When you’re event planning for a conference or event that involves ticket sales, you’ll always appreciate suggestions and insights for improvement. And there are proven strategies today’s New York event planners are tapping into to scale ticket sales in innovative new ways. Keep reading and see if any of these ideas can help grow your attendees’ lists. You’ll be booking sold-out conferences and events in no time!
1. Work the Previous Year’s Attendees List
If the conference or event you’re planning is an ongoing or annual thing, you can always start with the previous year’s attendees list for invites. Consider email marketing campaigns with messaging that thanks them for attending before and inviting them to this year’s event. Remind them of all the benefits they enjoyed in previous years. Then introduce them to the bigger, better, and more exciting itinerary for the upcoming conference. You might even offer them special pricing to boost ticket sales. Rewarding them for their already established support can help build loyalty ongoing. And since they already know what to expect, they can be incredible champions in helping promote the upcoming event.
2. Early Bird Pricing Still Works
New York event planners understand the value of offering different types of ticket sales, regular and early bird specials. Providing small discounts for early opt-in sales is still a viable strategy that works because the sense of urgency method still drives action. Promote early bird ticket sales and specials on your website, your social media, and with customized email marketing. Make it easy to buy tickets, too, with proper use of ticket sales interfaces, website plug-ins, and online payment.
3. Showcase the Venue
Event planning a conference means promoting the theme, core message, or sponsoring brand and value. But don’t forget to also spend quality time developing a message that promotes the venue. There are incredible spaces in New York City that might be new to guests. And while they might have a piqued interest in attending the conference, a chance to visit a fun, exciting, or new venue might seal the deal. Use images and videos of the venue and work with the venue representatives to come up with a great cross-promotional message to highlight the venue experience.
4. Team Up with Other Involved Organizations
Depending on the industry theme or nature of the conference your event planning, there could be other businesses or organizations also involved. It’s in everyone’s best interest to increase ticket sales and host a sold-out event. So, collaborate with the other companies to develop messaging and marketing you can do together to reach a broader audience. Teaming up will only provide a bigger megaphone to your invitation message and will create a buzz that inspires sales.
5. Leveraging LinkedIn
Make smart use of company LinkedIn pages to help promote ticket sales to your next big event or conference. You can create events and promote within groups that allow you to reach the professional community in a big way. These are great channels for posing and answering key event questions and sharing insights that matter to the business community you’re targeting.
6. Always Be Talking About It on Social
Of course, you know the value of driving social media in promoting your event. But there are social strategies to consider when you’re specifically looking for ticket sales. Here are some ideas today’s event planners are using to do just that:
- Instagram countdown stories
- Event pages on Facebook
- Creative teasers on Twitter
- Hashtag strategies
- Offer sneak peeks at the planning process to build anticipation
- Event-related Insta or Snap filters
- Interview snippets of attendees or speakers
The key is to continue promoting with consistency, right up until the date of the conference. And you can continue posting during and after the event to build a following for the next year’s event.
7. Use Paid Ads for Ticket Sales Bursts
Paid Ads are great tools if you know how to strategically use them to drive ticket sales. Targeted ads at the right time can be great resources for converting interested guests into booked attendees. From Facebook Ads to LinkedIn and beyond, be precise about the call to action you’re asking for and make it easy to buy tickets with a single click. You don’t have to do paid ads all the time, either. But running ads at 30-60-90 days prior to the event can be great milestones to see ticket sales bursts.
8. Promote Sponsorships
If your New York event also includes sponsorship opportunities, you have a roster of brands and companies who are equally interested in growing ticket sales. Promote your event or conference by also putting the spotlight on sponsors and sponsorship opportunities. It shows potential attendees that the event itself has garnered support from other organizations. And it will inspire guests to jump in on an event that is already attracting company support.
9. Offer Guest and Keynote Speaker Details Frequently
For those conferences and events that also feature invited guest speakers or keynote speakers, promote them! An incredible guest can be just the clincher you need to drive ticket sales. Don’t just name-drop, either. Work with the speakers to help create bios, topics of discussion messaging, and build excitement. Invite your speakers to write blogs or posts to share on your site or social media channels. Encourage them to share the upcoming event within their channels, as well.
10. Traditional Press Releases Are Great
With all the buzz of online promotion, virtual connection, and digital ticket sales, don’t forget about the good, old-fashioned press release to promote your event. You can issue PRs when you first launch the event, later to promote early bird tickets, again to offer different attendee passes, and a final push for last-minute ticket opportunities.
Keep these ticket sales strategies in mind when you’re looking for new and proven ways to promote ticket sales for your next conference. Today’s New York event planners are seeing incredible results with these methods. And when you’re ready for even more ground-breaking insights to help grow your business, improve ticket sales to your events, and make revolutionary connections, get your tickets to The Event Planner Expo 2022 and 10 Year Anniversary!
