Generating Interest

[EpsTheMightyReds]

It’s been said many a time before but why don’t the club do more. I’ve seen nothing on social media letting people know that the south stand is almost sold out. Nothing about how many tickets Walsall have sold. Nothing about it being a massively important night match with its own unique atmosphere
Or is it just me that these things are important to

[pib]

Agreed.

Walsall tweeted out yesterday they'd sold 620, with tickets available on the day.

We should be trying to drum up as much interest as possible for the remaining games.

[IDM]

Unless we are selling tickets at special prices, or need to do prioritised staged sales, I don’t think the match needs further promotion.

Anyone with a passing interest in going can find all they need to know in a couple of minutes online, or old school look at the fixtures listed in the newspaper..

[EpsTheMightyReds]

Unless we are selling tickets at special prices, or need to do prioritised staged sales, I don’t think the match needs further promotion.

Anyone with a passing interest in going can find all they need to know in a couple of minutes online, or old school look at the fixtures listed in the newspaper..

Exactly my point. Those with a passing interest may go out of their way and in a couple of minutes realise there’s a game on tonight. Times have changed, there’s a lot of competition for our money and time nowadays.
We run a small business which, during the pandemic, had to change our approach. We started selling out and I plastered this all over Facebook. Guess what happened- people started talking about it, people started booking slots days, sometimes weeks in advance. Competition started noticing and copying. Many of our new customers during the pandemic are still customers now . It really isn’t rocket science and doesn’t take much time and effort

[DonnyBazR0ver]

It’s been said many a time before but why don’t the club do more. I’ve seen nothing on social media letting people know that the south stand is almost sold out. Nothing about how many tickets Walsall have sold. Nothing about it being a massively important night match with its own unique atmosphere
Or is it just me that these things are important to

I think it's quite likely a big enough proportion of the fan base, inc 133k FB followers, 130k X followers plus those of us who've attended already this season, Inc Cup games, know we are at the business end of the season.

For example, a couple of years back, I was told our database held approx 20,000 names of home fans with a purchase history, probably inc the Wembley trip and other big games since then. Now, it may be the database has been cleaned up since then but it shows there are alot more fans who've attended than what we might think.

We know we are capable of near sell outs at the Eco from recent matches with what the club do do with the thousands of emails and notifications that go out.

They will come.

[selby]

 To be honest I think this forum and other outlets does as much as the official outlet getting information out there to the fans, and promotes discussion, a lot of which the local press feed off with lazy journalism.

[pib]

Unless we are selling tickets at special prices, or need to do prioritised staged sales, I don’t think the match needs further promotion.

Anyone with a passing interest in going can find all they need to know in a couple of minutes online, or old school look at the fixtures listed in the newspaper..

Exactly my point. Those with a passing interest may go out of their way and in a couple of minutes realise there’s a game on tonight. Times have changed, there’s a lot of competition for our money and time nowadays.
We run a small business which, during the pandemic, had to change our approach. We started selling out and I plastered this all over Facebook. Guess what happened- people started talking about it, people started booking slots days, sometimes weeks in advance. Competition started noticing and copying. Many of our new customers during the pandemic are still customers now . It really isn’t rocket science and doesn’t take much time and effort

Bang on. In my experience in the commercial world, you can have as good an offering as you like, but if you don't communicate it, build up interest, create a sense of scarcity, create a fear of missing out, create a sense that there is a community here that you want to be a part of - you will restrict your sales to just your most dedicated customers and not much beyond that.

[GazLaz]

Maybe they have seen that it makes no difference to sales putting posts out on social media.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

To be honest I think this forum and other outlets does as much as the official outlet getting information out there to the fans, and promotes discussion, a lot of which the local press feed off with lazy journalism.

It's without doubt, the single most effective marketing tool we have is us. The fans, who speak to friends, family, acquaintances etc regularly about our fortunes .This forum and other social media are only the tip of the iceberg.

[Nudga]

Maybe they have seen that it makes no difference to sales putting posts out on social media.

I can't say I've seen them do it Gaz.

