In 2019, three Platinum clients raked in over 2.5 million USD in advance ticket sales for their events. I cannot promise you the same results. But, I can share with your a fundamental strategy they all implemented.
Over the years, I've worked with multiple event organizers who are staunchly opposed to discount pricing. They each have their own reasons. Including, "we don't want to discount because it costs us ticket revenue" to, "I don't want to do discounting because of how it is perceived ... so we don't do discounts!"
Hey, it's their event, so they can do whatever they want.
That said, I try to challenge them on their own beliefs. A simple look at historical ticket sales data really sheds light on what's going on ...
In one instance, an event organizer who is against discounts is always left with hundreds of unsold tickets. My question to them, after their event, "if someone offered you 50% of the value of those unsold tickets as cash, would you take it?" When they answer, "yes!" I proceed to ask, "then why not sell your tickets at a discount?" At that point, you can see the mental gears going.
All of my clients use a strategic pricing model. It involves smartly discounting tickets based on historical ticket sales performance, while aggressively protecting profit margins. Because most of my clients are outdoor events (directly impacted by a bad weather forecast and/or weather), advance ticket sales are critical.
In every instance to date, clients have gone on to record ticket sales revenue while smartly offering deep discounts on their ticket prices.
Just this week, a client used a process called "blocking and stepping" to generate more ticket revenue in four days, when compared to their last event over seven months. And the kicker is ... they started by offering tickets up to 50% OFF!
My challenge to you is, how can you sell tickets at a discount and generate more revenue for your event? Are there tickets for sale after your event? If someone offered to purchase those unbought tickets, what price would you sell them for?
The answer to the questions above should give you a decent idea of what discounts to offer. Yes, there is a lot more to strategic price modeling. The above questions and examples hopefully get you thinking differently about discounts. Start by at least taking a deep dive into your previous ticket sales data.
Want to get more advance ticket sales advice? Check out the articles below:
- Event Marketing Idea: Blocking Your Tickets
- Smart Advance Ticket Strategies
- Event Promotion: The Psychology of Ticket Prices
- Leveraging Huge Ticket Discounts to Drive Advance Tickets Sales
- How to Sell Even More Tickets to Your Event
- When to Start Selling Tickets for Your Event
- Charging a Premium Event Ticket Price
- Getting Them to Buy Tickets Early