Before the year is over, now is the time to sell tickets and reach new customers. One way to increase sales is by promoting your tickets as holiday event gifts.

Focus on your target customer as you plan your holiday marketing. For instance, if your event appeals to children, think of ways to present it as a gift experience for families. Or, if you’ve created a romantic experience for two, consider promoting it to people searching for event gifts for couples.

Here are some ways to promote your event tickets as gifts, making them the perfect present for the holiday.

Promote your event, so people give your tickets as gifts

Encouraging people to buy early bird tickets as gifts for friends and family can kick-start your cash flow. Getting advanced sales also means you can better project your final event costs and budget more effectively. This means that you’ll be able to find ways to increase your bottom line and cut expenses. At the same time, those buying your tickets as presents can give the gift of experience to their friends and family.

Give attendees an experience to look forward to after the holidays, and hook them so they attend future events, too.

According to a recent survey* Eventbrite commissioned through Harris Poll, people want to give and get experiences as gifts this holiday season. The findings revealed:

• 63% of U.S. adults (ages 18 – 65+) would prefer to receive an experience gift than a material gift this holiday season, and 50% of U.S. adults plan to give experience gifts this year
• 59% of U.S. adults believe that giving experience gifts is more accessible than shopping for material gifts
• Over a third (36%) of U.S. adults want to attend more events/live experiences in 2019
• 85% of U.S. adults agree that experience gifts are an excellent way for both the giver and receiver to enjoy something together; 93% of millennial women and 83% of millennial men (ages 18-34) agree.
• In today’s digital world, people are craving experiences over material gifts. It mainly applies to millennials, with three out of four preferring to spend their money on an experience.

Six ways to sell event tickets for the holidays

You know your event is unique – it’s what everyone will be talking about after the holiday season. However, your event isn’t the only one selling tickets. You need unique ideas that grab potential attendees’ attention and stand out from the crowd.

Keep reading to learn how to gift online tickets and other ways to get attendees interested in your event.

1. Plan ahead

Planning is critical when people want to give tickets as a gift. The recipient must have the date open, or the tickets will go unused. So, gift certificates may be a better choice. Another option is a ticket to events with multiple dates or over a certain period of time.

You’ll want to map out your ticketed events for the first quarter of the new year, as this timeframe will most appeal to people looking to give tickets as gifts. It gives people time to check schedules and find the perfect event tickets for the intended recipient.

2. Create a holiday bundle

Everyone likes extras, so make sure your offering is generous by bundling additional items with ticket purchases.

Some tried and tested ideas for merchandise are stickers, posters, keyrings, baseball caps, or T-shirts. Books and music also make great add-ons and can be offered as digital downloads. Privileges, meanwhile, could be priority entry, free drink tokens, premiere seats, and access to exclusive areas. A holiday bundle will appeal particularly to customers looking for family event gift ideas, so make sure to come up with some extras for children.

Offering unique additional experiences for your gift buyers will sweeten the deal. For inspiration, check out ‘An Experience With‘ events. They offer a variety of packages at different price points to suit a range of budgets, with the option to meet the star of the show, enjoy a three-course dinner, and have a professional photo taken with a special guest. Make sure to write a detailed description of each ticket type highlighting precisely what’s included in your listing.

Other ways to make your event stand out from the crowd include collaborating with sponsors to offer post-event experiences. The customer will feel like they’re getting more for their money, while the sponsor will benefit from being included in your event advertisement. Event creators looking for ideas to promote their event on social media can often get help from the sponsor. Your sponsor will likely talk about the event on their platforms, enabling you to reach a new audience.

Some ideas for post-event experiences provided by a sponsor include a meal at a restaurant, theatre tickets, or a spa day. Working with brands that enhance your event and have a similar target audience makes for great collaboration. For example, event planners looking to promote family event gifts can team up with a sponsor that will be able to offer a post-event experience for children.

3. Offer holiday event incentives

Much like you would offer at other times of the year, incentivising holiday buyers with a discount deal is a good idea. Depending on the price range, you can offer a fixed or proportionate discount — $5 or a percentage discount of 20% off, for example.

Consider different incentives to encourage sales:

• Early bird incentive to encourage advance sales.
• BOGO. You can set this up by creating a half-price ticket and then requiring that it’s purchased in multiples of two. This gives people the option to either gift a pair of tickets or give one away to a friend and keep the other so they can attend the event together. This “shared experience” pitch is nice to feature in your marketing — it’s much more meaningful than offering another coffee mug that might sit in kitchen cabinets.
• Discount codes. If you have multiple events, you could get into the holiday spirit by offering a new discount for every day of advent. During the holiday, your followers will watch your social media channels to find out what discount tickets they can get on that day. For instance, you could offer a group incentive on one day, then provide a multi-event discount to email subscribers the next.
• Flash sales. These limited time sales encourage buyers to act quickly to purchase based on either limited availability or a discounted price.

4. Use social media

Social media connects event creators with a broad audience, and there are plenty of platforms to promote ticket sales. Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook will help you advertise tickets to familiar and new attendees. Each platform has its own nuances for creating and launching ad campaigns.

For example, to sell event tickets on Facebook, you need to grab the attention of individuals and encourage them to buy there. You can create a ticket offer exclusively for people buying on Facebook. If users know they won’t be able to get this special Christmas offer anywhere else, they’re less likely to venture off to other parts of the web and forget about the event.

Add a time limit to the offer, throw in some paid promotion using Eventbrite Boost’s Facebook and Instagram ads, and you can get customers buying while simultaneously increasing your social reach.

5. Create event gift vouchers

Nothing is better than seeing the looks of delight on loved ones’ faces when they receive a gift. Whether it’s an e-voucher or a printed gift card, think about how you can turn your event tickets into an attractive gift.

Your customers might wonder about the easiest way to gift event tickets — that’s where online gift vouchers come in. Luckily, Eventbrite’s integration with GiftUp! makes selling gift cards online easy. The app automatically syncs the gift cards you sell as discount coupons with your Eventbrite account, so you can keep track of your sales.

Your customers will then be able to use their gift vouchers to purchase tickets for your event right away. You can also personalise gift cards by uploading your event logo and customising the information on them. Make sure it creatively displays all the important event details. You could even link to extra content, like music or videos, which recipients can watch in anticipation.

6. Notify your email contacts

Don’t forget to tap into your existing database to promote and sell tickets as gifts. Your customers from previous events may want to share their experiences online with friends and family members.

Your email list contains all of your contacts and represents a great marketing opportunity. After all, consumers are more likely to listen to another customer than the event planner. Want your emails to be even more effective? Eventbrite Boost’s email campaigns see open rates 59% higher than industry averages.

Now you can give the gift of tickets for the holidays

Event tickets can make wonderful holiday presents. Whether you’re organising a concert, festival, workshop, talk, or retreat, tapping into the gift market can pay dividends.

See how Eventbrite can help you promote your tickets as gifts. So, wrap up a deal, stick a ribbon on top, and promote the gift of experience.