Saffire Blog

Choosing the Right Social Media for Your Event

Social media is arguably the most powerful tool for engaging with your audience to boost attendance at your event. However, not all platforms are created equally, and your plan for promoting your event on social media should differ.

An effective social media promotion will include connecting with your followers before, during and after an event. It should be interactive, fun and informative, but planning and executing content is only half the battle. You’ll need to next choose what platform to post on!

Facebook

With more than 2.8 billion daily active users worldwide, Facebook is the tried and true platform for promoting content. Be sure your organization has an updated company page with contact information and event details. You can create a specific event page to serve as an additional space to post a link to tickets, announce pre-sale codes or connect with fans. Facebook also allows you to narrow your audience based on numerous demographics to ensure the highest return on investment.

Do remember to connect the corresponding business Instagram account and don’t ignore comments or messages for too long.

Instagram

A must-have in your social media toolkit for posting fun behind-the-scenes, featuring attractions, showcasing vendors and gathering user-generated content from attendees. Since Instagram is entirely visual, you will want to have graphics ready for any important event information or announcements. You’ll also want to be sure your content is being shared to its full potential with Instagram’s features, stories and reels. With stories, photos and videos shared are set to disappear from your profile, feed and messages after 24 hours or can be added directly to your page with highlights. Through reels you can easily create and edit short videos to dramatically drive engagement and expand the outreach of your event.

Do use a timely hashtag to encourage others to post their experiences and don’t forget to tag your location in posts!

TikTok

The #foryoupage (#FYP) algorithm is one that hasn’t been cracked yet, but with the right post you can get your content in front of hundreds of thousands (or even millions) of eyes. TikTok has the possibility to give you the biggest possible organic reach, much more so than traditional social media channels like Twitter and Facebook.

Do join in on viral trends or dances and don’t take yourself too seriously!

Twitter

Although not always used for event promotion, Twitter still utilizes a powerful tool: the hashtag. Tweet your event details, where folks can purchase tickets and a countdown to the event! Engage with fans by posting interactive polls, hosting a related Twitter space and using an event-specific hashtag to encourage others to post their experiences. And don’t forget about live tweeting! Throughout the event share highlights, what performances may be happening, or keep attendees up-to-date with any last-minute announcements.

Do monitor what people are saying about your event and don’t #overuse #hashtags.

Snapchat

Often overlooked, the interactive features on Snapchat are an excellent way to engage with attendees and even garner some user-generated content. Design a simple frame or sticker that represents your event and submit it (for free) to Snapchat’s Community Filters. Once approved, your unique or branded filter can be used by anyone in the immediate vicinity. Feeling extra creative? Explore the creators’ platform Lens Studio 2.0 to design your own augmented reality (AR) camera effects where the possibilities are virtually endless.

Do host a short form to answer any questions people may have about attending your event and don’t be too salesy, Snapchat is very informal in the field of social media.

Whichever platform you choose, consistency is key when it comes to social media promotion. Create an editorial calendar and schedule posts to go live in the days and weeks leading up to your event.

New Year’s Resolutions for 2023

Whew – what a year it’s been! The world continued to open up, people re-discovered their love for live events and many of our clients experienced record-breaking numbers. As we finally take a breath and collect ourselves from the whirlwind of 2022, we can look to 2023 as a fresh opportunity full of possibilities.

6 Resolutions for the New Year

Refresh your marketing plan: Now is a great time to review your marketing plan! What worked in the past year and what fell short? What channels worked best? Was your budget stretched too thin? Look back at what was impactful over the last twelve months and what you’d like to carry over to 2023.

Expand your network: This is especially true given the industry we’re in. Whether your event is short staffed, you’re having an on-site emergency or you just need someone to vent to, having these connections can be a lifesaver! Dedicate time to networking, explore industry associations and start working on building those relationships.

Try something new: An excellent resolution both personally and professionally! Pushing yourself out of your comfort zone is one of the only guaranteed ways to facilitate growth. So whether it’s using a digital marketing tool you’ve never tried before or implementing something totally out-of-the-box, take the new year as an opportunity to try something new.

