Eventbrite releases study on Australian festival punters

Is the average Australian festival-goer young, single and interested only in music? Why should festival promoters trying to engage their audience turn to Twitter? Do staggered artist announcements work? Which Australian festival is best at social media?

Self-service ticketing platform and events marketplace Eventbrite released findings of its Festival Social Buzz Study; its data was gathered between June 1, 2013 and May 31, 2014. It found that the average festival-goer is twenty-something, female and in a relationship. 55% of attendees are female, 45% men. 68% are married. One quarter are thirty-something. 35% have children.

Their lives and conversations are not ruled by music. About 48% expressed a keen interest in politics and news; followed by comedy (21%), music (20%), technology (17%), cooking (13%) and fashion (12%). Their most discussed brand is McDonalds, followed by Instagram, Qantas, The New York Times and social media management system Hootsuite.

Australian festival punters are switched on to social media, with Twitter the platform of choice. Most have been on Twitter for three years. They tweet at least once a day, most likely from their iPhone, and have over 100 followers.

Eventbrite discovered that of all festivals, the music ones are best at using social media to create a buzz. They drive over half of conversations about festivals. Tactics as staggered line-up announcements (social media conversations spike the most when acts are announced) and getting acts to engage directly with audiences are highly effective. Tastemakers and influencers, including websites, bloggers and celebrities, get fans talking about festivals.

“Festival and other event organisers can learn a lot from the success of music festivals on social media,” said Eventbrite’s International Expansion Manager, Elsita Meyer-Brandt. “This report highlights the importance of a strategic, long-term social media marketing plan that encourages and inspires your fans to spread the word for you.

“Analysis of our own transaction data supports this, showing that a single share on social media generates nine additional visits to an event page and $4.80 in additional revenue back to the organiser. It also shows that Twitter generates 2-4 times more revenue and page views than other social channels. This demonstrates the power of social commerce for events.”

Soundwave leads the social media race by engaging with its audience over a lengthy period, rather than drive large spikes in conversations on a single day. The other most talked about festivals are Stereosonic, Vivid Sydney, Big Day Out, Splendour In The Grass, St. Jerome’s Laneway, Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras, Tropfest, Melbourne International Comedy and Australia Day Parade.

But when social media buzz is put in perspective of their size of the crowds they draw, Splendour In The Grass has the most engaged audience. Followed by Stereosonic and Virgin Australia Melbourne Fashion Festival.

For the study, Eventbrite partnered with social media insights from Mashwork. Sources of the analysis include 302,283 unique conversations on Twitter, public Facebook posts, blogs and forums surrounding four major categories of festivals: music (relevant mentions: 153,848); visual and performing arts (48,691); food and alcohol (18,446); and miscellaneous festivals (81,298). The profile of festival-goers came from 22,100 users discussing festivals on Twitter.

Figures supplied by Eventbrite say it has sold over 200 million tickets and registrations worldwide, totaling nearly $3 billion in gross ticket sales ($100 million in Australia alone). It claims an Australian tally of 5 million tickets to 115,000 events. Last year alone it processed $1 billion in gross ticket sales for attendees in 190 countries.