High, medium, or low demand; each scenario requires a different approach. Too often, pricing is treated as “set it and forget it.” But demand is dynamic, and your pricing should be too. Done well, pricing can maximize per-seat revenue, deepen audience trust, and strengthen loyalty; whatever the level of demand.
So how do you put this into practice? Let’s break it down.
Demand is the level of audience interest in a specific performance, series or event; and the opportunity to shape that interest.
You can see demand in the data: how quickly tickets sell, which seats go first, and how much audiences are willing to pay. But demand isn’t fixed. With the right strategy, you can influence when people buy, how much they spend, and how full the room feels when they’re in their seats.
Demand sits at the heart of your organization’s success. High demand can increase ticket yield (your average ticket price) and help you maximize limited seating capacity. Managing demand effectively allows you to:
When mission and revenue work together, every ticket sale fuels both your artistic vision and your community goals.
High Demand:
When a show is selling strongly, leaders and their teams often relax: “That one will sell itself.” But high demand is exactly when you risk leaving money on the table. Optimizing pricing, per-seat yield and communication are essential.
The goal isn’t just a sellout; it’s maximizing the revenue in the process. Those vital dollars/pounds/euros are exactly what fund access initiatives, subsidize risk-taking in future programming, and build the reserves to keep organizations resilient when times are tough.
Explore our latest blog to dig deeper, and for practical next steps on maximizing income and loyalty from your highest-demand performances.
Low Demand:
Low demand doesn’t always mean low value. Often, top-price seats are the ones that sell while lower tiers remain empty. That’s not failure, it’s a clue. And, if low-price bands are still available, the issue usually isn’t affordability, it’s perception of demand or value. In those cases, lowering prices won’t solve the problem.
Leaders should also look to scale inventory to match true demand, optimize around what’s working, and redefine what success looks like. Sometimes filling 800 seats in a 2,200-seat hall is the right outcome, especially if those seats are driven by loyal patrons, and your goals for that performance is more than simply “100% capacity sold.”
Medium Demand:
Most performances live in the middle. Here, nuance matters. Leaders must monitor average ticket price, per-capita revenue, and buying behavior (not just seats sold). Dynamic pricing in both directions (raising in strong pockets, lowering to support access) can keep momentum steady. This is where data, experimentation, and small adjustments compound into stronger results.
Explore 3 Essential Metrics to Take Emotion Out of Your Pricing Decisions to learn how tools like seat absorption, sales velocity, and conversion rates can bring clarity in all scenarios of demand.
Demand management is the art and discipline of shaping audience behavior before and during a sales cycle. At TRG Arts, this means:
Whether demand is high, low, or somewhere in the middle, the decisions you make about pricing shape not only today’s revenue but tomorrow’s resilience. Leaders who embrace demand management don’t just balance the books; they create the conditions for bold programming, broader access, and deeper community impact.
The question isn’t whether demand exists. It’s whether you’ll manage it strategically enough to make it count.
Pricing decisions shouldn’t be driven by fear or guesswork. In our free 30-minute Pricing Surgery, TRG’s experts will help you uncover hidden opportunities, spot gaps that may be costing you income, and identify practical steps to make your pricing work harder for both revenue and relationships.