How to repel ticket buyers to your event ...
This morning, I went on a little online field trip. My marketing exploration took me all the way to the ticket check out page for an event.
On that check out page, I was greeted by four paragraphs of text.
Here's the rough breakdown of the copy from those paragraphs:
Paragraph #1: All about the organization holding the event.
Paragraph #2: More information about the organization holding the event.
Paragraph #3: (Yawn!) Even more info about the organization holding the event. "Nobody cares!"
Paragraph #4: A little about the featured act.
Did you notice any glaring omissions?
That paragraph sequence and the accompanying copy give a potential attendee little incentive to buy a ticket to the event. How so? Because it's all about the organization and not appealing to the prospective ticket buyer!
After over 25 years of volunteer work for not-for-profits, I can tell you that those organizations are some of the worst culprits of bad marketing and advertising copy. They use far too much: "Our, We, Our mission is X, Y, and Z, here are all the awards we've won, etc." in their copy.
How could that be bad?
Because you need to directly appeal to the wants, needs, and desires (maybe fears) of your target market.
Failure to do so means people aren't going to buy tickets to your event. This applies to every event, for-profit or not!
Use words like "You, you will, your family will, etc." in your marketing and advertising copy. Make it ALL about them, not about you or your organization!
Anything less is an instant repellent for your would-be ticket buyer.
Here's a suggested (simple) redo of the ticket check out page from above:
New Paragraph #1: All about the buyer and why they'll have a great time at your event.
New Paragraph #2: Another reason why they'll have a great time at your event.
New Paragraph #3: A third reason they'll have a great time at your event.
New Paragraph #4: All about the buyer and maybe a sentence about the organization and if you help anyone.
It's pretty simple. If you make your marketing and advertising copy (online or off) all about your event attendee, you're going to sell more tickets to your event!
So, my question to you, "is your marketing and advertising copy all about your potential ticket buyer?" If not, you're leaving ticket sales on the table. Yes, there is a lot more to it. This should at least get you started.