Ticket pricing, ticket sales strategy and sponsorship sales: these 3 areas of focus are key to running a successful, profitable ticketed in-person event. In this episode, which is part 2 of the 3-part series, May Silvers explains concepts you must learn in these areas. If you haven’t yet, be sure to catch up with part 1 which covers defining the objective of your event and avoiding common mistakes.
Grasping the costs associated with your event is pivotal. May dissects them into three categories: fixed costs, which include costs like venue fees, variable costs include costs like food and décor which change based on the number of attendees, and the ‘nice-to-have’ costs, which can be a blend of the previous two. To optimize ticket pricing, take the event’s production cost, add your desired profit, and divide by the number of tickets you aim to sell. By doing this, you ensure profit with every ticket, especially once fixed costs are covered. A smart trick she shares is to calculate ticket prices with and without those ‘nice-to-have’ costs, letting you see both ticket price points and gauge market tolerance.
A pivotal 90-day pre-event checkpoint: at this time, ticket sales should have covered your event’s expenses. Falling short? May advises strategies from paid promotions to organic outreach and even affiliate partnerships. Consider tiered pricing, like early bird rates, to prompt quicker ticket buys.
Sponsorships play a crucial role in covering event costs and maximizing revenue from in-person ticketed events, and May provides insights on approaching sponsors effectively. It’s essential to approach sponsors that align with your brand and services. When you understand the sponsors’ objectives, you can tailor sponsorship packages to fulfill their marketing goals. An important tip is to Initiate these conversations around year-end when many firms set their marketing budgets.
For those wanting support with an in-person ticketed event, May offers a specialized Ticketed In-Person Event course or a one-on-one consulting engagement with her. You can schedule a call with May to discuss how she can support your event success.
Quotes:
• “You take the cost of producing the event and you add on the potential profit that you want to make from the ticketed in-person event, and you divide that by the number of people you want to have in your event.” (06:32 | May Silvers)
• “You want to put a cap on the maximum number of tickets that you can sell for super early bird and early bird tickets because you are not selling those tickets at a price point that is going to help you cover the cost.” (23:15 | May Silvers)
• “Sponsorship is a great way to bring in revenue to cover the cost for the event.” (32:45 | May Silvers)
• “When you’re approaching sponsors, you have to think about who is coming to the event. Will these people buy from this company, the company who’s sponsoring some component of your event?” (36:15 | May Silvers)
• “A lot of corporations look at their marketing budget at the end of the year. When you pitch sponsorship, you want to pitch by September, October. So whatever they did not use for the year, they can spend on you.” (42:45 | May Silvers)
Links
Sign up for our last virtual workshop for 2023: CEO Business Audit Masterclass on October 25-26, 2023.
Click the link for more info: https://learnwith.mayyeosilvers.com/ll21bizauditmasterclass37podcast
Connect with me at: [email protected]
Website: www.mayyeosilvers.com
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/mayyeosilvers
Facebook: www.facebook.com/mayyeosilvers
IG: www.instagram.com/mayyeosilvers
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mayyeosilvers
FB private group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/events4anyone
