Category Archives: Sales

Turn Your Promoters into a Mobile Box Office

The biggest event in nightlife is almost here, which means it’s time to pump up the volume on your New Year’s Eve marketing. Your promoters are a big part of your marketing efforts and arguably one of the most effective marketing channels you can use. Here’s how to create a powerful army of promoters by turning them in to mobile box offices.

1. Get on the right system

The first step is for you to get on the right event system. The only way you can supercharge your promoters is if you have access to the tools to do so. Use an event management system like BookBottles that allows you have full control of your NYE event. This system allows you to build your event landing page, integrate ticket sales on your website and social channels, and get access to a synced mobile app to sell tickets from mobile devices.

2. Set them up with the right tools

The mobile app we just mentioned is your golden ticket. This is what turns your promoters into a mobile box office, and what allows you to generate pre-sale revenue. It allows your promoters to sell tickets directly through their device, accepting both cash and credit purchases. They can sell to anyone at anytime and generate revenue for your event on the spot. Always make sure your promoters are trained in on how to use the app and how to speak to the theme of your event. After all, they’re your front-of-line sales force and should be able to easily state why someone should come to your event over someone else’s. Once the ticket is sold through the app, consumers get a digital ticket, and that buying information is synced with the rest of your ticket purchases. This makes your promoters incredibly powerful, drives more customers through your door, and keeps all your purchases synced together for a seamless door process the night of your event.

3. Track, measure, and reward

You’ll never know how successful your promoters are if you don’t track and measure results. BookBottles uses individual referral tracking to track all your promoters’ results so you know who’s bringing in the most and best traffic. And when you know your promoters are doing a job-well-done, you’re able to incentivize and reward them accordingly to keep them performing and maximizing results.


Whitney Larson is the president and director of marketing at Vēmos. Contact her at whitney.larson@vemos.io or fill out the form below.

Selling Tickets to Your New Year’s Eve Party

Thanksgiving weekend is one of the most popular times for nightclubs to announce their highly anticipated New Year’s Eve parties. If you’re one of those nightclubs and are gearing up to make your grand announcement, make sure you have the following items in place. It’ll help you be organized for the big night and also ensure you maximize your revenue opportunities.

1. Build your event page

It’s important to have a website or landing page where customers can go to find information about your event. Simply having a sentence description on a third-party ticketing company’s website isn’t going to cut it. People want to know the vibe of your party, understand why they should attend, and get a gage at what they can expect by attending. Either have a designated page on your website dedicated to this event, or have a landing page that’s built out specifically for this event. Make sure you also include a call-to-acton for users to buy tickets. The best solution is for your customers to buy tickets directly on this landing page and not be redirected to another website. Redirects oftentimes leads to cart abandonment.

2. Set up your pre-sale ticketing strategy

Pre-selling tickets is more than just having a “buy now” button on your website. Customers now make purchasing decisions on multiple platforms and they expect you to be there. The best way to pre-sell revenue is to sell tickets directly on your event page, integrate the event with a mobile app for promoters to sell tickets directly from their device, and sync the events with a Facebook widget to sell tickets directly through your Facebook page and Facebook ads. Contact us if you need help with this. We have one system that handles it all from one central location that you can manage.

3. Use a yielding strategy to increase prices

Encourage people to pre-purchase their tickets by showing the price will increase on the night of the event, and then follow through with that. Have the ability to sell tickets at the door for an increased fee. You can even set tickets to increase price by the hour to encourage people to arrive early. This is your yielding strategy. As the night arrives and more people are in the party, the demand gets higher and you can charge more for your tickets.

4. Make sure money goes directly into your bank

Most ticketing sites collect your customers’ payments in their own banks and hold it until after the event is over, meaning you may not actually get your money until a week after the event has happened (and weeks since your guests even purchased a ticket). Instead, look to companies that ensure payment goes directly through your merchant services provider and into your bank account right from the get-go. That way, a guest purchasing a ticket to your event is the same process as that guest buying a drink inside your venue. With this solution, you have the money in your bank before your event, and are able to pay for your event before it even happens.

5. Get all your staff up and running

Door operations are a huge component for an enjoyable night. Get all of your staff up and running the same system and strategy. The best way is to use a system that works with your ticketing system. That way, you can scan tickets in through the device, sell tickets from that same device, and be able to track arrivals and other important guest information along the way. Whatever you chose, make sure it’s black and white with your staff on how the night is going to run for smooth operations.

