How to Sell Tickets for an Online Event

Though much of the world has returned to in-person get togethers, online events remain a relevant and practical way to connect with audiences and communities around the world. But, selling online event tickets and getting people to commit can be tricky. 

Online event planners may face an uphill battle in reaching and recruiting event attendees, as well as dispelling preconceived notions that online events lack both entertainment and engagement. To help organizers work through these challenges, we offer the following advice:

Set up online registration for your virtual event

To sell tickets to any event, you need an eye-catching event website and a ticketing platform with trusted payment processing capabilities. Even if the event is free, a ticketing platform can help ease registration and manage attendee communications.

Fortunately, Ticketbud makes it easy and affordable to create both. That way your audience can learn about and register for your event all in one place, eliminating any barriers to completing registration. 

And, setting up an event with Ticketbud does not require any knowledge of html or design. Use the intuitive page editor to plug in relevant event information. Then browse through the site’s all-inclusive toolkit to create unique ticket types, set timelines for registration, and link to your preferred payment processor (if paid event). 

An example of a virtual event registration page, hosted on Ticketbud.

Once the event is live, use your Ticketbud URL to promote your event across your marketing channels. If you’re hosting a series or multiple events, consider creating an organization landing page through Ticketbud that directs others to your entire event calendar. 

Promote your virtual event across communications channels

It’s not enough to have an event website. You also have to market and promote it in order for the world to see. 

These days, the average person uses more than six social media platforms. So, being present on social media and keeping your messaging and marketing consistent across your channels will make it more likely that your audience will recognize and respond to your branding. 

As you work to promote on social media, it’s important to tap into the network and followers held by any of your event partners, speakers, or sponsors. Use these connections and their channels to help elevate and expand your marketing efforts. You can do this by tagging them in relevant posts or by providing them with visual and written content to post organically. 

Remember, the purpose of social media is to engage. So, be creative in ways that you can get people to interact with your content. The more people who interact with it, the wider your potential reach.

To tap into audiences who already know and trust you, it’s also important to build robust newsletter and email campaigns. These folks may be helpful in referring others to your event. 

Offer incentives to sell more tickets to your online event

One of the most influential tactics to promoting sales is creating the idea of scarcity, or the idea that time or quantity is limited. According to Cornell psychology expert Michael Lynn, this tactic increases desirability in the product by making it feel more exclusive and valuable to the consumer. 

Consider ways you can easily induce a sense of scarcity within your ticket sales or registration:

Ticketbud offers a suite of promotional tools within a users event page set up, including the option to create discount codes.

You can manage both tactics with Ticketbud’s ticket editor, which allows you to create multiple ticket types, set and automate sales and registration timelines, and create discount codes and timed promotions for running exclusive sales. 

Additionally, the tool also enables you to track the success of your sales tactics and marketing promotions through referral codes. These codes generate special links to your website so you can monitor what posts or campaigns are generating the most traffic to your site. 

Research and select a ticketing software that makes sense for you

When choosing an event ticketing system, look for one that makes selling tickets as easy and secure as possible. A reliable event ticketing platform should provide useful tools such as: 

Ticketing for Events

Embracing technologies can help streamline ticketing for events, expand your marketing reach, and boost ticket sales.

To help you find a ticketing solution that works best for your upcoming event, we’ve compiled answers to some of the most common questions on event ticketing below: 

What is an event ticketing platform?

An event ticketing platform is a cloud-based system that takes the labor out of selling tickets and registering people for events and activities. From ticket creation and payment processing to ticket delivery and check-in, a ticketing system should handle the entire sale process with limited technical knowledge required from the event planner or attendee.

For example, Ticketbud is a free, online event registration tool that allows event organizers to create free event websites and sell tickets to events. While the platform is free to organizers, a small fee is passed along to the attendee during payment processing – with discounts available for non-profits. 

The online ticketing platform enables organizers to create custom tickets, allowing them to build a multi-tiered ticketing strategy or offer exclusive event discounts to important stakeholders. Ticketbud also helps event managers get paid fast to help cover early event costs. It provides organizers with real–time sales performance data and communication tools to reach their audiences.

The 3 ticketing classifications for event types 

Event ticketing can be described in different ways for various event types. Ticket sales define events geared at generating revenue, while bookings or registrations may describe sign-ups for free or sometimes paid events. 

