How to Choose Theater Ticketing Software

Selecting the right ticketing software is crucial to maintaining seamless theater operations. Whether you're running a small community theater or managing a regional performing arts center, your theater ticketing platform serves as the gateway between your productions and your audience, while also streamlining ticket sales and sharing valuable insights into your audience.

With many ticketing platforms available, each promising different features and benefits, how do you choose the one that's right for your venue?

Let’s explore three critical considerations that should inform your decision: integrated marketing capabilities, mobile accessibility, and affordability for smaller organizations.

Theater Ticketing Software with Integrated Marketing Tools

The most effective theater ticketing platforms do more than just process transactions; they help you fill seats. Look for software that combines box office functionality with robust marketing features that allow you to reach audiences, build relationships, and drive ticket sales without juggling multiple systems.

Email marketing integration is perhaps the most essential feature. Your ticketing software should capture customer data automatically and allow you to segment audiences based on their purchase history, preferences, and engagement. This enables you to send emails promoting upcoming shows to people who've attended similar productions in the past.

The best theater ticket software offers social media integration that helps you extend reach beyond your existing patron base. Advanced systems can easily integrate your customer relationship management tools to track each customer's complete history with your theater, including shows attended, donation history, and communication preferences. 

For insight into what's working and what isn't, look for dashboards that show real-time sales data and identify trends in attendance patterns. 

Theater Ticketing Software with Mobile App Support

In an era where more than half of all web traffic comes from mobile devices, your ticketing system must provide a seamless mobile experience. This goes beyond simply having a mobile-responsive website, though that's certainly a baseline requirement.

Your theater ticketing partner should contribute to the smoothest user experience. When patrons download your theater's app, browsing upcoming shows, purchasing tickets, and scanning their digital tickets at entry will offer the convenience of fewer steps and less frustrations.  

Consider whether the platform supports mobile box office functionality:

• Allows your staff to sell tickets from tablets or smartphones anywhere in your venue

• Large, touch-friendly buttons, simplified forms that minimize typing

Affordable Theater Ticketing Software for Local Theaters, Small Venues, and Community Theaters

Budget constraints are a reality for most smaller performing arts organizations. The good news is that affordable ticketing solutions exist that don't require you to sacrifice essential functionality or commit to expensive long-term contracts.

While some ticketing systems charge a flat monthly or annual fee, there are others that offer a per-ticket fee model, where you pay a percentage of each transaction or a fixed amount per ticket sold. For smaller theaters with variable attendance, consider per-ticket pricing since costs scale with revenue. This is especially beneficial for nonprofit theaters with many ticketing software partners offering a reduced per-ticket fee for nonprofit organizations. 

Watch out for hidden fees that can quickly inflate costs. Some platforms charge separately for features like email marketing, analytics reporting, or customer support that should be standard inclusions. Look for ticketing partners that offer phone support, particularly for volunteer-run community theaters, during your box office hours and responsive help desks that ensure technical issues don't prevent you from selling tickets.

---

Once you’ve identified your must-have features, then request demos from platforms that meet your essential criteria. As one of the best theater ticketing software for small venues, HoldMyTicket’s intuitive and reliable platform makes buying tickets effortless, keeps your audience engaged, and frees you to focus on what matters most: creating memorable theatrical experiences.

Learn more about our FREE event ticketing software for theaters today. Schedule a demo.