It is nothing but pure stress when you realize your event date is creeping up and your sales are too low. Low ticket sales do not necessarily mean that people are not interested in the event you are hosting. There are a couple things you might be doing wrong, and here is how to fix them.
Cart Abandonment
When you give buyers too many options, they freeze. Stressed out on what to choose, consumers will just abandon their cart. Stop overcomplicating it. Instead of having ten different tiers, have five clearly differentiated ones. A good ticket lineup includes the Early Bird, General Admission, VIP, Group Bundles, and Last Minute Ticket. Guests’ purchasing process should be fast and seamless. Sometimes less is better.
Buyers also abandon their carts when checkout fees are high, they are immediately discouraged from purchasing a ticket. When the initial ticket price jumps significantly due to added fees at checkout, buyers immediately lose interest and abandon the purchase. Being upfront about your pricing structure and keeping ticket fees low can assist in eliminating people from abandoning their cart. On platforms like AdmitONE they keep their fees significantly lower than other platforms so buyers do not feel like they are getting ripped off at checkout. Transparency is key here, build customer loyalty and trust so they will always come back.
Your Marketing is Inconsistent
Posting about your event once and calling it a day is never enough. If sales plummet after the initial announcement, you have lost momentum. Create a campaign before you make your event live, come up with a marketing plan that will reach your audience effectively and keep them engaged the entire time until your event date. Engage your audience by connecting with them. Inconsistent marketing forces you to reintroduce your brand every time you launch a new event.
People may not see your event as worth it if the details are not clear. Highlighting the core experience at the top of your event page ensures guests know exactly what they are paying for. The ticket value may not be clear as well, make sure that under each ticket tier you are explaining why the ticket is priced at that value. With the difference being known, your premium ticket buyers and money conscious buyers can buy their tickets accordingly.
Overrelying on Paid Ads While Ignoring Word of Mouth
Relying primarily on paid ads will only get you so far. People trust people more than they trust paid advertisements. It is cost effective and easy to implement, word of mouth marketing is one of the most effective forms of marketing. Research done by GrowSurf suggests that 92% of people say that they trust their friends and family’s word more than companies. You are building loyal customers this way. It is also the least amount of work on your end, you are getting other people to spread the word about your event/business in a more effective way. A random flyer or sponsored instagram posts lacks the trust needed to drive ticket sales. While ads are effective, people rarely buy tickets because an ad told them to, majority of the time it is because their friends or family are going or told them to go. This is a long term strategy built to retain customers in the long run.
