10 Reasons for a Music Festival to have a Mobile App

We think that smartphones and Music Festivals owe a lot to each other.

In less than 10 years mobile has transformed the music industry. CD sales are plummeting and downloads are soaring. Corners of living rooms and walls of bedrooms have been reclaimed again with these tiny devices holding all of your music. The likes of Spotify and YouTube have turned us into streamers rather than owners of music. Boxes of CD’s are joining the boxes of vinyl up in the attic.

The demise of 7” single sales has had further knock-on effects: The Charts have vanished, music has all-but disappeared from mainstream TV and so bands now need to perform live to get by and promote their music. This is expensive and risky to do on your own and this has led in part to the huge rise in the Music Festival industry as bands ‘tour’ festivals.

So you could say that in many ways the music festival and the mobile phone are good mates. The music demographic, the festival demographic and the mobile demographic must be a ridiculously good match.

 

So mobile is booming. Music festivals are booming. But a quick check on the app stores and very few music festivals appear to have a mobile app. Why is that? Here's two thoughts. Apps for this kind of purpose are still a fairly new idea as mobile overtakes the PC and the cost to produce and App has been traditionally in the ten of thousands.

Here Pockit World we think the now is absolutely the right time for festivals to produce their own app, the with our costs to produce an app being much lower than you think its time to close that gap in the market!

So here are 10 reasons why your music festival needs a mobile app.

 

1.      Sell Tickets!

This is the #1 priority of any festival. There is so much fixed cost involved in putting on a festival that unless you are called Michael or Emily then you have probably got some selling to do. A quick browse around some big festival names - Latitude, Reading, Leeds, V, Download, Isle of Wight, T in the Park – and they all have some or all of their ticket availability for sale. So how will a mobile app help?

Stand out from the crowd. The world’s gone mobile. Not everyone is sat at a PC anymore clicking around your lavish website. People are out and about. Anyone interested in your festival will have the chance to download the app and experience some of your buzz before they dive in and book.
Also, loads of people going to your festival will download the app. People going to festivals love to talk about that and share it.

“I’m going to T in The Park!”
“Cool. Who’s on?”
“Let me show you….”

With your app on their phone you will have 100’s and 1000’s of mini sales agents running around showing your line up and sharing your ticket sales page.

2.      Promote Your Acts

We can put on your app YouTube clips, Twitter, Vines and a full music download section for iTunes on Apple or 7 Digital on Android. This means that your people can sample and listen to your bands and you can keep your headliners very happy by having sections of your app featuring them and boosting their music sales.

3.      Festival Buddy

For a lot of people this will be their first time and many others will be out of practise. So you can feature shopping lists, what to take, helpful hints, links to other peoples Blogs to help everyone get the most out of their wild weekend. We can fill your app up with content pages, PDF material, web links and all sorts to make it totally useful for everyone who goes.

4.      Line-ups

How much money is spent on printing and once it is printed what if there is a change? Oops. But this is the big question on site. Who is on? Where? And are they any good? Your app can display the line up in all sorts of ways.

5.      Site Information

As above. Think printing costs and what can be transferred onto digital. Map, Directions, Site information, Stage Maps, Campground information, Lock ups, Mobile charging….. plenty to get out to the masses on here. Oh, and a weather link might be good.

 

6.      Generate Revenue

Of course a festival is not just about the music. There are shops, services, bars, food, merchandise and all sorts of concession stands who have paid good money to be there and would like to join in on the app. Through the app you could advertise availability, discounts, Happy Hours, promote causes, charities, shows, talks, presentations and good things happening over the weekend.

It’s up to you. Use the app as powerful a leverage and attract commercial partners. With our QR code feature you could have deals within the app such as “Go to the AA Tent / Vodafone Orange Mobile / Oxfam tent, scan their QR Code and get Free Ear Plugs / Mobile Charge / Coffee…..”. With all the money that these partners invest in getting to site your app can guarantee them the footfall. How happy would that make them? And how much would it be worth?

Sponsorship. If you are looking to secure a festival sponsor then the app is just the most amazing platform to bundle into the deal.

