Do you know that EventNook’s ticket tier pricing feature allows organizers toset multiple ticket types?
Wouldn’t you want your guests to purchase their tickets early rather than last-minute? What better way to encourage guests to attend your event than by offering them a special discount for purchasing their tickets early?
Setting “ticket tier pricing” benefits you as an organizer because it encourages potential attendees to immediately actand purchase tickets upon knowing about the event. This reduces the risk that they will forget about the event when they decide to purchase tickets at a later date.
Utilize this feature now to maximize your event management process and encourage more sales!
To learn how to set ticket tier pricing, visit our help page.
If you need any further assistance or clarification on using this feature, please don’t hesitate to contact us!
Ever heard of Indiegogo, Kickstarter or Crowdfunder? What about the term crowdfunding?
Crowdfunding only surfaced a few years ago but it is fast becoming a go-to method for raising funds. How it works: You pitch your idea on a crowdfunding platform like one of the mentioned sites, and if people like your idea, they can contribute to your project. You can pitch almost anything – products, applications, song albums and even babies! Yes, you heard that right – babies. But that’s another story (See here: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/help-the-haleys-have-a-baby).
While it is now well integrated in the US, the same cannot be said for Asia. However, thanks to Crowdfunding Asia, spearheaded by HongSin Kwek, the Founder of startup PhoenixICT, Asia will have its second Crowdfunding summit in November this year.
Photo: HongSin Kwek
We speak to her to get to know more about the second summit, and also the debut LIVE Crowdfunding Asia Festival – BOLD 2015, an extension of the event inspired an co-organised with youths aged 18 to 24 years young from various Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) in Singapore.
Q1: What is Crowdfunding Asia about?
KHS: It is a platform to network and collaborate with others as well as to showcase your ideas and products. At the summit, attendees will have opportunities to mingle, discuss and pitch projects that may help them gain insights to current concepts and find investors who are interested in backing their models. It is also an avenue for us to provide alternatives to fill in the gaps that the traditional approach leaves. An example of such a gap is how the funding available to technopreneurs is common but not to mumpreneurs, hawkerpreneurs, hydropreneurs, and more.
Q2: What is the difference between the Crowdfunding Asia – Singapore Summit 2015 and the Crowdfunding Asia Festival – BOLD 2015?
Photo: HongSin Kwek
KHS: The Crowdfunding Asia Summit is a full day conference focused on interaction with international experts and practitioners in the crowdfunding scene. Regulators, government, investors, bankers, media, startups, entrepreneurs of all walks of industry will be there. The extension of the summit is the Crowdfunding Asia festival BOLD 2015, which spans 3.5-days and will provide the platform to challenge all startups, entrepreneurs who are brave enough to show their business in the open field and to call for LIVE CROWDFUNDING. Whether it is media, tech, water, investors, bankers, research, health, welfare or socio-enterprises – as long as they are out to demonstrate their potential. We are expecting few thousands of visitors flocking in with comfortable attires (since it is outdoors) to exchange ideas, hear pitches and learn from each other to better their business models and more. It is a marketplace to be and YOU WANT TO BE IN IT TO MAKE HISTORY!
Q3: How is it beneficial?
KHS:
It is beneficial when you start giving yourself a chance to be a part of it.
It is beneficial when you participate.
It is beneficial when you help some and someone in turn support you in many other ways.
IT IS A CROWD CONVERSATION…
Q4: Who should attend? (the Crowdfunding Asia Summit 2015 and/or the Crowdfunding Asia Festival BOLD 2015?)
KHS: EVERYONE who is in pursuit of turning their dream into reality. EVERYONE who believes they can contribute… EVERYONE who wants Singapore to hear them…. EVERYONE who sees crowdfunding as a strong alternative to their vision, or to help someone live their dreams in business and more.
Photo: HongSin Kwek
Q5: What can attendees expect there?
KHS: Lots of exchange and learning!
Catch Crowdfunding Asia – Singapore Summit and the Crowdfunding Asia Festival – Bold 2015 on 9 November 2015 and 10 -13 November 2015 respectively!
Building customer relations that run deeper than the superficial newsletter greetings are getting more difficult today. The average consumer today is distracted, spoilt for choice and very busy. To effectively get a customer to return to your business again and again requires additional effort.
Events can help you cut through the noise online and offline. Through live events, you can attract potential customers and cultivate long-term relationships with existing customers. People continue to be attracted to actual human connection. And with online ticketing and registration solutions readily available online, event-goers can attend events more conveniently. Events offer businesses a great growth hacking strategy to achieve a stronger customer base and greater brand connection.
1. Use existing networks
You don’t have to do everything yourself. The best part about planning events is that you have a real reason to call up that emcee you met at a networking session last time, or that catering company your cousin runs.
Photo Source: investinhackney.org
And if you plan an event that really excites your target audience, they might actually help you plan and market it! Leverage on their networks and enthusiasm. For instance, Airbnb supports their users in planning meetups for people in certain locales, enabling them to have events in their name all around the world.
And as your event gains traction, you can start engaging your event attendees to be part of your event in different ways. For EventNook, our networking events brought together events people from all parts of the event industry and soon, we found an emcee, venue sponsors and event photography services for our subsequent events who would be willing to use our events as a platform to showcase their services.
Photo Source: sxsw.com
Social media is also a great way to tap on the networks of your event attendees. Prepare relevant social media channels and hashtags and encourage people to use it before, during and after the event! It’s free marketing so why not use it?
2. Small and intimate
As an event planner you don’t need to wrack your head planning a huge and spectacular event to achieve your goal of driving growth. Small and cozy events with a conducive environment for conversations will help your event goers form communities with each other and strengthen their relationship with your business because they get more individual attention from you. Moreover, you can save significantly on costs!
