10 effective ways to increase event registration without spending a dime

Let's be honest; even if it's a free event, you won't get any tickets if you don't promote it. If you want to attract people to your event, you need to know how to market it properly.

Here are the 10 strategies that you can use to increase your event registration:

1. Build an effective event registration form

The first thing that you need to do is to create an event registration form. This is the place where your visitors will become subscribers to your event. 

You can use a simple form builder tool like Ticket Generator to do this. It helps you create a registration form, collect attendee details, and send the tickets under one roof.

The registration form should be attractive and simple to use. It doesn't have to be complex or fancy because people will just leave your site if it's too much for them. Just make sure that everything is clear and easy to read.

2. Conduct pre-event giveaways and contests

To create excitement and drive registrations for your event, conducting pre-event giveaways and contests can be an effective strategy. You conduct contests before your event to encourage people to sign up.

For example, you could give away a free ticket or two as part of a contest or even offer an exclusive discount code for those who register early. You can also run a referral program for this purpose—wherein people who bring in new attendees will receive a special prize. 

This can be a great way to get more people involved in your event and spread the word about it among their personal networks.

To get started, you can create an Instagram post and ask people to tag themselves and their friends. This will ensure that the post gets more engagement, which will help your account grow.

But why Instagram?

Tailwind found that 91% of posts with more than 1,000 comments are Instagram contests. This shows just how powerful Instagram can be when running a contest. 

It's also important to note that you shouldn't just post your contest on Instagram and forget about it—you need to monitor the comments and respond to them for your contest to be successful.

3. Create a limited-time offer

Limited-time offers are designed to create a sense of urgency in the customer's mind.

Let's try out an example, which cookie will you choose?

Here’s what will happen. You will see that jar B has less cookies that means they are selling more. It means cookies in jar B are better than jar A. What’s more, they will be available for a limited time only.

That's the kind of feeling that you want to create.

You can create a sense of urgency in your audience by offering something for a limited time. This is especially effective when promoting an event.

You can limit the number of seats or the ticket price. For example, you can only have 100 tickets available for a certain price or limit the number of seats sold for a special event.

4. Leverage micro-influencers

A micro-influencer has a smaller audience than a macro influencer, but their engagement rate is much higher.

This means they can reach more people with fewer followers and get them excited about your product or service. 

For example, if you're looking for someone to promote a clothing line, it would be better to go with a fashion blogger with 5000 followers instead of an Instagram star with 5 million followers.

In fact, micro-influencers have been shown to generate up to 60% more engagement than macro-influencers.

5. Promote user-generated content

User-generated content is one of the most effective ways to grow your Instagram following. It can be as simple as asking users to tag you in their photos or videos, which will appear on your page.

You can also create a contest where people enter by tagging themselves in a photo or video, in which they can win prizes like free products and tickets to events. 

Offer them mugs and notepads if it is an offline event, or entice them with digital freebies if you are looking for ways to drive online registrations.

Hosting an offline event? Set up photo installations and booths to make the venue picture-worthy. Ask attendees to share their photos using your event hashtag—the media collected this way is a great resource for promoting next year's festivities!

6. Leverage sponsored email campaigns

It's a fact that the majority of email recipients open and read messages from brands they recognize. Consider partnering with other businesses with similar target audiences and goals to get your emails noticed.

This way, you can create an email campaign together. For example, if you are hosting a promotional event for local businesses, ask them to help sponsor the event by sending out an email blast before or during it.

Here's an example of the same, 

You can also leverage an influencer's mailing list to do this. They have better open rates and engagement than paid ads.

7. Create a referral program

A referral program can help you get in front of more customers. It's a great way to turn your current customers into brand advocates and influencers. You can build a strong referral program by creating an incentive for customers who refer new ones.

It can be a discount, free product or service, etc. As a reward, you can also give them a chance to win a prize for referring the most customers.

This works as people are 90% more likely to buy a product when recommended by someone they know. The referral program will not only help you get more customers but also increase the lifetime value of your customers.

8. Use social media marketing

Social media is the best way to reach new audiences and build your brand online. You can use Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram to promote your business and products.

You can go live with influencers and celebrities, share stories with your followers and create engaging content to increase brand awareness. You can also use social media to run contests and giveaways to increase your reach. You can offer exclusive discounts and offers for people who follow you on social media or share your content online.

9. Use the speaker's network

Using the speaker's network is another effective strategy to increase event registration. Leverage the connections and influence of your speakers to promote your event to their networks.

They can mention the event in their newsletters, share it on social media, or even post a guest blog promoting it. When you can tap into their audience and credibility, you can attract more attendees to your event.

10. Use an event registration software

Using event registration software can streamline the registration process and make it easier for potential attendees to sign up for your event. Look for software that allows you to customize your registration form, track registrations, and send automated confirmation emails.

You can start with Ticket Generator to streamline things from registration to validating the tickets using a mobile app. It allows you to create registration forms, design tickets using multiple templates, and deliver them via multiple options.

In addition, it comes with a ticket validator app that helps you scan the tickets and validate them on the go. You can also use it as guest management software to track attendees and manage their profiles with information like name, email address, phone number, etc.

You will also get access to the analytics, where you can see the number of attendees, ticket sales, and other important data. This will help you make informed decisions while planning future events.

Wrapping Up

Now you have a better understanding of how you can increase your event registration. Start with a simple registration form; make sure it's easy to understand and use. Then add social media buttons so people can share their event on their social accounts.

You can also add a countdown timer that lets the attendees know when the event will start and help them plan accordingly. Then integrate it with Ticket Generator to manage things from start to end.

Start sending your first 10 tickets for free now.

‍