Category: Ticketing

The Psychology Behind Ticket Sales

Ever wondered why certain events sell out within minutes while others struggle to fill seats? Or what drives people to pay top dollar for a premium experience? We’re diving into the psychology that goes into making a purchase and exploring consumer behavior because understanding these nuances can be the game-changer in event success.

Selling the Experience

There are various factors that have the power to influence a customer’s purchase decisions:

  • FOMO: Even if you’ve never heard of it, you have most likely experienced it! As an abbreviation for “fear of missing out,” FOMO is that worried or anxious feeling in your gut when you may miss exciting events, or see pictures on your social media of friends having fun at an event without you. Folks don’t like the idea of not being a part of something, and you can use this to your advantage. Combine this with the principle of scarcity and you’ll be selling tickets in no time. Using phrases like “limited tickets available” and offering limited time deals are both great ways to create that sense of urgency that can lead to impulse buying. 

  • Emotional Connection and Nostalgia: Whether it’s a county fair that has been held over over 100 years or a festival celebrating local culture, there are events that are a little extra special to us, and most of the time as consumers we are willing to pay more for that experience. Remind buyers that for a ticket to your event, they can relive fond memories and create new ones with their own family. 

  • Pricing and perceived value: Let’s talk about the psychology of pricing! The initial price you set for a single ticket, known as the “anchor,” will typically have a higher-than-normal anchor price (think of the original prices set at stores like Kohl’s). Then by offering discounts, promotions or bundled packages, customers get the feeling of bagging a great deal. Another factor is in the perceived value of the ticket. Create and market your event in such a way that buyers have the belief that the ticket’s value exceeds its cost, it can heavily influence whether or not a purchase is made. 

Online Ticketing – Convenience & Psychology 

Gone are the days of standing in long queues or making phone calls to secure your tickets. The shift to an online-buying experience has fundamentally altered consumer behavior, changing how we market tickets too!

User Experience and Decision Making

The purchase of tickets now entails more than simply choosing an event to attend. Factors such as ease of access, seamless navigation, security, and trust play pivotal roles in influencing consumer decisions. The interface design, the reassurance of secure transactions, and the ease of the checkout process all shape the psychology behind a successful ticket purchase.

Integrated ticketing systems have emerged as game-changers in this scenario. They redefine the entire process, not just by streamlining ticket sales and distribution but also by harnessing data for personalization.

The integration of such systems deeply impacts consumer psychology in multifaceted ways. Trust and reliability are fostered through seamless transactions and secure platforms. The sheer convenience and efficiency elevate the overall ticket-buying experience, contributing significantly to building customer loyalty.

Understanding and Exploring Integrated Ticketing

Having an understanding of consumer psychology within the realm of ticket sales is paramount. It’s not just about selling tickets; it’s about comprehending the nuances of consumer behavior and leveraging that understanding to enhance the entire process.

 Consider exploring the benefits of what different ticketing platforms have to offer, such as security and support. If you want to see firsthand what an integrated platform can do for an event like yours, sign up for a demo with Saffire! 

Ticketing Solutions for Your Haunting Adventure

Don’t frighten away guests with long lines or slow entry! With the right ticketing partner by your side, you can deliver a haunting experience for all.

With Halloween right around the corner, we enter the season of spooky hayrides, haunted houses, frightening corn mazes and other spine-chilling haunts! But what’s actually scarier than a headless man running after you with a chainsaw? A ticketing company that doesn’t have everything you need to run a smooth event. 

So, let’s explore the features your haunted attraction should look for in a ticketing partner so you can deliver a horrifying (but efficient) experience to all your guests. 

A Hauntingly Effortless Ticketing Process 

First and foremost, you want to make sure people can actually buy your tickets! Look for a partner with an intuitive interface that’s easy to manage–and bonus points for integration! Plus, Most folks are buying their tickets on their smartphones nowadays, so you’ll want to double-check they offer a mobile optimized platform. 

