Selling tickets for an event? Yup, that’s tough.

Despite what others might be telling you, selling tickets for any type of event is a process. A well thought-out, carefully crafted and executed process. Well, at least it should be.

The absolute WORST thing, that happens way more frequently then it should might I add, is that a lot of individuals hosting events (especially for the first time) think that selling tickets is easy and that people will automatically make a purchase sans any sort of effort.

If this is you then I hate to burst your bubble, but this could not be further from the truth.

Like I mentioned above, selling tickets should be taken seriously as a well thought-out, crafted and executed process. In many regards it could be considered an art form that takes time, experience, patience, and a lot of hustle to master.

Bottom line is that selling tickets can be formulaic and the process behind it needs to be identified and structured to follow suit.

Below are 5 areas (or ‘things’) that we’ve identified as crucial steps you should take that will help you sell more tickets and earn more money for your events.

1 | Know Thy Audience

This one is at the top of the list because it’s probably (definitely is) one of the most important things you need to know and understand quickly. Very quickly.

Like any good marketer or sales person, you’ll want to identify the who, what, where, when and why of the audience you’re going after.

Who exactly are you trying to target? If you’re hosting a beer and wine related event, then you’ll need to identify those individuals who enjoy drinking, those who are 19+ (or 21+ depending on where you live), etc.

What are their exact interests? Using the same example as above, have these people only been to one beer/wine event before or are the avid experience-goers in this space?

Where are they located, where do they hangout (online/offline), and even when do they go out or when are they online? Knowing all of this will help you not only hone in on the specific audience, it’ll give you a better sense of which channels are the most suitable for your efforts.

Lastly, you’ll need to know the why. Why does your audience go to events similar to yours? Are they looking for new and exciting experiences, are they looking to try and taste new beverages or are they looking for an excuse to get out of the house on a Saturday evening?

Knowing the 5 W’s will help you understand your audience and give you a better sense of what channels you should be using to target them. At the end of the day, this will only make your job that much easier when it comes to marketing and selling tickets for your event.

2 | Know Thy Value

Once you’ve nailed down the above and have a good understanding of who your audience is, you’ll need to identify and communicate the value of your event.

In my opinion, this is where things can get really exciting. It lets you map out and list all of the reasons why your target audience would and should want to come to your event.

In other words, why is your event so important for this group of people to attend and what is the direct benefit that it will bring them? Will you have certain performers or vendors available that they can look forward to? Is it a financial value, where the cost of the ticket is just too good to be true? Is there a charitable aspect to it that brings a sense of community for everyone involved?

If you’re not sure how to go about this, start by creating a simple list of all of the components and features such as entertainment that will be available during the event. But remember, it is VERY important not to get caught up in the bells and whistles (the extras) that you lose sight of what’s really important to your guests.

With 1 and 2 nailed down, your communications should start to form itself much more naturally and you’ll have a better idea how to approach this.

3 | Consistently Engage

Consistently engaging and communicating value to your targeted audience (and those who have already purchased tickets) is a MUST!

But how do you do that effectively?

Easy, by planning your communications and having a good grasp on where your distribution efforts will be. For some more context, have check out one of our recent articles about 3 important lessons for every event organizer.

Fact remains that creating a content/ communication schedule and sticking to it is something that is under-utilized and extremely under valued.

A good practice and some low-hanging fruit to cross off the list is to provide regular updates. This could include things such as new music lineup announcements, early bird sales ending, and even just simple event reminders. You’ll want to gear these towards those who have already purchased tickets as well as those who you’re still trying to convert.

What’s extremely important is to make sure that any communication going out provides value and is contextually relevant to your event.

In addition to consistently engaging and communicating with your audience, you’ll want to make sure that internal communication never stagnates. Keeping your staff, co-hosts and partners up to date with everything will only benefit you in long term. It’s also a sure-way of avoiding any headaches down the road.

4 | Test, Experiment, Tweak, Repeat

So you’ve been using the same 2 or 3 or even 4 channels to market your event and you’ve been getting the same results.

Sound familiar?

This reminds me of the Einstein quote and his definition of insanity, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results”. What’s insane is how true these words are.

It’s the exact reason why experimenting with new ways (channels) to get your event in front of an audience isn’t just a good idea, it’s necessary.

Without consistent experimentation you’ll never really know where your best results are coming from. Better yet, you’ll never be improving on those results. You see, it’s all about building on top of the foundation, adding layers and optimizing your efforts every single step of the way.

Some food for thought here, have you invested time into a solid SEO strategy? Have you considered investing a portion of the ticket revenue into paid advertising?

How about utilizing Reddit to host an AMA (Ask Me Anything), hiring Promoters to help you sell tickets, or even adding Instagram stories to your content play?

For more ideas, check out a recent article I wrote about 5 event marketing tactics to promote your next event.

5 | Leverage Networks, Partnerships and Collaborators

Last, but surely not least, I want to talk about leveraging your networks, partnership and collaborators.

Event partners can come in many different forms with many different roles, expectations and responsibilities.

Whether you’re adding sponsored partners, co-hosts, or even affiliates, bringing on partners can help you significantly increase your ticket sales.

It’s very common that event partners work together in some sort of capacity to help boost the event’s outcome. It should be a mirrored win-win situation.

By leveraging your partners’ networks and strengths, you’ll automatically reduce the workload, spread the risk, increase your credibility as well as feel a lot more confident in your efforts moving forward.

The key thing to keep in mind moving forward is to make sure that all parties are seeing some sort of return and benefit from being involved with the event.

BUT remember, don’t assume or expect any miracle of an outcome or “take your foot off the pedal”. If it’s your event, then it’s your responsibility to sell the tickets, end of story.

There you have it, the above 5 areas (or ‘things’) can be used as a ‘guideline’ and a resource, regardless of the scale or type of event, when it comes to selling tickets. Whether it’s your first event or your 100th, give them a try and keep us posted if these tips were helpful.

Until next time,

P.S. like this post? Check out some of our recent articles for more Event Tips.

And for some more great content, take a look at The Ultimate Event Planning Checklist (+Free Event Toolbox Download) by our friends over at G2 Crowd.

About Brüha :

Brüha is a Canadian-based ticketing provider and event marketplace changing the way Event Organizers interact with their local community and manage their events. Buy and sell tickets for upcoming events using Brüha. We provide a range of services that allow anyone an everyone to easily create,manage and promote events, including Brüha Promoter.

Looking to increase awareness for your Venue, Organization, or your next Event? Head over to our website and get started today by creating your first listing.