Download Festival Target Audience
Nadja Norrington
After three years of Covid-impacted music festival seasons, 2023 is seeing a long-awaited return-to-normal. According to estimates from Statista Market Insights, the entire music event industry, including festivals and concerts but also musicals and operas, is expected to return to its pre-pandemic growth trajectory this year. Statista expects online ticket sales for music-related events to reach $33.8 billion this year, up 65 percent from 2022 and 49 percent from 2019, the last pre-pandemic year.
Whether you call them attendees, patrons, guests, participants, or goers, the people who attend music festivals are the key ingredient to a successful music festival. Whether you goal is to build the experience around those you hope to attend (target audience) or whether you create an experience first and then hope to draw people to it, it still boils down to knowing the right audience to market to.
The average age of attendees varies depending on the genre and lineup; however, most music festivals tend to draw a young adult crowd, typically between the ages of 18 and 35. Millennials are the largest segment of festival attendees.
This makes sense considering festivals like Austin City Limits or Ultra Music have an immense popularity among this demographic. Additionally, the presence of renowned performers as the main acts at these gatherings tends to appeal more strongly to younger audiences, resulting in a higher average age among attendees that skews towards youthfulness.
Festival organizers know that some fan types drive more revenue than others. They may be VIP buyers, repeat attendees, or fans of the entertainers. They represent a critical target audience for festival producers. They make up somewhere around 20% of those that attend festivals. According to the MusicWatch study, one out of every five festival attendees are hardcore festival attendees and spends more on music festival tickets in a year than the other four attendees combined.
Not only do hardcore festival attendees go to more festivals, they are also a valuable source of revenue to each festival. In 2016, they were spending 78% more on a typical festival ticket compared to those who attend only one festival each year. They keep coming back to attend their favorite festivals over and over again. These hard core festival attendees outrank others in VIP purchasing, social influence and virtually every othe aspect of spending, attendance, and engagement.
About half of these hardcore festival attendees are willing to spend double or more of the price of a general admission ticket for exclusive perks. Such benefits could include viewing areas close to the stage, access to artist lounges, free food and drinks, free merchandise, etc.
Forty percent who have purchased VIP in the past are willing to pay at least double the price of GA for access to VIP restrooms and faster, private entry. In response to the survey about the most they have spent on a festival ticket, this group response averaged $419 per ticket which was a full 56% highter than what other festival goers had spent.
Understanding the role of platforms like Spotify in new music discovery for festival attendees is important. Since the 2016 report by Nielsen, younger demographics have moved away from Facebook for music discovery. Spotify is the preferred platform for music discovery among festival fans, with 98% more likely to discover new music than the average consumer. They are 98% more likely to discover new music on Spotify than the average consumer.
With the boom of digital music and live events, festival fans are more connected than ever. They use a range of online channels to engage with their favorite artists and discover new ones. These platforms also serve as crucial sources for industry news.
Beyond just sharing updates or streaming songs, these platforms have become interactive spaces where fans can communicate directly with artists, join communities around specific genres or festivals, and even influence future line-ups based on their feedback. Festivals today utilize their own event app to engage with attendees before, during and after their festivals. These event apps amplify the whole experience for attendees.
By utilizing streaming services, fans can still feel connected to the event even when they are unable to attend in person. Live streaming has become a widely utilized feature at music festivals, enabling people from all over the world to watch their favorite performers without having to be present in person.
A frequent festivalgoer is a committed and loyal festival attendee who often shares the values that a festival represents. Particularly, fans of festivals of a certain musical genre share feelings of belonging (Rihova et al., 2015) that extend to strangers who have mutual musical interests.
Festival organizers should provide ways that festival attendees can immerse themselves in the festival and share their experiences. There are many ways to provide those kinds of experiences as part of the festival.
There are logistical issues that create a positive festival experience as well. Festivals should highlight perks like cashless payment methods which offer attendees convenience and security during the event itself. Eventbrite explains how offering cashless payments at festivals encourage attendees to spend more on food, merchandise, and experiences. This mutually beneficial arrangement provides an advantage to both festival promoters and attendees.
Other logistical issues include having enough of everything, i.e., ticket takers, food, beverage, toilets, etc. so there are no long lines for festival goers. Private entrances for VIPs, parking perks, and other things also contribute.
Creating the right experience will keep fans coming back to the festival. Better yet it will keep hardcore fans who spend more and act as influencers to their friends will also become part of your fan base.
The creators of Fyre Festival, Billy McFarland and Ja Rule knew exactly who their audience was. Rich millennials with major fear of missing out (FOMO). People who were willing to spend thousands of dollars on tickets just so they could be part of it.
Promoters for Fyre Festival used celebrity events and parties to get everyone amped up about the event. The did a lot of word of mouth, with the founders promoting the festival on various media outlets.
One of the reasons music festivals are selling better than indoor concerts is simply because the festivals take place outside, which poses less of a risk of COVID-19 infection. This is reflected in some of the stats comparing pre-and post-pandemic attendance:
Over half of hardcore festies learn about a festival from an artist playing at the festival. So one of the easiest ways how to promote a music festival in 2022 is to enlist the artist as a fan recruiter.
Now that social media platforms have made it easier than ever to collaborate on posts and share content, you can promote your festival by getting the artist to share the information with their fans. Their fans will be excited by the prospect of seeing an artist they love and want to learn more about your festival.
Besides having the right acts playing your festival, you want to sell the experience as a whole to the out-of-towners. If you sell your event as an experience that is a vacation in and of itself, more people will be willing to travel a greater distance.
As you promote your festival to people who would have to take a road trip or a plane to attend, talk about other things to do in the area, see if you can offer hotel packages, and demonstrate why the trip would be worth their time and money.
With the right event management software, you can make promoting your music festivals a breeze. You can get a system that has everything you need in one place, from calendar management to real-time analytics.
Prism is the only live music event management software that simplifies the nitty-gritty of music festival promotion so you can focus on selling out your phenomenal event. Our solution combines calendar management, venue communication, financials, and analytics into a single platform to make it easy to find what you need, whenever or wherever you need it.
Festivals are popular events because they offer attendees a fun and engaging experience. Festivals can be especially effective nonprofit fundraising events because they help build stronger relationships with your audience members through in-person interactions.
One of the most important aspects of planning a festival is creating a festival marketing strategy. A solid marketing plan helps you recruit as many attendees and volunteers as possible, leading to more donations for your nonprofit.
Your festival marketing approach should be tailored to your target audience and wide-reaching enough to attract existing and new supporters alike. These strategies will help maximize your reach and boost attendance numbers:
Also, take the time to build a festival marketing team. You might assign roles such as social media chair, email marketing lead and attendee experience coordinator. Assigning clear responsibilities ensures that all of your marketing bases are covered.
Researching your audience will also help you determine which platforms to use to market your festival. For instance, if your demographic is between the ages of 18-24, Instagram is a great place to reach out. Or, if your target audience is working professionals, then LinkedIn would be a suitable platform. Researching the current trends and behaviors of your audience is vital in helping you reach the right people in the right place.
There are approximately 4.89 billion social media users worldwide, and this number will only continue to grow. Social media platforms are a great place to interact with your audience using the fun and unique features of each platform.
To effectively plan and market your festival, use more than just one marketing platform. Use a combination of digital and traditional marketing platforms to reach a larger audience. For example, in addition to social media, try these channels:
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