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How to Preclude Tiresome Ticket Sales: five Ways to Sell More Event Tickets Online

Published: 01/08/2019

Slow ticket sales are never a skillful affair. Thankfully, learning how to increment ticket sales for an outcome doesn't have to exist difficult. Read these guidelines to uncover the strategies y'all demand to easily increase ticket sales through eCommerce.

The secret to avoiding dull ticket sales and selling more tickets online – whether information technology's for sports, music, theatre or other events – can be broken down into a few surprisingly simple principles.

What you'll read below assumes that you've nailed the basics when information technology comes to online ticketing, such equally:

  • You've done the work to make certain that your site is optimized for search.
  • Your email marketing campaigns are set up so that they're not but GDPR-compliant but effectively nurturing customers both pre- and postal service-purchase.
  • You have an constructive brandish and social media campaigns running to target new traffic and unconverted traffic.

The basics completed, you're ready to kickoff thinking near how to increment ticket sales without having to resort to Fyre Festival tactics.

In this article, nosotros'll cover the following tactics
1. Personalization
2. Differentiate
3. Going beyond the ticket
4. Creating scarcity
v. Using referrals
6. Conclusion

Hither'due south how you lot can boost your e-commerce ticket sales without having to hire an army of A-listing influencers…

5 surefire tactics to increase ticket sales online

i. Personalize from the ground up

82% of US millennials expect brands to have up-to-date information almost their preferences – that gives yous an indication of how much today'southward consumers expect personalization in their shopping feel.

When information technology comes to online ticketing, personalizing your e-commerce website is critical to non only increasing ticket sales, just also cross-selling and delivering an effective post-buy experience.

And then where exercise you get started? While personalization is something of a buzzword, many marketers are intimidated by the amount of data, resource and skill it takes to apply it. The good news is that this is a total misconception.

The key is to starting time simple and build up. You don't have to have a perfectly integrated stack of marketing tools and complex datasets at start – you tin begin but by differentiating the experiences for new and returning visitors. It's easy to practice and relies purely on in-session data, and so no need for a circuitous set-up on the backend.

Another way to increase ticket sales through personalization is through using behavioral data. At Yieldify, we worked closely with the accolade-winning London festival We Are FSTVL to do merely that on their website. The simplest – simply incredibly constructive – initial executions triggered when the user was about to leave the site:

How to increase ticket sales | Yieldify

This employ of exit-intent technology drew the user's attending to a cardinal message at the about relevant part of their journey. Non just did this kind of work achieve a 65% increase in conversions, but information technology also drove 73% growth in their leads database.

2. Continually differentiate your offering

Selling more tickets online means taking some lessons from the retail sector: evolve your offering oft in guild to keep it fresh and engaging.

Tickets are frequently a high-consideration purchase that requires a good bargain of nurturing from the first impact to conversion: result ticket sales tend to summit at the commencement and end of the sale catamenia, with a slump occurring betwixt these two stages.

One reply to this online ticketing challenge is in adopting 'mini-outcome' techniques to continually interest your consumer. You lot could try some of the following:

  • Early admission events: Discounted tickets that are available for a limited fourth dimension to those who have signed up for your newsletter.
  • Early bird events: Discounted tickets that are purchased during a specific window of fourth dimension.
  • Lock in your tickets for next year: Sell advance tickets at a discounted rate. Make them available physically onsite, but too sell tickets online or via an event ticket sales app for maximum convenience.

Edifice a calendar of these offer-based events from launch through to the terminal-minute volition requite you reasons to continually engage new and returning visitors. This is specially bully if you're looking for tips on how to increase performing arts ticket sales, equally you can pair new offers with news and announcements, such equally calculation to the lineup, or revealing details about the venue or artists.

3. Go beyond the ticket

Where increasing ticket sales is the number one priority, it's not the only way to bulldoze pre-effect revenue. Bundling your tickets with other value-add elements tin help you secure college sales before the event as well as create more choices for your potential customer.

Firstly, consider the types of ticket packages you have on offer. Tiered admission is a staple of any event – just think almost how much concert acquirement is made from pre-prove meet-and-greets – consider how your event tickets could be packaged with boosted perks to increase average order value. For marketers wondering how to increase ticket sales in sports, tiered access will already exist a staple, only extra add-ons like food and drink may be a new avenue to explore.

As anyone who runs events knows, concessions are a pivotal revenue-driver – accept the opportunity to see how effective bundling can help you cross-sell these long before doors open. Drink tickets (used effectively by We Are FSTVL) or deals on travel and accommodation are some of the well-nigh common.

The team behind We are FSTVL non but sell tickets online only also uses an effective combination of VIP ticketing plus upsells to maximize their profit in accelerate.

4. Create scarcity

There is no event more desirable than a sold-out ane – the harder a ticket seems to get, the more than people want it. Just inquire anyone in the queue for Hamilton.

In brusk, if you want to sell more tickets online, you need to arrive then it appears that you're already selling lots of tickets online.

