Your first-ever event is officially over — and you’re already thinking about how to make your second one even better.

Before you launch into your planning, it’s important to take a moment to reflect on what worked — and what didn’t — from your first attempt. Even if you’ve been making notes along the way, there’s plenty to be learned from sitting down with your budget, marketing, and ticket sale results.

Keep on reading to discover four things you need to know before planning your second event.

1. Where to invest your marketing budget

The first time you run an event, you’re doing a lot of guesswork (albeit, based on research) about which channels will work best for your promotions. But once you’ve run a campaign on social media, event discovery sites, and through email, you have real data you can use.

The easiest way to determine what worked best for you is to start in your registration platform’s reports. You can look here to learn:

• Which source (email, event discovery sites, social media, etc.) drove the most revenue
• Which ticket type (early bird, general admission, etc.) sold the most for you
• How your ticket sales fluctuated over time (and when the most were sold)

Tip: Get into the fine details of your data by looking at each channel’s reports. Use these reports to decide what channels, ticket types, and onsale times were most effective. Then, double down on your efforts for your second event.

2. How to repurpose media from your first event

Visuals are one of the best ways to promote your event. Luckily, it’s easier than ever to share FOMO-inducing photos and videos that entice people to register for your second event. (Don’t worry: Even if you think you didn’t have time to capture lots of photos at your first event, you still probably got something useful you can use.)

Here are a few ways to gather and use media from your first event in your marketing:

• Curate content from your and attendees’ photos (with permission, of course). Browse your event hashtag and tags on Instagram to see what other people posted.
• Use these photos and quotes in your promotions across posts and ads on Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn
• Incorporate your photos into your event website and social media profiles

Tip: For your first event you might have relied on stock images or back-stage prep photos to market your event. Make sure to use photos and videos from your actual event in your marketing for your next event. That will help potential attendees visualise what they can expect when they’re buying tickets. Check out this post to learn how to use photos to make your social media posts really stand out.

3. Proven ways to re-engage previous attendees

It’s tempting to put all your energy into attracting new attendees, but you need to remember the fans you already have. In fact, acquiring new customers can cost six to seven times more than retaining existing ones, so it makes sense to spend some time re-engaging them.

Not sure where to start? The following three strategies can help:

• Segment your mailing list, so you can customise messages for past attendees and emphasise what will be new at your next event
• Offer past participants special discounts on tickets or early access to pre-sales
• Be responsive on social media and share valuable content for your fans

Tip: Past attendees can actually be your biggest promotional tool. Make it easy for past attendees to invite friends and spread hype about your event. To learn how to engage your attendees all year-round, read this article.

4. How to choose the right ticketing partner

The tech you used for your first event might not be the right tech to help you grow for your second event and beyond. Your event management solution should make your day-to-day easy, inspire confidence in attendees that they can make purchases securely, and give you the support you need.

Here are three ways you know you’ve chosen the right ticketing partner:

• You can access all the data you need. The right partner will provide you with information such as who your attendees are, when they’re purchasing, and how they’re discovering your event. This will help you make better-informed decisions about your audience and onsale strategy.
• You can sync with other best-in-class solutions. Ideally, your ticketing or registration platform will be able to link up with your CRM, promotional channels like Facebook Events, and services like Google Analytics and SurveyMonkey. All these tools help you learn more about who your page visitors and ticket buyers are.
• Your event management platform stays up and running — at all times. If your platform slows or stops, especially during high demand on-sales, you’ll do more than frustrate your potential attendees. You could miss out on ticket sales from the people who give up and leave your event page.

If these aren’t checked, you should look into another option.

Want to kick start promotion for your second event with a partner used by millions of events every year? Sign up to Eventbrite and start working on your next event now!