An event is never over. When all the attendees have gone home, a new story is just beginning. Since you’ve put so much effort into preparing this event, don’t let it all stop once it’s over. If it was a success — and even if some unforeseen events disrupted its performance — we recommend that you keep it alive beyond D-day in order to strengthen your bond with attendees and prepare the rest of your projects. In this article, we provide you with 5 ideas for retaining your attendees after an event.
Summary
- Thank your attendees and share the best moments
- Launch the ticketing system for the next edition at the end of the event
- Create a private sale by segmenting your audience
- Carry out a satisfaction survey
- Design an ambassador programme
1. Thank your attendees and share the best moments
It may seem obvious, but it’s always good to remember: say thank you to your attendees. Without their support — emotional and/or financial — your project might not exist, and you should at least show them that you’re grateful for this.
Sharing the best moments from your event with photos and videos that showcase your attendees is a great way to thank them. This also allows you to extend the event and strengthen the memories created there.
2. Launch the ticketing system for the next edition at the end of the event
Your event might have just ended, but some attendees will only be thinking of one thing: attending the next edition. This is the best time to launch the ticketing system for your next event, which will stack the odds in your favour and help you fill the event as quickly as possible. Above all, this enables you to create a snowball effect, as attendees who buy their tickets immediately will talk about them to their friends and family and convince potential undecided buyers. Attendees’ enthusiasm will decrease over time. Give yourself up to 48 hours, or perhaps 72 hours, to launch the ticketing system for your next event.
The essential: A ‘general public’ ticketing system
If you choose to launch ticketing for the next edition as soon as the event ends, set quotas to limit the number of tickets issued and apply a reduced rate — also known as an early bird rate. This has two advantages: you’ll make sure you don’t go over a limit you may not have set yet, and you’ll create a sense of urgency among attendees as they won’t want to miss their chance.
The optional: A ‘private sale’ ticketing system
When launching this ‘general public’ ticketing system, plan a second system for your most loyal attendees, with sales opening 48 hours before the official launch, promotion codes, and so on. This will help you strengthen the bond between you and your more enthusiastic supporters. Our events-based CRM solution, synced with our online ticketing tool, allows you to quickly set up this type of system — see the following section.
3. Create a private sale by segmenting your audience
A proven method used by the Papillons de Nuit festival for thanking its most loyal attendees involves selecting those who have attended at least 3 editions of the festival and allowing them to purchase tickets 48 hours before the public opening of the ticketing system.
Other scenarios could be considered for retaining your most loyal audiences. For instance, you could offer them a limited-time promotion code on the next edition’s ticketing system or VIP tickets at the price of a standard ticket by running an email campaign that incorporates unique promotion codes.
4. Carry out a satisfaction survey
It’s always good to know how your attendees feel about your event just after it’s ended — whether or not you’ve planned a future edition. So, how should you go about this? Find all our tips in the article Taking advantage of an off-peak period to survey your attendees’ expectations by email.
5. Design an ambassador programme
Does your event create a strong sense of belonging for some of your attendees? Why not create an ambassador programme with the aim of encouraging these enthusiasts to communicate with those around them? Offer them benefits in exchange for sales driven by word of mouth.
To design this, add a form to a page on your website allowing volunteers to sign up. Then send each of them a unique tracking link to your ticketing system. This will allow you to track the number of sales enabled by each ambassador.
Do you want to set up a private sale or an ambassador programme? Contact our advisors by clicking on the button below and they’ll guide you throughout the process:
As you’ve seen, an event’s lifespan is infinite. Your attendees’ interest in your event must be constantly encouraged. Weezevent will support you in this adventure with an events-based CRM solution designed to connect all of your events’ data in just one click, engage your attendees and develop your income. Discover all its features by clicking on the button below:
