You're in charge of planning a party, benefit, product launch, talk, or other event. It's important for this upcoming gathering to be well-attended to reflect well on both your company and you. How can you make sure to bring in a big crowd?

Tim Raybould, CEO of the online ticket selling and event marketing platform TicketLeap has some advice that's backed by research. "We took a look at thousands of sold out events on Ticketleap to figure out what they have in common," he explains. Crunching the numbers, he and his team found some elements that all these successful events had in common. You can use what they found to fill every space at any gathering--and leave anyone who didn't attend wishing they had.

Here's how:

1. Book a small room.

This sounds silly, I know, but the research showed that the average size of a sold out event was about 35 people, Raybould notes. And the space you use speaks volumes about your expectations. Thirty-five people who meet in a room designed to hold 30 to 40 will leave feeling like they had a great time at a popular, well-attended gathering. If the same group meets in a ballroom for 500, they can't help feeling like they're missing a more important event someplace else.

2. Set a low limit on attendees.

Most of the sold out 35-person events TicketLeap studied could have been larger, but the organizers chose to keep it small and turn some people away, Raybould notes. "They're on to something," he says. "Smaller events are simply great for building connections and growing communities," he says. "Second, selling out feels good! The space you booked will feel full, and with a sold out event under your belt, it will be easier to bring in more people next time."

3. Consider holding your event during the day.

This may seem counterintuitive and it won't work for every event, Raybould acknowledges. "There's probably a natural time for your event to take place," he says. "This intel shouldn't change that, but know this: a higher percentage of events sell out during the day than during the early evening hours of 6 to 8 pm." If you do plan an event during those desirable hours, he says, you'll have to work harder to get people there.

4. Facebook, Facebook, Facebook.

Attendance at 47 percent of TicketLeap's sold out events was directly influenced by comments on Facebook, Raybould reports. "If you want to sell out, give people a really easy way to share your event with their networks."

5. Announce your event at least a month in advance.

"Sold out events sold their first ticket an average 32 days before the event, compared to 20 days for events that didn't sell out," Raybould notes. He believes this statistic reflects the importance of social media because it takes a little time for word of an event to spread through potential attendees' networks. Whatever the reason, announcing your event well in advance is the cheapest and easiest thing you can do to boost its success.

6. Don't stress over ticket pricing.

The TicketLeap team thought that event pricing would have an impact on attendance. The statistics don't bear this out though--the average price for sold out events was the same as the average price for events overall.