Energize your email marketing: Email marketing is one of the most powerful tools in your toolbox, so be sure you’re utilizing it! Have you set up a platform or system to automate emails? Are emails being sent out regularly before and after an event? Now is a great time to set some goals for your email marketing in the next year.

Go mobile-friendly: We’ve said it once and we’ll say it again, mobile matters! Try navigating through your site on a smartphone and see what looks wonky or what issues are appearing, odds are your customers have already noticed. Optimize your website for mobile to improve your ranking with Google and keep your customers happy while they’re shopping.

Be more social: Engaging with your audience online is fundamental not only to marketing your event to the public, but connecting with communities like businesses in your area or other professionals in the industry. Practice writing in your brands voice, try something fun like an Instagram scavenger hunt, start curating content, research emerging trends, choose the platforms best for your business or event, and above all else, start posting!

Another chaotic and magical year of fairs, festivals, and events is in the books! We hope your year was full of fun, we can’t wait to see what 2023 has in store for live events.

Happy New Year!

Recession-Proof Your 2023 Event

Whether or not we enter a full-blown recession next year, your event should be selling advanced tickets.

Rising inflation, high gas prices and a slowing housing market and a potential recession have been dominating the headlines recently–but what could that mean for you? A major way your fair, festival or event can hedge against a possible recession hurting ticket sales is by putting tickets on sale earlier! Why wait?!

Advanced tickets sales are trending

Fairs, festivals, events and concerts have been pushing ticket sales earlier and earlier. Buying a ticket to a concert that’s over a year out doesn’t seem so unreasonable anymore! Many attendees look online for early-bird deals or want to ensure they have a spot reserved by the time their favorite event rolls around.

Why sell in advance?

Offering tickets in advance, potential recession or not, is a worthwhile effort for your event. Here are our top five reasons to start selling earlier:

It’s money in the bank: Every ticket sold before the gate opens puts money in your account. This can help with your budget or expensenses even before a single guest arrives!
Data, data and more data: There is so much data that can be collected from early ticket sales–valuable data you can use to create a marketing campaign that resonates with your target audience.
Spread out the paycheck: A major reason event-goers purchase their tickets in advance actually has to do with budgeting. When folks are looking at their entertainment budget before coming to your event, they don’t really consider money spent in advance as part of what they will spend once they are at your event.
Breakage: As we all know, not everyone who purchases a ticket to your event is actually going to redeem that ticket. But that’s still extra money in your account! The earlier tickets are put on sale, the higher your breakage will be.
Better planning: Knowing in advance how many people are planning to attend your event, you can make better revenue projections and ensure you have enough volunteers or staff on hand.

Sell Advance Tickets Successfully!

When posting tickets in advance, there are a few key steps you can take to ensure you’re getting the most revenue from your efforts. It’s important to make advance tickets desirable so people actually make purchases.

One way is by offering discounted prices for tickets that are purchased in advance and online. Even after realizing advance sales discounts, you can essentially have much of your event paid for before an attendee walks through the gate. Offering group or family packages is another great way to offer value to guests, getting them into the event ready to purchase food, beverages and shows. And don’t forget to highlight the biggest advantage of advance purchasing: skipping the line at the box office or gates!

With so many creative solutions for maximizing revenue from your ticket sales, our top recommendation is always selling tickets early and online!

8 Steps to a More Sustainable Venue

With the effects of climate change continuing to appear worldwide, it’s important for organizations to evaluate their impact on the environment–and how it could be improved.

Whether it’s a one-time large-scale event or a series of smaller events that add up over time, don’t let hosting your events be wasteful. In 2022 we can all pledge to do our part in being a bit more eco-friendly.

