How music venues turn one-time ticket buyers into regulars

The short answer

A first-time buyer came for one act. To get them back, they need to hear about the next night they'd like in time to plan for it. Get a way to reach them while they're in the room, with a QR code by the bar or the merch table, and send a thank-you the next day with upcoming shows like the one they saw. Let them pick the kinds of nights they want, and put those shows on their own calendar with your ticket link inside.

Why don't first-time buyers come back on their own?

Hive, which sells marketing software to promoters and venues, sums up the job in its Venue Marketing 101 piece as building an owned local audience and turning first-timers into regulars. Hive counts email and text lists as owned, calling them “the only channels where you decide who hears from you and when.”

Someone who bought a ticket for one act has no reason to check your listings again. If the only way you can reach them runs through the act's posts or the ticketing site's emails, they hear about your room when someone else decides to mention it.

How do you get their details at the show?

Hive's article on growing a fan base suggests posters or screens with QR codes “near high-traffic areas, such as bars, bathrooms, or merch tables.” It also suggests trading Wi-Fi access for an email address or phone number, which it calls effective “especially in standing-room venues where fans are already on their phones.” Its venue piece says to capture people “before they leave: at the door, at checkout, at the merch table.”

On the screens between sets, with one line about what people get, like “Every comedy night, in your calendar.”
From the stage. Ask the host or the act to mention it once, while the code is up on the screen.
On table tents and the back of the drinks menu, for the people who sit.
By the exit, on a sign people read on their way out.

What should the follow-up say?

Hive's help center sets the goal of a post-show message as “Thank attendees, gather feedback, and promote upcoming events,” and its tips include “Promote similar upcoming events for better engagement.” The venue piece goes further and calls the follow-up in the days after a show “the highest-converting message a venue sends.”

Send it the next day, while the night is fresh, and name the show they saw. A handful of upcoming dates in the same vein comes next, each with its ticket link. Close with a way to get those nights on their calendar.

How do you send each person the right shows?

Hive's page for concert promoters talks about segmenting past ticket buyers by genre and artist preferences, so each fan gets the announcements that match, and its venue piece describes rooms that “tag attendance by genre and interest.” Start from the kinds of nights you run: Live music, Comedy, Trivia, Brunch. A first-timer from Saturday's comedy show gets the comedy announcements, and they can add the rest whenever they like.

Weekly nights do a lot of the work here. Hive lists “a recurring night” among the things that make a room the default place a certain kind of fan checks first. Trivia every Tuesday or an open mic every other Thursday gives a first-timer something to come back to without waiting for the right act to tour through, and once it's in their calendar, next week's is already there.

What goes out when?

When	What to send	Where
At the show	A QR code to follow your venue	The bar, the screens, the merch table, the exit
The next day	Thanks, and upcoming shows like the one they saw	Email or text
When a show they'd like is announced	The date and the ticket link	Their calendar, in the kind of night they picked
The day before	An alert	Their calendar, set on the event
When doors or set times move	The new time	The same calendar entry, changed

An “Add to calendar” button on the ticket confirmation covers one show. Microsoft describes an imported calendar file as a snapshot that won't pick up later changes, so if doors move to 8, that copy still says 7. Our guide to “Add to calendar” buttons and subscriptions compares the ways to keep a calendar current.

How do you know it's working?

Hive's venue piece puts repeat-attendance rate among the numbers that show whether a room's marketing works, and it says to judge a list “on tickets sold, not opens and clicks.” Pull a buyer export from your ticketing system once a month and count the people who bought for two different shows. Watch how that number moves from month to month. The shows that brought people back for another one tell you which nights to book more of.

A venue's show in a fan's phone calendar, with the set time and a ticket link — A show from a venue a fan follows, with the ticket link in the event.

Where TheyCal fits

We make TheyCal, and it works alongside your ticketing, which keeps selling the tickets. People follow your venue from a QR code by the bar or a link on your website, then pick the kinds of nights they want. Those shows go into their own calendar with your ticket link inside, and weekly nights are set up once as a recurring schedule. When you move a set time, Google and Outlook users see the change within moments. Apple Calendar users get a private calendar link.

Ticket links are tracked, so you can see which shows people clicked through on. You can also upload a list of emails and send invitations to follow, with tags such as Comedy applied when each person joins.

Common questions

Can we email people who bought through a ticketing company?

Check that company's terms, and what buyers agreed to at checkout, before you send anything.

How do we keep from sending too much?

Let people choose the kinds of nights they get, and send each announcement to the people who picked that kind. With TheyCal, a fan can switch a kind of night off at any time, and unfollowing takes your upcoming shows off their calendar.

Do fans need an app?

Shows go into the calendar app they already use. Following takes a sign-in with Google or Microsoft, or an email address for a calendar link.

Will shows clutter people's calendars at work?

Shows from TheyCal are marked as free time, so they never make anyone look busy to a colleague checking their calendar.