How one of NYC’s foremost creators of site-specific, immersive and experimental dance and theater uses AudienceView Professional to increase ticket sales, streamline operations and better engage with its audiences.
Background
Based in New York, Third Rail Projects is a creator of immersive works such as their award-winning theater experience, Then She Fell. The company is dedicated to re-envisioning the ways in which audiences engage with contemporary performance.
Collaboration is integral to all Third Rail Projects endeavors, both in the creative process as well as the intersection with each new site, community and cultural landscape in which they work.
The artistic directors and company work nationally on new immersive and site-specific projects and internationally through the Global Performance Studio (GPS), which combines the company’s creative and educational offerings through a program of cultural listening and exchange.
By using the AudienceView Professional platform, Third Rail Projects was able to increase ticket sales, streamline operations and better engage with its audiences.
Read on to learn more about how Third Rail Projects uses AudienceView Professional to support its mission.
Third Rail Projects at a Glance
- Transitioned to the AudienceView Professional platform in under two weeks
- Saves 5 hours per week using the AudienceView Professional platform due to streamlined processes
- 19% year-over-year increase in ticket sales for 2018 Spring extension of Then She Fell
Situation
Before using AudienceView Professional, Third Rail Projects used a combination of various ticketing and CRM solutions to sell tickets and manage customer relationships.
When evaluating new ticketing platforms, the team at Third Rail Projects focused on improving two main aspects of their box office – the end user experience and the back-end experience of managing its transactions and events.
The team needed a platform that would make it easier for customers to buy tickets and one which would allow them more flexibility and automation in operating their box office.
Solution
Noticing that much of their web traffic had been shifting toward mobile platforms, Third Rail Projects determined it was vital that their new ticketing platform be mobile friendly and that the end user experience be both smooth and efficient. AudienceView Professional was able to deliver on this with its mobile-responsive checkout process.
Since the company runs 12 shows per week, strong audience communication is paramount. The automated messaging offered by AudienceView Professional was a key component to ensuring box office success.
Prior to working with AudienceView, Third Rail Projects had their data housed in multiple sources. The platform allowed Third Rail Projects to bring all its data in one place, making it easier to track customer relationships. This improved workflows for the company.
Other features that attracted Third Rail Projects to AudienceView Professional include advanced series creation tools, event management and a customer service department that would help with their company’s expanding needs.
In the end, Third Rail Projects chose AudienceView Professional because they offered a more robust set of functionalities relative to their existing solution as well as other ticketing providers.
Implementation
After receiving a live demo, the team at Third Rail Projects had a good understanding of how the system would operate.
They then used the training webinars offered by AudienceView Professional to augment their knowledge of the platform and prepare themselves to use it.
With the training and implementation resources available, Third Rail Projects was able to get up and running on the AudienceView Professional platform within two weeks.
From there, Third Rail Projects filled out data templates to allow the AudienceView Client Services team to migrate their existing data onto the AudienceView Professional platform.
After a short period of time, the data had been migrated into the new database. Third Rail Projects was able to transition between platforms without any interruptions to their ongoing operations.
Using AudienceView Professional
The team at Third Rail Projects uses daily the detailed reports offered by the platform such as transaction, customer and pledge reports. With an easy to digest format, team members can quickly check the pulse of their box office and forward important information to other staff.
The team has also been able to create package deals combining their summer intensive classes and tickets to Then She Fell. By allowing customers to purchase both items at once, Third Rail Projects is able to provide a more comprehensive understanding of how the company makes productions.
Third Rail Projects also uses the AudienceView Professional platform to create events for corporate and donor-only offerings, allowing them to easily track interactions with these groups.
With deep links to performances and custom promotional codes, the team has been able to streamline the customer purchase process.
Also, the ability to set up new series by copying existing events has enabled Third Rail Projects to improve the process of creating new offerings for their customers.
Additionally, the team uses post show emails on the AudienceView Professional platform to direct audiences back to their website and raise awareness for current and future projects.
Results
Using these features on the AudienceView Professional platform, Third Rail projects has been able to improve several key metrics.
The team was able to transition to AudienceView Professional in under 2 weeks, allowing them to get up to speed on the platform quickly without any interruptions to their ongoing operations.
With the AudienceView Professional platform, Third Rail Projects has been able to save, on average, 5 hours per week by improving internal workflows.
As a result of the marketing features made available, Third Rail Projects saw a 19% year-over-year increase in ticket sales for the 2018 Spring extension of Then She Fell.
Moving Forward
In the future, Third Rail Projects plans to use AudienceView Professional to better track how customers and donors interact with the company.
The team also looks forward to providing its customers with more detailed offerings using the packages feature for future productions and events.
“We have only just started but we’ve had one of the best selling weeks to date. I believe we have to credit our new ticket buying experience for some of that!”
Joshua Dutton-Reaver
Associate Manager of Marketing and Communications
Third Rail Projects, LLC