The mode to practise this is through using social proof – showing your visitors what other visitors are doing in order to encourage them to follow adjust. It's so popular that Viagogo uses information technology in not one, not 2, merely 3 unlike places on a unmarried event page for BTS:

How to increase ticket sales | Yieldify
Social proof appears at the pinnacle-right corner showing how many people are viewing the result
How to sell more tickets online | Yieldify
On the same page, this widget indicates how many tickets remain for the event
How to increase ticket sales | Yieldify
Finally, individual ticket types that take few left are marked with a 'last available' message

Proof if whatever was needed that social proof is a tried-and-tested mechanism for selling tickets. The good news is that you lot don't demand to be at the calibration of a Viagogo in lodge to implement it – y'all tin can use FOMO tools like this.

5. Apply referrals

1 of the all-time ways to become more customers is to leverage your existing ones. Referral marketing is basically another class of social proof: co-ordinate to the 2018 Discussion of Oral fissure Study, recommendations from friends and family are two of the top three virtually relied-on sources of information about products for consumers.

When information technology comes to selling more than tickets online, there are a number of means to get about this:

  • Provide ticketholders with referral bonuses in the form of boosted concessions such as drink tokens or preferential admission.
  • Continually deliver interesting, engaging content for your ticketholders to share across social media.

Contests are besides a useful way to show social proof. By making your tickets seem elusive and unattainable, y'all tin increase their perceived value and desirability. Like the mini-events, contests are as well often shared widely and are a very useful case of how to increase performing arts ticket sales, creating buzz and popularity. This can help from an acquisition perspective as well equally a conversion i.

3 Potential Reasons For Tedious Ticket Sales

We mentioned some assumptions at the outset of this article that can definitely contribute to boring ticket sales if you oasis't addressed them already. Below nosotros'll go into a scrap more particular.

Your pricing strategy is wrong

Obviously, you want to sell out. Only if yous price your event besides depression, it won't matter if you sell all of your tickets — your profit margins volition plummet. And pricing too loftier ways you run a risk hosting a well-nigh-empty result. So how do you find the sweetness spot for ticket prices?

At present of class yous volition desire to sell out. However if your ticket prices are too low selling out wont matter, and your profit margins may not fifty-fifty exist.

Vice Versa pricing too high and you run a risk having an empty event.

Is it possible to find a pricing sweet spot? Possibly, but it will take a bit of analysis. Below are ii easy first steps.

  1. Work out your fixed and variable costs, and how much money you want to make when the event is over.
  2. Compare previous years operation and ticket types. I.e VIP tickets sell best, did you need to do some terminal infinitesimal discounts?

Based off your analysis y'all should be able to spot some room for improvement in your pricing strategy.

If any discounts got a good response last time, you may want to do more this year. If any special ticket types sold apace (VIP etc) can you add more than this year? Tin can yous charge more for these?

Forgetting almost the competition

Whilst your event will be the center of your universe potential buyers volition be considering their options.

Are in that location bigger or amend things happening around the same fourth dimension?

This doesn't take to be a like for like competitor either. Think about whatsoever sporting events that could take people away from yours.
Remember virtually all the other consequence options people accept, take a wait at the toll, and once again encounter if you lot need to suit yours.

You demand to take into account all the other options for where people could be spending their time.

Evaulate the compeition equally adequately every bit you lot can. Don't just disbelieve for the sake of information technology. If yous feel your fifty-fifty offers more value, (location, line upwards etc) then your higher cost volition exist accepted

The heart of the storm

Events typically see a quiet time in betwixt when tickets first continue sale and as the event gets closer.

Event organisers may have a great plan for these 2 meridian periods just can often neglect the repose period. And then don't.

Make sure you have set some upkeep aside to market your outcome during this time. Whether its on social media, some more email blasts or other forms of advertising.

In conclusion

When it comes to increasing online ticket sales, you lot have several options at mitt in one case you lot've mastered the basics. Hither's what you need to remember:

  • Personalization doesn't have to be difficult (peculiarly when it looks similar this) – showtime small.
  • Timing is everything – have a plan for keeping every week of campaign activity new and differentiated.
  • Bundling is disquisitional to the cross-sell and it helps give a improve impression of option.
  • FOMO tactics are much easier to deploy than you might think – and they're heavily used for a practiced reason.
  • The ticket sale is only the beginning – use your new client to acquire new ones.

This is the tip of the iceberg of what's possible when y'all can do in gild to incrementally increase ticket sales – effort some out and see what they can do for your event!

Avoiding ho-hum ticket sale FAQs

? How practice I become more ticket sales?

Ensure yous have the right price set up, and consider introducing tiered pricing (eastward.thou VIP). Ensure you as well offer early bird tickets. Take a expect at our 5 strategies for more ideas.

?️ How do you avoid boring ticket sales?

To avert slow ticket sales you can offer incentives, such every bit early bird tickets at a slightly discounted rate. Y'all could too sell tickets cheaper online than on the door. Finally, ensure you have a promotional plan laid.

? How can I sell consequence tickets quickly?

There are many ways you lot can do this, for example, you could offer discounts on large group purchases of tickets. You could have special deals to members of groups related to your event. Yous could concord flash sales on your website.