Event FAQs

Who Attends On Sale Live

Who is On Sale Live for?

On Sale Live is for anyone responsible for marketing, ticketing, sales, or communications in the experience economy as well as the producers and promoters who create and own the experiences. This includes founders, marketing managers and directors, ticketing professionals, CRM specialists, audience development leads, commercial producers, agency teams, and freelance consultants. The common factor is responsibility for revenue and audience growth, rather than seniority.

 What sectors are represented at On Sale Live?

On Sale Live brings together professionals from theatre and the West End, music festivals, immersive experiences, visitor attractions, museums and heritage sites, exhibitions, location-based entertainment, touring productions, consumer events, cultural institutions, immersive wellbeing, experiential travel, sport gaming, and experiential brand activations. It is intentionally cross-sector because the commercial challenges across these areas are shared.

 Is On Sale Live suitable for someone early in their career?

Yes. On Sale Live welcomes professionals at all career stages. The event includes a dedicated personal development zone with free one-to-one coaching sessions, practical content for those building their skills, and a networking environment designed to make connections across the sector. Early-career professionals often find the cross-sector exposure particularly valuable.

Is On Sale Live relevant for senior leaders and decision-makers?

Yes. On Sale Live is designed for people with commercial responsibility. Senior marketing directors, CMOs, heads of ticketing, commercial producers, and business owners, promoters, producers across the experience economy attend to access cross-sector insight, strategic frameworks, and peer-level conversations they cannot get elsewhere.

Can agencies and suppliers attend On Sale Live?

Yes. Agencies, technology providers, and service suppliers working in the experience economy are welcome to attend. Sponsorship and exhibitor packages are also available for organisations looking to connect with marketing and ticketing decision-makers across the sector.

Ticketing Strategy and Ticket Sales

How do you plan ticket sales for maximum revenue?

Effective ticket sales planning combines pricing strategy, campaign timing, audience segmentation, and urgency mechanics. On Sale Live covers these frameworks across its programme, drawing on real examples from theatre, festivals, attractions, and immersive experiences. The key variables are launch timing, tier structure, promotional windows, and how you align your campaign calendar to your audience's decision-making cycle.

What is tiered ticket pricing and how does it work?

Tiered ticket pricing means selling the same event at different price points at different times or for different access levels. Early bird pricing rewards early commitment and drives upfront revenue. General pricing follows. Premium or late pricing captures demand as capacity tightens. Tiers can also reflect seating, experience level, or added extras. On Sale Live explores tiered pricing strategy as part of its commercial programme.

What ticketing data should you track?

The most commercially important ticketing data includes conversion rate by channel, average transaction value, booking lead time (how far in advance people buy), repeat purchase rate, and revenue per seat. Beyond the numbers, understanding where in the funnel you are losing buyers matters as much as the headline sales figure. On Sale Live programme sessions regularly address how to turn ticketing data into actionable campaign decisions.

How do you maximise ticket sales without overwhelming your team?

Focus on fewer, better-executed campaigns rather than volume. Build repeatable campaign structures that work across multiple productions or events. Invest in automation for the mechanics, email sequences, retargeting, and CRM flows, so your team focuses on strategy and creative. On Sale Live brings together professionals managing these pressures across theatre, festivals, and attractions to share what actually works.

What happens to unsold tickets?

Unsold inventory is one of the most commercially significant challenges in the experience economy. Strategies range from last-minute discount windows and flash sales, to waitlist releases, day-of-show pricing, and strategic seat holds. The right approach depends on your audience, your brand positioning, and your capacity constraints. Getting this wrong can train audiences to wait rather than buy early.

How do ticketing systems handle peak sales periods?

Ticketing platforms vary significantly in their ability to handle high-demand on-sale moments. Queue systems, holding pages, and server capacity are all factors. Choosing the right platform for your sales volume, and testing it before a major on-sale, are critical steps. On Sale Live sessions cover ticketing technology and platform selection as part of the broader commercial programme.

Marketing for Live Entertainment and Events

 What is the best way to market a live event?