6. Optimize your lines for speed night

Many events use one line for everyone, which increases wait time, puts extra stress on your staff, and ultimately boggs down the speed of the night. Instead, put a bit of strategy into your lines. Create a different line for a different type of customer, such as a line for your pre-sale customer and a line for customer paying at the door. This is another way to encourage pre-sale and allows your staff handling pre-sale checkin to only focus on that tasks and increase line speed. On the other hand, it allows your staff selling tickets at the door to only handle that task, aiding in long waits for door sales. The more organized your lines are, the faster you speed of night will be, the happier your customers will be, and the faster they’re through your door to spend money on drinks.

7. Analyze Results for a bigger return next year

Getting access to your data gives you the opportunity to truly understand how your venue and events are performing. If you get on board with the BookBottles system, you life will be significantly easier since it will all be in one spot – not to mention the data will be broken down by individual guests and referrers to truly understand areas of strength and weakness. You’re able to easily identify which marketing channels are bringing in your traffic, which promoters are bringing in your traffic, and how your venue and event performed as a whole. This information allows you to set yourself up for even more success next year.


Whitney Larson is the president and director of marketing at Vēmos. Contact her at whitney.larson@vemos.io or fill out the form below.

Capturing Big Revenue on Halloween

There’s less than a month to go until Halloween. Many of you have likely already started selling tickets and gearing up for great parties. If you haven’t started yet, now’s the time to start planning and putting the right vendors (including the right ticketing partner) in place.

Here’s how you can make sure you capture the most revenue for your Halloween party, whether you sell tickets to your party or operate as an extra-spooky non-ticketed venue.

FOR TICKETED PARTIES


1. Set up a pre-sale ticketing strategy

Pre-sale revenue is the best way to pay for your event before it even happens. The best way to pre-sell revenue is to create and manage an online event page, sell tickets to consumers right through the page, integrate the event with a mobile app for promoters to sell tickets directly from their device, and sync the events with a Facebook widget to sell tickets directly through your Facebook page and Facebook ads. Contact us if you need help with this. We have one system that handles it all from one central location that you can manage.

2. Use a night-of yielding strategy to increase prices

Encourage people to pre-purchase their tickets by showing the price will increase on the night of the event, and then follow through with that. Have the ability to sell tickets at the door for an increased fee. You can even set tickets to increase price by the hour to encourage people to arrive early. This is your yielding strategy. As the night arrives and as more people are in the party, the demand gets higher and you can charge more for your tickets.

3. Get all your staff up and running on the right system for smooth operations

Door operations are a huge component for an enjoyable night. Get all of your staff up and running on the same system or same strategy. The best way is to use a system that works with your ticketing system. That way, you can scan tickets in through the device, sell tickets from that same device, and be able to track arrivals and other important guest information along the way. Whatever you choose, make sure it’s black and white with your staff on how the night is going to run.

4. Optimize your lines for speed of night

Many events use one line for everyone, which increases wait time, puts extra stress on your staff, and ultimately boggs down the speed of the night. Instead, create a different line for a different type of customer, such as a line for your pre-sale customers and a line for customers paying at the door. This is another way to encourage pre-sale, and allows your staff handling pre-sale checkin to only focus on that task and increase line speed. On the other hand, it allows your staff selling tickets at the door to only handle that task, aiding in the long waits for door sales. The more organized your lines are, the faster your speed of night will be, the happier your customers will be, and the faster they’re your door to spend money on drinks.

5. Analyze results for a bigger return next year

Getting access to your data gives you the opportunity to truly understand how your venue and events are performing. If you get on board with the Vēmos system, your life will be simnifically easier since it will all be in one spot – not to mention the data will be broken down by individual guests and staff members to truly identify areas of strength and weakness. Once you know how well you did, you’re able to better set yourself up for success for your next event. Optimization is key to long-term success.

