{"id":943410,"date":"2023-11-14T11:59:00","date_gmt":"2023-11-14T11:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.spektrix.com\/blog\/the-internal-case-for-dynamic-pricing\/"},"modified":"2026-07-25T17:36:48","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T17:36:48","slug":"the-internal-case-for-dynamic-pricing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.spektrix.com\/en-us\/blog\/the-internal-case-for-dynamic-pricing\/","title":{"rendered":"The Internal Case for Dynamic Pricing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Get your team on board for a responsive pricing strategy by addressing concerns and answering the big question: Why use dynamic pricing?<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dynamic pricing can be a controversial topic. Even if you&#8217;re already using this pricing strategy, there might still be team members who have reservations after a sour experience with dynamic ticket pricing \u2013 we&#8217;ve all suffered from train lines tripling ticket prices from one day to the next. Ultimately, pricing is personal and your teams might be nervous about how your audience will react.   <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So why use dynamic pricing? It can help your team do more with your data and learn more from your audience, taking a holistic view of price sensitivity and booking behavior to more effectively price your events. <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In this blog we&#8217;ll explore the reservations your team might have around dynamic pricing and the key messages to align them on the value it generates by better understanding your audience and helping to achieve your organizational goals.<\/p>\n\n<aside class=\"spektrix-blog-cta-banner spektrix-blog-cta-banner--green-light spektrix-blog-cta-banner--image-fit-cover wp-block-spektrix-blog-cta-banner\" aria-labelledby=\"spektrix-blog-cta-banner-heading-1\">\n\t<div class=\"spektrix-blog-cta-banner__card\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"spektrix-blog-cta-banner__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1459\" height=\"861\" src=\"https:\/\/www.spektrix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Ressources-Dynamic-Pricing-Solutions.png\" class=\"spektrix-blog-cta-banner__image\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 782px) 342px, 100vw\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.spektrix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Ressources-Dynamic-Pricing-Solutions.png 1459w, https:\/\/www.spektrix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Ressources-Dynamic-Pricing-Solutions-300x177.png 300w, https:\/\/www.spektrix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Ressources-Dynamic-Pricing-Solutions-1024x604.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.spektrix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Ressources-Dynamic-Pricing-Solutions-768x453.png 768w\" title=\"\">\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"spektrix-blog-cta-banner__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div\n\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"text-body-lg-bold spektrix-blog-cta-banner__heading\"\n\t\t\t\t\tid=\"spektrix-blog-cta-banner-heading-1\"\n\t\t\t\t\tdata-acf-inline-contenteditable=\"1\" data-acf-inline-contenteditable-field-slug=\"heading\" data-acf-placeholder=\"Add heading\u2026\" data-acf-toolbar-title=\"Heading\" \t\t\t\t>Strengthen Your Pricing Strategy <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"spektrix-blog-cta-banner__link-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.spektrix.com\/en-us\/pillar-dynamic-pricing\/\" class=\"spektrix-dot-link spektrix-dot-link--primary spektrix-dot-link--has-arrow spektrix-blog-cta-banner__link\" target=\"_self\"><span class=\"spektrix-dot-link__dot\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 16 16\" aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\"><path d=\"M5.5 3.25 10.25 8l-4.75 4.75\" fill=\"none\" stroke=\"currentColor\" stroke-width=\"2.5\" stroke-linecap=\"round\" stroke-linejoin=\"round\"\/><\/svg><\/span><span class=\"spektrix-dot-link__label\">Explore dynamic pricing<\/span><\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Key messages for arts leaders<\/h2>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pricing has always been notoriously difficult. As diligent as marketing teams, ticketing and sales teams, and producers are, you&#8217;re still relying on someone&#8217;s &#8220;best judgment&#8221; of what feels like the right price. And feeling is a great place to start. As Vice Chairman of Ogilvy UK Rory Sutherland says, &#8220;To an economist, price is a number. To a customer, price is a feeling,&#8221; (Experience is Everything \u2013 From the NHS to Disney to Netflix, Dotdigital Summit, 2023).   <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, you might have tracked historical sales data and could still be missing out on maximizing your revenue potential. You could have conducted market research into the title and still misinterpreted its value within your community. You could be applying the same seating and pricing structures you&#8217;ve always used and still not fill the house.  <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dynamic pricing can help challenge your existing assumptions of your audience and which price <strong>feels<\/strong> right, bringing efficiency and accuracy to your pricing strategy and enabling you to meet your audience where they are now and be responsive to your audience of the future.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here are the key points to discuss with your leadership team if you&#8217;re considering dynamic ticket pricing as an opportunity for your organization.<\/p>\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Dynamic pricing has a bad reputation<\/h3>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For team members who&#8217;ve seen volatile dynamic pricing at its worst \u2013 whether as frustrated commuters or music fans priced out of a big tour \u2013 it&#8217;s important to understand that most of the time it&#8217;s the venue and promoter who are in control of their own pricing.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Absolutely, when we see dramatic price increases in response to demand we should question the strategy&#8217;s efficacy but more importantly, we should query the intentions and motivations of organizations applying those prices, whether dynamic or not.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Take the travel sector. With extreme levels of demand, they have far greater leverage to increase their prices and still achieve their organizational goal \u2013 maximum sales at the highest price point. These organizations are nowhere near as invested in bringing in new people, grounding themselves in their communities, or developing a range of opportunities or tailored experiences at all levels of engagement \u2013 those pursuits sit at the heart of arts, culture, &amp; live experience organizations.  <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Similarly, large concert venues rely on headline artists they contract in to bring huge loyal audiences with them. Loyalty to the artist is key for these large venues to maximize their sales, allowing them to sell premium once-in-a-lifetime packages without much regard for a returning or diverse audience. Those organizations <strong>might<\/strong> be using dynamic pricing but their motivations are far from what the average arts and cultural organization is working towards \u2013 managing profit margins while instilling trust, generating loyalty, and increasing engagement within its community.  <\/p>\n\n<blockquote class=\"spektrix-blog-pull-quote wp-block-spektrix-blog-pull-quote\">\n\t<div\n\t\tclass=\"text-quote-sm spektrix-blog-pull-quote__text\"\n\t\tdata-acf-inline-contenteditable=\"1\" data-acf-inline-contenteditable-field-slug=\"quote\" data-acf-placeholder=\"Add pull quote\u2026\" data-acf-toolbar-title=\"Pull quote\" \t>Dynamic pricing, when used with consideration, ethically, and in line with broader organizational goals, can achieve far more than just maximizing income.<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Once your team starts to compare your values to those of organizations that use dynamic pricing exclusively for revenue maximization, they&#8217;ll understand that it&#8217;s not the tool that ostracizes their patrons but the organizations themselves. Dynamic pricing, when used with consideration, ethically, and in line with broader organizational goals, can achieve far more than just maximizing income. Consider it a revenue optimization tool, a pricing strategy that makes the experience seeker feel like they&#8217;re booking a luxurious treat while subsidizing other opportunities for your community to engage with you, maintaining or even improving accessibility.  <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the rare circumstance you do receive some backlash, have confidence in your approach. Ground your team in the organization&#8217;s values and wider goals and empower them to confidently communicate how dynamic pricing allows that activity to run more effectively. <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Need some inspiration? Take a look at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spektrix.com\/en-gb\/case-study-edinburgh-international-festival\">Edinburgh International Festival&#8217;s<\/a> press statement in response to their adoption of automated dynamic pricing: <\/p>\n\n<blockquote class=\"spektrix-blog-attribution-quote wp-block-spektrix-blog-attribution-quote\">\n\t<img\n\t\tclass=\"spektrix-blog-attribution-quote__mark\"\n\t\tsrc=\"https:\/\/www.spektrix.com\/wp-content\/themes\/spektrix-2026\/assets\/images\/blog\/Green-Quote.svg\"\n\t\talt=\"\"\n\t\twidth=\"48\"\n\t\theight=\"42\"\n\t\taria-hidden=\"true\"\n\t\tdecoding=\"async\"\n\t\/>\n\t<div class=\"spektrix-blog-attribution-quote__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div\n\t\t\t\tclass=\"text-quote-lg spektrix-blog-attribution-quote__quote\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-acf-inline-contenteditable=\"1\" data-acf-inline-contenteditable-field-slug=\"quote\" data-acf-placeholder=\"Add quote\u2026\" data-acf-toolbar-title=\"Quote\" \t\t\t>Flexible pricing simply streamlines that price adjustment process, within guidelines that we set, based on demand. We join dozens of arts organizations, classical music venues, as well as contemporary music and events organizers in using this technology. We carefully monitor the pricing and none of the prices this year will exceed our top prices from 2022.