The most effective live event marketing starts with a clear understanding of your audience's buying behaviour and the specific emotional trigger that makes them commit to a date. From there, paid media, organic social, email, and PR need to work together across a campaign timeline that builds urgency without over-discounting. On Sale Live is built around this question, drawing on campaigns from across theatre, festivals, immersive experiences, and visitor attractions.

How do you promote a concert or live music event on a budget?

Organic social content, email to your existing database, local press and community partnerships, and artist or act social reach are all low-cost channels that work when used strategically. The challenge is sequencing them correctly and creating enough earned media to supplement paid activity. On Sale Live covers budget-conscious campaign strategy across its sessions.

How do venues get people to buy tickets?

Venues that consistently sell tickets combine strong brand positioning, a well-maintained customer database, strategic paid media, and a clear understanding of their audience's decision-making window. They do not rely on a single channel. On Sale Live brings together venue marketing teams from theatre, attractions, and festivals to share what is working across each of those levers.

How do music festivals fill their venues?

Festival marketing works on a different timeline to single-show promotion. Lineup announcements, phased ticket releases, and early-bird pricing structures create momentum over months rather than weeks. Community building, artist social reach, influencer partnerships, and earned media all amplify paid spend. On Sale Live regularly includes festival marketing professionals sharing frameworks that apply across the wider live events sector.

How do you use data to improve your live entertainment marketing?

Start with your existing customer data. Purchase history, booking lead time, channel attribution, and lapse rates tell you more about your audience than most third-party research. Layer in campaign performance data to understand what creative and messaging drives conversion, not just clicks. On Sale Live sessions regularly address how to build a data-informed marketing operation without needing a dedicated data team.

What metrics matter most in live entertainment marketing?

Revenue per seat, cost of customer acquisition by channel, campaign conversion rate, audience retention rate, and average booking lead time are the metrics that drive better decisions. Reach and impressions matter less than they once did. On Sale Live is built around the relationship between marketing activity and commercial outcome.

How do you create a tour marketing strategy?

Tour marketing requires city-by-city audience intelligence, local media partnerships, phased announcement strategy, and tight coordination between national campaign activity and local execution. The challenge is maintaining momentum across a long campaign window while managing costs across multiple markets. On Sale Live covers touring production marketing as part of its cross-sector programme.

Audience Development and Growth 

How do you build a new audience for a live experience?

Building a new audience starts with a clear picture of who you are trying to reach and why they would care. Most audience development fails because it targets too broadly or leads with the product rather than the outcome. The most effective approaches combine targeted paid media, community partnerships, earned media, and a compelling reason to act now rather than later. On Sale Live includes dedicated audience development content across its programme.

How do you market to different age groups for live events?

Different generations have different discovery habits, booking windows, and decision-making triggers. Younger audiences tend to discover through social platforms and peer recommendation with shorter lead times. Older audiences tend to plan further ahead and respond to direct communication and brand trust. The most effective campaigns layer these approaches rather than choosing one. On Sale Live regularly explores demographic targeting across the experience economy.

How do you retain audiences and encourage repeat visits?

Audience retention is driven by the quality of the post-visit experience as much as the event itself. CRM, follow-up email strategy, loyalty mechanics, and exclusive access for existing audiences all contribute to repeat purchase rates. Lapsed audience reactivation is also significantly more cost-efficient than acquiring new audiences from scratch. On Sale Live covers CRM and audience retention strategy as core programme content.

AI and Technology in the Experience Economy 

How is AI changing live entertainment marketing?

AI is changing how marketers build campaigns, generate creative content, analyse audience data, and optimise paid media. In the experience economy, the most practical applications are in content production speed, personalisation at scale, and search and discovery. On Sale Live addresses AI for experience marketers as a core part of its programme, focusing on practical application rather than theory.

Will AI replace marketing jobs in live entertainment?