FOR NON-TICKETED PARTIES


1. Use a system to capture guest list, general admission, and table reservations

You don’t have to sell tickets to have pre-sales. You can pre-sell guest list entries or table reservations. Use a system that integrates with your website and social pages to handle these pre-sale inquiries. A system like Vēmos does this and also allows you to easily handle check-ins for guest list parties, reservation parties, and general admission walk-ups all from one device. It also takes cover payments and automates your speed of night. Plus, when all of this is tied together, you’re able to collect information about each guest no matter how they came in through your door.

2. Promote your promotions

Identify the promotions you’re going to run to bring people into your Halloween event, without limiting yourself to discounting your drinks. Sure, fun Halloween drink specials are a great way to drive guests, but so are other fun promotions such as a costume contest, hiring live music, hosting drinking games or being a part of a Halloween pub crawl. Once you’ve identified your promotions, it’s time to promote them. Turn to social media to target your followers. Run a Facebook ad to a very targeted demographic. Send email and text message campaigns to your loyal guests. Choose different options from different channels to make your message have the most bandwidth.

3. Analyze results for a bigger return next year

Getting access to your data gives you the opportunity to truly understand how your venue and events are performing. If you get on board with the Vēmos system, your life will be simnifically easier since it will all be in one spot – not to mention the data will be broken down by individual guests and staff members to truly identify areas of strength and weakness. Once you know how well you did, you’re able to better set yourself up for success for the future. Optimization is key to long-term success.


Contact Vēmos to learn more about how we can help you with your Halloween event. Call us at 877-388-7872 or fill out the form below.


Whitney Larson is the president and director of marketing at Vēmos. Contact her at whitney.larson@vemos.io.

The Best System to Sell Tickets to Your Events

With the fall season nearly upon us, it’s time to look ahead to all the holiday parties coming up – arguably one of the biggest event seasons of the year. The first place to start is to look at your ticketing system. Most ticketing systems only allow you to manage ticketing transactions, and quite basic transactions at that. With this system, you don’t get a deep look at an individual’s trends beyond going through your door upon arrival. You don’t get to set up a system to incentivize pre-sales. You don’t get in-depth analytics to truly understand how your event performed or who your guests were. It’s simply a system where consumers buy a ticket to your event, and that’s it.

Here’s how you can take control of your event start selling better tickets.

1. Use a solution that manages all ticketing situations from one platform

It’s common to have more than one ticketing option for your event, from single tickets to packages to guest lists and even reservations. That’s why it’s important to use a system that can not only sell all of these ticketing options, but also integrate all of that information into one system for you to manage. Using this type of solution allows you to run your door better the night of your event and strategize your lines based of which type of ticket your customer purchased.

2. Become a mobile box office

Selling tickets doesn’t have to end with posting your event online and getting people to go to your ticketing site. Turn your sales and promotions team into a mobile box office. The best ticketing solutions, like Vēmos, provides you with a mobile application that allows you to sell tickets directly through this device, while syncing that information with the rest of the online ticketing purchases. Using a combination of online, mobile, and in-person sales is what drives traffic and revenue to help you pay for your event before it even happens.

3. Make sure your money goes directly into your bank

Most ticketing sites collect your customers’ payments in their own banks and hold it until after the event is over. Instead, look to companies that ensure payment goes directly through your merchant services provider and into your bank account right from the get-go. That way, a guest purchasing a ticket to your event is the same process as that guest buying a drink inside your venue. There’s no point in collecting pre-sales to help pay for your event if you’re not going to get your money from those sales until weeks after the event is over.

4. Get access to your data

Wouldn’t it be great to capture complete, personalized data from all your guests and transactions? With the right ticketing vendor, you can. Just stay away from the majority of ticketing companies that fail to give venues access to their own data. Getting access to your data gives you the opportunity to truly understand how your venue and events are performing as well as providing you with detailed information on who your guests are. Make sure the ticketing company you work with not only gives you access to your data, but also provides it to you in one central spot. This helps you to easily see data about individual guests, sales, and staff members to truly identify areas of strength and weakness. Once you know how well you did, you’re able to better set yourself up for success for your next event.


Conclusion

The ticketing system you use translates to the amount of money your event makes. Look for a ticketing provider like Vēmos that incorporates ticketing into the rest of your efforts, giving you that full 360-degree look at how your event or venue is performing. This type of ticketing solution will allow you to:

  • Create and manage an online event page, or be provided with a white labeled widget that gets embedded in your website. This widget ensures your customers never have to leave your site to go to a third-party ticketing vendor.
  • Sell tickets to consumers right through this page via an e-commerce system.
  • Integrate the event with a mobile app for promotes to sell tickets directly from their devices, turning you into a mobile box office.
  • Track ticket sales and results along the way.

