7 event registration hacks to help increase sales

Running events can be thrilling and stressful in equal measures. There’s nothing quite like the feeling of making that first ticket sale, or witnessing the electric atmosphere at a gig that you organised. But there’s a lot of work to do to get to that place, and it can definitely come with its ups and downs. 

One of those can be that sometimes the ticket sales don’t come flooding in as you’d imagined. This can be really disheartening, especially when you’ve put such a huge amount of effort into creating your event.

There can be a few different reasons for this – but we find that the answer often lies in making some simple fixes to the way you’re running your online event registration. Here are seven hacks that could make all the difference:

Compare online event registration software

There are tons of online event registration platforms out there today – and there’s far from a one-size fits all approach to choosing the right one. Use a trusted comparison site to do your research, opting for one that genuinely suits your needs and which will sit well with your audience too. Two important things to consider include:

• What kind of events are generally listed on the platform? If they’re big on large-scale global festivals, they might not resonate as well with your audience if you’re running a smaller local event, for example. There are also lots of great niche ticketing platforms out there, which specialise in certain types of events – like Resident Advisor, which people ‘in the know’ scour to see what’s going on in London and New York’s underground nightlife.
• Does the platform integrate with the channels that matter to you (and your audience)? If, for example, you know your audience is big on Facebook and responds well to your MailChimp email marketing campaigns, you’ll want to make sure the platform integrates with both of those channels.

Top tip: Head to our useful article on the best comparison sites for event registration software >

Choose event registration software that suits your budget

This is a really important one. Lots of event registration platforms operate by slapping a quite hefty percentage fee on all of your ticket sales. This can, in turn, lead to the temptation to hike your prices, or pass the ticketing cost onto your customers via a booking fee. It’s not a bad thing to charge a booking fee, but getting the balance wrong can put people off if they don’t feel they’re getting value for money. 

With Ticket Tailor, you only pay a small fee per ticket with Pay-as-you-go, or you can purchase credits upfront to access significant discounts. This makes us one of the cheapest platforms out there, in turn letting you offer a more competitive price to your customers.

Compare ticket prices on this handy free tool >

Create a website for your event with website builders

To create a website you can use platforms like Squarespace or WordPress.

Creating a slick, stylish website for your event will give it a really professional feel, all the better for enticing ticket buyers.

Use the pyramid scheme to describe your event

It’s really important to communicate the key information about your event immediately, succinctly and enticingly at the very top of its listing. 

The pyramid scheme is a writing technique that often gets used in press releases and news articles. It works by making sure you communicate crucial information in the first few lines, going into more descriptive or background details lower down. The lower you get, the less ‘important’ the information is – but it’s still nice to have. 

In a nutshell: don’t make people work hard to get to the core of what your event is about – there’s every chance they’ll bounce straight off the page if you do. Hit them straight away with what it is, where it is and who it’s for. For example:

• Do start with something like this:

“Freak Out Soul is an all-out disco night at Mary’s Bar, Edinburgh for people who love to get down and boogie to ‘60s soul bangers until the wee hours of the morning.”

• Don’t start with something like this:

“Freak Out Soul promises to deliver a wild time that you’ll never forget! Organised by Chris and Lucy Clarke, it’s been in the running for three months and we know you can’t wait to see what we have in store.”

Customise your event page

Customise your event page so that it reflects your own event’s branding to make sure it connects with the people that matter. If someone has enjoyed your events before, for example, they’ll be more likely to recognise that it’s you if you clearly show off your brand in the listing. If you use a generic events page design, they may not notice it at all.

See some of our favourite Ticket Tailor inspiring event themes here >

Actually use your audience data

A lot of event registration platforms, like Ticket Tailor, offer audience data insights – but it can be easy to skim over these rather than putting them to good use. 

Try to find patterns in things like:

• When people buy your tickets
• How people found out about your event
• Who’s buying your tickets 

Looking at factors like these should help you form a strategy for your next event marketing run – so you can use the right platforms, language and time periods to promote your event. This brings us onto our next point…

Create early bird tickets 

One invaluable piece of data you can get from your audience insights is when your ticket sales peak. The key here is to try and make sales before that peak time too – the earlier people start buying tickets, the more time there is for them to spread the word, leading to further sales. This is where selling early bird tickets with incentives attached to them can come in really useful. 

Say, for example, ticket sales for your event usually peak around two weeks before it happens. Releasing a set of discounted early bird tickets four weeks before will help get the ball rolling much sooner. Other incentives for early bird tickets could include things like early entry or free drinks tokens.

Offer discounts for groups or for a limited time only

Playing around with different discount formats can be a great way to boost ticket sales. Why not try offering discounted ticket bundles for families or friends? All you need to do is add up what, say, four tickets would cost, then apply a discount for people who want to buy four tickets in a bundle. Offering discounts for a limited time only is also a fantastic way to create a sense of scarcity around your event – which is a well-known marketing hack for increasing sales.

Just be sure to spread the word about your discounts with promotional emails and social media posts. Using Ticket Tailor’s Broadcasts tool is a great way to do this with minimal effort.

You can check out how to set up Ticket Bundles on Ticket Tailor here >

Set up multiple payment methods

Never assume that everyone wants to pay by PayPal, or credit card, or cash on the door. Offering limited payment methods can definitely put people off making a purchase, and it’s so easy to avoid. Make sure your platform is set up to accept plenty of payment methods, including things like Stripe, Google Pay and Apple Pay.

Events registration is about so much more than selling tickets. It provides a space to genuinely connect with your audience, creating a relationship that should hopefully last well into the future. And that’s when you can expect to see the sales come rolling in.