<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<cite class=\"text-body-2-regular spektrix-blog-attribution-quote__attribution\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Edinburgh International Festival Spokesperson<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.artsprofessional.co.uk\/news\/backlash-over-edinburgh-international-festival-ticket-pricing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ArtsProfessional<\/a> (paid content)<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/cite>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">You&#8217;re in control<\/h3>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Behind every price is a person. Automated dynamic pricing tools make it easy to pass the blame onto a third party when prices increase dramatically. However, this argument lacks accountability and understanding of how these automated products work. Even with an automated dynamic pricing tool, you can set parameters such as upper and lower price limits, or the ability to exclude certain price zones, that the tool can&#8217;t override. An automated dynamic pricing product with rigid rules allows you and your team to explore your audience&#8217;s price sensitivity in a controlled environment that you&#8217;re comfortable with.    <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Of course, automated dynamic pricing is most effective when you avoid setting parameters and allow the algorithms to learn from your audience (both historical and active behaviour) to make optimal pricing decisions. An automated dynamic pricing tool can also help initiate small-scale experiments to test the market reaction and learn more from your audience and respond to their behavior. However, if you did see pricing recommendations beyond your comfort zone, you can intervene at any moment and bring those prices more in line with where you&#8217;d expect them to be. This flexibility allows you to experiment with an automated dynamic pricing product with little risk to your audience and reputation.   <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Remind team members that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spektrix.com\/en-gb\/dynamic-pricing-solutions?hsLang=en-gb\">dynamic pricing tools<\/a> aren&#8217;t relying on feelings or assumptions. These tools use your data to inform their recommendations (whether increases or decreases) but they&#8217;re just that \u2013 recommendations. Encourage your team to trust in the tools they&#8217;re using and have confidence that they remain in control of their pricing.  <\/p>\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Learning more from your audience<\/h3>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If we&#8217;ve learned anything from recent years of lockdowns, record levels of inflation, persistent strikes, and the cost-of-living crisis it&#8217;s that we need to be agile in response to audiences&#8217; changing needs. Predictability has waned and yesterday&#8217;s data can&#8217;t be relied on exclusively to predict tomorrow&#8217;s world. Your audience isn&#8217;t static, it&#8217;s dynamic, and responsive pricing offers greater opportunity to accurately price for where your audience is now and tomorrow.  <\/p>\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Your audience isn&#8217;t static, it&#8217;s dynamic<\/h3>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Instead of fixating on historic pricing structures, encourage your team to use data to make more informed decisions and learn more about your audience. Ask them about their assumptions of your audience and share some provocations that dynamic pricing data can unlock. Some common considerations that come from dynamic pricing strategies are:  <\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Track how your audience&#8217;s booking behavior is changing over time<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>When are they booking in the sales cycle? Can we encourage them to book earlier? <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Which seats are most and least popular? Why? Can we fill the house more strategically?  <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What value is being perceived at each price point? How can we enhance that experience or do we change the price point? <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Consider how pricing works alongside all other aspects of your business, particularly in regard to loyalty<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Think about how your audience perceives value for the cost of their ticket. Value goes beyond the event so think about how you can extend value through the booking journey or through other live experience markers. <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Think about how the value perception might change depending on a customer&#8217;s engagement with you. For example, are they a member or subscriber? What factors will enhance their experience and keep them invested in your organization?  <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Over time these data points will allow your team to be far more responsive to changing sales cycles, spot variations early, and get you closer to the optimal price every time.<\/p>\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">If in doubt, start small<\/h3>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Finally, if your team is still asking &#8220;Why use dynamic pricing?&#8221;, remind them that they can start small. Dynamic ticket pricing doesn&#8217;t have to be applied to your entire program from day one. You can phase in the strategy and test its results.  <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>You can start today<\/strong> \u2013 explore the data available in your ticketing system with your teams to make informed decisions and shape experiments with your audience. Start with a single event and build from there. <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>You can start tomorrow<\/strong> \u2013 bring team members and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spektrix.com\/en-us\/partners?hsLang=en-gb\">partners<\/a> together to talk about a phased approach to dynamic pricing. Consider a genre, season, or event to trial a dynamic ticket pricing partner product and automate the process for your team as much as possible. <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Even working at a small scale, your team should quickly spot the learnings and opportunities that make a huge difference to the understanding of your audience and effectiveness of your pricing. Slight adaptations in your pricing can generate more revenue for you and also create greater opportunities for your audience. With some encouragement, your team will be on board and confident to apply dynamic pricing in no time.  <\/p>\n\n<aside class=\"spektrix-blog-cta-banner spektrix-blog-cta-banner--primary-solid spektrix-blog-cta-banner--image-fit-cover wp-block-spektrix-blog-cta-banner\" aria-labelledby=\"spektrix-blog-cta-banner-heading-2\">\n\t<div class=\"spektrix-blog-cta-banner__card\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"spektrix-blog-cta-banner__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"833\" height=\"833\" src=\"https:\/\/www.spektrix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/marketing-audience-insight-reporting.jpg\" class=\"spektrix-blog-cta-banner__image\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 782px) 342px, 100vw\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.spektrix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/marketing-audience-insight-reporting.jpg 833w, https:\/\/www.spektrix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/marketing-audience-insight-reporting-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.spektrix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/marketing-audience-insight-reporting-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.spektrix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/marketing-audience-insight-reporting-768x768.jpg 768w\" title=\"\">\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"spektrix-blog-cta-banner__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div\n\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"text-body-lg-bold spektrix-blog-cta-banner__heading\"\n\t\t\t\t\tid=\"spektrix-blog-cta-banner-heading-2\"\n\t\t\t\t\tdata-acf-inline-contenteditable=\"1\" data-acf-inline-contenteditable-field-slug=\"heading\" data-acf-placeholder=\"Add heading\u2026\" data-acf-toolbar-title=\"Heading\" \t\t\t\t>Understand audience behaviours across every touchpoint, and analyse the performance of every campaign<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"spektrix-blog-cta-banner__link-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.spektrix.com\/en-us\/goal-understand-impact\/\" class=\"spektrix-dot-link spektrix-dot-link--white spektrix-dot-link--has-arrow spektrix-blog-cta-banner__link\" target=\"_self\"><span class=\"spektrix-dot-link__dot\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 16 16\" aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\"><path d=\"M5.5 3.25 10.25 8l-4.75 4.75\" fill=\"none\" stroke=\"currentColor\" stroke-width=\"2.5\" stroke-linecap=\"round\" stroke-linejoin=\"round\"\/><\/svg><\/span><span class=\"spektrix-dot-link__label\">Understand impact<\/span><\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Become fully prepared to talk about the advantages of dynamic pricing in the arts to your leadership and your team for buy-in throughout your organization.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":943409,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[159,157],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-943410","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ticketing-sales","category-people-culture"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spektrix.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/943410","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spektrix.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spektrix.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spektrix.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spektrix.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=943410"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.spektrix.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/943410\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":943412,"href":"https:\/\/www.spektrix.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/943410\/revisions\/943412"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spektrix.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/943409"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spektrix.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=943410"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spektrix.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=943410"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spektrix.com\/en-us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=943410"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}