Next thing to consider is can you offer the types of tickets you want? From general admission and VIP tickets to group discounts and promo codes, the more ticketing options you have, the better you can meet the needs of your audience. 

Making Entry Management Scary Fast  

Don’t let long, slow-moving lines frighten away your guests! Instead, use a ticketing system that delivers their tickets directly into their mobile wallet. With a QR code on their smartphone, it only takes a couple seconds (and less gate attendants) to scan tickets and let folks in. You’ll also want to keep people moving once they’ve entered the attraction, so find a platform with real-time capacity monitoring to avoid overcrowding and ensure safety. Additionally, a robust system should allow you to effectively manage re-entry and prevent unauthorized individuals from entering. Access control is crucial to maintaining order and the spooky experience for guests. 

Frighteningly Good Reporting 

Improving your haunt and its operations should be driven by data! By having access to real-time reports and data collected from customers, you can tailor your marketing efforts to different audiences and optimize pricing strategy based on sales trends. You can also use the data to make your haunted attraction even better for next year–see what specific haunts are most popular and allocate resources during peak times to keep guests enjoying their spine-tingling adventure without long waits or empty scares. 

Scream-Worthy Service 

You might be running a haunted attraction, but that doesn’t mean you want to be ghosted by your ticketing partner! Whether it’s the haunting season or not, you’ll want to find a ticketing partner that is available year round by chat, email or phone. The ideal ticketing partner will be one of your best allies! So be on the lookout for one with a smart and dedicated team to answer your questions quickly, offer emergency support and promptly offer any assistance. With the peace of mind of a support team that always has your back, you can focus on making the spookiest, scariest haunt possible! 

As Halloween approaches, it’s hard to overstate the importance of finding the perfect ticketing partner for your haunted attraction! Look for a partner that can facilitate a seamless ticketing process, keep the lines flowing, collect the right kind of data, and prioritize responsive customer support. With the right partner, you can create bone-chilling experiences that will haunt them long after they leave!

Sell More Tickets With Influencer Marketing

With 61% of consumers trusting influencers’ recommendations, it’s not hard to understand why influencer marketing has quickly become an essential part of many brands’ marketing strategies. And it just could be the ticket (pun intended) to boost your ticket sales. 

By partnering with local influencers who have a relevant and engaged audience, you can leverage their reach and credibility to promote and drive interest in your event. 

It’s easier than you might think! Here’s some easy steps you can to get started with influencer marketing:

Identify relevant influencers

The first step in any influencer marketing campaign is to identify relevant influencers who can help you promote your event. Tasha Hyder from Clay County Fair actually invited two different influencers to this year, a “mommy blogger” appealing to families and a food blogger with a large audience in the area. 

Set clear objectives

Before you launch your influencer marketing campaign, it’s essential to set clear objectives for what you want to achieve. Do you want to increase brand awareness, drive ticket sales, or both? Be specific about your goals, and make sure they are measurable so you can track your progress.

Create engaging content

Once you’ve identified your influencers, you’ll need to work with them to create engaging content that promotes your event. Consider giving influencers creative freedom to come up with their own ideas for promoting your event. Authenticity is key to their audience.

Provide incentives

Influencers are often motivated by incentives like free tickets or access to VIP areas. In exchange for creating and posting content to promote your event, consider sending admission tickets, drink tickets, parking passes, food vouchers, or other goodies along with their invitation. Ideally, you would want to provide everything necessary for the influencer to attend, like tickets and parking, then add additional incentives to try and get them to come. 

Track your results

Finally, it’s essential to track your results and measure the success of your influencer marketing campaign. Use tracking tools on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram to gather metrics including likes, comments, and shares. And take a look at sales reports in your Spark dashboard to see if any boosts in sales could be attributed to their content. This will help you determine what worked well and what needs improvement for future campaigns.

Spend some time exploring who’s influential in your area—did you know almost half (47%) of influencers are considered to be ‘micro-influencers’ with 5,000-20,000 followers? With higher engagement rates and many accounts meeting this threshold, there may be way more influencers around your event than you realize, and much more budget-friendly than you had considered. You can easily find influencers by searching relevant hashtags or nearby locations in your area! 

