[et_pb_section admin_label=”section”]
\n\t\t\t[et_pb_row admin_label=”row”]
\n\t\t\t\t[et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text”]<\/p>\n
An early bird ticket sale is just one of many ways for increasing event attendance. This is an old-time strategy that has been around for ages. Most veteran event planners can attest to their effectiveness.<\/p>\n
Learn all about early bird ticket sales, the best practices, and why they should be incorporated for your next event.<\/p>\n
Early Bird Sales Explained<\/strong><\/p>\n Early bird sales are basically a timeframe where tickets go on sale before the official date of ticket sales for the general public. As you can guess, early bird sales are normally only limited to certain members, such as those with club or VIP membership.<\/p>\n Obviously, there also needs to be some special type of offer during this sales window. The simplest way is to provide a discount off the retail ticket price. However, there are also other ways you can go about it.<\/p>\n You can, for example, provide other incentives with the purchase of a ticket, such as a discount code good for an online purchase, free ticket upgrade to VIP status, free sweepstakes entry, or additional promotional swag that can be picked up at the event.<\/p>\n Who Should Offer Early Bird Ticketing?<\/strong><\/p>\n Keep in mind that early bird sales are not compatible for every company and event. It\u2019s actually counterproductive if your events tend to sell out quickly. If this is the case, then there is no need for early bird sales as doing so means potential revenue loss stemmed from discounted tickets and\/or store discounts, giveaways, etc.<\/p>\n On the other hand, early bird sales can definitely work to your advantage if this is your first event or past events failed to reach attendance goals. If ticket sales are unpredictable, then consider sending out a simple survey<\/a> to members asking how likely are they to attend event X at this venue and date. If responses indicate that most people are on the fences, then an early bird special just might be what you need to sway those in doubt.<\/p>\n Who Should You Offer Early Bird Ticket Deals to?<\/strong><\/p>\n This was somewhat touched upon earlier. Obviously, early bird privileges would lose its meaning if the offer was extended to the general public. Be choosy about who gets it. Preferably, it should be reserved for those who have demonstrated themselves to be loyal customers. Here\u2019s some ideas of the demographic you might offer the deal to:<\/p>\n What Are the Benefits?<\/strong><\/p>\n The benefits are, of course, that you reach ticket sale<\/a> levels that otherwise may not have been achievable. A higher attendance means more brand awareness and opportunities to convert the casual attendee into a long-term consumer. This is especially important if your company is still a young startup. Acquiring brand recognition early on is vital and may be well worth potential revenue loss from selling tickets at a fraction of the cost.<\/p>\n In addition, by extending the early bird sales to select members, you are letting them know that you acknowledge their patronage, and the offer is your way of saying thank you. This helps retain those who have already shown company loyalty.<\/p>\n How to Price Early Bird Tickets<\/strong><\/p>\n So is there an ideal discount range? There\u2019s no set rule, though a good rule of thumb is to keep the discount offer around 20% to 40% off the retail ticket price. You don\u2019t want to go lower or higher than that. If you go too low, like 5% or 10%, then people will scoff at it or think you\u2019re being a cheapskate. The discount may also not be high enough to sway people who are still unsure.<\/p>\n Similarly, you don\u2019t want to provide a mega high discount either. There\u2019s two reasons for this. First, an exorbitantly high discount, such as anything over 50%, can hurt the overall revenue. If tickets are originally priced at $50, and you provide a 70% discount, which lowers ticket cost to $15, then that\u2019s a $35 loss for every discounted ticket sold. If you sold 30 early bird tickets, that\u2019s a $1,050 loss, which can be a huge sum for smaller companies.<\/p>\n Secondly, high discounts may also give attendees the impression that the event isn\u2019t all that it\u2019s hyped up to be. People by nature associate value with a monetary cost. If they purchase a ticket that\u2019s been dramatically marked down, then they may second guess whether the event is really all that and a bag of chips.<\/p>\n What Are the Disadvantages?<\/strong><\/p>\n There are no major disadvantages as long as the early bird sale is implemented strategically. As already mentioned, there is the potential drawback of loss revenue. You may also have to make up the loss somewhere else by compensating in another area, such as giving out less promotional swag<\/a>, or renting a lower cost venue.<\/p>\n This is the only noticeable drawback, but it\u2019s an important one that needs to be taken into consideration. This is why it was mentioned earlier that early bird sales can be counterproductive and not recommend for companies that normally already do well with respects to ticket sales.<\/p>\n Give Early Bird Sales a Try<\/strong><\/p>\n Early bird sales may not be right for every company, but it\u2019s definitely worth a try if you anticipate ticket sales to be an uphill battle. It just might be what you need to get some much needed traction for your event.<\/p>\n This is a guest post by Dan McCarthy, Event Manager at <\/em>JD Parties<\/em><\/a>, an event management company based in the UK. Dan has five years of event project management under his belt. He has worked on many successful events, and currently he shares his knowledge by writing on the company blog. Follow him on Twitter <\/em>@DanCarthy2<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column] An early bird ticket sale is just one of many ways for increasing event attendance. This is an old-time strategy that has been around for ages. Most veteran event planners can attest to their effectiveness.Learn all about early bird ticket sales, the best practices, and why they should be incorporated for your next event.Early Bird […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1120,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":" An early bird ticket sale is just one of many ways for increasing event attendance. This is an old-time strategy that has been around for ages. Most veteran event planners can attest to their effectiveness.