The requirements for event types and their respective ticketing can vary. Events requiring registration, such as professional conferences or charity races, may need a comprehensive event registration form to gather important participant information or request donations. 

Other multifaceted events may require bookings so attendees can schedule specific sessions or time slots over the course of multiple days, events or locations. Whatever specifications your event entails, all can be managed with a reliable ticketing provider, such as Ticketbud.

How do event ticketing systems work?

Online event ticketing systems will vary, but ideally your event registration platform should enable you to: 

  1. Create an event page with your ticket types
  2. Promote and sell event tickets
  3. Check-in attendees on event day by validating tickets
  4. Report on all your event and attendee data
  5. Access funds generated from ticket sales whenever needed

What are the benefits of event ticketing?

Event planning is consistently ranked as one of the most stressful jobs in America, but utilizing tried and tested ticketing technology, such as Ticketbud, offers peace of mind and efficiency. 

A reliable online ticketing system will help you sell tickets around the clock. Attendees are easily able to securely purchase their own tickets online 24/7. And, many event registration platforms allow attendees to opt into event insurance to protect their payment if the event is canceled. 

Ticketing systems, such as Ticketbud, also offer organizers a central management and communication center for their event. These platforms can also assist with event marketing support through email and social media tools, such as Ticketbud’s Ad Engine. 

Ticketing systems also provide day-of support, to smooth check-in and event registration on site. Encouraging online registration or selling tickets for an event ahead of time eliminates the need to process sales at the door. Instead, attendees come with a scannable ticket for easy and efficient check-in. 

Plus, if it’s your first time using an online ticketing system, you can set your mind at ease. Ticketing platforms like Ticketbd come equipped with responsive customer and technical support. 

What is the process of event ticketing?

Partnering with an online event ticket seller streamlines the registration for the event planner, especially those who are managing large volumes of transactions and revenue. An online registration tool, such as Ticketbud, automatically tracks ticket sales to help organizers manage, market and grow events. 

Making sure you have reliable secure transactions as part of the ticketing process is key when selling tickets to an event. Ticketbud’s ticketing platform integrates with well-known and secure payment providers to ensure ticket revenue is managed appropriately and efficiently.

Ticketbud doesn’t hold on to the organizer’s money either. Instead, event managers are able to easily track ticket sales and cash in on existing sales ahead of the event. Organizers can also access trackable reporting to see exactly how and when that revenue was generated.  

Which software is best for ticket booking and registrations? 

The best software for your event will depend on your event requirements. However it generally comes down to three key elements: reliability, features and cost.  

To assess reliability you can look at reviews and customer testimonials. You can also request a customized walkthrough to experience how the platform would work for your specific event. When evaluating features, you want to ensure the ticketing software you’re considering can accommodate your needs – whether that’s reserved seating, accepting donations, merchandise sales, event promotion, event discounts or others.     

While many online ticketing platforms can provide many features not all are included in the base price. Many providers will quote low costs that don’t include the features you need. Be careful that your needs don’t require add-on fees.

Here are 11 things to look for when choosing an online ticketing platform. 

What are the features of a ticketing system?

Beyond registration and ticketing, your event registration platform should simplify planning around other aspects of your event. When considering platforms, assess features that support event marketing and communications, event check-in, event management, reporting and analytics. 

Ticketbud for example offers a wide range of ticketing features that can:

Create a Custom Event Page Banner

Your event page banner image is the first impression people have of your event. So, Ticketbud has put together a event page banner design starter kit. Using Canva, you can create an event page banner that sets the tone for your upcoming event.

To get started, sign-up for Canva, a free online design tool. All you need is an email and a password to start creating on the site. 

Once registered, use Ticketbud’s event page banner template to begin designing your banner within the proper size specifications (1024 x 512 pixels) for your Ticketbud site. The design toolbar to the left of your template hosts a range of options to add images, graphics, and text. 

Need inspiration? Keep scrolling through Ticketbud’s design starter kit for eye-catching templates. Or, explore Canva’s templates by searching through the “Design” tab in the top left of the toolbar. Once selected, elements within template designs can be easily transformed to suit your event branding needs.

Ticketbud's event page banner template in Canva makes designing your event page banner easy.