Alerting Customers to Fraudulent Tickets

Our top priority at Saffire is providing a secure and reliable platform for customers to purchase tickets to their favorite events. Unfortunately over the past couple years, the rise of fraud has made it increasingly difficult for folks to trust the ticketing industry. We’ll look at some of the common tactics used to swindle ticket sales and discuss how you can best protect your customers from falling victim to ticket scams. 

So, what should you be on the lookout for? 

  • Fraudulent ticketing sites: These are websites that claim to sell tickets to events, but are not authorized by the event organizers as the official ticketing platform. These fake sites look legitimate and often use aggressive marketing tactics to lure unsuspecting customers into making a purchase. Once someone has paid for the tickets (typically at a price significantly higher than face value), they are sent either fake tickets or no tickets at all. 
  • Ticket scams: Similar to fraudulent ticketing sites, these scams also involve the sale of fake tickets or tickets that do not exist. However, it can also involve the sale of legitimate tickets that have already been sold to someone else. This can happen when a scammer purchases tickets to an event and then sells them to people, pocketing the money without delivering any actual tickets. 
  • Unauthorized ticket resellers: This constitutes any individuals or companies that buy tickets to events and resell them at a markup. While this is not inherently fraudulent, it can lead to fake tickets that can’t scan, overpriced tickets and other issues. In some cases, these resellers will use deceptive tactics to make it look like they are the official ticketing platform or that they are a legitimate secondary reseller. 

Helping Customers Avoid Scams 

Be sure to remind customers the only way to protect themselves from ticket scams is to only purchase tickets from authorized sources. Warn folks to be wary of sites that offer tickets at prices that seem too good to be true, as these offers are often fraudulent. 

Some of our clients are adding messaging to their homepage or posting reminders on their social media to alert fans of potential scams, and remind customers that their site is the only place to purchase guaranteed tickets. We love how these clients are using the tools at their fingertips to get the message out! Check out the examples from Fond Du Lac County Fair and Cody Stampede Rodeo. 

Fraudulent ticketing sites, ticket scams, and unauthorized ticket resellers can be a major problem for customers who are looking to purchase tickets to their favorite events. By reminding folks to be cautious and only purchase tickets from authorized sources, you can protect your guests from falling victim to these scams. And with a trusted ticketing platform, you can guarantee attendees safe and secure tickets!

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: 

  1. 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! 
  2. 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.  
  3. 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. 
  4. 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. 
  5. 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!

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. 

How a Cashless System Can Upgrade Your Event

Putting on a successful event can be one of the most fun and rewarding experiences. There is nothing better than seeing the smiles on eager event-goers faces, but they can also be difficult and tiring. The never-ending job as an event manager is to make everyone happy: customers, vendors, and acts are all counting on … Continue reading “How a Cashless System Can Upgrade Your Event”

Putting on a successful event can be one of the most fun and rewarding experiences. There is nothing better than seeing the smiles on eager event-goers faces, but they can also be difficult and tiring. The never-ending job as an event manager is to make everyone happy: customers, vendors, and acts are all counting on you to keep things organized and running smoothly. Dealing with long lines, long transaction times, rowdy attendees and piles of cash going through the hands of many different vendors can make an event needlessly stressful.

 

The good news? Cashless systems are taking over the event, fair and festival space, and they’re making demands easier to handle. Not only does a cashless system make lines and transaction times shorter, but it has been proven to increase revenue at events by up to 30%!

 

Saffire has seen cashless systems in action (and we have launched our own system, BlastPass, in the process!) and we’re 100% on board with the new technology.  The trend is spreading like wildfire for good reason. Huge festivals like Coachella, Austin City Limits and Lollapalooza have jumped on board, and there are no signs of it slowing down anytime soon.  So, are cashless systems worth it?