I agree with the OP and I've said before, tap into the FOMO (Fear of missing out) syndrome. 

Last tickets left, SOUTH STAND SOLD OUT etc etc etc.
That generates the interest with the fair weather supporters who like going when the ground is near full but aren't that keen when it's around 7k.

[nightporter]

To be fair, the people at Rovers incharge of social media have just mastered Myspace.

[EasyforDennis]

Agreed.

Walsall tweeted out yesterday they'd sold 620, with tickets available on the day.

We should be trying to drum up as much interest as possible for the remaining games.

If that is a true figure it is pretty pathetic.

[Donnywolf]

Shhhh .... Walsalls have ears

[Jimmydee]

My brother in law came to Saturday’s game to join me in the south stand but they gave him a ticket in the west stand because they claimed that the south stand was full.
There was visibly plenty of unoccupied seats in the south stand.
He had previously purchased a 10 ticket package for the south stand, so he was a bit miffed.

[Nudga]

My brother in law came to Saturday’s game to join me in the south stand but they gave him a ticket in the west stand because they claimed that the south stand was full.
There was visibly plenty of unoccupied seats in the south stand.
He had previously purchased a 10 ticket package for the south stand, so he was a bit miffed.

To be fair Jimmy, it's been covered countless times that because the south stand is unreserved,  they can only sell so many tickets.
I'm.guessing here but I think it's been mentioned that being unreserved has cut capacity in the south stand by 400 -500.

[colincramb]

Never understood exactly why the capacity has to be cut so drastically because it’s unreserved? There might be a very legitimate reason why, but surely it doesn’t need to be 500 or so seats?

[sf9944]

If that decision has been taken it needs to be reviewed urgently.

The number of empty seats in the ‘sold out’ south stand is too many to be explained by a few season ticket holders not turning up. So I can only conclude that this buffer because of unrestricted seating has been wrongly applied.

There is an example of one dissatisfied customer resulting from this on this thread. How many more are there?

[EpsTheMightyReds]

If that decision has been taken it needs to be reviewed urgently.

The number of empty seats in the ‘sold out’ south stand is too many to be explained by a few season ticket holders not turning up. So I can only conclude that this buffer because of unrestricted seating has been wrongly applied.

There is an example of one dissatisfied customer resulting from this on this thread. How many more are there?

Happened to us at the Carlisle game. Ended up sitting in the East Stand. Wouldn’t say it was a problem though, quite enjoyed a bit of sun on our face for 10 mins and interesting to have a different view for a change. Won’t make the same mistake again though, south stand tickets bought for tonight’s game

[graingrover]

It’s best to look around you before saying the information is not available .If you  visit DROS which is the Doncaster Rovers Official Site then you can see online live how many tickets have been sold minute by minute , stand by stand .

[GazLaz]

If that decision has been taken it needs to be reviewed urgently.

The number of empty seats in the ‘sold out’ south stand is too many to be explained by a few season ticket holders not turning up. So I can only conclude that this buffer because of unrestricted seating has been wrongly applied.

There is an example of one dissatisfied customer resulting from this on this thread. How many more are there?

Had the opinion for a couple of years that we should revert back to reserved seating. The singers will get in the area they want to be.

[dknward2]

It’s best to look around you before saying the information is not available .If you  visit DROS which is the Doncaster Rovers Official Site then you can see online live how many tickets have been sold minute by minute , stand by stand .

Think the issue is that we as a club don't shout about a game on all socials. Just a standard oh we have a game tonight, we could do an easy only x number of tickets left in the south stand don't miss out, then when the next target i.e only 100 left for the south get tickets get behind grant and the boys

[DonnyBazR0ver]

If that decision has been taken it needs to be reviewed urgently.

The number of empty seats in the ‘sold out’ south stand is too many to be explained by a few season ticket holders not turning up. So I can only conclude that this buffer because of unrestricted seating has been wrongly applied.

There is an example of one dissatisfied customer resulting from this on this thread. How many more are there?