Not sure where to start with sustainability? Here are 8 manageable ways your event or venue can become more green:

Establish an environmental policy: As an organization, company or association, draft a policy outlining your sustainability efforts and commitment to protecting the environment.
Reduce single-waste plastic: A growing number of states have banned the use of single-waste items like cups, straws, plates or cutlery. If these items aren’t recycled properly, they can end up in the oceans. Start small by ditching straws and work towards a totally plastic-free event.
Go digital: You can also reduce the use of paper by going digital whenever possible! This could be anything from sending out invitations via email or offering mobile-friendly tickets.
Choose LED for lighting: Still using fluorescent lighting? It’s time to switch to LED lights! These lights consume less power, thus saving energy and reducing carbon emissions.
Offer water bottle refill stations: From crew to attendees, think about the hundreds of empty plastic water bottles that just one event can make. Instead, encourage attendees to bring in their own reusable water bottles and install refill stations around the venue.
Don’t forget about recycling: Make sure there are multiple receptacles for people to recycle any plastic, glass or paper into. These should be easy to find and stationed by food areas, entrances, exits and along pathways.
Cut food waste: Depending on the type of venue or event, reducing food waste can be achieved in a multitude of ways such as serving locally-sourced produce, sustainably-sourced seafood, requesting biodegradable containers, or donating any surplus food.
Encourage more eco-friendly transportation: Your sustainable event will still leave a significant carbon footprint if everyone is driving their own cars in. Think about your venue and what could be feasible–is there public transportation people can use? Are there chargers for people driving an electric vehicle?
Be flexible: Many organizers, artists and performers are also looking for ways to make their events more eco-friendly whether that’s through vendor partnerships or requesting venues to be plastic-free. Be open to hearing new ideas and adapting for greener event.

Making small, positive changes to your venue will limit your organization’s environmental impact, and your attendees will thank you for it.

Have any creative ways your fair, venue or festival went a little more green? We’d love to hear them!

What’s in a Ticket?

Explore all the different options offered by SaffireTix.

How are attendees getting into your event? Are you scanning phones, tapping wristbands or tearing off ticket stock? With different ticket options provided by Saffire, you can choose the type of ticket that’s best for you!

Different ticket types offer different opportunities and advantages, so consider what could be the best type of ticket (it could be a few) for your fair or event.

Print-at-home ticket

Online and advance sales are crucial to offer, giving customers a PDF of a ticket that can easily be printed at their house and scanned at the gate. This type of ticket will usually be printed on a standard size of paper and with Saffire’s flexible ticket templates that allow you to promote sponsors on each print-at-home ticket with space to include up to four logos and an advertisement.

Mobile ticket

Just like the print-at-home tickets, mobile tickets are sent to customers who purchased a ticket online or as part of an advanced sale. If a guest isn’t able to print their ticket, they can easily be stored in their Apple wallet and present either that or the PDF on their mobile phone at the gate to be scanned.

Hard stock ticket

These are tickets that are likely going to be sold from a physical location (like the gate) or through partners. You can also facilitate advance sales with hard tickets and we partner with Admit One tickets to provide a stock of printed tickets. Additionally, you can attach a SaffireTix QR code to any hard ticket.

The Power of the QR Code

All of Saffire’s ticketing options allow the use of a QR code. Each QR code is unique, allowing you to set whatever parameters you would like, such as single or various redemption locations and limiting the number of scans a ticket is allowed.

For instance, using different QR codes you can create a series of once-per-day tickets, tickets that allow in-and-out for a range of dates or an any day ticket that works one time only. You could also use it for multiple admissions, so one person’s ticket can get them both through the front gate and into the carnival.

One option is to print a small square QR code sticker (1.5” or 2”) and place it on whatever you would like–a card, a lanyard, a ticket, etc. Perfect for creating season.
Another option is to use the Dymo ticket printers and blank tickets to print tickets as they are needed, typically at the box office. Size on these tickets are 2×4” and include event and ticket information, a QR code, and an optional note.

RFID Tickets

Our latest ticketing introduction has been the BlastPass contactless system. Using RFID technology embedded in either a wristband or physical card, attendees can load their ticket with credits that can be used around the fair or event.

Whichever type of ticket you choose to go with, with SaffireTix you can: manage and maintain what fees are charged to customer; access comprehensive reporting including sales reports, redemption reports, purchases reports, cash pickup alerts, audit reports and a nightly reports; and completely manage your box office.

Take control of your ticketing and provide your customers and employees with a fun, efficient platform that starts online, streamlines your box office and simplifies scanning and redemption of tickets.

Using TikTok to Promote Your Event

If you’re not already on TikTok, it’s time! Get the scoop on event marketing with the most downloaded app.