 

Here’s why we think they are:

 

Increased Revenue:

Shorter lines and transaction times mean that attendees have more time to spend on food and fun. Cashless systems have proven to create more capita per customer, and in the end that often means more revenue for your event. Money is easily trackable at any time through real-time reporting, making it easier to keep track of than ever.

 

Carefree Event:

For attendees, nothing is easier than pre-purchasing a card or wristband, which they can use for all sorts of things like gate admittance and purchasing food. Reload stations throughout your event allow customers to refill when necessary and rarely have to worry about their wallets. The added security for event-goers is priceless. Combine this with a smoother running event for event managers, and it’s a win-win situation.

 

Real-time Reporting:

Reporting can be a real lifesaver for events. Not too long ago, managers were forced to wait until the close of the day to finalize money counts and close registers. Today, real-time reporting gives them an in-the-moment look at total earnings, what every vendor has sold, event capacity and more. It can mean the difference between chaos and nipping a fire in the bud before it ever starts.

 

No Internet Needed:

Some cashless systems, like Saffire’s, can be used 100% offline. Downtime is never an option, so systems that can operate without an internet connection are extremely valuable.

 

With a system that is so beneficial for both the event organizer and the attendee, its no wonder why cashless systems are taking over the event space.  To learn more about how cashless systems can increase your revenue, read more here or reach out to us today!

How to *Actually* Sell Tickets with Facebook Ads in 4 Easy Steps

Billions of people use Facebook every single day. With numbers like that, it’s easy to see why Facebook is one of the best places to sell tickets for your event! Facebook ads offer an affordable but effective way to get your event in front of thousands – and even millions – of people online, all … Continue reading “How to *Actually* Sell Tickets with Facebook Ads in 4 Easy Steps”

Billions of people use Facebook every single day. With numbers like that, it’s easy to see why Facebook is one of the best places to sell tickets for your event! Facebook ads offer an affordable but effective way to get your event in front of thousands – and even millions – of people online, all without ever leaving your office!

 

Here at Saffire, we truly believe that selling advance tickets online can make a world of difference for your event. Every year, we work with hundreds of different events. Though all of our clients are unique -different types, sizes and audiences – we all have the same goals: selling out fantastic events & making the process fast, easy and fun for customers! What’s easier than buying your ticket online and showing up completely worry-free?

 

Setting up Facebook ads for your event can be intimidating, but it is one of the best ways to get advanced sales up and running. We hear from clients every day wondering “Where do I go? What do I click? What should the ads look like, and who should I target?” The great news is that setting up ads can be easier than you think. Plus, if you are interested in running more advanced ads or need some additional help – Saffire is just one call away.

 

Here’s How to Create Facebook Ads That Actually Sell Tickets in 4 Easy Steps:

 

  1. Plan

Before you dive right into your Facebook ads, begin by creating a plan for your content. Creating a strategy will help you cut down time, reach the right audience and stay on track with your goals. Start by asking yourself a few questions:

 

What Is Your Goal for Each Ad?

Before you get started, it’s important to create a specific and actionable goal for what you’d like to accomplish with your ads. This many seem obvious. “We want to sell tickets – duh!” But keep in mind that people rarely buy tickets the first time they hear about an event. That’s why Saffire recommends creating a series – or “campaign” of multiple Facebook ads used to inform and excite your customers before eventually getting them to buy. For this reason, Facebook offers a few different types of ads meant to promote your event in different ways.

 

Whether your goal for this specific campaign is to gain awareness (we recommend running awareness campaigns three to six months before your event) or to get off the ground running with ticket sales, choose a goal that is measurable and realistic. For an awareness campaign, your goal might be something like reach 5,000 people. For ticket sales, try something like sell 500 tickets in two weeks.

 

What Is Your Budget?

There are a couple of different things that will affect the reach of your ad including your audience, engagement and budget. Decide on a budget early so you can plan out your campaign effectively. Generally, we recommend budgeting about $100 for a two-to-three week ad.

