Optimising the Ticket Buying Journey, Part 1
Welcome to the first post in our five-part series, a spotlight on the ticket buying journey. From building awareness of your event to retaining loyal attendees, this series will offer actionable advice for optimising event marketing, simplifying the ticket buying process, and providing an amazing customer experience at every event. Part one focuses on the first step; building awareness for your event to drive hype and marketing buzz.
Action 1: Build hype and marketing buzz
The event space is fiercely competitive, with lots of great experiences jostling for the attention of every consumer. Both new and established events need to invest in building brand awareness to attract attendees. So how do you create event hype and an energy-filled event, full of the right people? How do you craft creative marketing strategies to maximise your impact?
Get the timing right
Building awareness of your event should never start on the day tickets go on sale. Successful event organisers are modern-day storytellers, building the story of their event. They take time to sell the reason why attendees should come, rather than launching straight off the mark with ‘buy now!’ messaging.
Building hype involves getting people talking to each other about what you’re doing, which means selling your interesting point of difference in a clear and simple way.
Tina Walsberger, Head of Marketing for Sydney Festival, says “Something I’ve learnt the hard way is that good timing is key — don’t flood the market with all your messages at the same time, but equally, don’t leave important information too late. Map out a few stages in your campaign and think about when your marketing tools will best serve your objectives.”
Choose your social media marketing mix
Social media channels play a big role in event marketing. They provide the perfect platform for people to get a feel for the experience they can expect if they attend your event.
There’s no ‘one size fits all’ approach to creating a winning social media strategy and building online awareness. Successful event organisers agree that it’s about experimenting with different channels and finding the best fit for your audience and program.
The key to finding the right formula online is knowing your audience. Research the channels that suit the demographics you’re targeting, plan out the message and brand values you want to portray, and experiment with the most effective way of doing this.
For inspiration on channels that could work for your event, we’ve put together some great examples of successful social media marketing for local events.
Get the conversation started
Once you have your story prepared, website sorted and social media channels at the ready, it’s time to get the conversation started. This is the perfect time to invest in PR and advertising to kickstart chatter about your event.
It’s important to remember not to put all your eggs in one basket; layer several interactions with your brand and experiment with both online and offline channels to reach your audience effectively.
PR will help drive conversation in the media and, depending on your budget and target audience, you may want to consider paid advertising that doesn’t rely on digital alone. Including mediums such as TV, radio, print, and out of home advertising at the awareness stage will help expand the opportunities that your message has to reach potential attendees and ‘plant the seed’.
Event organisers agree that offline channels are key for driving awareness and buzz, with digital channels ideal for building long term engagement and driving ticket sales. Founder of Bottle Shop Concepts, Dan Sims, says “Digital is where it is at and if you’re not there, you’re mad. Facebook is without doubt the most important communication tool on the planet right now, but we like to think of it as a circle. We use PR to drive awareness and digital/social to back it up.”