing strategies.
In conclusion, digital communication plays a central part in a festival's success, from selling tickets to participant satisfaction. If you want to make the most of your event, mastering these proven strategies matters. For a deeper exploration of these tactics and further practical advice, download our full white paper on digital communication for festivals.