How to Drive Revenue Beyond Ticket Sales

1. Sponsorship

Sponsorship is your bread and butter to use an old-fashioned phrase: it’s the dependable base on which event revenue is built.

Sponsorship is perhaps more crucial than ticket sales. All events, everywhere, survive on sponsorship, from community galas to the biggest festivals in the world.

We could write whole ebooks on the nuances of gaining more sponsorships, but we’ve got lots to tell you today, so get ready for the crash course on increasing your event revenue through sponsorship:

• First, understand your audience (it helps you choose your sponsor and then sell to them.
• Offer tiered sponsorship packages
• Diversify opportunities to include things like:
  • Sponsored content
  • Sponsored Gamification
  • Branded swag
  • Influencers

So you get the picture, sponsorship is crucial to event revenue. But how do you get it? Well, we can help you there. Just read this handy guide on how to write an event sponsorship proposal. It’s a clear and concise walkthrough that will yield results!

2. Grants

Getting a grant for your event is more complicated than getting sponsorship, but it’s definitely worth looking into. Largely speaking, there are two kinds of grants: charitable and business grants.

If your event or organisation serves some kind of charitable end, you could earn a grant from various trusts, NGOs, or government initiatives. So say if you’re promoting sustainability, challenging poverty, or promoting equality in the workplace, apply for a grant.

Likewise, if you’re a hungry startup or a tech company in New York or any city that wants to become a tech centre, get in touch with the local business bureau and ask the question!

As we said, grants are harder to come by, and the applications can be time-consuming. But if you don’t ask, you don’t get. But if you’re serious about increasing your event revenue beyond ticket sales, you need to pursue every avenue!

3. Crowdfunding

Crowdfunding can be a powerful thing. It can change lives, make events and art possible, and be community defining.

Just recently, the fantasy literature and publishing industry was shaken to its core due to a crowdfunding episode. Brandon Sanders – best known for the Cosmere fictional universe – crowdfunded $15.4 million in just 24 hours for his new books!

So instead of looking to shift ticket sales, perhaps – after a strong and sincere marketing campaign – you can increase your attendees by asking them to be crowdfunded as opposed to the more hollow resort of ticket sales?

To see this in action at corporate events, check out a company like Gitcoin, which invite people to raise money for crypto and blockchain events.

4. Merchandise

Merch is a great thing. Merchandise is a win-win situation for everyone. It keeps up and coming bands’ heads’ above water. It creates huge revenue for independent artists and creators, and, crucially, people actually want the opportunity to buy branded gear of things they love!

Selling custom merchandise boosts revenue and continues to serve as marketing long after your event. You can rely on classic favourites like T-shirts, caps, and tote bags, or explore options such as working with dropshipping suppliers for unique items like Bluetooth speakers, snacks, or plant pots to diversify your offerings and reduce inventory risks!

But why not try mixing it up? How creative can you get with your merchandising? The coolest stuff we’ve seen recently have been branded snacks, Bluetooth speakers, wireless earbuds, recycled stationery, and plant pots!

And P.S: it goes without saying, but if you have any unique ideas of your own we’d love to hear from you!

5. Tiered Access and Premium Content

An excellent way to increase your event revenue beyond ticket sales is with premium content and tiered access to cool stuff. It could be anything from meeting and greet with special guests, access to premium content, exclusive workshops with experts, exclusive exhibitions, VIP areas, and more.

For example, having an influential figure from your field will drive interest and ticket sales for your event. You can leverage their name for your marketing campaign, attract sponsorship deals from brands who want to be attached to their image, and collaborate with said influencers to make some seriously good premium content.

Crypto influencers, for example, possess a niche audience deeply interested in revenues and sales, making them invaluable for sponsors targeting that demographic. Their ability to generate authentic engagement and trust within the crypto community enhances the effectiveness of sponsored content, resulting in higher returns for sponsors.

So make sure you learn how to use influencer marketing to promote your events. The effect on your event revenue could be staggering!

In any event setting, it’s essential to streamline interactions and collaborations, not just within your team but for event attendees as well. Utilising customer enablement software can centralise communication channels, improve engagement, and enhance decision-making processes, seamlessly blending in-person events with digital experiences.

6. Streaming Rights

Similar to obtaining grants, streaming rights aren’t as easy as our other top tips. If your event is big enough – in stature or the number of attendees – you can charge people to live stream from your event. This goes as high up as TV channels to vloggers.

And a word to the wise, streaming your event is a fabulous idea because you can use it post-event to make more premium content to advertise your subsequent events or for on-demands expert content for your client base.

Wrapping up

So there you have it, 7 top ideas for driving your event revenues beyond ticket sales. We hope we’ve given you lots of inspiration! If you want to know more about event planning or our services, we’d love to hear from you!

If your next step is looking for a unique venue, then, funnily enough, you’re in the right place. Because our first love at Eventflare is sourcing the very best corporate event venues, so make sure to check out incredible locations!

And before you get on with the rest of your day, slow down. Don’t forget to read up on these 7 ways to monetise your hybrid event conference!

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