In the world of live entertainment, filling seats is as much an art as the performances themselves. Theatre productions, concerts, and family-friendly events rely on their ability to connect with audiences effectively, turning potential ticket buyers into enthusiastic attendees. To market a show, one of the best tools available is programmatic advertising powered by a demand-side platform (DSP).

Here’s how a DSP, like the Quantcast Advertising Platform, can help event organizers amplify their reach, engage diverse audiences, and ultimately, boost ticket sales.

1. Precision Audience Targeting

With programmatic advertising, you can create highly targeted campaigns that zero in on potential attendees based on their demographics, online behaviors, and interests. For example:

• For theatre-goers: focus on arts enthusiasts, literature lovers, and culture seekers.
• For family-friendly events: target parents with children, local community groups, and individuals searching for family activities.

With Quancast, you can activate pre-built audiences or build custom audiences of your own, based on any topic or interest, using real-time and multi-varied digital data signals. And you can adjust these parameters dynamically, ensuring you spend marketing dollars effectively. If your event is local, you can also use geotargeting to focus on families within a 50-mile radius of the venue, making it even easier for them to make last-minute plans. 

2. Data-Driven Insights

Programmatic advertising provides real-time analytics, showing how well your ads are performing. With the Quantcast Advertising Platform’s machine learning and AI-driven technology, you can gain insights into which audiences are most responsive, what ad creatives work best, and which channels are most effective. Whether it’s frequency, impressions, or conversions, you can continuously refine your campaigns to maximize impact.

3. Omnichannel Reach

Modern audiences engage with multiple platforms throughout their day. A parent might start their morning scrolling through news on their phone, move to a laptop for work, and relax in the evening with streaming TV. Omnichannel advertising campaigns ensure your messaging is present across all these touchpoints, keeping your event top-of-mind throughout the day to increase the likelihood of conversion. For instance, a campaign promoting a family-friendly musical could start with a targeted display ad, follow up with an online video ad, and finish with a retargeted ad during a connected TV show.

4. Retargeting 

Families often wait to commit to buying tickets for a show, to be sure that schedules work out and no one is sick. For those who have shown an interest in your event (by visiting your site or clicking on an ad)but haven’t purchased tickets yet, retargeting is an effective way to re-engage prospects. For last-minute decisions, you can even add urgency with creative messaging like “Don’t miss out — tickets are selling fast!” 

5. Enhanced Storytelling Opportunities

Theatre and family-friendly events thrive on storytelling, and programmatic advertising allows you to weave your narrative across channels. With sequential messaging, you can create a full-funnel journey for potential attendees:

• Awareness Phase: Introduce the event with eye-catching visuals or video trailers.
• Engagement Phase: Highlight audience testimonials or behind-the-scenes content.
• Conversion Phase: Offer discounts, early bird pricing, or seat previews to drive ticket sales.

Hear the Hum of an Effective Omnichannel Campaign

In the digital age, the sound of success for theatre and family-friendly events is the hum of an effective programmatic omnichannel campaign. By combining the reach and efficiency of programmatic advertising with the emotional appeal of live entertainment, event marketers can connect with audiences in meaningful ways, driving ticket sales and ensuring seats are filled with eager attendees.

Ready to take your event to the next level? Quantcast can help. Harness the power of the Quancast Advertising Platform and watch your audience grow!