Live event audience growth starts long before someone buys a ticket. Audiences have more choices competing for their time, attention and spending. Getting someone to notice an event is only the beginning. Live event organizations also need to make the value clear, remove friction from the buying experience and give people a reason to build a lasting relationship with them.
During AudienceView’s Next in Live virtual summit, leaders from across the industry explored what it takes to grow an audience as expectations, behaviors and economic pressures continue to change. Each session approached the challenge differently, but five clear strategies emerged for organizations heading into 2027.
Make the Value of Attending Clear
Rising costs are affecting both sides of the live event experience. Organizations face higher operating expenses, while audiences are taking a closer look at where and how they spend their money.
That makes pricing an important part of any audience growth strategy, but the conversation cannot stop at whether a ticket is affordable. Organizations must also consider whether the overall experience feels worth the cost.
During The New Economics of Live Events, Maureen Andersen, President and CEO of INTIX, emphasized the need for honest conversations about pricing:
“We have to be so cognizant of, and really have those hard discussions about, what we are pricing our events at.”
Organizations can respond by looking beyond the ticket’s face value and considering the full experience surrounding it. Clear pricing, relevant offers, flexible packages and thoughtful communication can all help audiences understand what they are getting and feel more confident about purchasing.
The goal is not simply to offer the lowest possible price. It is to clearly communicate the value of attending and make sure the experience delivers on that promise.
Look Beyond the Top-Line Sales Numbers
Ticket sales, capacity and revenue provide an important view of performance, but they do not always explain why an event is or is not selling.
Every purchase, abandoned cart, seat selection and purchase window can reveal something about audience demand. Looking at these signals more closely can help organizations identify the right response instead of automatically turning to discounts or price changes.
As Jonathan Carpenter, Program Manager for Performing Arts at JCA, explained during Turning Demand Into Value:
“People are giving you signals all the time.”
For example, if premium seats are selling while more affordable sections remain available, the problem may not be pricing. The audiences most interested in the event may already know about it and be willing to pay for their preferred experience, while potential buyers at lower price points may simply be unaware of it.
In that situation, changing the price may not solve the real problem. Broader awareness or more targeted outreach could be the better move.
The same principle applies across the event journey. Organizations can look at which audiences buy early, who waits until the last minute, which offers generate a response and where people abandon the purchase process. These patterns can support smarter decisions about pricing, inventory, marketing and personalized communication.
The strongest audience growth strategies begin by asking what the behavior behind the numbers is actually saying.
Create More Ways for People to Enter the Relationship
Not everyone’s relationship with an organization begins at the box office.
Someone may first encounter a venue through a free community event, a school program, a social post, a backstage tour or a friend’s recommendation. They may engage several times before purchasing a ticket, and some may build a meaningful relationship with the organization without immediately becoming ticket buyers.
That does not make those interactions less valuable.
During Beyond the Ticket: How to Expand Your Sphere of Influence, moderator Patrick Harris, Customer Marketing Manager at AudienceView, described the opportunity this way:
“People enter into a relationship with your organization through different doors. Our job is to create those doors, make it easy for people to enter, and then give that relationship somewhere to go.”
This means thinking beyond a straight line from awareness to purchase. Community programs, workshops, free performances, pay-what-you-can events and behind-the-scenes experiences can all create meaningful entry points.
The next step is deciding where each relationship can go. A person who attends a free outdoor event may be ready to subscribe to a newsletter. Someone participating in a workshop may be interested in a related performance. A first-time attendee may want another recommendation that reflects what brought them through the door.
Audience growth does not always mean pushing people toward an immediate transaction. It means creating relevant ways to participate and giving each interaction a thoughtful next step.
Treat Trust as Part of the Audience Experience
Fraud is often discussed as a payment, security or operational issue. For audiences, however, it can become an experience problem long before an organization sees a chargeback.
Bots can limit access to inventory. Misleading resale websites can make it difficult to know where to purchase legitimate tickets. Invalid or duplicated tickets can create stressful entry experiences. Extra fraud controls can also add friction for legitimate buyers if they are not implemented carefully.
During Fraud + the Audience Experience, Volodymyr Zhurakivskyy, Payments Team Lead at AudienceView, offered organizations a simple way to see the purchase journey from the audience’s perspective:
“Try to pretend like you’re a consumer. Go onto Google and just try to buy your own tickets.”
Search for one of your events without navigating directly to your website. Notice which results appear first, whether reseller listings resemble your organization and how easy it is to identify the official source.
This type of audit can reveal confusion that may be invisible from inside the organization.
Protecting the audience relationship requires balancing security with convenience. Organizations should monitor warning signs such as duplicate scans, suspicious large orders, partial chargebacks and websites imitating their own. At the same time, legitimate buyers should still have a straightforward path to purchase and clear guidance about where to find authentic tickets.
Trust influences conversion, satisfaction and the likelihood that someone returns. Protecting it should be part of the broader audience growth and retention strategy, not only a response after fraud occurs.
Use Audience Intelligence to Make the Experience More Relevant
Owning the audience relationship is about more than collecting contact information. It means understanding who people are, how they interact with the organization and what may be relevant to them next.
First-party data can help connect activity across the journey, from the first interaction to the ticket purchase and the experience that follows. When organizations can recognize those signals, they can communicate more thoughtfully and reduce their reliance on third-party platforms to reach their audiences.
Relevance also extends beyond marketing the next event. Audiences may need practical information that helps them feel prepared and excited to attend, including transportation details, dining recommendations, venue guidance or content related to the performance.
During Building Audiences You Own, Holli Campbell, Senior Director of Partnerships at TodayTix, shared a line from her CEO that puts the challenge into perspective:
“Our real competition is Netflix and a pitcher of margaritas.”
The comparison is playful, but the point is real. Audiences are not only choosing between one venue and another. They are deciding whether going out feels easier, more relevant and more rewarding than staying home.
A connected audience relationship helps organizations make that case. By using purchase history, engagement patterns, stated preferences and preferred communication channels, teams can provide useful information before the event, create a smoother experience and follow up with recommendations that feel relevant rather than generic.
The result is not simply better marketing. It is an audience experience that gives people more reasons to attend, return and advocate for the organization.
Audience Growth Happens Across the Entire Journey
Building a live event audience is not one campaign, one ticket purchase or one department’s responsibility. It happens across every interaction, from the moment someone discovers an organization to the experience of buying, attending and deciding what to do next.
As live event organizations plan for 2027, the opportunity is to connect those moments:
- Make the value of attending clear.
- Use audience behavior to guide decisions.
- Create more ways for people to participate.
- Protect trust throughout the buying experience.
- Use audience intelligence to make each interaction more relevant.
Together, these strategies can help organizations turn awareness into participation, attendance into a relationship and one great event into a reason to return.