Imagine it’s hours before your event and your mind is at ease because you have thousands of dollars in pre-sold tickets and inventory. On top of that, your worries about VIP cancelations are a thing of the past since you reservations aren’t simply guaranteed, but purchased in advance. This is not a dream; this is reality, and it’s easier than you think.
Here’s how you can capitalize on pre-sales to generate revenue that will pay for your event before the event even happens.
1. Put the right tools in place to sell tickets
It’s hard to know how your event will go if you don’t get access to your own data – something many ticketing companies fail to provide their clients. Make sure you have full control of your events and get access to all of your data before, during, and after the event. There are technology platforms that incorporate ticketing into the rest of your efforts, giving you that full 360-degree look at how your venue is performing. This platform enables to you to:
• Create and manage an online event page
• Sell tickets to consumers right through the page via an e-commerce system
• Get access to a white-labeled widget so your online ticketing page looks identical to the rest of your website
• Integrate the event with a mobile app for promoters to sell tickets directly from their devices
• Track ticket sales and results along the way
This type of platform syncs all promoters and marketing efforts together to maximize ticket sales and revenue before the night of your event.
2. Make sure the money goes directly into your bank
Another aspect of a ticketing platform to consider is that of payment. Most ticketing sites collect your customers’ payments in their own banks and hold it until after the event is over. Once the day of your event has passed, they’ll cut you a check for what you earned, but not until they’ve made sure to take any fees they deem themselves worthy to collect. Then, it takes a few business days for the remaining money to appear in your account, meaning you may not actually get your money until a week after the event has happened (and weeks since your guests even purchased a ticket).
Instead, look to companies that ensure payment goes directly through your merchant services provider and into your bank account right from the get-go. That way, a guest purchasing a ticket to your event is the same process as that guest buying a drink inside your venue. There’s no point in collecting pre-sales to help pay for your event before it happens if you’re not going to get your money from those sales until weeks after the event is over.
3. Analyze results to increase revenue for the next event
Getting access to your data gives you the opportunity to truly understand how your venue and events are performing. If you get on board with the aforementioned platform, your life will be significantly easier since it will all be in one spot – not to mention the data will be broken down by individual guests and staff members to truly identify areas of strength and weakness. Once you know how well you did, you’re able to better set yourself up for success for your next event. Optimization is key to long-term success.
Whitney Johnson is the global director of marketing at BookBottles. Contact her at whitney.johnson@bookbottles.com.
