Six ways to sell out your event!
So, you’re organising events in your garden centre, that’s great! But how do you make sure your events will be sold out long before it’s scheduled? Garden Connect has been helping garden centres to sell tickets online for many years – and has also recently launched a new and innovative ticketing service for garden centres – here the team share its six secret tips to ensuring a full house at any event.
Having an online ticket shop is only the starting point of your journey, there’s a lot more to do to sell all the tickets you have available. Just follow these steps:
1) Start on time
We’ve seen many garden centres who spent months on preparing a fantastic event and then only start to sell tickets two weeks in advance of the event itself. This doesn’t work - the sooner you start selling tickets the better it is. People make plans weeks ahead and you should be in their agenda as soon as possible.
2) Social media
Facebook allows you to create events and you can link to your online ticket shop. Promoting your event on Facebook will drive traffic to the page on your website and to increase interest, pre-event buzz and ticket sales.
3) Online pre-sale
Selling tickets online allows customers to assure they can access your events without visiting your centre just to buy tickets. You can give an Early Bird Discount if customers order tickets 60 days in advance gain more interest, and secure customer satisfaction.
4) Make your tickets scarce
Having an unlimited number of tickets doesn’t help to sell them all. Mentioning there’s only a limited number of tickets available is common practice. Of course, you can still sell as many tickets as you want but showing customers they are limited creates a sense of urgency to order them now. You should also make clear some of your events are almost fully booked to create a sense of urgency. The online ticketing services of Garden Connect automates this for you.
5) Invite your loyalty club card holders
Invite your loyalty club card holders to get access to your events before the general public can book tickets. This shows them you really value their loyalty to your garden centre and is an easy way to make them feel like a VIP. You may want to give a discount to them (or to sell at a higher price to the general public).
6) Invite local influencers
Invite local influencers such as bloggers, people who manage Facebook community groups and members of the local press to join the event for free in exchange for some coverage/promotion. An easy and cheap way to create a buzz around your event!
These six tips will make sure you will have a sold event out event next time! Are you interested to learn more about the online ticketing services Garden Connect is offering? Contact Garden Connect on 0203 475 5541, go to ticketing.gardenconnect.com or visit us at Glee (hall 19, stand R32) / Four Oaks (stand E164).