Every event professional aspires a sold-out event. Nonetheless, it is not always achieved. The content of your event is important - but other factors are important too. Here’s how a sharp ticket strategy can influence your event ticket sales.
1. Smart pricing
Start by developing a good strategy. More and more organisations offer Early bird tickets for a tempting price. Smart: you as an organiser get more insight with the ticket demand - and you give the early adopters the opportunity to secure their tickets. Make sure your Early bird ticket price substantially deviates from the regular price - and make the difference visible to your audience. It is a good idea to reserve some tickets to offer at (higher) last minute prices online, or sell at the door.
2. Scarcity sells!
Offer only a limited amount of Early bird tickets, and show how many of them have already been sold. The feeling of scarcity influences the demand - and in many cases results in faster decision making. You could for instance consider making a GIF image that shows the percentage of tickets left - or communicate the period in which the Early bird tickets are available (maybe even including a countdown clock). Make the message clear: ‘You snooze, you lose!’
3. Variety of choice
By offering a selection of tickets, your event may become appealing to more people. For instance, create a passe partout for multiple day events, or combination tickets for entry + lunch or dinner. Additional benefit of including meals in ticket packages: it enables you to calculate your catering more sharply. VIP tickets are also popular. Allow people to skip the waiting lines, interact with speakers over dinner or participate in exclusive workshops.
Create different types of tickets for various target groups.
4. Stay top-of-mind
Plan your communication strategy upfront, taking into account the frequency and the message of the contact moments. The trick is to keep your audience excited without overwhelming them with information. Announcing new speakers and sending playful reminders are good examples of engaging your invitees. Every (update) mail should revolve around one call-to-action: get your tickets while you still can!
5. Catchy communication
Make sure all communication looks stunning: your invitees should get excited about the event! Obviously, this goes for your mailings - but do not overlook the importance of your website and social media posts. Regular updates will create buzz around your event. Communicate available tickets (Early birds, VIP packages) online, or share a video of a speaker that was added to your event programme. Make it easy for invitees to buy event tickets by adding a link to your ticket page to each post.
Conclusion
Not only the programme of an event counts, but how you communicate the event to your invitees is just as important! Make smart use of the above tips to ensure more ticket sales and higher attendance. Never sell one type of ticket for the same price, but offer a variety of event tickets.
Insight Sessions
Momice regularly organises Insight Sessions. Following successful editions earlier this year on the new privacy legislation GDPR and Event ROI, we are organising the next session on Event Tickets. Stay tuned, soon a new date will follow!