Finally though, be cool. Don't have rubbish Ads on the app. Your typical festival go-er (well done us for getting this far before calling someone a "festival go-er") will reject that stuff immediately.

7.      Digital Tannoy

Push Notifications are an extremely important part of the functionality. You can send promotional messages, Line-Up changes alerts, remind about site rules and safety, lost children, traffic coming to and going home from the Festival. This gives you an instant news channel – a digital tannoy. You can even send a message to a selected area!

8.      Your brand

An app will make have you seen as a dynamic, forward-thinking and welcoming Festival. We can 100% brand an app as yours. If you are a niche or charitable festival with a purpose this is vitally important.

Also, Unofficial App’s spring up from time to time which takes your brand out of your control. Tackling that legally is costly and unseemly. The fact that they appear suggests that there is a major gap in the market and demand for them.

 

9.      See you next year then? 

Repeat customers are just the best. People who have had a great time will come back and you will create a massive fan base that you can build on. A mobile app will add value to the experience of not just the festival-goer but also the bands, concession community, suppliers and your partners. Adding images, video, and all sorts of Post-Festival coverage and content will help you grow your fans.

10.  Finally, have a bit of fun. 

Have a giggle with it and involve the app into the festival programme. Not only will the app bring all of your social media into one area – Twitter, Facebook, Instagram – you can add interactive features and sharing features in all sorts of ways. How about a Crowd Cam, Chat Wall, Feedback tabs as well as a Best Wellies, Best Tent, Best Fancy Dress competitions. 

For more information Follow Us on Twitter @PockitWorld, email us at theteam@pockitworld.com, visit www.pockitworld.com and we are also on FestivalNet.

We’d love to hear from you!

10 Reasons For Your Business to have a Mobile App

The smart phone and tablet market is huge - over a billion handsets are in operation around the world and its growing, very fast.

In every coffee shop, street, train or at a gig you will see dozens of people totally absorbed in these little devices.

Game Changers

It’s changing the way that people engage with their world. The traditional model of people sitting at home or at work with a PC or Laptop and a large screen is rapidly changing. Mobile is gobbling up market share and its already about 35% of all web traffic. PC isn’t going away, but its domination is being challenged, and fast.

On these devices are ‘Apps’. Mobile Applications are little computer programmes that integrate with the features on the phone. Games (Angry Birds, Candy Crush), Social Media (Facebook, Twitter), Photo App’s (Instagram) are the big categories. And the market is worth £Billion’s.

 

So what does this mean for business?

There is an incredible opportunity. In almost every pocket of exactly the kind of people you want to target is a mobile phone that you can put your App on.

The trouble is that traditionally the cost of development has been way beyond the budget of most businesses. 

Opportunity

Pockit World is changing that concept. We can develop a mobile app’s for your business and it can be for about the same price as a small one-off media campaign, leaflet campaign or website launch.

But it’s not right for everyone. You have to be careful not to treat your customers like walking Classified Ad’s. You need to interact and engage your user base with your brand, promotions and useful information that they will be happy to give up a little bit of space on their most cherished gadget.

ANY business could have an app developed for it. However, the App will flourish in some markets over others. so here we feature the Top 10 reasons that will help you decide if your business needs to join the mobile world. You don’t have to check all 10, even 1 will do. Have a read….

1.       Loyalty 

 

Plenty of businesses have repeat visitors, members, students, subscribers, fans. This frequent engagement makes an app a very useful tool to use for bookings, advertising availability and getting bums on seats. The list is huge. Bars, Clubs, Gyms, Restaurants, Schools, Sports Teams, Churches, Cinema’s, Theatres, Garages, Shopping Centres, Visitor Attractions and Theme Parks, Taxi’s firms, Crèches, Spa’s, Hair and Beauty Salons, Therapists Doctors, Bands, Museums…..

