In a perfect world, a prospect would excitedly hire you to produce their next big event. But oftentimes, they need more convincing. We know your events are awesome. But how can an NYC event planner inspire a newcomer to your event website to book with you, buy a ticket, or RSVP? The answer is optimizing your marketing strategy for each stage of the sales funnel. In this article, we show you fresh ideas for optimizing your sales funnel to nudge undecided prospects to book their events with you.
Top of Funnel: Building Awareness
At this stage of your funnel, you’re building awareness about your event services and casting a large net. You know that spreading the word about your event-planning skills sets the foundation for record results.
- Create a short teaser video. Your event videos should be a minute or less, heavy on the visuals, and light on details.
- Create a teaser email. Use a simple and short subject line to create intrigue, such as “Psst…” In the body of the email, use bold graphics with minimal words.
- Launch a social media mystery campaign. Transform your audience into the Scooby gang with a social media mystery campaign. Put their sleuthing skills to the test by leaving clues or puzzles about your event before the Big Reveal. Offer incentives to the bloodhounds that correctly solve the mysteries.
Middle of Funnel: Nurture Interest
The middle of the funnel is all about nurturing interest. You’ve cast a wide net, and people are showing interest by interacting with your social media, visiting your event planner website, and signing up for your email newsletter. Keep them engaged — and moving through your tunnel — with the following tips.
- Create tiered price promotions. Give your audience a reason to buy their event tickets early with tiered prices that progressively increase. You can also offer discounts for add-ons or throw in free perks to make your promotion irresistible.
- Create a video highlighting past events and attendees. Now that you have their attention, show them how memorable your events are by featuring past events and attendees in a promotional video. Testimonials on camera are a powerful way to create a sense of FOMO.
- Take your audience behind the scenes. Give them a peek behind the curtain with live social media events. Show them the hustle and bustle that goes into preparing a show-stopping NYC event. Let them share in the excitement as the acts rehearse, the crew sets up, and the VIPs arrive.
- Offer exclusive access to early-bird registrants. Give your early registrants a chance to get a jump on networking by creating exclusive online communities for attendees. Create event-related content that helps them prepare for the event, such as webinars and Q&As with speakers.
- Stay top of mind with drip email campaigns. Sometimes, it just isn’t the right time to hit “Book Now.” A prospect may see your Facebook ad while scrolling at the doctor’s office. Or she may open your email just moments before she’s called into a meeting. A drip email campaign serves as a gentle reminder and increases the likelihood that the recipient will make time to sign up for your event services.
Bottom of Funnel: Maximize Registrations
The bottom of the funnel is where your ticket sales and bookings happen. The clock is ticking, and it’s time for the holdouts to stop dithering and buy their tickets already. Inspire them to act with these tips.
- Create a sense of urgency and scarcity. Let them know that time is running out to book their seasonal events or buy their event tickets. Create a sense of urgency and scarcity with phrases like “start booking your company holiday parties now” or “this event is almost sold out — buy your tickets today.”
- Offer last-minute discounts. Remove price barriers by offering last-minute discounts. You may bring in less revenue with these tickets. However, more attendees contribute to the energy of the event, and these ticket holders can spend their savings on branded apparel and other merchandise during the event.
- Re-Engage Drop Offs. Some people are indecisive. Leads oftentimes complete the steps to registration, only to abandon their cart when it comes time to enter their payment information. Re-engage these drop-offs to remind them why they don’t want to miss your event opportunities.
- Upsell Current Ticket Holders. Don’t forget about your current ticket holders. These individuals already understand why your event is amazing. Do them a favor, and offer them exclusive deals on upsells. You’ll earn points for taking good care of your brand advocates while bringing in extra revenue.
Tunnel Infinity Loop: Customer Retention and Word of Mouth
The infinity loop portion of the sales funnel emphasizes attendee loyalty. It’s cheaper (and easier) to keep a customer than to find a new one.
- Offer attendees on-demand content. Give them the gift that keeps on giving with on-demand content that lets them replay their favorite presentations. You’ll keep them engaged while ensuring they remember the value of your event. Encourage previous attendees to keep coming to your event year after year with these tips.
- Create a post-event social media campaign. Keep your attendees engaged with a post-event social media campaign. Offer up recap videos, post surveys, and give them a chance to chime in on what they loved about your event.
- Nurture attendees’ sense of community. Networking and community are top reasons to attend events. Keep the connections strong by nurturing your community through online groups and forums. When next year’s event rolls around, community members will flock to reconnect with their new contacts.
- Implement a referral program. Tap into the power of word-of-mouth event marketing. A referral program will give happy attendees a reason to crow to their friends about your event while increasing attendance for next year’s event.
Sales Funnel Optimization Is Key to Boosting Ticket Sales
Don’t let leads drop off. Instead, keep them interested and engaged until they’re ready to buy event tickets. Increase ticket sales and event bookings by tailoring your marketing strategy to appeal to prospects in each stage of the sales funnel. These insights above will inspire you to take your event sales funnel marketing to the next level.
But don’t stop there. Learn more marketing techniques at The Event Planner Expo. Over the course of three jam-packed days, you’ll network with other event professionals, learn the latest event planning trends from top experts, and meet corporate event decision-makers. Buy your tickets today.
