Boost Your Online Ticket Sale with Early Bird Ticketing Strategy

Event ticketing is one uphill work for event planners when ticket sales are the lifeblood of any event. And that’s why to build a buzz about an event and ensure the early infusion of revenue; many organisers attempt to apply early-bird discounts or what many call pre-registration discounts.

When an organiser uses the early bird discount strategy to bring a spike in ticket sales from the beginning and make the attendees register earlier, an attendee gets ready to commit early and rush to sign up as he/she can complete the registration at a reduced price. After all, who doesn’t love a discount!

So, in case you never gave a thought to this early bird registration promotion, read on to know more to decide whether it will be advantageous for your next online events or not.

What is early bird ticketing?

Early bird ticketing is one sort of ticketing strategy that marketers apply as a reward for the early bird attendees by granting them purchase event tickets at discounted prices ahead of an event. So often, promotional offers like ‘20% discount for the early birds’ or ‘early bird tickets end in two days’ do catch our attention, and we feel the urge to explore the event, right?

And this is exactly how early bird ticketing works; it captures prospects’ curiosity and also pleases the earlier customers by offering pre-event sales on ticket prices, even sometimes before starting the sale to the public. Just as the saying, “the early bird catches the worm”, the attendees booking early got the discount price as a return for their commitment.

Does all early bird ticketing offer the same?

No, the offer of early bird ticketing promotion differs and vary from event to event. Depending on the deadline, restriction, targeted audience and reward types, all the offer details cannot be put in the same box.

Targeted audiences

When some event marketers focus on past attendees or subscribers and fix the offers, many planners prioritise new attendees and make the tickets available with discounts exclusively for them. While others simply offer the discount for all, encouraging their commitment.

Early bird reward type

Providing discounts on the ticket price is one major way most marketers choose to reward the early birds. But not all marketers walk the same way as many offer coupons or discount codes as a reward. For example, any festival marketers might provide discount codes for their next event in advance, while other event organisers might offer promotional items to the early birds.

Offer timeline

The timeline of how long the early bird discount stays is not bounded; it can be planned to keep for two months or just for one week. Depending on the marketing strategy, the marketers choose the deadline of their early bird offers.

Gaining revenue is not the only concern

In brief, early-bird registration leads to early ticket sale processing since offering discounted prices immediately builds some sense of insistence and scarcity among the attendees. In consequence, you, as an event organiser, get attendees who are all set to beat a path to your door, all signed up and paid up much before your event day.

But, more than just giving the ticket sales extra push, an early bird promotion makes much more improvements for an event.

Attendees love it

Who doesn’t love to avail of the discount offer! Hence early bird discount is always a great choice for the attendees that no one chooses to omit. For example, when an organiser announces an offer or coupon code for their existing attendees for a limited timeframe, the anticipation of missing out on the offer will make the attendees buy the tickets early to secure their seats in the event. Also, this early bird can turn the previous participants into committed participants as they will appreciate the gesture.

To collect the target audience’s data and information

When it is about digital marketing, data is king. The moment the early buyers are booking their tickets, they provide all the necessary information that an organiser can utilise as a general guideline to understand how their marketing strategy is going. For example, organisers can evaluate the hype of their event, understand where their target market is coming from or what is the age group responding to their offer.

Build buzz for an event

Announcing early bird promotions will help an organiser to generate buzz before the event begins and attract attendees in a big number. When they promote their event in the newsletter or on their website, the ‘discount’ level will definitely grab the eyes of their possible prospects. And by registering early, the talk about the event and sharing of their word on social media will happen fast.

Win over new attendees

Early bird offers will let the organisers reach out to the new prospects. By providing an offer, they can encourage the possible attendees to do a new trial. Even though the attendees might not have planned to join any live virtual event or in-person event, but the offer of early registration can boost up the slight interest and nudge them to register for the event. After all, they are paying less while experimenting with a new experience.

Now to experience the tons of advantages, one should also know the tricks to utilise the early bird strategies properly.

Early bird marketing strategies

So if you have made up your mind to apply early bird registration promotion for your next event, here are some useful tips to use the strategies effectively to boost your ticket sales.

Set a realistic price

Plan your pricing in a way that will encourage your guest to book earlier. Also, be mindful of the point that you are making enough profit by ensuring a higher profit margin. Otherwise, setting your pricing too low, you will mind up struggling even to cover your minimum event costs.

Give your focus to the repeat attendees

Encourage the participation of your repeat attendees. Continue communicating with them, acknowledge them at first if any offer or changes is going on. Be it via discounts or additional rewards, build your customer loyalty by giving them the chance to secure their spot at first.

Use event ticketing system

The availability of an online event ticketing system turns the process of organising events much smoother. In case you are planning to offer an early bird discount to your attendees, utilise the tools of event ticketing software to speed up the process. With this, your attendees can also book their seats effortlessly online with no hassle.

Promote it on your event page also on social media sites

Direct your website visitors to your custom made event page to promote the offer in detail. Mention all the rules to avail of the discount offer and encourage them to refer others to expose your event to a large number of attendees. Also, select any popular social media platform where your targeted customers are most active and create a social media event page.

Apply email marketing

Do email promotion and let your prospects know how to save money by registering for your event early. Mention the limited deadline to create a fear of missing out on the plot. For example, as a subject of the email, use phrases like ‘2 days left to join the exclusive event’ or ‘5 more spots remaining, do hurry’ or so to make your guests rush to book the remaining seat.

Sell advance tickets for your upcoming event

Offer your attendees a pre-sale ticket by providing inceptive. Those who had a good time at your event will definitely like to join again. So to secure their presence for your next event, offer VIP access, gifts, coupons for acquiring your early bird tickets.

Set a clear deadline rather exceeding it

Announce a certain time and hang in there. But, don’t exceed it unless you wish to impose gut feeling among your attendees about the effectiveness of your event. Because when you can’t stick to your word about the deadline, the audience will surely assume that no one might have signed up or registered for your event, and they will change their direction to find an alternative event.

By far, if you were on the fence about whether or not to announce the early bird registration offer for your event, you got an answer, right? Undoubtedly, early-bird registration offers various edges and is a great way to drive ticket sales while diverting all the attention of the attendees. So why delay more? Give it a try and be a witness to your event’s success.