Should I Give Away Comp Tickets to My Next Tech Conference?

There are a lot of different things to take into consideration when deciding if and how many comp tickets to give out to your tech

conference. We get this can be a difficult decision, so we’ve decided to help you simplify that process. We’ve put together a list of the pros and

cons of giving out comp tickets.

PRO: Word of Mouth Promotion

Complimentary tickets can be a great way to market your event. While you can use a host of strategies and plenty of money to promote your event, it is hard to recreate the kind of promotion associated with word of mouth.

Studies year-over-year continue to prove the effectiveness of word of mouth marketing, according to Nielsen, “92% of consumers believe recommendations from friends and family over all forms of advertising.” For this reason alone giving comp tickets to get people in to your event can be extremely beneficial.

CONS: Empty Seats

Unfortunately, the risk of having no-shows at your conference is a real one when you decide to give out complimentary tickets. Up to 30% of comp tickets will be no shows, and empty seats are not good for business. To help minimize no-shows, it’s a good idea to keep a list of comp ticket holders so you can send them timely reminders leading up to the event.

There are a lot of great email marketing tools that make it simple to send custom emails to a targeted list. Universe integrates with Mailchimp allowing you to easily manage your communication with attendees directly from your dashboard.

PRO: Hook Potential Speakers or Sponsors

Complimentary tickets might be the key to landing that sponsor you’ve been eyeing or that speaker you know would be a great fit for your conference.

Giving them a complimentary ticket gives them a risk free way to come and see what you tech conference is all about, and just might be the final push they need to sign on.

Not to mention, the quality of your speakers correlates directly to the quality of the event. Securing speakers is an entirely different topic; David Spinks CEO of CMX Summit offers some great lessons here.

CON: Free Tickets Can Devalue Your Conference

When you do decide to give out complimentary tickets, you have to be cautious about the numbers. Giving out too many tickets can lower your bottom line at the end of the day.

If you choose to give out comp tickets, you need to be sure that you aren’t making them too freely available and perhaps hurting your technology conference’s profit.

PRO: Professional Courtesy Improves Your Image

Companies and people who you have worked alongside you to pull off your tech conference can help you in the future. Giving them comp or discounted tickets is a thoughtful gesture and a great way to show how integral they were in the planning and execution of your conference.

We hope this list helps you decide if comp tickets are the way to go for your upcoming technology conference!