Let’s face it: Most events are all about the bottom line. One of the biggest challenges for organisers is how to sell tickets online for their event.
Selling tickets online can be an art form or it can be a science. There are many approaches you can take—and we’re about to go through the best ones.
Follow each of these 17 tips to sell tickets online, and you’ll be following in the footsteps of the most successful event planners.
Ready? Let’s dive in.
1. SEO optimise your event website
Ranking on Google (and other search engines) is a major element in bringing relevant audience to your event and selling more tickets. An event blog (see below) is one way to improve the SEO of your event website. But there are other things to do, such as optimising each page, meta description, and image alt tags.
Tip: Learn how to rank your event on Google so you get more organic traffic to your site.
2. Start an event blog
You shouldn’t solely rely on a ticket selling website to help you with content marketing. Start an event blog to draw new potential attendees to your event website.
Tip: Find some inspiration in the many event planning blogs we’ve covered in our ultimate guide.
3. Optimise your event website design
The design of your website matters as much as the copy…if not more. Slick design and a well-positioned call-to-action button can help you sell more tickets online.
Tip: If you’re not a designer, you should read our guide to event website design tricks.
4. Do a press release
Although press releases can seem old school in the digital age, they do have their place in certain industries. If your audience reads press releases, use them to sell more tickets.
Tip: Learn how to write a press release and how to distribute it far and wide.
5. Create an event agenda
Some events sell out based on their reputation alone. Most others have to leverage their event agenda to sell tickets. Write a compelling event agenda, so your attendees know what they’re paying for.
Tip: You can draw inspiration from our guide on how to create a conference agenda.
6. Use event registration software
Event software like Billetto will help you sell tickets online and also give you valuable audience insights. These include demographics, attendance, engagement, revenue, and more.
Tip: Check out your options in our guide on how to find the best ticketing app for your event.
7. Find a media partner
Marketing and ticket sales go hand in hand, so a good media partnership can only help your bottom line. Make sure you partner with an outlet that caters to your target audience.
Tip: Use our guide on forming a media partnership to aid in your search for the right outlet.
8. Segment your event attendees
Your event attendees aren’t all the same. What appeals to some of them may not appeal to others. By segmenting your audience (and your mailing list), you can market to each group in a more personalised manner.
Tip: Read about segmenting your event attendees so you don’t send irrelevant emails.
9. Run Google ads
Google accounts for the vast majority of online searches. You can increase your chance to sell tickets online if you master the art of PPC ads. Make sure you target the right mix of long- and short-tail keywords.
Tip: Learn how to promote your event with Google ads with our guide on the subject.
10. Run Facebook ads
Facebook is great for any event, whether you want to sell gig tickets or conference tickets. The Facebook Events feature is invaluable because it integrates with popular ticket selling sites like Billetto.
Tip: If you haven’t already, have a look at our guide on how to use Facebook ads to promote your event.
11. Run Twitter ads
If your audience lives on Twitter, it makes sense to promote your event there. Use Twitter ads to drive traffic to your event registration site and sell more tickets.
Tip: Read our guide on using Twitter ads to promote your event to learn the ropes.
12. Use LinkedIn Events and ads
LinkedIn is still one of the most underrated platforms for marketing. That’s particularly true for B2B events and conferences. The newly revived LinkedIn Events tool is also useful.
Tip: Check out our guide on how to promote your event on LinkedIn for more tips.
13. Post Instagram Stories
Instagram is a great visual tool if you want to sell concert tickets (among others). The Stories feature is where it’s really at, because your followers can watch the story and then swipe up to register for your event.
Tip: Sell more tickets with these seven steps to promoting your event with Instagram Stories.
14. Run retargeting ads
Facebook and Google ads can be very effective on their own, but retargeting ads are even better. It does require a bit of work on the back-end, but the pay-off is incredible.
Tip: Start by learning about retargeting for events first. Then take a deep dive into our separate guides on how to do it for Google and Facebook.
15. Use pricing strategies
You can manipulate the price of your event tickets to influence sales. One of the most common ways to do that is to offer early-bird discounts, which are great ticket sellers.
Tip: We’ve already covered ways to price tickets for an event and included useful tips and tools.
16. Organise ticket giveaways
Yes, it sounds crazy. But when it comes to online ticket selling, it may make sense to give a few of them away. Organise a giveaway competition on social media and have your followers share your event.
Tip: Find inspiration in our list of 13 best ticket giveaway ideas for social media.
17. Track your sales
How do you know when you sell a ticket online? If you don’t keep track of that information, it’s difficult to increase ticket sales for future events. Make sure you work with online ticket sellers such as Billetto that automatically track all sales and give you detailed insights.
Tip: Find an app to sell tickets that also helps you monitor revenue and ticket sales.
Ready to sell out?
No, it’s not always easy to sell tickets online for an event. But now that you’ve learned 17 solid tips for doing it, there is no excuse to not try out a new approach.
Drop us a comment below and let us know which methods work best for you and your events. We’d love to hear first-hand experiences!