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Record crowd for Sommarteatern in Ystad with Nortic as marketing partner
With targeted advertising on Google, Facebook and Instagram and a data-driven approach, Sommarteatern in Ystad broke its previous audience record. The summer of 2026 sold the most ever.
Sommarteatern in Ystad is a non-profit theatre association that has been creating theatre experiences for the whole family for 25 years. Every summer, the association stages a larger outdoor production on its own stage, Scen Öja, just outside Ystad. During the anniversary year 2026, Oliver Twist was on the programme and the ambition was clear: to reach an even larger audience.
After several years of positive audience growth, Sommarteatern wanted to take the next step. With good local knowledge and established marketing efforts behind them, they chose to complement their own initiatives with Nortic’s marketing services.
Vi kan vår verksamhet, vår publik och vårt lokala område väldigt bra, men vi såg en stor fördel i att kombinera det med Nortics kunskap om biljettförsäljning och digital marknadsföring. Framför allt tyckte vi om att satsningen kunde utgå från faktisk försäljningsdata och inte bara från känslan av att ”nu borde vi annonsera lite mer”.
A platform that simplifies the work behind the scenes
With around 75 performances every year, Sommarteatern needs a ticketing platform that makes it easy to both create events and manage sales. In Nortic Event Manager, they gather all their ticket sales, from setting up new performances to monitoring bookings throughout the season.
Vi har testat flera biljettföretag genom åren men det finns inget verktyg som fungerar så smidigt och snabbt som Nortics när det kommer till att skapa evenemang.
With Nortic Insight, Sommarteatern has also gained the opportunity to work in a more data-driven way. By tracking sales statistics, comparing periods and analysing audience purchasing behaviours, they can make more well-founded decisions and adapt their marketing efforts according to how sales actually develop.
For Sommarteatern, it is not only about seeing how many tickets have been sold, but also about understanding what drives sales and how they themselves can influence the result.
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Previous ticket purchases opened up new opportunities
Through a combination of advertising on Google, Facebook and Instagram, Nortic’s marketing department worked to reach both existing and new target groups. At the same time, Sommarteatern could follow the development of sales through Nortic Insight and use the insights to make decisions during the campaign period.
One of the clearest effects was that ticket sales picked up earlier than usual. For an open-air theatre, where sales are often affected by both the weather and late purchase decisions, this made a big difference. Being able to see bookings increase early on provided both reassurance and the opportunity to work more strategically during the rest of the sales period.
When certain performances started to fill up, Sommarteatern could also use that in their communication and direct demand towards other dates. Instead of having to drive a large portion of sales at the end of the season, the association gained better forward planning.
A record-breaking summer that exceeded the goals
Ahead of the summer, Sommarteatern set a goal of 5,500 visitors, after having welcomed around 5,300 the year before. When the season was summed up, the goal had been exceeded by a good margin.
The result was 5,709 visitors spread over 25 performances, 12 of which were completely sold out. This meant the association’s best audience result ever.
But the success was not only about more visitors. Through Nortic Event Manager and Insight, the association also gained better opportunities to monitor bookings, understand audience purchasing behaviours and see how marketing affected sales.
Higher ambitions for next season
After the record year, Sommarteatern is already looking ahead to 2027, with higher audience targets. The experiences from this year’s initiative have given the association a greater understanding of how they can work with their ticket sales over time.
Det bästa är att det inte känns som att vi bara har ett biljettsystem eller köpt marknadsföring, utan att vi har någon att bolla biljettförsäljningen med och som faktiskt vill att våra evenemang ska lyckas.
For Sommarteatern, the collaboration with Nortic has thus become more than a marketing initiative; it has become a partnership with a shared focus on developing the organisation and reaching more visitors.
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