With roughly 656 million downloads in 2021, the app’s popularity has skyrocketed. Its short and engaging videos can suck you in for hours, and it is an incredible platform to promote your upcoming fair or event!

Why is TikTok Important for Event Marketing

If you still think TikTok is ‘just for the kids’—consider this: in February 2022 alone, TikTok was (again) the most downloaded app in the world in February with a total of 41 million downloads.

Looking to maximize reach while driving engagement? Even if you’ve never made a post before, your content can still be seen by millions of people! Additionally, your window for increased engagement is much larger, with TikTok increasing your content shelf life by 90 days. It’s a great way to start building the hype around your event and engage with potentially new customers.

Join a viral trend: The fastest (and possibly easiest) way to get seen is by jumping in on a trend. From popular audios and hashtags, you can put a spin on a current viral trend! Strive for authenticity and find those viral popular trends that would lend well to your event marketing campaign.

Host a takeover: Have someone else take over your account for the day! Get some perspectives like backstage access or a “day in the life”. If you’re hosting a state or county fair, you could ask 4H guests to post for an entire day, showing pictures of the animals being shown or results from a competition.

Collaborate with an influencer: If there is an influencer in your area, consider reaching out to them. If you can swing it, offer comped tickets in exchange for a post featuring your event. Not only can this introduce your event to their followers, but increased engagement will lead to higher views.

Run a contest: Encourage attendees to participate with the promise of a possible prize! Offering something like free or upgraded tickets for the winner can drive engagement while potentially giving you additional content to repost from your account.

Don’t Forget Instagram Reels: Born shortly after the rise of TikTok, Reels is Instagram’s take on short, vertical videos. Use the content created for TikTok and upload them to your Instagram account to connect with your existing Instagram audience.

Post a personalized hashtag: Post videos with a hashtag unique specifically to this year’s event. Be sure to share this hashtag on your different platforms, so your existing audience can get in on the fun!

Creating a TikTok plan

Before you post, have a plan in place! As you are planning your promotional campaign for the event, schedule time to film and post TikToks! Before the event, work on building the excitement for attendees and during the event capture what makes your fair or concert so fun. While the average length of a post on TikTok is just 15 seconds, you can take advantage of the 30-second or 1-minute feature to get a bit creative. As a team brainstorm some fun trends to participate in, and even storyboard out your ideas. That way when it comes to filming, you’ll be more than ready.

As social media trends continue to grow and new platforms become popular, it’s important to stay cognizant of engaging opportunities. Start connecting with fans from your events and start your TikTok account today!

Offer VIP Experiences That Sell

Make your event stand out from the crowd by creating exclusive opportunities for attendees.

More guests than you may think are willing to spend some extra money for an exclusive experience, special offers, or additional services. Reserved seating and meet & greets are the traditional VIP experiences, but events and venues should consider instituting more immersive and personal experiences for guests. You can also tier these experiences, offering multiple choices for attendees at different price points to boost revenue.

In 2022 hosting up-close and personal meet & greets with hugs and photos just isn’t feasible. Restrictions and the level of comfortability of the artist or performer(s) will work on a case-by-case basis, so it’s important to create a plan that is flexible.

Go Immersive

Transport attendees to another dimension! When Caesar’s Palace had to pivot their meet & greets over the past year, they worked with artists to create a one-of-a-kind experience for fans to enjoy. For instance, Donny Osmond’s meet-and-greet was transformed to welcome fans to his ‘living room’ full of memorabilia where he gave an exclusive and intimate concert to VIP guests.

Getting Creative

The experience economy is always growing, and you can tap into that within the experience you’re already hosting, providing exclusivity and opportunities to create memorable experiences for attendees. This could be as simple as staging an area for guests to take cute and candid pictures for their Instagram.

Offer VIP Accommodations

For outdoor concerts and festivals, offering upgraded bathrooms, showers, and other accommodations can sell quickly! You could also section off areas around a beer garden, off the side of the stage or near the front and offer tickets at a more premium price point. Small changes or upgrades can go a long way in improving guest satisfaction.