 

 

  1. Create Content

Once you’ve got your strategy planned and ready to go, it’s time to actually create your content. An effective Facebook ad requires two things: an eye-catching photo or video and copy for your description.

 

For your photo or video, we recommend choosing something eye-catching from a previous or similar event. Make sure that your graphic shows potential customers what there is to love about your event. What makes your event special? The amazing food? The superstar talent? Or maybe you’re running a really great deal or giveaway! Whatever it is, choose one FOMO-worthy feature and focus on that. Then write a description that draws people in. We recommend keeping it short and sweet, and don’t forget your call to action!

 

If your having trouble coming up with ideas, checking out ads from your competition is a great way to keep yourself in the game with fresh ideas. Check out Facebook’s new Ads Library to check out active campaigns.

 

  1. Target

Targeting is one of the most important pieces of creating an effective ad. What’s a great ad without the perfect people to show it to? When it comes to targeting your ad to the right people, there are a few things you should be thinking about:

 

  1. Area – Targeting your ad to people who live close by.
  2. Demographics – Targeting your ad to people who fit your audience demographics. This might mean targeting parents if your event is a family-friendly fair or targeting 21-35 year-olds if your event is a hip music festival.
  3. Interests – Targeting your ad to people who have liked similar things on Facebook. This might mean targeting people who already like your Facebook page, have liked similar events in the past or even people who follow your concert talent or partners!

 

Don’t forget to retarget, retarget, retarget! It’s easy for people to get distracted online. Sometimes all they need is a nudge (or 3) in the right direction. Studies have shown that people are 80% more likely to respond to a retargeting ad than a regular campaign! Don’t take that number for granted. It’s one of the most important reasons Saffire recommends creating a campaign instead of running just one ad – and it can be extremely effective!

 

There are a few ways you can use retargeting to work in your favor including: retargeting people that have interacted with another ad in your campaign, retargeting people that have bought tickets to a past event using custom audiences and retargeting people that have been on your website recently.

 

  1. Test, Refine & Do It Again

 

Finally, it’s time to let your ad run! Once your ad has been running for a day or two, you can check its performance in the Ads Manager. Over time, your analytics will be your guiding light to help you tweak your ads for the best results. Remember, Rome was not built in a day – and neither is a successful ad campaign. Testing and tweaking are the keys to figuring out your audience and creating ads the resonate.

 

 

If you’re still having trouble creating the perfect ad, have no fear! Saffire’s marketing team is available to help craft an ad that is just right for your event. Chat with your coach or salesperson to learn more about our ad services.

 

GONE in a (Flash Sale) – Tips to Run Quick Promotions

FLASH SALE! Everyone seems to be having a flash sale these days. But why? Because they work! Flash sales are a proven method of driving more people to your event or venue. Giving discounts is a way to pump up your fans and make them feel like they are getting a special deal. When utilized … Continue reading “GONE in a (Flash Sale) – Tips to Run Quick Promotions”

FLASH SALE! Everyone seems to be having a flash sale these days. But why? Because they work! Flash sales are a proven method of driving more people to your event or venue. Giving discounts is a way to pump up your fans and make them feel like they are getting a special deal. When utilized correctly, discounts can be an essential part of a successful promotional strategy. Most people do not go to events alone, so if someone gets a discounted ticket, there is a good chance they will end up bringing additional attendees that might even purchase tickets at full price, and of course, spend more while on site.

We came up with these six easy steps you can follow for a successful flash sale.

Define the Goals of the Flash Sale

Start by clearly defining what you want to accomplish. We all want to sell more tickets, but it is important to decide what type of tickets you need to sell.

  • Do you need to increase the volume of people through the door?
  • Does a concert need to have 75% or more attendance?
  • Are there shows that need promotional help?
  • Do you need to sell more of a certain type of ticket, be it children’s tickets or VIP seats?

Make it Simple

Don’t over complicate your sale if your goal is to sell more tickets. Sales that make customers jump through hoops and click on multiple pages to earn a discount will result in your customers becoming frustrated and less likely to purchase.