2.       Promotions

 

Offers, discounts and promotions are fantastic content for an app. “Happy Hour”, “10% off ", “Early Bird”. Think about it - you are a restaurant sending a promotion out on a slow Tuesday afternoon just about the time people are making their meal decisions for the evening. An app is perfect for Advance Bookings, Reservations, when prices change quickly (Currency Exchange for example) then the app can engage much faster than a passive website as it is so quick to change and send out a Message alert.

3.       Members

 

For a brand that promotes itself on behalf of third parties an app is a great way to give added value and it is a fantastic extra promotional tool with an eager and ready-made audience! Associations, Unions, Events, Sports Clubs, Exhibitions, Conferences, City Guides, Festivals, Shopping Centres and Business Networking Events all want to engage users on behalf of their members or clients. Often these brands that can attract advertising partners and sponsors onto their platform to make the project zero cost which is a huge added bonus.

Exhibitions, Events, Festivals are great for Mobile App's

4.       Competition

 

Does your business have a lot of competition amongst peers? A busy marketplace for plenty of professions may have you struggling to get noticed amongst the crowd. A mobile would do just that. Search for "Personal Trainer Leeds" on the app store. In early 2014 there was just one result – for our app! Use your app with enquiry forms, Social Media, camera, event and Messaging functions to create a buzz about your brand. Estate Agents and Lettings, Recruitment, Financial, Legal services could all benefit. In the Leisure sector restaurants, bars, clubs, venues, theatres can all have plenty of good fun and interaction with their customers.

5.       Leader

 

In every sector there are brands with a vision, enlightenment and they stand out with how they present themselves and their services. Catching the wave of mobile ahead of the pack would add so much value to that. Mobile is extremely current, fresh and, dare we say, Zeitgeist.

6.       Social

 

A brand that is active on social media channels, in its community and market and can promote the app to its audience will ensure the app is a fantastic addition to its tools. Not only will you have the experience and the savvy but also the people to make it happen. Events, festivals, bands, football clubs have ready-made engagement waiting to happen. Bars frequented by students, popular venues, attractions can all take advantage. On the other hand you will also know how quickly a Tweet can fall down people’s feeds, how slow it can be to build up followers and how hard Facebook is making it to “reach” people without paid assistance.  With an app you can put on content that each customer, visitor and fan is going to need to download and you can break that barrier between you and your users in a way that websites, Social Media and print advertising just can’t. 

7.       Demographic

 

Smartphone use is more almost everywhere but the habit of downloading an app and using it is going to be in the younger rather than the older side of life. Think about your customers and how they behave but don’t underestimate - there are plenty of perfectly capable Silver Surfers out there!

8.       Events

 

Its simple. If you have regular events, schedules, line-ups, workshops, meetings, seminars, gigs, shows, fixtures……an app is a perfect platform to use to communicate directly with your users. Integrate your event directly with the phone's calendar and you are away!

 

9.       Temporary 

 

We love to create “Disposable” Apps! Let us explain…

Its the first day after arriving at a new hotel or resort and you've just put the suncream on when your better half says “Can you pop to reception to find out what time the Kid’s Club starts?” Some of these places are huge and they have just the one notice board which means you clock up a few miles in your flip-flops. They also probably have Free Wifi. This is a wasted opportunity. 

Beyond the Hotel, Resort or Campsite there are loads of times when you go somewhere and need to access lots of information in a short space of time. After you leave you can delete the app. Festivals, Exhibitions, Launches, Conferences, City Guides, Attractions, Theme Parks, Museums, Shopping Centres, Tourist Information, it’s a huge list. In the past the cost of building an app made the idea of a temporary one too painful. Now it’s easy, and a very good idea.

10.   Image

 

The final factor to have an app for your business is that we think it’s pretty cool. That could sound weak, it’s got to have a purpose right? Well, we think that 1-9 have covered all that. We think that after enormous investments in staff, premises, machinery, equipment, software and everything else you deserve to be on the Apple and Android app stores, on people phones and engaging with your customers beyond the barriers of websites, Twitter and email.  

So there you have it, that about covers it for us. Plenty of businesses can take advantage and flourish with a mobile app. What do you think? 

Pockit World
www.pockitworld.com

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