Hosting Private tours

Whether you have a historical venue, put on the largest fair in the state, or are a renowned sports venue, people love getting a behind-the-scenes of the magic. Host private tours for families or small groups for an intimate and personalized experience.

Pass out goody bags

Give attendees some souvenirs to take home with them! Include items like a commemorative lanyard and name badge or something handy for the event like portable chargers. These little surprises are great for keeping your VIP guests satisfied with their experience.

Offering a VIP experience can attract more guests and get you selling higher-priced tickets to boost your revenue. Get creative with what you’re offering! With everyone excited to attend live events again, the competition can be tough–so make sure you are standing out.

Marketing Your Event From Start to finish

Marketing your event takes planning and an effective timeline. Learn more about getting the word out about your fair or festival.

After all the hard months of planning the logistics and fine details of ensuring your event goes off without a hitch, now it’s time to market it. Having an effective strategy for marketing your event in the weeks leading up to it will not only get people to attend, but get them excited to!

Taking the average duration of an event’s promotion cycle, roughly eight weeks, we can start to outline a marketing plan. Of course this is dependent on the size of your event; larger events may require planning and marketing year-round, while a smaller or significantly shorter event may only need to be promoted for a few weeks. No matter how much (or how little) time you have planned for marketing, be sure to cover these phases:

Launch event:

Plan with Partners: Is your event working with any businesses or partners in the community? Work out final sponsorship details and provide them with marketing assets, like branded social media graphics.
Make an Announcement: Announce the dates, times, and location details on your major channels. Create social media posts, launch a press release, and send out email invitations.
Sell advance tickets: Start building the hype by offering discounted tickets for attendees who purchase early!

Pre-event

Your marketing efforts should really ramp up in the months and weeks leading up to your event. During this time you may choose to send out reminder emails, create a sense of urgency by hosting a flash sale, and get people excited that they will see you soon. You will want to create a timeline of exactly what messages are being sent out, what platform is being used, and when posts will go live.

During the Event

Send out updates: Keep attendees updated on changes with the event as it’s happening. Whether it’s a delay due to weather or a change in attractions, attendees will value their event experience when they feel kept in the loop.
Keep selling tickets: Keeping tickets on-sale during your fair or festival is a huge way to drive revenue but is often overlooked. Remind potential attendees tickets are still on sale and how they can purchase them.
Promote a hashtag specific to your event! South by Southwest uses the hashtag #SXSW year-round, Indiana State Fair uses the evergreen #IndyStateFair, and recently the Rose Parade used the hashtag #2022roseparade to tag their photos from this year’s parade. Be sure to use your hashtag in posts and encourage attendees to do the same. This can be a simple way to drive more visibility to your event.

Following the Event

Just because your event ends doesn’t mean your marketing should too! Post pictures on Facebook or Instagram of the event and be sure to send out emails to attendees thanking them for attending. In this email you could also send a survey and gather responses about satisfaction with the event for when you begin planning for your next fair, festival or concert.

The most important part of successfully marketing your event is creating a plan and sticking to it! Schedule out social media posts, compose emails or newsletters ahead of time, and get people excited to show up.

A Guide to Different Types of Event Tickets

Instead of offering just one kind of ticket for attendees, get the most revenue from your event by offering multiple types of tickets at different price points. Whether it’s a discount that draws an attendee to purchase a ticket or the promise of a VIP experience, drive sales and sell out your event by selling different types of tickets.

General Admission

A general admission (GA) ticket is the most common type of ticket and will be the way most people get into your event. Typically priced the lowest, GA tickets will get attendees through the door without any extras and is a staple for any ticketed event.

VIP

Generate additional income by offering exclusive, VIP tickets. You can include a VIP seating area, extra perks for the guests inside the event, swag bags, and more. Many attendees may choose to splurge and a VIP level may attract new customers and it’s a great way to drive revenue.

Reserved Seating

If you have a seated event, you can offer attendees the chance to choose their own seats. This way, seats on different levels or with different views can be priced accordingly. People who want to be close to the stage are willing to spend a bit more.

Pre-sale tickets

Although these tickets will be offered at a discount, pre-sale tickets sold online will put revenue in the bank before your event even starts! The lower price point and reminder could be the deciding purchase factor for potential attendees–and you will have an easier time planning your event with a more accurate estimate of attendees.