Define your Audience

Take the time to research which customers you want to target. The more focused the target audience, the easier it will be to develop a message. Targeting a specific audience does not mean you are necessarily excluding people that do not fit your criteria. It just allows you to focus your brand message on a specific audience that is more likely to buy tickets from you than other markets. Targeting is much more affordable, efficient, and effective way to reach potential ticket buyers. No one can afford to target everyone!

Pick the Right Time and Date

You want to make sure that your flash sale is at a convenient time. Sunday mornings are probably going to perform less than Friday at noon. It is important to keep the time window of your sale short. Don’t run a 4-day sale. Your goal is to create a sense of urgency. Make sure that your flash sale feels special. Don’t run a new sale every single week, this will make your sale less successful. We also recommend tracking the effectiveness of your sale times for future marketing plans.

Make Sure the Savings are Worth It

In the event industry, early sales can have a major impact on your bottom line. Flash sales help you better prepare for your event. The discount you are offering should be something that people will want to stop what they are doing to purchase your tickets. Only offering $1 off is not going to get people moving. The deal has to be worth your customer’s time.

Build the Hype

Announce your flash sale on all your social media channels and in an email blast. Announce the sale via press releases to your local media. (Make sure to get them the info early in the day so it can make the morning news!) Social media is a good place to focus your efforts as these platforms allow your customers to share the sale organically with their friends.

Running a flash sale can be an easy way for your event to get a boost in ticket sales and is a great tool to add to your marketing plans. Don’t get discouraged if your first attempt doesn’t create a Black Friday mob, like all things with social media and developing your brand, it will grow over time!

 

Navigating the World of Ticketing

  We’ve heard time and time again, that one of the most painful parts of hosting an event is trying to calculate how many tickets you sold and how much money you made at the end of the night! Who wants to sit around weighing bags of tickets or balancing registers? Luckily, ticketing systems that … Continue reading “Navigating the World of Ticketing”

 

We’ve heard time and time again, that one of the most painful parts of hosting an event is trying to calculate how many tickets you sold and how much money you made at the end of the night! Who wants to sit around weighing bags of tickets or balancing registers? Luckily, ticketing systems that combine your online, advance and gate sales are now widely available, and many of these tasks can be handled digitally, with the click of a mouse. However, there are SO many ticketing solutions out there and so many features that are important! Besides integrated and all-inclusive reporting, how do you choose which is best for you? Here are a few tips to take in to consideration when choosing a ticketing system.

The first thing to look for is the ability to bundle items together to make a nice, convenient, all-inclusive ticket or pass.  You should be able to produce one QR code or barcode and then be able to track multiple variables.  For example, one code generated could be used for entry into your fair gate, parking and the rodeo, all on one code. This makes things less confusing for your customers as well as people taking tickets, and is often less expensive for you and your customers because you are only paying a fee on one ticket. If possible, allow customers to download the bundled ticket they purchase to their own device as well, rather than requiring them to have a printed copy.

Next, look for a solution that gets creative in helping you track all different kinds of tickets and badges! Have you ever wanted the ability to create VIP passes, but have just not been able to make it work?  Or, how about quickly creating scannable parking tags?  Maybe even badges for a convention hosted at your venue or destination? With many comprehensive ticketing systems, anything that you need tracked is all within your grasp, no matter the type of material or physical item you are selling.

Finally, you should focus on streamlining the checkout process for your customer. Linking off to another website or ticketing portal results in “cart abandonment” and lost ticket sales due to confusion and clicking through multiple sites and pages. Having an integrated platform is one of the best tools to prevent people from leaving before they complete their purchase. If your tickets cannot be on your website, and you must link to a third-party portal, at the very least, make sure you are able to match the theme and colors of the ticketing portal to your website as closely as possible so that customers feel at ease when making a purchase.

Savvy customers today expect an integrated, seamless ticketing experience, no matter where they choose to buy or what type of event they attend. When looking for a ticketing solution, be sure that the system can be as dynamic and flexible as your organization!