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HelpEvent Ticket Pricing: 5 Tips to Sell Out Your Event
Ticket sales make up a big part of the revenue. Even one ticket unsold is one too many. To achieve maximum sales, you obviously have to promote your event.
Aside from that, however, you also have to price your ticket accordingly. Tickets that are too expensive or too cheap can be detrimental to sales. Here’s a few ticketing strategies to boost event marketing efforts and ensure you get the pricing just right.
1. Know Your Financial Objectives
At the very least, you want to recuperate the cost of hosting the event. This way, even if you don’t earn any revenue from the event directly, at least you’ll have created some brand recognition. A basic formula for pricing the ticket:
Divide the total event cost by
the estimated number of attendees
Whatever number that adds up to, you can increase it a bit to earn a plus profit. Of course, this is a very general formula, and other factors, such as sales from products, should also be factored in.
Finally, don’t be too afraid to up the price a bit. This is especially the case if attendees comprise mostly of employees from other companies. In this instance, it’s the employers paying for their staff to attend.
2. Look at Prior Events
Pricing for just about anything comes down to supply and demand. If tickets are selling like hotcakes, then by all means, don’t be shy about increasing the price. If, on the other hand, you often find yourself struggling to sell last minute tickets, then you might have to lower the cost.
This is where you have to use prior events as a gauge for pricing tickets. Did you have more than a handful of leftover tickets? Did some would-be attendees miss out because tickets sold out within days?
In addition, it’s important to look at the number of first-time attendees. This is relevant because newbies won’t know what to expect. As such, they may have preconceived ideas based on the ticket price. If it’s too low, then they’ll think it’s worth passing. Too high, and they’ll take their money to someplace more affordable.
3. Varied Pricing Options
Instead of a single, fixed ticket price, consider various admission options with varied price ranges. A VIP ticket is a prime example. You can also have an early admittance ticket. In other words, those willing to pay a bit more can be admitted an hour or so before everyone else is allowed entry at event registration or check-in. This is especially a useful option for event tradeshows.
Other options include an early bird sale where those who buy their ticket within a set timeframe receives a discount. If the event is held over several days, add a cheaper ticket option for those who can only attend a single day. Finally, remember that you can also allow a bulk purchase discount for those attending in groups.
You do need to be careful, though, when it comes to discounts. While it’s an effective way for upping sales, it may also hurt revenue if you’re too generous with the savings.
Let’s say, for example, that you sell the first 100 tickets at $10 off the original price. That’s $1000 that you’re losing. That amount may be negligible for larger companies, but that’s a hefty sum for SMBs and startups. In the end, remember that whatever savings you give to attendees ultimately comes out of the company pocket. Be sure the discount is within an affordable range.
4. Factor in the Venue
In almost every instance, the venue is the single biggest overhead. With that in mind, if you’re aiming for an exceptionally lavish venue that also happens to be a national landmark, then be prepared to raise the price.
For an upscale venue, charge an upscale ticket price. For a high school gymnasium, charge an “economy-level” fee.
The same goes for other overheads like the catering, speakers, and entertainment. If you’re serving gourmet lobsters, flying in a renowned industry speaker, and hiring Penn and Teller for entertainment, then ticket prices in the single or even double digit range is probably out of the question.
On a final note, if you’re going to invest heavily in the venue, then be sure to really market the event around the facility. Let attendees know just how exorbitant it is and go into details about the facility specs. Mention a few facts or even its history. If guests know just how upscale the place is, then they might be more willing to shell out a higher price.
5. Know Your Demographic
Who are your primary demographic? If it’s millennials, for example, then you don’t want to price the tickets too high since most of them are fresh out of college and don’t really have an established career yet.
Your industry also factors in. If you’re in the tech niche, for example, then you may be able to shoot for a higher price. After all, if your demographic can afford your electronic devices or software, then they can probably afford a pricier ticket.
Don’t forget that you can also spy on your competitors’ events and see the prices they’re generally charging.
With respects to ticket pricing, you have to find that sweet spot that’s just right. Going too low or high can hurt sales, so do what you need to determine a price that is both affordable and fair.
Guest Author Bio: Dan McCarthy is an Event Manager at JD Parties, an event management company based in the UK. Dan has 5 years of event project management under his belt. He has worked on many successful events, and currently he shares his knowledge by writing on the company blog. Follow him on Twitter @DanCarthy2.
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