Photo Source: sxsw.com
3. Focus on what’s important
Focus on 1-2 things you want your event attendees to get out of your event. Do you want your event goers to experience your services, form connections with each other, or gain some valuable knowledge? What is the main takeaway for your audience?
Like in business, go lean with your event. Do away with unnecessary frills like a buffet dinner, or an entertainer even. But make sure to invest enough time and resources into helping your audience get what they came to get.
Photo Source: latergram.me
4. Partner up
Partnering up can double your market reach while reducing the work for each company. Moreover, your event will look more credible for the attendees. And you can make it event more useful to your event attendees by exposing them to a complementary service or product!
Just make sure to clarify expectations with partner businesses and communicate consistently before the event so that all partners are on the same page.
Chill Out with Event Professionals: EventNook partners with Venuerific (a venue portal) and LiveLife (an event planning platform)
5. Incorporate branding
Tie back the event to your company. Have a definite plan about how you can generate sales from the event. Ensure the personality of your company comes through in the event. And make sure you brand, brand, brand! Your presentation slides, event venue, freebies and even the content of your event should show your company’s logo and link back to your overall brand.
For instance, consider giving away food vouchers as lucky draw prizes at the event if you are running a restaurant so that event attendees are encouraged to return. Or, giving away samples of your company’s product that may require customers to buy complementary products or return for re-fills can help increase customer retention.
6. Have fun!
Make your event useful, fun and enjoyable. A positive and comfortable (relaxed) experience is more likely to leave a long-lasting sense of joy in your event attendees’ lives and they will attribute this to you!
Photo Source: meetup.com
Events make people feel appreciated. By planning an event for the benefit of your customer segments, you show that your business genuinely cares. It can be incorporated into your growth hacking strategy. At the same time, by getting to know the people in the company, your business is humanised, and trust tends to strengthen. Even if you are on a tight budget, there is always a way to plan a killer event to drive business growth!
Want to start accelerating your business’ growth through events?
Event though we all love attending free events, making your event free may not lead to optimal event participation. Instead, pricing your event ticket appropriately is more critical to attracting the right crowd. A free professional seminar or conference may seem cheap to some event-goers whereas a free outdoor picnic would become a must-go. You might have covered the costs of an event through event advertising or sponsorship but don’t be too hasty in making your event free!
Photo Credits: tarubrazil.com
Make your event free if…
Your event is about inclusivity and community-building: A free event makes your event seem accessible to everyone and creates an atmosphere of openness and egality.
Free concert at Singapore’s Botanic Gardens. Photos Credits: expatliving.sg
You are organising a charity event: Making your event free will remove doubts that the ticket money is going into your own pockets rather than the charity. Sponsorships are widely available for charity events as long as you approach organisations with aligned values and interests. People will also be more inclined to donate at your event if they did not have to spend it on an event ticket
You are selling your own products at the event: Events are great ways to close deals and get leads for your business. You are able to do live product demos, meet qualified leads and drive conversion. Face-to-face meetings with potential customers builds greater trust and rapport. An event also helps increase visibility of your company in the industry. Charging your event goers may make them less willing to part with their money to buy your products and services
You are organising large, public events: Free events attract spontaneous event-goers who haven’t managed to register and pay for tickets beforehand. A significant portion of people get drawn into the event by chancing upon it and have little hesitation to join in because it’s free! For organisers, it is also easier to manage the crowd as you don’t have to make financial transactions. However, it is important to secure a sizable audience prior to the event as the buzz created on the day has a huge impact on any passer-by’s decision to join in! Moreover, it can be difficult to collect money on the day if you are expecting a huge crowd.
Making events free has many long-term benefits such as increasing your company’s visibility, credibility and memorability. But having free events means reducing exclusivity and increasing uncertainty about event turnout as well.
Photo Credits: sphereexhibits.com.sg
Charge for event tickets if…
You want to track attendance before event: Ticketed events give a better gauge of the expected turnout beforehand. People tend to commit to events that they pay for. Even if they can’t make it, they will try to recover the ticket cost by selling it to others. Using online event management software can help you check who has paid, who has cancelled, how many people are coming and where they come from so that you remain in full control of event attendance, without having to spend every other day manually updating RSVP records.
You want to increase credibility of event: Charging for events like professional seminars, professional networking or performances help enhance the perceived value and credibility of your event
Charging for professional conferences and seminars can increase the perceived value and credibility of the event. Photo Credits: wisegeek.com
You want to create invitation codes for VIPs: Charging for event tickets gives you the option of offering special discounts to important people. You can choose to give out promo codes to selected event attendees, perhaps your big clients, to encourage them to attend the event. Their attendance would give your event the much needed boost in terms of credibility and appeal.
You want to create event promotions: You can create early bird discounts and group discounts to encourage people to sign up early and bring their friends. This actually helps amplify the marketing buzz surrounding your paid event. You can create a sense of urgency early on as well as encourage people to spread the word about your event. Encouraging people to come in groups also help event attendees remember your event details better and actually come for your event, especially if they signed up early. To manage promotions, discount codes and invitation-only registration, our event ticketing system can customise an online registration software just for you!
Early Bird Tickets and Group Discounts help boost sales
In essence, ticketed events afford you flexibility in modifying the incentives that can encourage more event-goers to attend the event! Unless you represent a very reputable company, paid events give a stamp of credibility and assurance for the event-goers who experience a psychological assurance that the event will be of a certain quality.
Need an efficient registration or ticketing system to manage your event?
Bored? Want to know the upcoming events in Singapore? Finding events in Singapore has become even easier on EventNook with this over-the-weekend update!
To access this useful feature, scroll to the bottom of the EventNook homepage and click on “Browse Events in Singapore“.
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