4 Ways to Boost Holiday Show Ticket Revenue

The holiday season is upon us! For many performing arts organizations this means a time of wildly popular programming and one of the best opportunities to boost your season’s revenue. So, how can you make sure you’re making the most of this holiday season? Here are our top tips for maximizing revenue without sacrificing audience size.

1. Watch those early sales windows—the time to start is now!

One great thing about holiday sales trends is that they tend to be fairly similar year over year, and therefore relatively predictable. Compare your sales week over week from this year to previous years and make note of when sales start to trend upward, and when they take off. Then, don’t wait until those increases happen—get ahead of them!

Increase prices on high demand performances and sections before you get to those peak sales periods, so that you’re maximizing revenue from those windows of high demand. Don’t wait until a performance is nearly full—at that point you’ve missed the best opportunity.

2. Be bold—don’t be afraid of high prices at the top end.

When you see a performance with high demand, raise those prices! Don’t feel limited to keeping your top price under an arbitrary threshold—be bold. You can always bring prices back down if sales start to slow, or if the lower prices start selling better than your best seats. But as long as you continue to see those top price points sell—don’t shy away from raising them.

3. Keep an eye on your low price points.

The most important tool in your pricing toolkit is maintaining multiple price points for every performance. If accessibility is important for your organization, monitor your lowest price points as carefully as your highest.

If you raise your top price by $10, maybe your middle price should go up by $6, and your bottom price only needs to go up by $2. Tiered increases like that will maintain your lowest price, without creating an enormous gap between your prices. And also, consider whether you really need a super low price on every performance. If you have multiple performances in a run, it’s ok if every ticket for Saturday matinee is relatively high, while more affordable prices are available for Wednesday evening.

And finally, a bonus tip, for when the holiday season comes to a close:

4. Take your learnings and optimize for next year.

Don’t forget everything you will learn over the next few months. Take note of where you were able to continually raise prices, where you had sold-out performances, if you noticed any price sensitivity, etc., and bake all of that into your starting prices for next year. For example, if you used dynamic pricing to increase prices on every matinee this year—raise matinee starting prices next year!

Dynamic pricing is a valuable tool, but you’ll make more by having smarter pricing right out of the gate. So, take some time in January to document your learnings and ensure that you’re incorporating them in your planning for next year.

Make This Season Your Best Yet

The holiday season offers a unique window where audience demand is high and strategic pricing can significantly impact your bottom line. By staying ahead of sales trends, pricing boldly at the top while maintaining accessibility at the bottom, and treating each performance individually, you’ll be well-positioned to maximize both revenue and attendance.

Remember: dynamic pricing isn’t just about reacting to demand—it’s about anticipating it. Start implementing these strategies now, document what works, and you’ll set yourself up for even greater success in seasons to come.

Here’s to a sold-out holiday season!