As an event organizer, it’s normal to worry occasionally about whether your event can stay afloat in changing economic times. What if your potential attendees start slashing their budgets or vendors decide to raise their rates?
While we can’t control the state of the economy, we can teach you how to navigate times of economic change by designing a financially resilient event.
The nine tips included in this article will help you make more and save more as you organize your event. Let’s get started!
Tip 1- Cost Savings On Tickets
Tickets tend to occupy a huge portion of event budgets, but it doesn’t have to. The reality is, most people are overpaying for tickets, and they don’t even know it!
Switching to TicketSpice can save you thousands of dollars. Compared to Eventbrite Pro, you’ll save $11,160 per year, and compared to ShowClix, you’ll save a staggering $25,236 per year. The best part? You don’t have to sacrifice performance.
Tip 2 - Pass On Processing Fees to the Attendees
Whether it’s for Uber, Airbnb, or ‘convenience,’ fees are a part of our everyday life. As an event organizer, you are not required to absorb all of these fees.
The standard TicketSpice page gives you the option to pass on the payment processing and fees to your buyers and receive the full face value of your tickets.
We conducted a study that looked at events exceeding a million dollars. Not surprisingly, all of them were passing on fees to their buyers. Mimic the pros by promoting a general price and then regaining some revenue through the fees below.
You can also charge people an admin fee when attendees change their tickets. For example, if an attendee has a conflict come up during the June concert weekend, they still have the freedom to switch to July, and you can recoup the loss you might have otherwise incurred from their last-minute change.
Remember, people are already used to fees. So go ahead—mark up your fees and keep the face value. As long as you don’t take it to the extreme (like Ticketmaster), most people won’t be shocked to see a fee or two in the line-by-line price breakdown of their event.
Tip 3 - Promote Your Event
No matter how grand the plans are, an event will fall short of its revenue potential if no one knows about it. Don’t leave money on the table by neglecting to promote your event. The moment your event goes live, use as many communication tools as you can to get the word out.
Use scarcity to create urgency by offering a limited discount code over email. You can set up date-based actions for early bird specials and reminder emails in the preceding days.
When it comes to social media, share consistently across multiple platforms. We recommend creating a batch of content ahead of time and then dripping a steady stream of posts and reels in the lead-up to the event.
Invite your audience to engage by posting polls and questions. It takes a lot of posting to gain traction and visibility. Even if you feel like you’re overdoing it, chances are you’re not promoting enough.
Tip 4 - Offer an Ambassador program
An ambassador program is a fantastic way to incentivize attendees to share your event with others. Few people want to attend an event alone, so why not incentivize attendees to bring friends?
You can refund the attendee for a small percentage of each referral, offer a discounted price for the new attendee, or do a classic buy one get one free. Everyone loves a BOGO.
Whatever program you pick and promote, your event will benefit from the added exposure and attendees in the door.
The ambassador program works by issuing each attendee a unique referral code. From there, our system will track who has become an ambassador and who has signed up using an ambassador code.
Whether an attendee is on a tight budget, or they need an excuse to invite friends, they’ll appreciate the opportunity to save their way back to a free event. A well-designed ambassador program is a win for all.
Tip 5 - Offer A Loyalty Program
Last year's attendees are often the easiest group of people to sell this year's tickets. That said, even if everyone reported having a blast last year, they’re still going to need reminders (and maybe rewards) about this year. Re-engage your past attendees over email and social media, and offer them a loyalty discount.
To get people excited, use a catchy coupon code such as “IMBACK2024.”
In addition to your loyal customers, reward your early birds with a coupon code too. You can use date-based Actions to set this all up in the presale.
Tip 6 - Offer Purchase Protection
For event organizers, chargebacks can leave a dent in your bank account and a demoralizing cloud over your day. For attendees, the inability to get a refund in the face of unforeseeable circumstances can leave them hesitant and unsure about purchasing. What if a blizzard turns driving into ice skating or a bad case of food poisoning puts them out of commission?
The best way to slash chargebacks is to offer a purchase protection upgrade at checkout. When attendees opt for Purchase Protection, they pay a small fee in exchange for the ability to receive a refund should the unexpected happen. If a customer utilizes Purchase Protection, our system allows you to sell the ticket twice, so you end up making double on their ticket!
The payoff is well worth it. In our case, Purchase Protection led to a 30% reduction in chargebacks and a 40% reduction in the losses due to chargebacks. Plus, attendees come away with the peace of mind that if something happens, they won’t be left high and dry.
Tip 7 - Include Add-ons
In the event space, sales are not limited to tickets alone. Our statistics show that add-ons increased the average order by 10%, and conversion rates by 13-18%.
What do these statistics mean for you?
Before the attendees leave the checkout page, offer them the chance to add something else to their cart. It could be merchandise, VIP experiences, swag, or food.
While the revenue from a t-shirt or a brunch box might not seem like much, it can accumulate into significant revenue for you. Not to mention, some of these add-ons can enhance your attendees’ overall event experience.
Tip 8 - Increase your Prices
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’re well aware that the price of just about everything has gone up. This also includes the cost of running your event.
If people can get used to paying 49% more for their daily breakfast scramble, it’s safe to assume they can handle a 5-6% increase for an event ticket fee.
Tip 9 - Offer Multiple Ticket Levels
When it comes to ticket options for your event, one level is not enough. You need to offer multiple price points of entry to your event, in order to appeal to both the value hunters and the bargain hunters.
For upgrades, consider adding preferred parking, front-row seating, convenience-based items, or lunch. While most people will opt for the general admission level, there will always be a group of people who want the most premium experience.
As long as there is demand for the top tier level, keep adding more categories.
Final Takeaways
Finally, remember that even in fluctuating economic times, events can still be successful. Many events safely and successfully continued during Covid-19 and 2008. This is a time to get strategic and resourceful and make sure you’re not leaving money on the table. Implement these nine strategies to design the most financially resilient event possible.
We’re here to help you have the best event ever!
- The TicketSpice team
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