4 powerful ways to increase profits at your next event!
So you have your idea and concept, maybe you’ve even picked out the perfect venue-but have you really sat down to look at how the numbers work? And I’m not talking just budget. How can you increase the amount of revenue from each customer? Here are some of my tried and true ideas to maximize profits at your next event!
sponsorship
Speaking from experience, you have to accept a lot of no’s before you get a yes. This can be disheartening, but years ago I sat down with a fellow event planner who had a strong sponsorship componement to his events. When I questioned how he pulled it all off, he said it was nothing short of hard work. He said to expect at least 50 no’s before that yes! Before sending out a call for sponsorship, have a consise email written up with a) expected reach and audience for the sponsor (cross promoting on social media etc), think about picking 3 tiers of sponsorship ($1000, $5000 and $10000 for example) and what is offered at each level. Really think of what benefits to the organization that you can give! Include some free tickets or perhaps a free booth at the event. Let them display their marketing materials. Offer their logo on your marketing materials, etc! Think about the nature of your event-does the business you are approaching share some commonalities? Do you have a charity element at your event? This is a must for many sponsors. And even if it’s not a must, it shows you are also a community contributer.
VIP packages and options
Can you offer an upgraded experience? Perhaps VIP seating, consierge staff, specialty drinks, early entry, free coat check? The list goes on! Once you come up with a VIP package, take a step back and think about it from the customer perspective-is the value clear and worth it? For example, at my well attended vintage shopping events, we had a VIP early bird shopping price. The first hour of the event was priced at 3X a regular ticket and we had a lot of interest!
Increasing venue capacity: Does your chosen venue support the amount of tickets you wish to sell? For example, that beautiful coffee shop you wish to host your art showcase event can only fit 20 customers at a time. Perhaps a larger venue that supports closer to 100 or more customers would increase your sales!
Group and advance ticket sales
When I started organizing larger events, I decided to try out the eventbrite app for ticket sales. This was well worth it for me for a few reasons: Many people will stumble upon your event by just seeing it on the eventbrite website-well worth the cut they take for all of that free advertising and new customer reach! Second of all, if your tickets are non refundable, I guarantee in an event of 100 pre-sold tickets that at least 4 or more people will not make it to the event. This alone can cover all of the fees you incured by the cut the app takes (depending on your ticket price).
maximize marketing budget
Never put your marketing eggs all in one basket:
When I organized my events, I first reviewed my target audience. 80% Women age 20-70 for example, and 20% men in the same age group. Next I would build into my ticket prices and vendor booths a portion soely dedicated to marketing.
If I had a $2000 marketing budget, this is how I would break it down:
$200 newspaper printed ads in the classified section. You might be thinking, who even reads the newspaper anymore? I’d say worth it as many of my customers would come because their parent or aunt had told them about the event). To keep costs down, keep the ad as concise as possible!
$600 printed posters, flyers and signage (lawn signs are very helpful for public events and to point towards the venue! Posters to go all over town in coffee shops, etc. Flyers dropped off at local businesses.
$1200 social media ads and newsletter sponsorship. Depending on the size of my event, I could often work something out with several local email newsletter channels. For example, I give away a pair of tickets and they charge me $400 to mention my event on their daily or weekly social media channels and newsletter.
For smaller events, I would do the same items mentioned above, but on a smaller scale. If i am partnering with an email list or newsletter, I always would see what their reach is. By spreading your advertising budget in many different directions, you are sure to cultivate a larger audience at your next event!
