Event planning is time-consuming and challenging, but it’s always worth it when the event goes off without a hitch (or maybe just a few hiccups).
An essential part of event planning is devising strategies on how you can sell the most tickets for your event and bring in the highest number of new customers. Utilizing promotional codes can drive up ticket sales, create buzz around your event, and give consumers a sense of urgency when purchasing tickets. With Events.com, you have full control over the creation and management of your event’s promo codes.
A study by BigCommerce discovered that running promotions lead to considerable conversion rates across all industries, so providing consumers with promo codes to increase ticket sales is likely to pay off.
Continue reading to learn why you should strategically utilize promo codes in your next event and what types of promo codes you can use.
Why You Should Add Promo Codes in Your Next Event
Adding promo codes to your next event could drive up ticket sales and bring new customers to your event. Consider the following reasons to utilize discount codes for your upcoming event.
They Build Excitement for an Upcoming Event
Building anticipation for your event is essential in getting the word out. The more excited about your event people are, the more likely they will be to talk about it with their friends and family, and the perfect way to feed that excitement is with promotional deals.
When people believe they’re getting a great deal on ticket prices, they will develop positive associations with your event well before it occurs.
Promotional Offers Attract a Larger Audience
Whether you’re hosting an intimate wellness retreat or a large music festival, reaching new consumers is essential to business growth. Using event codes is an effective way to attract new attendees.
A recent survey showed that roughly 80% of consumers said they would be more likely to shop with a new brand if it offered a discount, indicating the importance of promotional code usage in bringing in new customers.
Good Deals Naturally Increase Ticket Purchases
Ticket sales usually peak right when they go on sale and a few weeks prior to the event, with a lull in between. Offering sale prices on tickets during the slump is an excellent way to boost your overall numbers.
The early and late ticket sales are driven by a fear that the tickets will sell out and a sense of urgency that builds as the event draws closer, but you will need to incentivize consumers to purchase tickets outside these windows.
The Types of Promo Codes You Could Include in Your Event
You can use several types of promo codes to increase ticket sales and bring more attendees to your event. Knowing the difference between these promo codes is essential to using them strategically.
1. Custom Codes
Custom codes are simple, effective promo codes that you can use when offering a discount. With a custom code, you can set the promotional window and decide on the promotional terms before delivering the code.
Custom codes are generic codes that anyone can apply to their purchase at checkout.
For example, if you’re offering 10% off all tickets for Labor Day, any customer can use the code LABORDAY10 to redeem this offer. These promo codes often can’t be combined with other offer types.
2. One-Time-Use Codes
One-time-use codes are similar to custom codes, except they can be used only once. These can be codes that you offer to new customers or existing ones. Be sure to specify that this is a one-time code when offering it.
An example of a one-time-use code is a 15%-off offer for new customers who sign up for your email list. Once you receive their email address, you can send a one-time code; be sure to include an expiration date.
3. Private Codes
Private codes differ from public codes because they are exclusive deals offered directly to a specific customer base. Private codes are often used to reward existing customers and bring in new ones.
An example of a private code that benefits loyal customers is a promo code that’s only available to those who have early access to ticket sales because of a membership or VIP status.
4. Special Offers
Special offers are a great way to incentivize people to purchase tickets because they often include specialty items or additional bonuses. Buy-one, get-one (BOGO) sales are one of the most commonly used types of special offers.
You can offer customers items such as free merchandise, gift cards, a percentage-off discount on food and beverage vendors at the event, meet-and-greets with artists, and more.
It’s essential to define any exclusions with special offers so customers feel like they’re getting a good deal rather than having it fall short of their expectations.
5. Combinations of Codes
The final type of promotion that you can strategically use to drive ticket sales is combining existing active offers. This type of promotion is highly motivating, as consumers often view the combination of promo codes as an excellent deal and will likely want to purchase tickets before the promotion ends.
An example of running a combination of promo codes is adding a promotion for discounts on multiple ticket sales during an existing sale. For instance, if you were running a “10% off for Labor Day” sale with the code LABORDAY10, you could include an additional 15 percentage points off for consumers who purchase two or more tickets with the code EXTRA15, for a total of 25% off.
It’s especially necessary to specify the eligibility criteria when you’re offering combinations of codes, as some of your promo codes may restrict combinations with other offers.
How to Use Promotional Codes Strategically
Although promo codes may drive up ticket sales for your event, if you’re not using them strategically, you could miss out on reaching potential customers who may be on the fence about buying a ticket.
To understand just how much promotional codes can strategically drive up ticket sales, consider the following findings from coupon code giant Blippr’s “How Coupon Codes Influence Ecommerce Purchase Decisions” study:
- Nearly 75% of online customers want to use a coupon that offers a certain percentage off.
- Almost 30% of customers will make a purchase that they didn’t originally plan to if it’s “heavily discounted.”
- 88% of shoppers listed email as their preferred method of receiving coupons.
- Roughly 80% of consumers like receiving sales and special-offer emails.
Consider the following strategies to utilize promotional codes for your next event effectively.
Increase the Visibility of Promo Codes Within the Checkout Process
According to the Baymard Institute, nearly 50% of consumers abandon items that they’ve already added to their cart because the associated costs, such as taxes and fees, are higher than they anticipated when they go to check out.
This means, no matter how amazing the prices you initially offer are, if that’s not the price they see at the end, they may still elect not to purchase tickets to your event.
One way to combat checkout abandonment is to increase the visibility of promotional codes within the checkout process. For example, highlight how much money they’re saving using the promo codes rather than showing their adjusted total during the checkout process.
If consumers feel that the discount they’re getting on tickets makes up for any unforeseen costs, they are more likely to move forward with their payment.
Provide Promo Codes as a Reward for Individual Event Marketing
While there are limits to how much of a discount you can offer while remaining profitable, selling as many tickets as possible opens additional revenue streams once consumers are at your event (e.g., food and beverage sales or merchandise sales).
Providing promo codes as rewards will give consumers a sense of scarcity, making them feel like they’re getting a great deal on ticket prices. Reward promo codes, also sometimes called prize promo codes, typically have a time limit, offer a specific percentage off, are designed to attract new customers, and can be combined with other offers.
These codes aim to give new customers a feeling that they’re lucky to get a discounted price on your tickets and encourage them to purchase a ticket to your event as soon as possible.
One of the benefits of gamified promo codes is that you can time their release with periods when you predict a lull in ticket sales. Furthermore, by using this method, you can track the total number of codes you offered and calculate the number of unused codes that are out there to see how effective your promo code strategy was.
Integrate Promotional Codes Seamlessly With Event Technology
Creating buzz for your event is essential to driving up attendance. Using Events.com’s technology solutions can help you seamlessly integrate promotional codes to boost sales for your next event.
You can use Events.com’s online registration software to create multiple, custom discount codes that you can assign to specific outlets such as email, social media, and affiliate websites, freeing yourself up to focus on creating the best event possible.