Discounted Tickets

Offering tickets at a discounted rate for students, military members, and seniors is a great way to support your local community and draw in a more diverse crowd. If there are conditions to purchasing the discounted tickets (i.e show student or military ID), don’t forget to include that in the ticket description.

Ticket Packages

Offering ticket bundles can incentivize families or larger groups to attend your event. Create a bundle that includes admission, parking and food vouchers for five people at a discounted rate. Make it clear the savings ones get when they purchase a package over buying each item individually.

Hybrid Option

Although you may be back to holding in-person events, you may want to consider still hosting a hybrid event! Not only will this make your event more accessible, but you may attract people who would not have bought a ticket previously, like out out-of-town family who want to join in the festivities.

You can easily offer multiple types of tickets, packages, and discounts in your current ticketing plan—especially with an integrated ticketing and website platform like Saffire.

10 Ways to Increase Revenue at Your Event

Planning an event is expensive, and roughly one-third of event planners say that increasing revenue is their biggest challenge. We’ve seen and heard of many creative methods in 2021, but here are just 10 ways you can improve sales and revenue for your next event!

Sell Tickets Online

Shocking, right?! Saffire always recommends you make sure your event tickets are as accessible as possible to attendees! The main goal of ticketing is to get folks through the gates, but it’s also about improving your bottom line. Most Saffire clients see a remarkable increase after strategically selling more through their online channel. Clay County Fair first partnered with SaffireTix in 2019, and after increasing their budget to get more fans on their site, they saw a staggering 118% increase in online ticket sales.

Don’t Stop Selling Tickets Online Once Your Event Starts

Just because the physical gates are open doesn’t mean online sales should stop. After selling 13,000 tickets before their event, Red River Valley Fair kept their tickets online during their fair and sold an additional 11,000 tickets!

Host a Flash Sale

Northwest Washington Fair hosted a flash sale for their tickets last year and hit their revenue goal out of the park! By capitalizing on demand, NWWF was able to secure an enormous percentage of their revenue with over a month left to go before the fair.

Offer a VIP Experience

If you build it, they will come. And the same is true for VIP experiences! Offer exclusive tiers where you can charge more per ticket for attendees to have a more impactful experience at your event. This could be everything from a special fenced area for seating, to semi-private port-a-potties to special access to an artist!

Implement a Cashless System

Are you hand counting tickets until the wee hours of the morning? Buckets of tokens? Did you know utilizing a closed-loop cashless system can actually increase on-site guest spending by 15-30% when compared to events using traditional forms of payment? Additionally, you will save money by not needing staff or security to count and handle cash at the event.

Utilize RFID

Like going cashless, RFID systems have had a higher adoption rate since COVID. In addition to cutting out cash, RFID technology can also provide opportunities for brands to engage with attendees and track live data of attendees.

Leverage Your Sponsorships

A good relationship with sponsors is beneficial for all parties involved. Work with your sponsors to see what they are able to offer, and how to best utilize their brand into your event. One way to do this is by selling sponsorship packages. Selling a headline spot with additional promotional items or additional brand exposure can actually help to make certain parts of your event paid for.

Make & Sell Some Merch

People want to represent the places they’re from and where they’ve gone. Work with your graphic designer (or a local artist!) to produce hats, shirts, hoodies and any other kind of collectible merchandise. Merch can be sold on-site or even on your Saffire website!

Spend Advertising Dollars Wisely

Are most of your marketing dollars going to print or radio ads? Team, it’s 2021. There are far better and way more measurable ways to get a return on your investment! Digital platforms are one of the best ways to reach your audience. Trust us, our social and digital marketing strategies have been crushing sales goals all year, and YOU could be next!

Strategically Use Your Email List

If you’ve collected attendees’ contact information, make sure you’re marketing to them! Send out emails reminding everyone of ticketing flash sales, a countdown to the event, and more. You could also send out an email following the event to gather attendee feedback to improve your next event!

Have your implemented a creative strategy to increase your event’s revenue streams? Connect with us and let us know!