Organizing a trade show is a challenging task. If you’re thinking of organizing one, you need to take time to research and plan thoroughly. There are certain factors that can influence the success of your show, such as the location, the cost, your target audience, the promotion of your event, etc. The most important thing to consider is how to improve your attendance. Your attendees will be the most important clients and customers for your business.
Imagine you have invested months of time and energy into organizing a perfect trade show. But your ticket sales have stalled. You have started to panic that you won’t have enough attendees. To solve these kinds of situations, we have detailed some practical tips to increase ticket sales for your next trade show.
Price your tickets right
Make sure you set your ticket price appropriately. People will be more included in purchasing tickets that they find a valuable price. Be careful to price your ticket and avoid deterring potential buyers. However, you also need to ensure you’re not losing any money by pricing your tickets too low.
Offer promotions
When creating a trade show event, ensure you know what your target audience likes. You must also understand the types of promotions that will appeal to your audience. Generally, if your audience is industry professionals, you should look at incentives for those people. You can look at early bird specials and discounts that are given for early registrations.
Partner up
When you want to plan a successful event, you will need to partner with someone who will add value to your trade show. This partnership can be made with a company or an industry body that can create advertising for you. As a result, more people can attend your show, which increases the number of tickets sold.
Create an event page and optimize it
If you are hosting an event or planning a trade show, then you need to make sure that you have a website that is attractive, informative and easy to navigate. Ensure that it includes information about your event. This might include details about the venue, the dates, the ticket prices and the inclusions. You will also need to have a clear call to action for potential attendees. It would be a good idea to have a countdown timer on your site so that attendees know when the next round of tickets is going on sale.
No matter who your target audience is, there will be a large portion who will use their mobile phone to complete their daily tasks, including buying tickets to your event. It is important to get optimised your website for mobile usage. Making it easy for your potential attendees to buy tickets from their mobile phones is incredibly important and will help boost your ticket sale.
Video Marketing
Take your event marketing strategy to the next level through creative video content to increase ticket sales. Nearly 69% of marketers prefer videos to perform best. Also, people react more frequently to video content than plain text or images, and the platform tends to prioritise this type of media. You can build hype through event teasers, Share a poll with your audience and let people vote for their favourite options, boost engagements and humanise your brand by sharing behind the scene videos to give a glimpse into an exciting experience.
Using social media to engage with attendees
Social media is a crucial component that is often overlooked but needed to pull off a successful trade show. When done right, you can intimately connect with your attendees before, during, and post-event. Use social media platforms like Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn to drive attendee engagement. Here presenting a few ways you can use each social media channel to promote your trade show and increase ticket sales.
Creating a branded hashtag for your show will help increase your brand awareness and track the conversations you had on Twitter during the trade show.
Instagram’s new IGTV and Instagram Live features are a great way to use long-form video content to broaden your reach and captive new audiences. IGTV allows Instagram users to create and share interactive video content up to an hour long on their channels.
LinkedIn is the primary channel used to promote events. LinkedIn has many great features for businesses looking to reach their target audience. Using LinkedIn’s paid features, you’ll be able to promote your event right in the inbox and news feed of prospective attendees.
Invest in the right software
There are quite a several event ticketing platforms. Most offer the same services and products. However, there are a few that stand out above the rest. One such company is EventBookings which can support you in selling tickets to your event. They also incorporate other services, such as being a trusted and reputable site to search for tickets to events that you may not have otherwise discovered. EventBookings can also ensure that your trade show is properly supported to increase ticket sales.
Moreover, if you implement some of these things, you’ll have some quick success in increasing ticket sales to your event. Some of the other things will require a longer lead time to be successful and show an increase in sales. As with anything, it is worth speaking to professionals who can help implement plans and strategies to help you achieve your trade show goals. It can seem like a lot to change, and overhauling your show strategy can feel daunting, but change can often move you closer to your goals.