Top creative event promotion ideas to hike attendance

Once you have all the execution of your event planned out, the real stress begins when you got to sell those tickets. Achieving those sales is not only the top goal but also a stress-inducing factor. Most event organizers have surely done a permutation combination of several factors over the years. But as we flip the calendar to a new year, it is time to try some new tips and tricks and have that much-vied-for “sold out” sign stuck all over your next event.

Here are 9 creative ways in which you can promote your next event and enjoy skyrocketing ticket sales.

1. Capitalize on the popularity of event discovery sites

Urban event-goers frequently check event sites to know about on-going or upcoming events of interest. Reach out to sites like Book My Show, Insider and Townscript, among others, to promote your event across several online guides.

2. Empower your speakers and partners

Your speakers, sponsors and influencers have their own reach, which directly translates into ticket sales for you. Through them introduce your event/brand to their clusters of audience. Extend blurbs or snippets of what people can expect at your event with these folks, and have them share it on their platforms. This will surely give you some fresh footfall at your event. And give your partners a tracked registration link so you can collect info on where your first-time guests came from.

3. Quality over quantity, with emailing too

Don’t shoot out event info to your entire emailing list at once, that could lead to you missing the mark. Categorize your email list based on past attendees, demographics, fresh contacts, etc., and then channelize communication accordingly. This, known as email targeting, makes your conversation with existing and potential audiences more viable.

4. Intensify online advertising

Advertising need not necessarily be a monster that eats up a chunk of your budget. Make strategic use of online tools that help you connect with the right audience. Using data and algorithms, these tools help you hone and refine your social media and Google ads, thus creating a great impact with your ad budget.

5. Invest in professional photography

The impact videos and photographs have on us cannot be emphasized upon enough. Data shows that the top two online sites that people visit to check out events/shows are YouTube and Google Images. So make sure your audience like what they see and it leads to a bit of FOMO about your upcoming event. Take photos that capture the vibe and mood of the event, put the ambience on full display, thus heightening viewers’ interest and curiosity. Post event, you can share good photographs with your attendees via email or use them for advertising prior to the next edition.

6. Attendees can also be event ambassadors

One way of advertising is to have a paid event ambassador while the other way is to get a bit bold and let your attendees do the advertising. And if the latter works, be rest assured you have hit jackpot. Create moments for your attendees that they instantly want to turn into memories. Offer those shareworthy moments where they can unleash their swag and keep talking about your event long after they have left the venue. If they have a significantly large network, give them some incentive asking them to share your event link.

7. Consider partnering with another event

Partnering with an event directly exposes your brand to their audience, adding to your visibility. If the partner is a bigger player in the industry, that helps you in navigating through larger issues, adds to your learning and sets you up for increased ticket sales. Ensure you partner with a brand with which you have a certain amount of overlap in terms of offerings, values and energies. This helps you form a strong association with the other brand and helps evoke a positive vibe, thus boosting ticket sales.

8. Gift tickets

No doubt selling tickets is crucial, but so is building relations with individuals and organisations. Ticket donations not only help you forge bonds of trust but also expose you to a new demographic that can spread the word about your event. What you may have lost in sales you can make up for in loyalty and goodwill. So make sure to save a few tickets for gifting.

9. Remember the VIPs

For those who are willing to pay more for an elite, exclusive affair, they must be made to feel special. For those attendees who generally wont attend your event, create an invite-only session for them. Offer something complementary, e.g., free entry to the event that will encourage them to widen their circle and boost networking. Having VIP presence at your event will work wonders because it amplifies your event’s merit and multiplies online promotion too.

Well, those are our pointers for hitting the accelerator on ticket sales. We hope we have made some strong additions to your existing list of tricks in cashing those ticket sales. So make sure to mix and match based on what suits your event type/scale and get those cash registers ringing.