5 Ways To Improve Your Event Website
Based on our experience planning and building event websites, here are our event marketing tips to ensure you get the best from your event website:
Get the Event Marketing basics rights
The three most important pieces of event marketing information on your website are:- What is it?
- Where is it?
- When is it?
A recent Event Marketing survey undertaken by The Guardian asked people what was the first thing they did after they learnt about an event they were interested in. Over 85% of people said they discussed with friends, family or colleagues first. After that, considerations such as price, distance, line-up and previous experience all influenced their decision. With this in mind, it is unlikely someone will buy tickets if it's the first visit to your website. They're much more likely to be looking for event information. However, when they decide to buy tickets, make it easy....
Provide Clear Ticket Options
The next important piece to get right is, make it easy to buy event tickets. Ensure the Buy Button is easy to find on every page. The High Voltage site for instance has a tag in the right column that is permanently visible. When people have made the decision they want to go, they move from the 'Consideration' stage in to the 'Comparison' stage. Here, people tend to look at the prices and see what options are available. Now, event promoters should realise that although they may advertise one price there is a significant number of people who will gladly pay more if the ticket includes more convenience, greater comfort or offer some luxury. Therefore, descriptions of any event VIP packages, family or discount tickets, special offers and promotions should all be clearly listed. Once people have made a decision what they want they will conduct their own research. Remember, this is the Internet; no-one buys anything without first looking around for the cheapest deal. By offering group discounts you can tempt people to buy direct from your site.Events are Social
People rarely go to events such as festivals or gigs alone. Providing people with tools to inform and encourage their friends to attend will ultimately help you market the event. This can be achieved by integrating social media buttons such as Facebook or Twitter. See the example on High Voltage which makes sharing easy with tools like 'Send To A Friend'.New sites like Groupon or Groupola are pioneering "Group Buying" and could be particularly powerful for events due to the social nature. These sites encourage and reward people for organising themselves in to groups by saying if they can encourage their friends to go they can all enjoy a discount on the usual price.
Get To Know Who Is Attending Your Event
Events like festivals, conferences, county shows and sporting occasions happen every year. And yet, far too often an event manager won't know who attended or the opinions of the audience. Then, come the next year, its back to square one, dusting off the marketing plan and trying to inform your audience again. Building your mailing list, increasing your Facebook fans, attracting YouTube subscribers or Twitter Feeds can make returns on your marketing year after year. Using software like PollDaddy can provide very valuable feedback and ideas. However, to increase results you must give people a reason to join or interact - offer incentives on tickets, exclusive news, a special area within the festival, 'insider' tips or information to make their event better.