Regular vs. Presale Tickets: Why You Should Sell Before You Sell
Creating captivating events requires significant cash flow. Between vendors, talent, and venue, event managers face a slew of expenses that can get overwhelming fast. To combat these expenses, event planners usually leverage ticket sales. The more ticket sales you have before the event begins, the more cash flow you can spend on the event pre-opening.
But, what if we told you could sell your tickets before you even... well, sell your tickets? These presale tickets can be your key to unlocking additional cash flow pre-event while offering value to your customers.
Let’s talk about it!
What Are Presale Tickets?
Presale tickets are tickets that go on sale before your tickets officially go on sale. We know! That’s probably the most confusing sentence you’ve heard all day. Usually, presale tickets are given out as a value-added option for loyal customers. So, people who have attended past events may unlock the ability to purchase presale tickets. For customers, these tickets mean that they can get a ticket without having to fear the dreaded “Sold Out” sign. You can also layer some discounts on top of that, making presale tickets even better for your loyal squad.
Of course, presale tickets benefit event planners as well. You get the money sooner. And the earlier the money shows up, the better your event can be. You can also use presale tickets to promote some of your other offerings. Let’s elaborate.
Typically, presale tickets leverage one of four “value pillars.”
- Membership programs
- Reward programs
- VIP programs
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Sales
1. Membership Programs
Offering membership programs can be a huge boon to your event. These are exclusive clubs that people can sign up and join. Typically, they have to input their email (which you can use to boost your marketing efforts down-the-road) to join your club. In return, you can offer them exclusive benefits — like presale tickets.
These programs can be HUGE. Here are some statistics that prove it!
- 69% of consumers say that their purchase behavior is influenced by loyalty/membership programs.
- Loyal customers are worth 10x more!
- Repeat customers spend 67% more per purchase
- 76% of consumers feel that loyalty/membership programs improve their relationship with brands/events.
2. Reward Programs
Like membership programs, rewards programs can also be a great way to increase your bottom line. Not only can you offer presale tickets to people in your membership program, but you can make them part of the loyalty program. These programs typically leverage loyalty points that are gained after each purchase. These can be spent on rewards... like presale tickets!
Here’s the best part — you can create all kinds of loyalty reward tiers. 50% of consumers will adjust their purchasing behavior to level up in your rewards programs. Plus, 64% of customers will share data to join loyalty programs with loyalty points, and 55% of consumers will subscribe to SMS messages from your event for loyalty points.
What’s not to love?
3. VIP Programs
The big difference between VIP and membership programs is how customers join. Membership programs typically take an email to join, while VIP programs often require a certain number of loyalty points or previous purchases. You can put backstage passes, presale tickets, and all sorts of goodies in these VIP programs. These are the customers who usually get to purchase before anyone else.
4. Sales
The final way that many event planners leverage presale tickets is via sales. If you need money quickly, but you don’t have the experience or reputation to build a big VIP/loyalty/membership program, you can make presale tickets cheaper. A few dollars off can spark consumer interest. Oftentimes, new event managers will utilize presale ticket sales to grab extra cash flow early to finish up their event.
Don’t be afraid to take some cash off if you need some cash now!
Presale Tickets vs. Regular Tickets
The only big difference between presale tickets and regular tickets is when they’re available. Presale tickets are sold before regular tickets go on sale and usually only to small groups of VIPs, members, or loyal customers. Other than that, they’re identical. It’s all about the timing!
