8 Key Tactics that Event Organisers Pros Use

1) Online Registration and Payments

This is a no-brainer. Decide what key data you need to collect for registration for your event and get that online in a user-friendly registration form. Decide on ticket types, any discounts you plan to offer, what kind of payment methods you will allow and choose an online registration system that will make your life as an event organizer easy.

Things to consider: is there email integration on the registration system so you can contact your registrant mailing list throughout the process before and after the event?

2) Early Bird Discounts

Encouraging early ticket takeup is crucial for your event success. Sponsors want to know that tickets are selling. Early bird discounts are a great way of building some momentum and people do like to save money.

The Web Summit in Dublin does this to great effect by offering a chunky discount off when you book before a certain date. (They also do a great job of generating early ticket sales for next year’s event see tip 8 below)

3) Mobile Ticketing

Encourage people to turn up with the ticket showing on their mobiles or tablets. QR codes and other options to allow device checkin saves time at the check in desks.

Things to consider: can you semi-automate the check in process using scanners and codes on devices to help your check in volunteers/staff save time and reduce queuing time?

4) Promoting the Speakers

Your speakers (should) have a fanbase on social media, tap into that by promoting them before the event.

Create social posts with short snippets about each speaker and links to their bio/talk page and tag them.

Make them feel the love as a speaker.

Here’s a Tweet from the Munster SME Business Expo highlighting one of their speakers:

5) Social Sharing

Set up social shares on the “Thank you for booking” page and encourage people to social share that they have booked to attend. People like to feel part of a community so encourage that by helping them to network in advance of the event.

On your booking confirmation email include a blurb for Twitter with your hashtag and ask them to tweet it to find other attendees they might know.

Provide all your speakers with social text and event image, ready for them to plug onto their social platforms.

6) Emailing Key Info

A few days before the event send out an email to registrants with key information:

• location of the venue on a google map that they can click and add to their phone
• information on parking and transport
• details on food
• speaker schedule, exhibitor layout, workshop programme so they can plan their visit
• hashtag for the event (see next tip)

Again Web Summit did a great job on this sending out an email a few days before the event:

7) Social During Event

Create an event hashtag so that people can use it to tweet during the event. It needs to be short enough but also unique so that when people use it on Twitter it pulls up all the relevant tweets about the event.

You could give away spot prizes for tweets during talks. During the National Women’s Enterprise Day prizes such as business books and vouchers were given away to tweeters who used the event hashtag #nwed2014.

Create an event on Facebook with information on how to book tickets and invite fans to attend.

Get people to post event photos on Instagram with the event hashtag.

8) Follow Up After Event

Ask attendees for feedback to find out what you can do better next time. Set up a short survey on Surveymonkey and email out a link. Collecting feedback helps attendees to feel their input is valued and gives you information that you can use to learn and improve. Here’s what Web Summit sent out.

Use the follow up to generate future ticket sales by sending them out an early bird offer eg 2 tickets for the price of 1 if you know you are going to be running the same or a similar event in the future. (Websummit does this and because the 50% off is such a great deal it’s bound to generate instant ticket sales)

ClearBookings takes care of all your event organizer needs with tailored online registration, payments, CRM, marketing integration not to mention full reporting, data and reconciliation plus flexible customisation ensuring your online payments can be taken easily and quickly along with the data collection your business needs. Contact us today for information on how we can help you with your event.