The live event business is risky. You can spend countless hours, days, and weeks putting together a fantastic set list for a concert and still fall short on ticket sales. But when is the best time to sell concert tickets?
To maximize ticket sales and marketing efforts, you must understand the event marketing and sales lifecycle to figure out the optimal opportunity to make ticket sales boom.
Is There a Best Time To Sell Concert Tickets?
Some people believe it is best to start ticket sales several months before the event. Others believe that a small ticketing window of a month to a few weeks helps maximize demand and influence increased sales. In truth, the ideal timeframe for ticket sales depends on established marketing lifecycles and economic theories.
Ticket Sales Lifecycle
Marketing a concert and selling tickets go hand in hand and follow a predictable four-step pattern: announcement and presale, on-sale, maintenance, and closing. The announcement and presale phase of the process focuses on creating hype around the event and offering discounts or early access to tickets.
Presale ticket offers typically go to special and engaged consumers, allowing them to buy tickets before the general public. The technique usually involves offering a limited supply of early tickets, using the marketing principle of scarcity to encourage sales.
The on-sale and maintenance phase mainly focuses on continuing the hype around an event and encouraging routine purchases. Vendors typically hold off offering any discounts until the last few weeks of ticket sales.
The closing phase of the ticket sales cycle can be the best time to sell concert tickets because it is close to the event. That said, the best time for sales ultimately depends on the demand for the event.
Supply and Demand
The law of supply and demand is simple: If supplies are low and demand is high, vendors can charge more for tickets and sell earlier in the buying cycle. If your concert has a high demand, you can sell tickets several months in advance.
For example, if you have a headliner like Taylor Swift, you can practically guarantee a sold-out show months in advance because the demand is so high; however, if your Uncle Jeff is putting on a show for his little-known garage band, you can expect a low demand and low ticket sales — timing doesn’t matter.
Buying Cycles
If you have an in-demand concert, you can start selling tickets several weeks or months before the concert date. Live events typically have a predictable sales curve. Following the presale rush, 20% of tickets sell within the first two weeks of going on sale. 30% of sales occur after the first two weeks but before the final two weeks of sales. Finally, the last 50% of sales occur during the closing phase or the last two weeks of sales.
How Do You Know When It’s the Best Time To Sell Concert Tickets?
Understanding the best time to sell concert tickets is difficult because it varies based on consumer demand and talent. Still, the first and last two weeks of ticket sales generally are the most lucrative.
If you are hosting or planning a concert event and would like help assessing the best time to start ticket sales, contact Evey Events, the one-stop shop for all your event planning and ticketing needs. With the affordable plans, you can find a professional solution tailored to your brand’s event management needs.
