Sponsored by Cvent
Henry Ford priced the very first Model T at around $825 in 1908. How did he come up with the price? A lot of factors it turns out, including production costs. After some tweaks in production, the price dropped substantially. Still, the first time he rolled out a car, pricing it properly had to be a challenge.
While this could be considered an apples & oranges comparison—many events professionals find themselves in a similar position when it comes to ticketing and pricing meetings, conferences, and trade shows in 2022—particularly virtual events. Our new digital age brought about by the pandemic, comes growing pains. With budgets tightening, and costs rising, monetizing events, and assessing and proving their value to internal stakeholders has never been more important than it is today.
But, instead of casting a line out into the proverbial ocean and crossing our fingers about ticket pricing, we as an industry can strategize. Ticketing & pricing events is a challenge that can be overcome.
Flex-Ability
With virtual, hybrid, and in-person events all in the mix, planning teams must be able to make event format shifts in an instant, and (yes, of course) also create events that generate the most value for their organizations, adjusting budgets along the way. Not easy. But who ever said that event planning was easy? Still, the question remains: How do you price your trade shows, meetings, and conferences so that people will pay the right amount, without leaving money on the table?
To achieve this, you’ll need to learn about the benefits and limitations of each format as well as how to structure tickets and prices to deliver the value that attendees and sponsors want.
The Future is NOW—But Let the Past Be Your Guide
This new events landscape, brought about by the big digital leap, is straightforward: organizations and events professionals plan, market, and sell their events in a whole new way. But here’s the mid-credits surprise: some things remain unchanged. The basics are still intact—It is still crucial to know your attendees deeply and tailor your value proposition to them. Understanding their challenges, motivations, and aspirations is the key to event engagement, revenue, and more. Regardless of the event format.
But that doesn’t mean what has transpired over the past couple years isn’t unprecedented. With access to new and larger audiences, event professionals have a chance to rethink their strategies around monetization for virtual and hybrid, plus develop new ways of creating and capturing value. The new event formats offer a bounty of opportunities for event planners—and part of that is thinking beyond ticket sales and recognizing the hidden value within your events. Budgets are tightening, and event costs are up.
So, what are the burning questions on most planner’s minds?
- What kind of registration types should I offer?
- How much should we charge? For virtual? For hybrid?
- Should I tailor price points for different audiences?
- Can I still make money on free events?
- How can I prove ROI?
Beyond Ticket Sales is the Key to ROI
Here’s the big secret: think beyond ticket sales to maximize value and ROI.
Yes, pricing is infinitely important. To price and ticket your event optimally, first defines its value—for attendees, sponsors, and the organization itself. You can then maximize that value by mapping it to relevant attendee, sponsor, and organizational goals. Maximizing value leads to higher ROI for your organization and a more rewarding experience for your audiences.
A lot of organizations focus on the “gate” as the key driver of ROI---in 2022, it’s time for an adjustment. Ticket sales are just one slice of a much larger ROI pie. Here are five benefits that contribute to event ROI:
- Direct revenue
- Attributed revenue
- Attributed sales pipeline
- Brand equity
- Knowledge exchange
When you begin assessing the full value of your events, you must look at all the benefits they provide to the organization along with the costs. There are myriad things beyond direct revenue that impact how much money your event, and organization, will make. It can take time for these to come to fruition, but it’s important to include them in ROI analysis.
Success Recalibrated
The inclusion of virtual and hybrid events has had a tremendous effect on the industry. We’re in a new digital age, but in our current climate, budgets are being squeezed and you are expected to deliver premium experiences for attendees while driving value for your organizations.
It’s important to remember to view value through the eyes of all key stakeholders. While you can highlight event value in objective terms (e.g., number and type of sessions, speakers, exhibitors), what matters most is how your stakeholders perceive the event. You have three groups ready to evaluate you (lucky you) attendees, sponsors, AND your internal stakeholders.
As in-person events roar back to life, the reality is that virtual and hybrid events are here to stay, and to understand how to demonstrate their value beyond ticket prices is a discipline that you should master.
That’s why we invite you to get a more detailed look about finding success in the new era of events with Cvent’s eBook, How to Ticket and Price Virtual, Hybrid, and In-person Events.
