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Retain Patrons

Keep audiences coming back.

Turn your OTS patron insights into automatic, always-on marketing campaigns that deepen audience engagement and increase retention.

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THE PROBLEM

Audience behaviors have changed.

Patrons have more entertainment options than ever, making it more difficult to stand out. At the same time, audiences increasingly value flexibility, which translates to purchasing tickets closer to event times and lower interest in traditional retention programs such as fixed subscriptions.

A premium on premium

Patron behaviors have shifted toward attending fewer live entertainment events, and place a high value on premium experiences and seamless discovery, purchase, and management flows.

Difficulty engaging patrons

Retaining existing patrons is cheaper and more effective than acquiring new ones, yet getting people’s attention has never been harder - and 90% of first-time patrons never return without proactive follow-ups.

Need for consistency

Effective audience engagement campaigns require time and skill that many teams don’t have, making them difficult to build and maintain - if they happen at all.

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE

Loyal audiences that create predictable revenue.

Retention isn't a campaign you run once a year, it's what happens when the data you already have does the work — quietly, continuously, and without anyone remembering to start it. On The Stage automates building targeted, always-on audience retention campaigns that turn first-time attendees into returners, subscribers, and donors.

  • Personalized Outreach

    Trade generic blasts for segmented campaigns built on what a patron has actually done, not on a list somebody exported last spring.

  • Automatic Campaigns

    Always-on campaigns that keep your audience engaged between events, without you lifting a finger.

  • Flexible Offerings

    Offer ticketing and subscription options that patrons can manage themselves, with no passwords and no phone calls.

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MARKETING AUTOMATION

Build always-on automated campaigns with Plays.

Plays are always-on automated campaigns that run silently in the background to keep your audience engaged over time by always delivering the right message to the right patron at the right time. As patron behaviors change over time, Plays automatically stay up to date to ensure the right audience always receives the right message at the right time. Plays can be set up in two minutes or less using plain English, and automatically continue to run until you turn them off.

1

Turn First-timers into Repeat Patrons

Patrons who just attended for the first time get an automatic thank-you with a one-time incentive to come back, at the moment they're most likely to take it.

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2

Re-engage Lapsed Patrons

Define a window of time that defines "lapsed" for your organization, and qualifying patrons get a targeted return offer without anyone building a list.

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3

Convert Repeat Patrons into Subscribers

Patrons who have attended multiple events automatically get asked if they'd like to upgrade to a subscription, membership, or both.

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4

Subscription & Membership Renewal Reminders

Invite current subscribers and members to renew on a timeline you choose, before you open sales to the general public.

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5

Announce New Packages

Tell non-members or subscribers about next season's subscriptions and memberships, with a one-click path to purchase.

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6

Gather Feedback

Post-show thank-you emails go out automatically and collect feedback through integrated surveys, so you learn something from every performance.

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AUDIENCE DATA

Powered by your patron insights.

Owned audience

Your audience data is uniquely yours, and it powers campaigns that are more effective than those that rely on paid ads built using canned segments that get rented - by you and your competitors.

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Automatic segments

OTS automatically organizes patrons into groups based on shared behaviors and characteristics using the purchase and attendance history you already have, and makes those segments instantly ready to use.

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Custom segments

Build your own audience segments using virtually any criteria that matters, such as who bought tickets to a particular event, who bought but didn't attend, and who attends multiple times a year but isn't a subscriber.

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Always current

A patron's relationship to your organization changes over time, and segments update themselves to match, meaning you never have to manually maintain spreadsheets or worry about stale lists.

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Custom tags and data fields

Add custom tags and fields to patron records to remember anything that OTS doesn’t natively track, and use those labels to build segments and target campaigns.

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Households

Group related contacts into households to see household-level insights, and to create segments and campaigns that speak to similar households.

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Automatically updated

Every order, attendance, and donation feeds the patron record automatically, meaning your patron database is always up to date.

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Day-one ready

Import your patron records from your current ticketing platform when switching to OTS to get started with our highest-value marketing tools on day one.

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CUSTOMER STORIES

How On The Stage boosts retention for our customers.

Assisting staff with identifying lapsed patrons and donors, sending automatic emails to remind past patrons to get their tickets to upcoming shows, and making purchasing tickets easy have all been ways OTS has reduced lost revenue.

— Heather Barthelme, Executive Director, Fayette County Community Theatre

Heather Barthelme, Executive Director, Fayette County Community Theatre

OTS automatically emails reminders to all who have attended our show in the past. I LOVE this feature.

— Valerie Said, Music Teacher, Wixom Christian School

Valerie Said, Music Teacher, Wixom Christian School

For a small regional theater, we have a limited staff, so the platform handles many operational aspects that we just couldn't handle on our own - from automatic marketing emails, to thank you emails, merch, accounting and more.

— Barbara Guertin, Managing Director, 4th Wall Stage Company

Barbara Guertin, Managing Director, 4th Wall Stage Company

FAQ

Common questions about how to retain patrons.

Why do most first-time buyers never come back?

Roughly 90% of first-time patrons don't return without proactive follow-up — which is why an automatic thank-you with a reason to return does more for retention than almost anything else.

How do I get first-time attendees to come back?

An automated Play sends first-time patrons a thank-you with a one-time incentive shortly after they attend, while the experience is still fresh, without anyone building a campaign.

How can I reach patrons who haven't attended in a while?

Set the lookback window that defines "lapsed" for your organization, and a Play automatically sends those patrons a targeted return offer as they cross it.

Do I need a separate email marketing tool to stay in touch with patrons?

No. Email campaigns are built into OTS and work from your live patron data, so your lists are always current. If you'd rather keep your existing platform, integrations sync your patron and purchase data automatically.

How does On The Stage decide which patrons get which email?

Audience segments are built from real purchase and attendance history — first-time buyers, subscribers, donors, lapsed patrons — and they update themselves as patron behavior changes.

Can I see what a whole family or household is worth, not just one ticket buyer?

Yes. Households group related contacts and roll up ticket, subscription, add-on, and donation revenue across every member, with adjustable date ranges.

What's the best subscription option for audiences that don't want to commit to a whole season?

Flex Passes and Ticket Packs. Both let patrons buy in advance while keeping control of when they attend — a commitment to return without a fixed calendar.

Can subscribers and members renew without calling the box office?

Yes. Renewals happen in a self-serve patron portal, with no password required, and automated reminders invite current subscribers and members to renew before renewals open to anyone else.