Provided By:

Jerry Bianco Social Media Marketing Consultant

jerry@energizeyourmarketing.com

7 WAYS TO INCREASE TICKET SALES & SELL OUT YOUR EVENT

If you sell tickets to events, increasing ticket sales is probably front and center on your list of goals for the year to come. To get serious about making your goal a reality, read on for 7 proven tactics to easily double your ticket sales in the next year.

1. Double Your Target and Break It Down

To double your revenue, start by setting your overall target in real numbers. Next, you can work back to create a series of smaller, incremental targets.

For example: if your event currently brings in $12K and you’d like to make $24K in the next year, that’s a monthly goal of $2K. And if you host an event every week, you could set a target for $500 per event. This kind of granular roadmap to success has proven effective in focusing your mind.

2. Double Down on Your Most Successful Channel

Check out your Eventbrite dashboard, and/or any other tracking software you use. How many tickets have you sold through each of your campaigns? We’ve found that email, social media, and partnerships tend to be the most effective promotions for event organizers.

When it comes to social media, Facebook reigns supreme. 81% of event planners report that Facebook is their most-used social media promotion platform, followed by Twitter (76%), LinkedIn (61%) and Instagram (28%).

7 WAYS TO INCREASE TICKET SALES & SELL OUT YOUR EVENT

Don't hesitate to hire a professional Social Media Marketer who can fill up your event rapidly with paid Facebooks Ads. This will be the fastest and most efficient way to fill up your event in the shortest amount of time. Keep in mind, the Facebook Ads need to be set up and launched correctly, so your investment in a professional Social Media Marketer will be well worth it.

3. Appeal to a New Audience

A classic way to double ticket sales is to find a way of appealing to a new — but related — audience.

It’s easy to do this without alienating your core audience. Many beer festivals, for example, have successfully incorporated bars with cider and wine. If your cooking class typically attracts bachelorette parties, try marketing it as a “date night.” If your conference is typically limited to members of an organization, considering allowing non-members to attend.

4. Add a New Marketing Channel

Our research shows that the average event uses 3-4 marketing channels for promotion, but that leaves dozens of options untouched. Choose a few new marketing channels and see how they perform. Then, choose the platform with the best ROI and put more money and effort behind it.

Not sure where to start? Search engine optimization (SEO), paid social media ads, and often under-utilized platforms like Instagram and Snapchat are all worth experimenting with.

7 WAYS TO INCREASE TICKET SALES & SELL OUT YOUR EVENT

5. Involve Partners and Sponsors

Find partners who are willing to promote your event with you. Whether your sponsors are motivated by exposure to your audience, or independent partners who you can offer free tickets, this is a great way to expand your network. Find more ways to engage your events’ sponsors in this free guide.

6. Ask for — and Incentivize — Referrals

Focus on mobilizing your existing fan base. After all, each attendee’s post about your event drives serious revenue.

For fans who need an extra push to share, you can offer incentives. For example, anyone who refers five friends could receive a free VIP upgrade or drink vouchers.

It may take some work to figure out what reward makes sense for your price point and audience, but the payoff can be immense.

This strategy has been Uber’s key to growth:

By offering a free ride to anyone who refers a friend, they used the network effect to gain popularity across the country.

Think about it:

If each attendee brought just one more person to your event, you would very quickly double and even triple your ticket sales.

7 WAYS TO INCREASE TICKET SALES & SELL OUT YOUR EVENT

7. Paid Traffic with Social Media

Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter all allow you to deliver instant traffic to your target audience via Paid Ads. If the ad campaigns are set up correctly, you will be able to promote your event to your audience and generate a positive ROI.

You can also get Organic reach as well with paid ads, by running contests and encouraging sharing your event with friends.

Start Increasing Your Ticket Sales Today

Not every tactic is right for every event, and it would be a serious time management feat to try them all at once. But if you try even just a few of these methods for increasing ticket sales, and test what works, you’ll be on track to double your event revenues in the near future.

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