Promoting an event and selling tickets is a big job. Without enough ticket sales, you won’t make a profit, and you might not break even! Why would you pay for an event marketing agency, too?
Truth be told, the benefits of hiring a good event marketing agency far outweigh the costs. In addition, you can use some creative ways to pay for an event marketing agency to ensure you get the valuable help you need to reach your ticket sales goals.
Why Hire an Event Marketing Agency?
An experienced event marketing agency can significantly increase ticket sales. It’s that simple. They know the curveballs and best practices of the industry. An agency that truly knows events sees the trends. They understand what’s working and know how to apply those trends to your event marketing strategy.
An agency that works on a lot of events can do so much more than an agency that doesn’t focus on events. Herb Gillen, President and Founder of the Herb Gillen Agency, an event marketing agency, explains, “An event marketing agency can lead public relations, direct social media, guide media relations, and even be onsite before the event to help. In fact, we work on some large events for an entire year!”
An event marketing agency can offer very scalable services, and experienced event agencies can help you develop unique ways to pay for their work. For example, “for some of our clients, AttendStar adds a ticket fee to the price paid by attendees. That fee is used to pay for our marketing services, says Gillen”
Bottom-line, experienced, focused event marketing agencies understand events. Ultimately, working with a marketer who really understands your needs and goals can make a dramatic difference to your event’s success.
What Can an Event Marketing Agency Do for Your Event?
There are many ways that an event marketing agency can improve online ticket sales for your event. Herb Gillen suggests that the best place to start is your website and branding followed by a strategic plan for advertising, email marketing, and social media. Most importantly, your marketing initiatives should integrate with your ticketing sales platform.
1. Website and Branding
Your event needs a professional image, including logos, photos, visual content, and messages. Furthermore, “You need a good online presence that directs people to your ticket sales page,” says Gillen.
2. Advertising
“Facebook is the best way to move the needle for ticket sales, but you need to work with an agency that has experience with Facebook advertising – an agency that is doing it every day,” explains Gillen. “You should expect to spend some money on Facebook advertising because Facebook is set up to be a targeted advertising vehicle. Organic posts don’t provide the return that you can get with Facebook ads or provide any of the targeting tools.”
3. Email Marketing
Email marketing is essential, so you should start building a list of targeted subscribers as soon as possible. Herb recommends, “If you have a list of previous buyers and subscribers, use email marketing to promote your event and increase ticket sales.”
4. Social Media Marketing
These days, everyone is on social media, so it’s imperative that your event is there, too. “Twitter advertising is good, but it’s secondary to Facebook advertising. We’ve also used Snapchat and Instagram successfully for clients,” says Gillen.
The Secrets to Event Marketing Agency Success
There are two things that are required for an event marketing agency and the event they’re promoting to be successful – data and technology.
“One of the keys to making all of this work is working directly with the ticketing provider,” shares Gillen. “We like AttendStar because they give personal, individualized attention to all events – whether there are 1,000 or 100,000 attendees.
“They’ve also built tools for event marketing agencies that help us track more data. For example, we can quickly see results for advertising spending and identify what people respond to. This allows us to make adjustments that increase the return on investment for the marketing initiatives we implement.
“AttendStar is very responsive. A lot of the work we do requires that tracking code be integrated into the ticket sales page. Some other ticketing providers can take one to two weeks to add the code, but AttendStar adds the code in less than 24 hours. Sometimes, we’re up and running with a campaign in 15 minutes!
“AttendStar is such an undiscovered gem in online ticket sales – from customer service to technology and their onsite presence at large events. I would rather work with AttendStar than any other ticket provider, and I’ve worked with many!”
Should You Work with an Event Marketing Agency?
The question of whether or not you should work with an event marketing agency is one that only you can answer. The benefits are clear and can help you boost ticket sales while freeing you up to work on the things you do best. However, there is a cost. While there are creative ways to offset those costs, you do need to weigh the costs versus benefits and make the best decision for your event.
Have you worked with an event marketing agency? Do you work for an event marketing agency? Share your thoughts in the comments below. And if you have questions or need help, don’t hesitate to contact Gary Bradshaw at AttendStar (615-223-1973) or use the Contact Us Form.