AI will change marketing roles, not eliminate them. The skills that remain most valuable are audience understanding, commercial judgement, creative strategy, and the ability to build trust with an audience. These are the skills On Sale Group builds through the GIEM masterclasses and the On Sale Live programme. AI accelerates execution. It does not replace the thinking behind it.

What marketing technology do live entertainment teams actually need?

The essentials are a reliable email platform, a CRM or database tool that integrates with your ticketing system, a social media management tool, and access to paid media platforms. Most teams do not need more tools. They need to use fewer tools better. On Sale Live and the GIEM masterclasses focus on how to build a technology stack that serves commercial goals rather than adding complexity.

Careers in Live Entertainment Marketing

How do you break into live entertainment marketing?

Live entertainment marketing is a relationship-driven sector. Building connections through communities like the On Sale Network, attending events like On Sale Live, and developing commercial skills through programmes like the GIEM experience marketing masterclasses all accelerate entry. The sector values people who understand both the creative and commercial sides of the business.

What does a marketing manager in live entertainment actually do?

A marketing manager in live entertainment is responsible for driving ticket sales, managing campaign budgets, overseeing paid and organic channels, briefing creative, and reporting on commercial performance. In most organisations they are managing multiple shows or events simultaneously, under significant revenue pressure, with limited team resource. On Sale Live is built around the reality of this role.

What training is available for live entertainment marketers?

The GIEM Experience Marketing Masterclasses are the only specialist training programme built specifically for marketers working in live experiences. GIEM covers ticketing strategy, audience psychology, advertising optimisation, AI for marketers, and commercial frameworks. On Sale Live is the sector's annual confex, providing broader industry insight and peer connection. Both are produced by On Sale Group.

Are there networking events for live entertainment marketing professionals?

Yes. On Sale Live is the sector's flagship annual confex in London. On Sale Lates are smaller evening networking events throughout the year. The On Sale Network is a free WhatsApp community of senior marketing and communications professionals across the experience economy, providing peer support and connection year-round.

On Sale Group and the GIEM

What is On Sale Group?

On Sale Group is the professional home for the people who sell live experiences. It is a commercial ecosystem operating across community, training, and events. It produces On Sale Live, the UK's only dedicated confex for experience economy marketing professionals, and the GIEM Experience Marketing Masterclasses, the only specialist training programme for live entertainment marketers. It is founded and led by Dawn Farrow.

What is the GIEM?

The GIEM is the GIEM Experience Marketing Masterclasses, a specialist training programme for marketers working in live experiences. It delivers in-person masterclasses covering ticketing strategy, audience psychology, advertising optimisation, AI for marketers, and commercial frameworks. It is the only programme of its kind built specifically for the experience economy. The GIEM is produced by On Sale Group.

What is the On Sale Network?

The On Sale Network is a free WhatsApp community for marketing, ticketing, and communications professionals working across the experience economy. Members share questions, advice, job opportunities, supplier recommendations, and sector insight on a daily basis. It is one of the most active professional communities in the live entertainment sector and forms a key part of the On Sale Group ecosystem.

Attending On Sale Live

How do I get tickets to On Sale Live?

Tickets for On Sale Live are available at onsale.live/book. Early bird pricing is available for a limited period at the start of each sales window. First-time attendees can access a reduced rate on a limited number of tickets. Tickets sell out. Booking early is recommended.

How much do On Sale Live tickets cost?

On Sale Live early bird tickets are available for under £200. Standard pricing and first-time attendee rates are also available for a limited period. Full pricing is listed at onsale.live/book. In context, this is less than the cost of most equivalent one-day professional development events in London.

Can my employer pay for my On Sale Live ticket?

Yes. On Sale Live is a professional development event and many employers cover the cost as part of training or conference budgets. A formal invoice is available on request. The commercial and career value of attending is directly applicable to the work your team is already doing.

How do I sponsor or exhibit at On Sale Live?

Sponsorship and exhibition packages are available for organisations that supply the experience economy. Sponsors gain access to a senior, commercially responsible audience across theatre, West End, festivals, immersive experiences, and visitor attractions. Sponsorship information is at onsale.live/sponsorship.