Had the opinion for a couple of years that we should revert back to reserved seating. The singers will get in the area they want to be.

If you go back to reserved seating you'll deny the expansion and contraction of the 'singing section'/those who prefer to stand with varying attendances In addition, you'll make it more difficult for groups of friends or family to sit together. These are the bigger benefits. Earmarking a central section for singers/standers won't work either for the same reasons.

Another factor to consider when it looks like there's more empty seats, is the singers group more densely around the drummer in that central area bit if we went back to insisting everyone was seated, you wouldn't see so many empty seats.

[Chris Black come back]

South Stand confirmed sold out tonight.

[Nudga]

I would like to see safe standing in south stand.

[Silkscarf]

South Stand confirmed sold out tonight.

Plenty for sale now (16:47) in South Stand. It did look sold out when I checked 10 minutes ago.

Puzzling.

[drfchound]

If that decision has been taken it needs to be reviewed urgently.

The number of empty seats in the ‘sold out’ south stand is too many to be explained by a few season ticket holders not turning up. So I can only conclude that this buffer because of unrestricted seating has been wrongly applied.

There is an example of one dissatisfied customer resulting from this on this thread. How many more are there?

Had the opinion for a couple of years that we should revert back to reserved seating. The singers will get in the area they want to be.

If you go back to reserved seating you'll deny the expansion and contraction of the 'singing section'/those who prefer to stand with varying attendances In addition, you'll make it more difficult for groups of friends or family to sit together. These are the bigger benefits. Earmarking a central section for singers/standers won't work either for the same reasons.

Another factor to consider when it looks like there's more empty seats, is the singers group more densely around the drummer in that central area bit if we went back to insisting everyone was seated, you wouldn't see so many empty seats.

Another possible reason for empty seats could be the numbers of people who stand in the aisles either side of the singing section/ central area.

[Silkscarf]

South Stand confirmed sold out tonight.

Plenty for sale now (16:47) in South Stand. It did look sold out when I checked 10 minutes ago.

Puzzling.

17:05 SS sold out it seems. But is it? I can’t be sure.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

If that decision has been taken it needs to be reviewed urgently.

The number of empty seats in the ‘sold out’ south stand is too many to be explained by a few season ticket holders not turning up. So I can only conclude that this buffer because of unrestricted seating has been wrongly applied.

There is an example of one dissatisfied customer resulting from this on this thread. How many more are there?

Had the opinion for a couple of years that we should revert back to reserved seating. The singers will get in the area they want to be.

If you go back to reserved seating you'll deny the expansion and contraction of the 'singing section'/those who prefer to stand with varying attendances In addition, you'll make it more difficult for groups of friends or family to sit together. These are the bigger benefits. Earmarking a central section for singers/standers won't work either for the same reasons.

Another factor to consider when it looks like there's more empty seats, is the singers group more densely around the drummer in that central area bit if we went back to insisting everyone was seated, you wouldn't see so many empty seats.

Another possible reason for empty seats could be the numbers of people who stand in the aisles either side of the singing section/ central area.

That's right. We rely on good natured stewarding and hope the vast majority of fans behave...which they do for the most part. We want to see fans enjoying the vibrancy of the 'Black Bank' so we should think long and hard before potentially sanitising it by going back to reserved seating.

[Silkscarf]

It would be nice if it was a big terrace like the home end at Exeter. Impossible these days alas.

If we ever need to expand the ground the best value option would be with rail seats for safe standing on a taller South Stand going as high as we can afford. A Donny Dortmund.

[silent majority]

Never understood exactly why the capacity has to be cut so drastically because it’s unreserved? There might be a very legitimate reason why, but surely it doesn’t need to be 500 or so seats?

It's not as simple as it looks. The club have to operate within the terms of the safety certificate which is issued by the local authority through the local SAG, Safety Advisory Group.

Its their decision to cut capacity, and when we first asked about unreserved seating and turning a blind eye to the all seater requirements, which still exist, then that is the price you have to pay.

If we want to go back to a full attendance in the SS then reserved seating, and that being enforced, is the only way.