It is incredibly easy to draw a line under a music event the second that it finishes. Once someone has paid to get into the venue and the gig has gone to plan, it’s tempting to think that the transaction is done.
Don’t be one of the event organisers to fall into this trap.
There is value to be had in following up after your music event. You can use it as an opportunity to get repeat customers and plan improvements for next time.
We explore further in this post, the last in our series on planning, promotion, and on-the-day hosting of a concert or gig.
1. Encourage feedback from attendees
The best companies care how their customers feel about the product or service they provide. Event organisers are no exception. There are many reasons to care about feedback from your customers.
In the case of a music event, your customers are attendees. Don’t neglect to get their opinion. Feedback is a key component of properly evaluating your event and getting improvement ideas for the next one.
There are ways you can incentivise feedback to make people more likely to answer. Why not offer a discount on the next gig or the chance to win a prize for filling in a questionnaire?
Tip: Here are some more ideas about how to obtain attendee feedback.
What you should ask
Be sure to ask questions which are useful and specific to your event. If you simply ask people whether they had a good time, it’ll be hard to pinpoint the reasons behind it.
Instead, try to be specific. Some questions you can ask include:
- “How would you rate the sound quality out of 10?”
- “How long did you have to queue for?”
- “Was the concert too long, the right amount of time, or too short?”
- “Which performer did you like best and why?”
- “Did the venue accommodate all your needs”
Delve into the vital details. Everything you spent time on in the planning stage can be tied to your questions here.
If your main concern is the quality of the performance itself, gain constructive feedback specifically related to the musical experience.
Tip: If you’re struggling for ideas on questions to ask, start with a generic list of post-event survey questions.
2. Build your professional relationships
Another important part of following up after your music event is the debrief. This typically includes speaking with the performers or the venue staff.
Building relationships with bands
Some event organisers treat bands like they are “single-use” – as if they’re not likely to work with them again. But many bands play the same venue or same town multiple times. In fact, it’s been argued that playing twice in a week in the same town can be a good thing.
If you’ve managed to create a success with a band or performer, embrace it!
By following up, you increase your chances of working together again, which can be fruitful for everyone involved. The “love/hate relationship” between promoters and performers can be a rocky road. Performers need promoters they can count on, and vice versa. A follow-up chat can go a long way.
Building relationships with venues
Keeping a good relationship with venues is important, especially if you plan to use them again. Work with them to see if anything could have been done better on your part. Venues are your allies, working with them can help ensure a better experience next time.
3. Retain your customers
There can be a little bit of ill-feeling towards people who treat music events too much like a business. The industry needs good business people though. “Customer retention” is a buzzword you’d imagine to hear in board rooms, not green rooms, but it is just as relevant.
Finding new attendees for your gigs can be hard. That’s why there’s no excuse for not doing your best to retain those you have. In fact, it can cost five times as much to gain new customers as to keep your existing ones!
How to follow up with attendees
Following up after a music event can be done effectively through:
- Gig event pages (like those on Billetto)
- Event pages on Facebook or other social networks
- Your email list
In fact, building an email list is still effective in 2019, and allows for a lot of interaction.
By sending a follow-up mail-out to your customers, you can let them know about further gigs or events you are organising. Why not incentivise their attendance with discounts or other offers?
If you think that event organisers can’t have this kind of power, think again. Many music festivals sell out way before their headliners are announced. People develop a trust in the brand. Even local promoters on a small scale can embrace this.
Tip: Here’s a handy guide on how to collect more email addresses at your show.
4. Use your follow up to build buzz
It’s time to take your music hat off and put your business hat on once again.
People who go to a show and enjoy it should want to put it on social media or share their experience with friends. Your job is to encourage and simplify this process, in order to build buzz for your upcoming gigs.
It is effectively a testimonial for the music event you have put on: If people see their buddies having a great time on social media, they’ll want to make sure they don’t miss the next time!
Ideas for building buzz
Methods of building buzz post-event could include:
- Offering a prize for the best photo of the event
- Uploading a crowd photo and asking people to tag themselves or their friends
- Sharing video footage and encouraging attendees to share it online
- Offering a giveaway of something used on the night such as signed set lists or drumsticks
Tip: Take a look at this guide on how to get event attendees to share photos on social media.
Next steps
Embrace the value of a follow up. Remember that you are playing the long game and that relationships are vital if you want to be a success in such a people-based industry.
Following up after a music event will help you to build your brand, gain trust, and promote the next gig in the process. Good luck!