The complete guide on how to sell tickets for events!

Congratulations! You have created an event! Now it gets difficult, because you'll need to sell tickets for your event. Selling tickets is rarely about just one thing. Even though you have an awesome event, some marketing content ideas in place, and well-priced tickets, the organisers who perform best have a structured approach to the entire sales journey. 

We'll share the best way to sell the most tickets in five simple steps.

Step 1: Stop focusing on traffic – start focusing on conversion

We see so many organisers with the same ideas! They assume they'll need more traffic to their event, as more attention will likely lead to a sale. I am here to tell you that that is not necessarily the truth...

The reality is different.

Visitors do not convert

Even though some people are interested in your event, they do not end up buying tickets. This is your biggest problem!  Luckily, there is an easy solution. Small improvements in checkout and user experience can make a significant difference in the long run. 

Have a recognisable brand

If you sell through your own pages, you can incorporate Billetto's widget, which you can customise to match your brand. This will make it easier for people who are interested in your event to recognise it. Also, use your brand colours, tone of voice, and images that appear on your pages on your chosen event platform to ensure synergy across all platforms.

Offer something they can't say no to

You can offer people interested in your event incentives they cannot resist. It can be everything you choose, but popular measures to take are:

Early bird offers

The early bird gets the worm. Offer a discount to people who sign up for presales, newsletters, or similar programs, and have them come back later to buy tickets. 

With Billetto, you can easily create Early Bird offers and have people come back to your event!

Let your event live on

Give the opportunity to buy merchandise when buying tickets, so that your potential attendees remember your event and their experience long after the event is over.

Add merchandise to your event here.

Give the gift of experiences

The best thing is to share happiness, love and thoughtfulness with others. And a memorable experience is the best gift of all. Offer to your possible attendees that they can buy giftcards for your event, so the receiver has full control of their experience. 

Create gift cards today and have people come back for more.

Step 2: Create momentum from the beginning

To really sell out,  the first weeks after publishing your event are key. Do not underestimate the first 20–30% of your ticket sales. They are critical to selling the rest! 

Create hype

To create momentum, you should push ticket sales even before they go live. Send e-mail blasts to your followers and remind them of your event's release date. You can also send e-mails during the event to remind followers to buy drinks or food, or after the event ends, to follow up and see if they had a good experience.

With Billetto, you can do all this and even automate your email send-outs to more events, so you'll still create hype without lifting a finger.

You can also reach them directly, where they are most active: their phone. Send text messages that remind your followers of your event, and be sure to be noticed.

Create e-mail sendouts or make SMS text messages and reach followers where they'll notice you.

Step 3: Use your existing audience

It's the fewest of event organisers who don't have a following. It might not be millions of followers, but do not underestimate friends, family, employees, etc. Those are your biggest supporters and your best asset.

Be where your followers are

Paid marketing takes you a long way, but you can do a lot yourself. Post about your event on your own channels, such as Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, etc. The best-case scenario is to go viral, but if that doesn't happen, don't hesitate to move on and don't lose hope. The more you post, the more likely you are to be noticed. Create competitions, tag collaborators and shareholders, and encourage friends and family to share your posts on their own pages. 

-> The more you reach, the more likely you are to sell.

The hidden wildcard

Most event organisers post about their events on their social media channels, but they forget one of the biggest players in the game: LinkedIn.

LinkedIn is the new Facebook, where people actively read and engage with posts that resonate with them. So do not forget to post there as well. You have all the cards; now you just need to play them.

Step 4: Make buying easy

You can have the perfect product, the best event experience and the prettiest merchandise, but if the process of buying all that is too difficult, people might lose interest and abandon their cart - right before purchase. So you need to make the experience E-A-S-Y.

Or maybe not directly YOU, but Billetto CAN. We have one of the smoothest purchase funnels in the market, so you just have to create the event, and we'll handle the experience.  Our full website downtime in 2025 lasted under a minute, ensuring both ticketbuyers and organisers have full support. 

If you do not already have it, create an event with Billetto today!

Final step:  Work with your data

If you don’t know what works, you’re guessing. And that is a bad idea. Imagine going to a shooting range, and instead of focusing on the target, you shoot in all directions - it could be that you'll hit the target, but the larger possibility is that you hit everything else instead.

Here, your data is essential!

Imagine having all the knowledge of your audience😱

Or at least all the essential knowledge about your audience and the possible audiences you can sell to. You might think that it is impossible, but I am here to tell you it's possible.

With new geo-tracking, you have access to all essential information of your audience, visitors, regulars and irregulars - everything accessible from Billetto. 

And your event data is essential! It's the tools you need to know who to market to, when, and where. Using your data will give you the most in selling out now and in the future.

So what are you waiting for? Create an event today! Understand your audience and START SELLING.

Conclusion

Selling more tickets is not about doing more. It’s about doing the right things, in the right order, and with these five steps, you are already ahead of the competition and in the run to sell out.

Create an event today.