Social media outlets are an excellent resource for entertainment venues in terms of relaying information and personalizing the relationship between your brand and its fans.

House of Blues (HOB) considers social media one of its most valuable marketing outlets. It provides brand awareness as well as an open forum to communicate with fans directly.

Similarly, it provides a space for HOB fans to converse with others of similar interests, and they see the value of allowing fans to share personal thoughts and experiences.

HOB periodically asks its fans questions to gain feedback about how to improve guest experiences at its venue. The key is to listen to what they have to say, what they want and expect from you, and then actually do something about it.

On the flip side, a potential downside is that people can use social media to share negative thoughts and experiences; it’s uncensored and leaves businesses open to criticism. But with the good, taking the bad and learning from your fans is essential.

HOB takes great pride in knowing that the fans they have on these portals have CHOSEN to “follow” on Twitter and/or “like” on Facebook; fans who are genuinely interested and want to know what HOB has to offer. They also have an outlet for easily sharing news about music and events in the community that are relevant to their audience.

Additionally, HOB can use Twitter and Facebook for promotional purposes to distribute information about upcoming shows, pre-sales/on-sales, and restaurant promotions. They post all upcoming events with direct links to purchase tickets or a number for more information, making the purchasing process direct and seamless.

They also provide more “exclusive” offers like ticket giveaways, which benefits them since they typically see an automatic ticket-sale increase for those shows with ticket giveaways.

Their marketing manager, Rena, believes it’s essential to have some call-to-action when posting an event, especially nowadays when most people have smartphones and can purchase tickets right from their phones.

“There are endless opportunities with social media,” Rena noted, “and it’s important to be creative and keep it interactive.”

Have other entertainment venues caught your attention as being proactive via social media?