In the past, event organizers and companies solely used social media to drive attendance and revenue through the sharing button. Being present on various social platforms has become a way to build brand presence and become a part of consumers’ lives. Even though the correct method for calculating ROI from social media efforts is debatable, measuring “shares” and “likes” seems to be an effective way to determine whether a company is developing the right kind of social media presence or not. The following are the data collected by Eventbrite regarding the impact of social media:
--A post-purchase share on Facebook drives 20 percent more ticket sales per share than a pre-purchase one.
--Sharing activity on Facebook equaled almost 4 times the amount of sharing on Twitter.
---A Facebook ‘Like’ (the closest comparison to a tweet) drives on average $1.34 in ticket sales, compared with a tweet that drives on average $.80.
These numbers certainly show the value of social media. By realizing this trend and seeing a 185% increase in tickets purchased through Facebook this year, a new revolution has occurred with Facebook that helps event organisers sell tickets to their events through a new ticketing link option to their event creation window. An article by Adam Parry for Event Industry News describes the expected success of Facebook ticketing. As of February, Ticketscript saw 10% of their sales taking place through Facebook ticketing. CEO of the company, Fred Jonker, said they expect to see this percentage grow rapidly in the year to come. The appeal of integrating this kind of ticketing into social media activities for event planners is obvious.
This ticket buying option allows the company or organizer to cut out the middleman and make purchasing tickets more convenient for the customer. The newest edition to the ticket purchasing element, the “Buy Tickets” button, is a replacement for the simple link to the purchasing web page. The purpose remains the same, but the special button calls more attention to the purchasing option. It also provides the opportunity to avoid leaving Facebook and opening another page to make the purchase. The philosophy is simple: make the ticket buying process easier and more appealing to sell more tickets. Extra steps between the call to action and the actual purchasing page may discourage purchasing. This is probably one of the main reasons Facebook ticketing is expected to be a success.
Organizers will be able to reach a larger audience, which will boost profits for both parties since Facebook takes a percentage of ticket sales. This platform change may also lead to viral events, which could make Facebook ads more worthwhile for companies and organizations. Users may even click through ads and arrive at the ticket purchasing platform. This would be a positive change, considering the negative feedback the company has received recently regarding the effectiveness of Facebook ads.
It is easy to use as well. First, event organizers go to their Facebook ticketshop and copy the web page link. Then, they create their Facebook event from their Facebook fan page as usual by clicking on “Events” in the side panel of their timeline and selecting “Create Event”. Here, the requested information is added and ticketshop link is pasted to the “Tickets” box. The last step is to click “Create” to save the event.
Eventbrite is one of the first ticketing companies to implement this new feature. They justify their decision by explaining that they place an importance on making it easy for organizers who use their services to promote their events. They also hope that their tie with the “Buy Tickets” button on Facebook will increase their reach for their own brand since the “Buy Tickets” button leads to a page on the ticketing service platform. They hope more Facebook users will become aware of Eventbrite. Perhaps, there may even be a partnership between Facebook and Eventbrite (or another ticketing service) in the future.
Parry, A. (2013, February 14). Facebook introduces direct buy ticket button for event pages. Retrieved from http://www.eventindustrynews.co.uk/2013/02/14/facebook-introduces-direct-buy-tickets-button-for-event-pages/
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Contributed by Yumeng Xie and Ludell Maggard
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