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Wondering how to increase event ticket sales? Don't worry. We've all been there. No event is complete without an amazing audience to attend it.
A successful event for any organizer also means one that gets SOLD OUT.
To make this happen for you, here are some proven tactics that will help you register grand success. Let's get started.
A. Set Ticket Price Right
Price is everything. So, before doing anything else, set a realistic price for your event tickets for better ticket sales.
If you keep the price high, it will result in lower ticket sales and, hence, a low headcount.
If you keep the price low, then you might not be able to cover your event costs.
So, calculate your breakeven point, add some profit margin to it, and then decide the price.
Always keep ticketing costs taking your all expenses and profit into consideration.
To keep things easy, always have an overview of your expenses and a rough idea of guests.
It is crucial to keep in mind your competitive position.
For example, does your event have some exclusive out of the box factors to differentiate it from others? Say, a celebrity performer or best venue in town?
Such factors may help you accordingly increase your price points.
B. Switch to a Tiered Pricing
After determining the standard price, you should consider tiered pricing.
Provide a range of different ticket prices depending on what people are willing to pay. Such as:
- An expensive VIP ticket for those who don't want to wait in queue
- A cheap ticket with no perks for those who want an economical option.
- A bonus ticket with drinks or food included in it.
This will ensure that most people can afford to attend your event.
You can get extra revenue from those guests who are willing to pay extra via VIP ticket.
C. Discount Smartly To Boost Sales
You can offer multiple types of discounts to audiences interested in your event. Here are some ideas to consider:
- Time-based discounts to reward different actions
- Special discount coupons to your event members for their group who are likely to be interested in your event
- Venue-based discounts to people who live far away from the event venue
- Combos of drink vouchers with entry tickets to motivate purchases
D. Create a Stand-out Event Page
With your pricing tactic in place, turn the attention of the crowd toward your event page.
It's the first touchpoint where people learn about your event and decide if they'd like to attend it.
Your Event page should be:
- Informative and attention-catching
- Answer all the key questions about the event: where, when, what, who, why, etc.
Generally, your event page should include:
- Outline the basic details of the event
- Use an eye-catchy header image and other media such as video clips, photos, etc.
- Suggest a way for people to connect with you
- Have a clear call to action (e.g., "Purchase Tickets")
Using tools such as Ticket Generator, you can create an event page. It'll help you get registrations and payments as well. And to make things even better, it'll allow you to automatically create and send tickets against each registration.
E. Promote via Website
Though there are many marketing channels, having a website often does wonders.
Let people buy your event tickets directly through your website.
You can advertise the upcoming event(s) directly on the website homepage. It'll ensure that people who visit your website, also get to know what's coming next.
F. Tap into a Brand-New Audience
Your event should be an alternative way to address a requirement the audience already has.
Promote it to them and consider closing the deal by giving that forum an exclusive offer or special discount.
Note: There should be a good deal of overlap between the audience's interests and your event. This will help them connect to the event (and even persuade them to attend it).
G. Find Partners and Sponsors
Your event is not on an island. Hence, no need to be a one-man army to increase your event ticket sales.
Search for relevant sponsors to not only take care of some of your expenses but also promote your event.
In fact, they should be interested in helping you sell more event tickets.
After all, if your event is a success, they get better visibility.
Moreover, think about partnering with relevant vendors too.
For example, If you are organizing a musical concert near a bar, you'll attract a thirsty crowd in the bar's vicinity.
Check, if the bar is ready to offer a special discount for your guests. If things work out well, spread the word about it.
You can find a lot of win-win opportunities if you look for them.
H. Involve Your Attendees
Word-of-mouth has the biggest impact on people's decisions.
Existing attendees could be your biggest marketers to help increase ticket sales for your event.
They just need a push and the right bonus.
Some tried-and-true ways to motivate attendees to spread the word include:
- Group Offers: This involves giving a group offer if an attendee brings more people to join
- Gamification: It's a reward system where attendees collect points for sharing the event and getting friends to sign up. These points can be redeemed for exclusive merchandise, skip-the-line access, free drinks, and so on
- Competitions: Get attendees to compete for prizes on who can convince more friends to sign up
- You may also give your audience a special code to help their friends get discount
These are a subtle, non-pushy ways to encourage word of mouth.
All of these are even better if you have already hosted successful events in the past. Why? Because then you can give your previous attendees with exclusive rewards to spread the word about the event.
I. Ask Speakers and Performers To Increase Sales
Do you have people performing and speaking at your event? They'd sure want you to sell more event tickets to get a larger audience.
Such speakers and performers often have a well-known and honest following.
Most of their fans are automatically potential attendees. So get the performers to promote your event too.
You may also reserve some share of tickets exclusively for the fans of your performers.
J. Social Media Marketing
If you're organizing an event for the first time, pick your social media channels with the biggest following.
The most famous social media channels for this industry include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
See which ones have the maximum potential for your event and increase your efforts there.
Make it really simple for speakers and performers to share your event with their fans. Their audience will then have a direct and fast way to book a ticket for your event.
K. Embrace Retargeting
It's not really pleasing when someone looks at your event page but leaves without buying a ticket.
Enter retargeting.
It involves sending follow-up messages or discounts to people who have shown interest in the past.
The best part about retargeting is that it works.
Services such as Google enable even offer retargeting campaigns. With them, you can show targeted ads on Google's network.
The retargeting ads develop a sense of exclusivity and urgency among the audience.
Retargeting then comes in handy to tip them over the edge.
L. Create a Video Teaser
Another effective marketing tactic to increase your event ticket sales is to create a video teaser.
The video should be brief and cover the essentials.
Objectives of this teaser would be two-fold:
First, it should communicate all the necessary details as briefly as possible
Second, it must create a personal connection by giving people a sneak peek into behind the scenes
Getting a video editor on board to get the video done would be great. But if that's not possible, you may use software such as:
M. Do a Last-Minute Sales Push
When your event day is near, you may well decide to do a final ticket sales push. Especially if you still have a good number of unsold tickets.
Here, it is all about pulling up your marketing efforts to increase the exclusivity factor. For example,
Organize a "last chance" competition or ticket giveaway
Combine your tickets with merchandise and food or drink vouchers
Pull up the frequency of posts and marketing activities on your selected channels.
N. Set up a Box Office To Increase Sales
Most of your ticket sales will happen online before your event starts.
Still, you must also have the plan to motivate people to walk up and buy tickets on the event day.
Set up a box office or convert your phone into a ticket sales and scanner here. Tools such as Ticket Generator can help you with this.
That's it. These are 14 ways you can increase your event ticket sales. Let us know if we missed out on anything in the comments.
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