Upload Your Image

Aligning your event branding across platforms will help build recognition of your event. If you have a design or image you are using for your event, we recommend repurposing on your Ticketbud page. 

To add your own image to the banner template, click “Uploads” in the left-hand toolbar and select the image from your computer files. This will add the image to your “Uploads” collection within the toolbar. From here, you can drag and drop it on the event page banner template. 

Upload any image to the event page banner template, or browse Canva's free images and graphics.

Once you add the image to your design, pull on the corners and edges to fit it to scale. Be sure your adjustments don’t harm the integrity of the image by cropping off letters or distorting images.

Add Text 

Add your event name to the event page banner using Canva's text tool.

Beyond branding, your banner offers the opportunity to communicate important details about your event. To add information, such as registration deadlines or headliner details, select “Text” from the toolbar and “Add a text box.” 

Once inserted, click the text box to edit the copy. And use the top menu to change the font, color and style.   

Adding Details & Graphics

Under “Elements,” you can search and add specific shapes and images to your design. Options range from simple lines to videos. For now, avoid adding any audio or video elements to your event page banner design, as the space only supports image files. 

Canva has thousands of free graphic and photo elements to help customize your event page template.

Event Registration Software

People are more comfortable than ever buying tickets and registering for events online ahead of time. So, it’s more important than ever for event planners to familiarize themselves with online event registration software and tools that can help simplify and enhance the event experience.

How do you handle event registration?

Websites, such as Ticketbud, provide easy-to-use event registration software for planners to manage and promote their events. The online tool allows event managers to create event pages and host registration and ticket sales for free. If hosting a paid event, there is a small fee passed along to ticket buyers.

The ticketing tool also allows for customization at every step of their event registration process. Event organizers can create different ticket types (GA vs. VIP), automate sales timelines, and design the look and layout of each ticket. They can also create custom questions for ticket buyers to help capture important information about their audience. This feature can be used in place of a traditional registration form. 

What is registration software?

Event registration software provides an online platform to plan, create and manage paid or unpaid sign-ups for events. Useful event registration platforms, like Ticketbud, consist of an online back-office for event planners to organize and promote registration, as well as a user interface for attendees to learn more about the event and purchase tickets. 

How to choose the right event registration software

When considering which online event ticketing software to use, take stock of key features that can help ease processes before, during. and after the event. 

With Ticketbud, event planners can create custom event webpages to share across online platforms. The platform’s ticket editor allows users to create and customize costs and sales timelines for multiple ticket types. And its promotional tools can help planners create and track special sales, referrals, or marketing campaigns.

Ticketbud also helps streamline event-day activities, such as arrival or check-in. For example, when attendees register through Ticketbud, they’re emailed a unique QR code that can be easily scanned on-site through a mobile app for secure check-in. It also provides communication tools that allow planners to email attendees ahead of the event with details they may need to know before they arrive, as well as follow-up with any post-event messaging. 

But perhaps the most important feature to consider is cost. While many event registration softwares offer all the capabilities for successful event registration, it’s not all-inclusive in their base-level user’s cost. With Ticketbud, these features are free for all users. 

What is a registration management system?

Ticketbud is a registration management system that streamlines event organization and makes it easy for participants to sign-up. The online tool allows event managers to create a custom event pages and register or sell tickets to participants through an easy online process. 

Registration management systems can vary in cost and features. However, Ticketbud’s entire suit of ticketing features is available to every event host on the site. For example, the ticket editor allows users to create multiple price points for different ticket types or merchandise sales. Use it to automate specially timed sales promotions. 

The online registration system also provides planners with communication and marketing tools. Event managers can send invites and email up-to-date information to participants directly through the site.

How do I create an online registration form for an event? 

Event organizers can easily create an online registration form using Ticketbud’s “Custom Questions” feature. 

When drafting your questions, you can choose from different types of response formats, including text, dropdown, radio or multiple choice. You may also choose whether the response is required or if it’s specific to a particular ticket type.

As participants purchase their tickets, their responses will be recorded with their order. This way, when you run a report of the ticket sales, you can view individual responses to each prompt. 

Custom questions are also a great way to gather other information from participants, such as suggestions for content, questions for speakers, or info on how they heard about your event.