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The last event I organised which sold out was a Film and TV networking event in London, July 2014.

I worked in partnership with Elliot Grove from Raindance, Felicity Jackson from Casting Days/Surviving Actors and a few other Film and TV related companies, such as Production Base.

What I learned is that working with companies who have a strong status and a big database can supercharge your marketing and sell a large amount of tickets, which you can read more about on my first ever Eventbrite post, here.

But it’ll only work if you get your message, pricing, location, event theme/concept and the content of the event right.

Sadly, due to some unfortunate circumstances, I had to close my previous company down and I left the events business for a while whilst I got my head above water. But that niggling voice in the back of my head, and the memories of those good times drove me back in to it. It was a no-brainer getting back into creative industry events, because I did so well with it last time, and I love it.

What I’ve realised is that although my strategy worked last time, I got lucky with a lot of the specifics, such as price, location and how to market it, etc. On this occasion, it’s been one step forward and ten steps back, and I know that something is missing, so I’ve thought long and hard about where I went wrong and how I’m going to do things differently next time.

It took four attempts to get it right in my last business, but eventually my events were selling out every month and growing. I’d gone from selling one ticket and losing my venue deposit to selling 100 tickets in a day.

The point I’m trying to make here is that being analytical is really important when you’re starting out, because it’s so easy to make one error which puts the whole event at risk.

You must look at the entire event process and work out where the problem is, so you don’t make the same mistake next time, which is what I’ve done. Here are some fatal errors you should avoid so you don’t end up in the same situation that I’m in now.

And don’t think that just because you’ve got a lot of experience, you’re safe. Be on the ball at all times! Here’s how you can get it right:

Research your market

Did I know how many musicians live in Leeds and how many music professionals there are in the UK before I organised my event? No I didn’t, but I know the answer to that question now. And did I know how much musicians would be willing to pay for my event? Again, no I didn’t. In fact, I didn’t even know if musicians liked my concept and idea, a fatal error which I regret now.

What I’ve realised is that you must know the answer to these questions before you start out. This will help you to create something which people want to buy. Don’t bother organising an event if you don’t have physical, tangible evidence to prove that people are interested in your event.

You need to know:

1. How far would your typical customer be willing to travel?
2. How much are they willing to pay?
3. What do they think of the concept, format, speakers, etc?
4. How would they improve the event?
5. Do they have any reservations that would stop them from buying?
6. How relevant are the subjects to them?
7. How valuable do they perceive the event to be?

You also need to know how other similar events position themselves in the market so you can create a genuine USP. It’s a lot of work, but if you do it, you’ll reduce your risk massively.

Communicating your message properly

Another thing that can go wrong is your marketing message. Is it convincing enough? Does it explain what the event offers properly? What do people think when they read the event page? Does it make them want to buy?

The only way you can find the answer out to these questions is to go out and ask your target audience or typical customer. Find out what their thoughts are.

On my most recent event, I charged ahead, wrote a press release and wrote the text for the event page, and had numerous companies fire direct mailers out for me and landed a lot of press coverage, but it wasn’t enough, as the event was flawed from the inside out as I’d failed to do my market research.

The solution

On the back of everything I’ve learned, I’ve created a rigid system which I’ll be using next time that will save me the heartache. I’ll never have to ‘fluke’ my way to success again. I’m going to get it right and you can do the same just by following these simple steps:

Create a pre-registration landing page

You don’t need to sell tickets or have an event out on sale to capture data. If you create a landing page with a data capture form which explains the concept and the benefits of the event to people, ask them to ‘pre-register their interest,’ so you’ll have a database to market to when it goes out on sale.

You’ll also find it easier to capture that data as there is no up front buying commitment.

Create a survey

But before you do that, I’d highly suggest getting a survey together which asks all of the relevant questions such as ‘what is the most you’d be willing to pay for this event?’ ‘How valuable is the event to you?’ ‘How far would you be willing to travel for this event?’ And so on. Make sure you ask for their name and company name too.

And ask this question: ‘Please read the text on this page (link). Based on what you read, how much do you understand the event?’ This way, you can judge whether your marketing message is right. And I’d suggest asking people in your target audience directly how they feel about it. If you’re a weak writer, use People Per Hour to find a copywriter that can help you, as there’s an art to it.

This research will also give you a general overview of who is interested. Send the landing page to the interested ones and ask them to pre-register, and use any negative feedback to change the event so it becomes more relevant, before sending it to the poorer responses.

Find out what your market wants and create an event that caters for it. Don’t just charge ahead.

If you combine market research with data capture, not only will you be able to create an event that resonates with your target audience, but you’ll have a database to market to your ‘hot leads’ when it goes live, too.

Upgrade to LinkedIn Premium if you want to connect with lots of people in your target audience and get as much market research and data as possible so you get it right.

If you’re not doing market research and making sure your marketing message resonates with your target audience, you are taking a punt. Don’t make the same mistake I did.

Use the lessons and the advice I’ve gained and get your event right. And once you’ve done your event, send another survey out asking for even more feedback so your customers will want to come back.