How Lakedance uses data and personalized communication to build a strong community
In an increasingly competitive festival landscape, growth alone is not enough. For Lakedance, success is about building a lasting relationship with its audience - before, during, and after the festival. By bringing data, marketing, and ticketing together in one platform, Lakedance can work more strategically, communicate personally, and maintain greater control over the entire visitor journey.
The result: a record-breaking year, with increased engagement and a strong foundation for the future.
Lakedance is a popular dance festival that brings together thousands of visitors each year and is strongly rooted in its local audience. With multiple editions annually and a clear focus on community, the festival stands for more than just a day of music. It aims to be a brand that visitors feel connected to over the long term.
To support this ambition, Lakedance looked for a way to use data more intelligently and make communication more personal, without adding extra complexity to the organization.
Lakedance moved away from separate, one-off campaigns and deliberately chose a structural, data-driven approach to communication. Instead of sending more messages, the focus shifted to communicating in a more targeted and personal way, with the visitor at the center.
The foundation for this approach was built by bringing all visitor data together in the Customer Data Platform (CDP) from CM.com. By centralizing ticket data, campaign interactions, and feedback, Lakedance created one complete view of its audience. This not only provided deeper insight into visitor behavior and preferences, but also enabled the team to tailor communication to different stages of the visitor journey — from first introduction to loyal fan.
“For us, growth isn’t just about selling more tickets - it’s about building stronger connections. When we truly get to know our visitors before, during, and after the festival, we create a community that keeps coming back because they feel engaged throughout the entire year, not just during the event.” - Yosh Hoezen, Marketing Manager, Lakedance
Together with CM.com, Lakedance worked with smart audience segments, including a clear distinction between new visitors and returning fans, as well as a targeted focus on younger audiences. The goal: not only to stay relevant today, but also to build an audience for future editions.
This approach to event marketing made it possible to communicate more effectively while laying the foundation for long-term engagement. Not by sending more messages, but by better aligning with what visitors expect and value.
The relationship with visitors doesn’t end after the festival. Lakedance actively collects feedback through surveys and uses these insights to continuously improve the festival experience and further optimize future editions.
In addition, Lakedance introduced the Lakedance Friend program: a loyalty program for visitors who want to connect more closely with the festival. Friends receive access to exclusive benefits and form the core of a growing community around the brand.
Community building plays an important role in Lakedance’s long-term strategy. It drives stronger engagement, increases ticket certainty, and reduces reliance on paid marketing. At the same time, it helps Lakedance stay relevant to its audience throughout the year - an essential step in building a sustainable festival brand.
Within the Lakedance Friend program, members receive benefits such as:
Access to discounted tickets through an exclusive pre-sale
Surprises and extras throughout the year
Participation in a monthly lottery for ticket holders
“Loyalty programs are nothing new in the commercial world. But with Lakedance Friend, we wanted to explore whether we could bring a similar concept to the festival industry. Through this, we hope not only to create a stronger connection and engagement, but ultimately also greater certainty around ticket sales.” - Yosh Hoezen, Marketing Manager, Lakedance
When signing up for Lakedance Friend, visitors can indicate their preferred communication channel, such as WhatsApp, email, or SMS. This ensures that Friends receive updates through the channel that suits them best. These preferences are stored in the CDP and combined with data such as purchase history and previous campaign interactions.
This allows Lakedance to easily create segments and tailor communication to individual needs, resulting in relevant and personalized interactions that resonate with the community.
Ticket sales for Lakedance have been managed through CM.com for several years. To maintain full control over ticket data - from the initial purchase to the ticket scan at the entrance - Lakedance implemented the CM.com Resale Platform during the August 2025 edition. This allowed ticket resale to be fully managed within its own infrastructure.
Lakedance retains complete control over the pricing of resale tickets, ensuring that resale remains fair and affordable for fans. In addition, Lakedance receives the service and sales fees on resold tickets itself, rather than these going to external parties. This way, not only the relationship with the visitor, but also the commercial value remains fully in their own hands.
For visitors, this creates a safe, transparent, and reliable resale experience. For Lakedance, it ensures that the entire ticket chain, from the initial sale to resale and entry, remains under their control. This means they always have insight into who the current ticket holder is, enabling more targeted communication, better service, and stronger fan relationships.
Following the success of this approach, resale has now become a fixed part of the strategy for future editions.
The integrated approach in 2025 led to clear progress in how Lakedance engages with its audience. By bringing data, communication, and loyalty together within one platform, the team gained greater visibility and built a stronger foundation for growth.
The number of profiles in the CDP grew by 28.3%, providing richer insights into visitor behavior and preferences.
Relevant communication led to high engagement, with open rates in specific campaigns reaching over 70%.
The Lakedance Friend program strengthened loyalty and community building.
Resale within Lakedance’s own infrastructure provided greater control over ticket flows and fan relationships.
These results show that the focus was not only on short-term conversion, but above all on building a solid foundation for sustainable growth.
“The biggest gain for us is that we no longer have to push messages out from our own perspective, but can better align with the wishes and needs of our audience. Less noise, more relevance. That feels better for visitors and works better for us. When open rates in some campaigns exceed 70 percent, you know your message is truly landing.
We want to remain meaningful to our audience throughout the entire year, not by shouting louder, but by listening more carefully and communicating more personally.” - Yosh Hoezen, Marketing Manager, Lakedance
With the insights gained from the CDP, a growing community, and positive experiences with resale, Lakedance looks ahead with confidence. The festival continues to invest in data, feedback, and loyalty to remain relevant for new generations of visitors in the future.
While factors such as the line-up and weather conditions will always have an impact, Lakedance shows that strong control over data and communication provides a stable foundation for growth in a dynamic market. By bringing everything together in one platform and leveraging CM.com as a partner, Lakedance is not only building successful editions, but a sustainable brand with an engaged community — edition after edition.
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