Event ticketing data isn’t just about ticket sales – it’s a goldmine for executing successful online or live events. In this blog, we will explore four ways to use your ticketing analytics. By adding these tips to your event planning checklist, you can improve event marketing, staffing, sponsorship packages, and more!
These statistics can provide valuable insights. They will help make your planning process easier and improve the experience for your event attendees. Now, let's dive into four practical tips that will help you make the most of your data.
Event planners often use the terms “target market” and “target audience” and it’s important to know what these words mean. Understanding these phrases can help you plan better events.
Your target market (or target audience) is the group of people that you’re trying to reach with your event marketing. This group includes different demographics like age, gender, and location. These factors help you narrow down your target market to a broader audience.
Example: I organize a quarterly street festival in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood. The ticketing analytics for my event show that of the 1,500 tickets sold, 900 were for both an adult and a child. This shows that most people who are buying tickets to my festivals are families with young children.
Using this insight, I can adjust my event marketing plan to target families in the Chicago area.
If you run different types of events, you might not have such a clear distinction between groups of ticket buyers. Don’t worry, you can still use your ticketing data to bolster event marketing efforts.
In this scenario, you’ll want to create a “secondary market” or “secondary audience”. This group of people is important, but it is not as large as your main target audience.
For example, I use my ticket data to see that 900 out of 1,500 buyers bought both an adult ticket and a children's ticket. Those 900 folks will be my primary audience: families with children.
But what about the other 600 people? From my ticketing data, I see that 450 out of 600 buyers chose a 21+ ticket. Buyers aged between 21 and 35 make up this group. This insight demonstrates my secondary market: young adults in Chicago.
Now that I have these insights from ticket analytics, I can plan and execute a successful event marketing campaign. I will focus on my main audience first, showcasing the family-friendly attractions at my event. To make sure I hit both of my audiences, I will also highlight event details that appeal to young adults.
Tip: To improve your ticketing data, add extra questions for attendees to answer at checkout. You can ask for their age and/or gender.
Avoid adding too many extra questions, this could slow down the checkout process. However, a few simple questions can help you understand your attendees better.
Understanding target audiences isn’t the only marketing tactic you can discover using your ticketing data. A key factor of marketing and events is knowing when and how people are buying tickets. Ticket analytics can give you useful information. This can help you learn which marketing tactics work best for ticket sales.
If you run ticketed events, understanding when attendees are most likely buy tickets is key to event promotion. Consider this example: If 60% of your audience is likely to buy between 6 PM and 10 PM, you need to adjust your ad schedule. Running social media posts during non-peak hours means you are missing a large part of your target market.
Example: By looking at my ticket data, I see that most tickets are bought the weekend before the upcoming event. This means I will get the best return on my advertising money if I match paid social media ads with peak sales times. This goes for other marketing channels as well, including email and influencer campaigns.
In addition to perfecting the timing of your marketing campaigns, ticketing data can also provide insights on which marketing channels are the most effective for your event. When selling tickets online, it’s important to understand where your buyers are coming from. When you look for an event ticketing system, choose a provider that offers helpful insights like these.
Knowing where your attendees come from can help you avoid wasting your marketing budget. This can also boost your event's ROI.
Tip: Eventeny offers a comprehensive event dashboard where you can track analytics like ticket purchase time, visitor source, and audience demographics! Learn more here
Ticket purchase data is great for checking events before and after they happen. However, during the event, it can be hard to improve efficiency using just purchase analytics. This is where ticket check-in data becomes crucial.
Ticket purchase data is the information you collect about people buying tickets before the event. Ticket check-in data lets you track attendees at your event and after it ends. Even if you organize free events, consider using free tickets to track attendee data.
When someone buys tickets online, there should be a process for validating their ticket at the event. This usually happens at the entrance. During this process, staff check in attendees and mark their tickets as used. Knowing when the most attendees are entering your event can give you vital information, assisting in your staffing plan.
Example: Using my event check-in data, I can analyze when there are peaks in attendance, and modify my staffing accordingly. By planning ahead for busy or slow times, I can ensure I have the right number of volunteers. This helps me manage both high and low attendance at my event.
When you assign the same number of event volunteers or staff to every shift, it creates a recipe for stress. During busy periods your event staff will be overwhelmed, and during slow shifts they’ll be bored and antsy. Using ticket check-in data helps you know when to adjust staff levels. This way, you can solve problems before they start.
Tip: To get creative, use your ticket check-in data to make a heat map. This map will show which entrances get the most traffic, showing the busiest times for attendee arrival. This visualization can help you improve your planning, and provide a useful addition to sponsorship proposals.
Sponsorships are a key revenue driver for many in the events industry, complementing the income generated from ticket sales. Just as you aim for a strong return on your marketing investments, sponsors are seeking sponsorship opportunities that connect them with their target audience and deliver measurable results. A well-prepared pitch, backed by ticket sales data, can make all the difference when presenting your event sponsorship packages to potential partners.
One of the most effective ways to attract sponsors is by proving that your event aligns with their goals. Sponsors are primarily looking for opportunities that reach the target market for their product or service. By leveraging ticket sales data, you can provide compelling metrics such as attendee demographics to show this alignment. Sharing details like age, location, and interests of your audience demonstrates that your event sponsorship levels offer real value.
Beyond demographics, consider emphasizing metrics like attendance growth and ticket demand to highlight your event’s success. For instance, showing year-over-year growth or a surge in early ticket sales positions your event as a thriving and reliable platform for sponsorship. These data points can enhance your event sponsorship ideas, making your proposal more appealing to potential partners.
To take your pitch to the next level, consider including data visualizations in your materials. Charts, graphs, and infographics can help bring your story to life and make complex data easier to understand. Whether you’re discussing premium sponsorship opportunities or introducing flexible event sponsorship levels, clear and visually engaging presentations can make a lasting impression.
By using ticket sales data strategically, you not only demonstrate the value of your sponsorship packages but also build stronger relationships with sponsors. This approach ensures they see your event as a worthwhile investment, paving the way for long-term partnerships.
Congratulations! Now you have all the tools you’ll need to make ticketing data work for you. To get the most from your ticketing software, optimize your event marketing and sponsorship proposals. Use a data-driven strategy for your event staffing. This approach is the best way to succeed.
Don’t have access to these insights? Eventeny’s event management platform can provide everything mentioned in this blog and more! To learn more about how Eventeny can help you streamline your ticketing process, check out this page: https://www.eventeny.com/product/ticket-registration/
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