Black Swan State Theatre Company (BSSTC) partnered with Culture Counts to analyse ticketing data and create a methodology for monitoring ticket sales performance.
The analysis focused on eliminating duplicate customer records, exploring sales trends, and refining methods for categorising buyer types to aid decision-making and future strategies. This case study details early findings as part of this work.
“I had always worried about the integrity of our customer database. This review gave me the confidence to know our dataset was robust enough to base strategic decisions upon.”
Tim Sitwell‑Mogridge, Head of Marketing, Black Swan State Theatre Company
Removing Duplicate Users
BSSTC’s customer database, which dates back to 2007, included 80,766 entries. Each record has an associated ‘created date’. BSSTC joined the Tessitura Consortium in 2017, so many of the ‘created dates’ prior to this were sourced from the old ticketing system and imported into Tessitura.
When reviewing records by ‘created date’, spikes seen in 2007 and 2012 are accordingly associated with changes in ticketing systems prior to Tessitura and related to when the customer records were created.
When reviewing the customer fields of name, address, phone number and email, entries were found that appeared to be duplicates. Removing these 2,130 duplicate entries (approx. 2.7% of the total number of customer records), the cleaned dataset offers a more accurate picture in which to undertake an analysis of customer purchasing behaviour.
Sales Analysis: Buyer Categories
To demonstrate the kinds of analysis that could be undertaken on the cleaned customer database, an initial set of analyses of sales data was undertaken.
Notably, while the ticketing database spans from 2007, sales data prior to integrating Tessitura is less robust. As such, only sales data from 2018 onwards was initially reviewed.
The analysis categorised buyers into three groups based on the number of bookings seen each year: Single (one booking), Occasional (two bookings), and Regular (three or more bookings). Tracking these groups revealed shifts in audience engagement over time.
Key Insights:
- Regular Booker numbers are consistent: The number of customers who book three or more times per year has remained consistent at approximately 900, excluding 2020/21. Though 2024 saw that grow to over 1,300.
- Regular Booker attendance is declining: The average number of tickets that a regular booker purchases annually has roughly halved since 2020.
- Single Bookers are a necessary market for growth: Even though regular bookers continue to purchase the highest average tickets, BSSTC has seen strong growth in the number of single-show bookers in 2023 and 2024, along with first-time buyers.
“We’ve had a strong focus over the past two years to get new people through the door. These patterns highlight the balance we need to strike in supporting our core audience and our need to nurture occasional and first-time attendees into long-term supporters.”
Tim Sitwell‑Mogridge, Head of Marketing, Black Swan State Theatre Company
Next Steps: Turning Insights into Action
Building on this initial analysis, BSSTC aims to deepen its understanding of first-time buyers and how they transition into occasional or regular attendees. This will involve:
- Tracking Buyer Evolution: Developing a system to categorise and monitor changes in buyer behaviour.
- Strategic Engagement: Exploring ways to convert single and occasional buyers into regulars through targeted campaigns and programming.
- Customised Messaging: Leveraging insights to tailor marketing efforts for different audience segments.
BSSTC’s work with Culture Counts demonstrates how arts organisations can harness data analytics to adapt and thrive to evolving audience behaviour. This case study shows how similar organisations can unpack and review their ticketing data to deepen their understanding of audience engagement and develop new strategies.
Image: The Pool. Actors (LR) Edyll Ismail, Tobias Muhafidin, Kylie Bracknell, Polly Low,Geoff-Kelso. Photo credit: Simon-Westlake.