This type of platform syncs all promoter and marketing efforts together to maximize ticket sales before the night of your event, and allows you prosper in marketing efforts for future events to come. And that’s what’s going to set your venue and your event up for bigger success.


To learn more about Vēmos events and ticketing or to get started, contact Whitney Larson at whitney.larson@vemos.io or fill out the form below.

Hosting Profitable Fall Events

Labor Day is almost here, which means summer is coming to a close. If you haven’t started yet, now’s the time to start planning and putting the right vendors (including the right event ticketing partner) in place to make sure you host the best events this fall season while getting top dollar for your events.

Here are 6 steps to set yourself up for the most successful season you’ve ever hosted.

1. Hire the right talent

People come to your event for the party, and your talent is a big part of setting the tone of that party. Know what DJ your target audience would die to hear, or at least what type of music they want to dance to, and hire accordingly. Also make sure to set up ample lighting and audio to exemplify your talent’s sound. Know who your audience is and what type of party they’re looking for and provide based on those expectations.

2. Price your event accordingly

When it comes to a good party, it’s the experience – not the deal – that attracts guests. It’s critical to understand what your customers will pay in return for a good party. Make sure you don’t sell yourself short and maximize your revenue when at all possible. People understand and have been programmed to pay top dollar for major events, within reason. Take note, not advantage, of these opportunities if you seek long-term success.

3. Put the right tools in place to pre-sell tickets

Make sure you have full control of your events and get access to all of your data before, during, and after the event. There are technology platforms, like Vēmos, that incorporate ticketing into the rest of your efforts, giving you that full 360-degree look at how your event as a whole will and is performing. With this type of solution, you’re able to:

  • Create and manage an online event page without promotions from competing venues
  • Sell tickets to consumers right through the page via an e-commerce system
  • Get access to a white-labeled widget so your online ticketing page looks identical to the rest of your website
  • Integrate the event with a mobile app for promoters to sell tickets directly from their devices
  • Track ticket sales and results along the way

This type of platform syncs all promoters and marketing efforts together to maximize ticket sales and revenue before the night of your event.

4. Make sure the money goes directly into your bank

Another aspect of a ticketing platform to consider is that of payment. Most ticketing sites collect your customers’ payments in their own banks and hold it until after the event is over. Once the day of your event has passed, they’ll cut you a check for what you earned, but not until they’ve made sure to take any fees they deem themselves worthy to collect. Then, it takes a few business days after the remaining money to appear in your account, meaning you may not actually get your money until a week after the event has happened (and weeks since your guests even purchased a ticket).

Instead, look to companies that ensure payment goes directly through your merchant services provider and into your bank account right from the get-go. That way, a guest purchasing a ticket to your event is the same process as that guest buying a drink inside your venue. There’s no point in collecting pre-sales to help pay for your event before it happens if you’re not going to get your money from those sales until weeks after the event is over.

5. Get the word out to the right people

It’s important to first define your audience before you start marketing your event. After all, it’s much easier to market and promote your party when you know exactly whom you’re trying to reach and what you want them to do with the information.

The best strategy is to always keep your customers informed while maintaining a clear and consistent message in all your efforts. Use a multi-channel strategy to get the word out, such as a combination of text-message marketing, printed collateral, media partnerships, email updates, and social media. If you have a CRM system in place, use filters to segment your customers into specific targeted audiences, which in turn means each audience gets messages that are 100% relevant to their habits. That’s powerful marketing, and that’s what continues to drive guests to your events.

6. Analyze results to increase revenue for the next event

Getting access to your data gives you the opportunity to truly understand how your venue and events are performing. If you get on board with the aforementioned platform, your life will be significantly easier since it will all be in one spot – not to mention the data will be broken down by individual guests and staff members to truly identify areas of strength and weakness. Once you know how well you did, you’re able to better set yourself up for success for your next event. Optimization is key to long-term success.


Interested in learning more about Vēmos event management & ticketing features? Fill out the form below or contact Whitney Larson at whitney.larson@vemos.io.