<\/p> Learn all about early bird ticket sales, the best practices, and why they should be incorporated for your next event.<\/p> Early Bird Sales Explained<\/strong><\/p> Early bird sales are basically a timeframe where tickets go on sale before the official date of ticket sales for the general public. As you can guess, early bird sales are normally only limited to certain members, such as those with club or VIP membership.<\/p> Obviously, there also needs to be some special type of offer during this sales window. The simplest way is to provide a discount off the retail ticket price. However, there are also other ways you can go about it.<\/p> You can, for example, provide other incentives with the purchase of a ticket, such as a discount code good for an online purchase, free ticket upgrade to VIP status, free sweepstakes entry, or additional promotional swag that can be picked up at the event.<\/p> Who Should Offer Early Bird Ticketing?<\/strong><\/p> Keep in mind that early bird sales are not compatible for every company and event. It\u2019s actually counterproductive if your events tend to sell out quickly. If this is the case, then there is no need for early bird sales as doing so means potential revenue loss stemmed from discounted tickets and\/or store discounts, giveaways, etc.<\/p> On the other hand, early bird sales can definitely work to your advantage if this is your first event or past events failed to reach attendance goals. If ticket sales are unpredictable, then consider sending out a simple survey<\/a> to members asking how likely are they to attend event X at this venue and date. If responses indicate that most people are on the fences, then an early bird special just might be what you need to sway those in doubt.<\/p> Who Should You Offer Early Bird Ticket Deals to?<\/strong><\/p> This was somewhat touched upon earlier. Obviously, early bird privileges would lose its meaning if the offer was extended to the general public. Be choosy about who gets it. Preferably, it should be reserved for those who have demonstrated themselves to be loyal customers. Here\u2019s some ideas of the demographic you might offer the deal to:<\/p> What Are the Benefits?<\/strong><\/p> The benefits are, of course, that you reach ticket sale<\/a> levels that otherwise may not have been achievable. A higher attendance means more brand awareness and opportunities to convert the casual attendee into a long-term consumer. This is especially important if your company is still a young startup. Acquiring brand recognition early on is vital and may be well worth potential revenue loss from selling tickets at a fraction of the cost.<\/p> In addition, by extending the early bird sales to select members, you are letting them know that you acknowledge their patronage, and the offer is your way of saying thank you. This helps retain those who have already shown company loyalty.<\/p> How to Price Early Bird Tickets<\/strong><\/p> So is there an ideal discount range? There\u2019s no set rule, though a good rule of thumb is to keep the discount offer around 20% to 40% off the retail ticket price. You don\u2019t want to go lower or higher than that. If you go too low, like 5% or 10%, then people will scoff at it or think you\u2019re being a cheapskate. The discount may also not be high enough to sway people who are still unsure.<\/p> Similarly, you don\u2019t want to provide a mega high discount either. There\u2019s two reasons for this. First, an exorbitantly high discount, such as anything over 50%, can hurt the overall revenue. If tickets are originally priced at $50, and you provide a 70% discount, which lowers ticket cost to $15, then that\u2019s a $35 loss for every discounted ticket sold. If you sold 30 early bird tickets, that\u2019s a $1,050 loss, which can be a huge sum for smaller companies.<\/p> Secondly, high discounts may also give attendees the impression that the event isn\u2019t all that it\u2019s hyped up to be. People by nature associate value with a monetary cost. If they purchase a ticket that\u2019s been dramatically marked down, then they may second guess whether the event is really all that and a bag of chips.<\/p> What Are the Disadvantages?<\/strong><\/p> There are no major disadvantages as long as the early bird sale is implemented strategically. As already mentioned, there is the potential drawback of loss revenue. You may also have to make up the loss somewhere else by compensating in another area, such as giving out less promotional swag<\/a>, or renting a lower cost venue.<\/p> This is the only noticeable drawback, but it\u2019s an important one that needs to be taken into consideration. This is why it was mentioned earlier that early bird sales can be counterproductive and not recommend for companies that normally already do well with respects to ticket sales.<\/p> Give Early Bird Sales a Try<\/strong><\/p> Early bird sales may not be right for every company, but it\u2019s definitely worth a try if you anticipate ticket sales to be an uphill battle. It just might be what you need to get some much needed traction for your event.<\/p> This is a guest post by Dan McCarthy, Event Manager at <\/em>JD Parties<\/em><\/a>, an event management company based in the UK. Dan has five years of event project management under his belt. He has worked on many successful events, and currently he shares his knowledge by writing on the company blog. Follow him on Twitter <\/em>@DanCarthy2<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[28,25],"class_list":["post-1130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tips-and-tricks","tag-event-planning","tag-guest-post"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/liveit.io\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/liveit.io\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/liveit.io\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/liveit.io\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/liveit.io\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1130"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/liveit.io\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1130\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/liveit.io\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/liveit.io\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/liveit.io\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/liveit.io\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
\n\t\t\t[\/et_pb_row]
\n\t\t[\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"