Having a plan of action for welcoming back and retaining new audiences helps you make the most of the hard-work you did to attract them for the first time to your organisation.

Some new audiences will have been motivated to book purely based on the theme/s of the work or the specific title or artist, but we know this won’t be the reason for all new audiences. Motivations to return and see something again at your venue will be driven by reasons as multi-faceted as people are themselves, highlighting how important it is to make the most of opportunities to talk to audiences and survey them to help you understand their motivations for bookings.

Research shows that recency of booking increases the likelihood of booking again.

Whilst a little dated, Spektrix’s 2023 report into first time bookers found “Of all audience members who first bought tickets in 2022, 19.5% returned in 2023 - a rate of retention unmatched since 2016.”

Quick win ideas:

Think about how continue to welcome future new bookers. Some ideas include:

A great discussion on why the little things matter: Why 75% of First-Time Attendees Never Return (And What to Do About It)

1. If your box office system has this, automate tagging first time bookers so that your Box Office or Front of House team can give them an extra special welcome with information on the space when they arrive e.g. where the toilets / bar / theatre entrances are.
2. Plan in a reattendance evaluation so that you can see if your activity helped encourage customers to return within a set time period. If you aren’t sure how to do this, most big box office providers will be able to help you set up your reports, otherwise speak to Ellie at ellie.russell@housetheatre.org.uk and we’ll see if we can help you.
3. Send them an email to thank them for booking. If your box office system allows you to, you can create automated emails to thank new bookers for making their first booking with you.

In your email, you may wish to:

• Make some suggestions for what they might like next.
• Include some information about why you’ve chosen the show (the personal touch e.g. a line from your Artistic Director about why they booked the show and what audiences can expect.
• Offer an incentive if they book within the next three months / selected time period? This could be ‘enjoy a welcome drink from our café bar’ / ‘join our team for a free post-show Q&A’ / ‘enjoy a discount on your ticket from us’.
• Let them know that there will be someone to welcome them back and give them a behind the scenes tour or meet the Director opportunity.
• Invite them to tell you more about their experience with a survey.
• Could you place a personalised welcome card to new bookers seats welcoming them to the venue with a discount code on the card?
• If your email and box office systems allow, you can set up dynamic content in your Pre- and Post-Event emails to tailor messaging specifically to first-time bookers who might need some more detail about your venue e.g. more information on what to expect, how to get to you, and where facilities are in your building.

Useful links:

Why 75% of First-Time Attendees Never Return (And What to Do About It)

For Spetkrix users: Recipe: Identify First-time Attendees - Recipes | Spektrix Community

For Ticketsolve users: How to find and retain first-time bookers – Ticketsolve Help Centre

Six Metrics Every Arts Leader Should Obsess Over | TRG Arts

Case Study: How Seattle Rep Turned First-Time Buyers into Loyal Fans