How To Sell Tickets Online

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Table of Contents

Create a Merchant Account to Process Your Online Payments

Selling tickets online also means creating a merchant account to process credit and debit card information. A merchant account is a bank account that allows businesses to accept payments from customers in various ways.

Be aware that aside from the fees charged by the ticketing platform, merchant account services have their own fees for using their services. Some popular merchant account services include Stripe, Paypal, Paysafe, Helcime, etc. Be sure to choose a reputable merchant service that ensures security and speed but one that comes with reasonable rates.

Build a Website Optimized For The Event

Once you’ve chosen your ticketing platform and merchant account service, it’s time to market your events through the website. Your website is the starting point of any online business, and it’s where you can encourage your customers to buy tickets for your event. In addition, most guests will do some research on your business prior to making a purchase. Use this space as a chance to give a preview of what your visitors will discover, while also making it easy to buy tickets.

Businesses can create their own website with various popular tools like Squarespace. This is a great solution for many smaller operations that don’t require custom features. KORONA Event offers this. But the solution also brings enterprise-level businesses a custom solution for both their online ticketing and eCommerce retail. Either option will keep your sales and inventory consolidated so that business can run smoothly.

Promote Your Ticket-Selling Website

Promoting your tickets gets the word out about your businesses and increases your sales. Here are some ways you can boost your ticket sales:

Promote your ticket sales on social media

There are several social media platforms that cater to different demographics. You need to take this into account in your marketing approach.

The most popular social media platforms for promoting theme parks, museums, and zoos are Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and Facebook. You may also consider creating a YouTube account for your organization through which you can showcase what you have to offer to the public while linking to your site for ticket purchases.

It’s best to post about your event often and regularly, even every day if possible. Use creative and eye-catching visuals to get people’s attention. TikTok will be of great help in this case. Pay attention to hashtags and get your posts into the feeds of people who best match your event demographics, reducing the chances that the people most likely to attend won’t see them.

Connect with influencers to drive audience engagement

Social media influencers have a significant level of knowledge and visibility in their field. Because of their high profile, they can influence the buying habits of a large number of people.

To find the best influencers to promote your event, first find out who your target audience follows on social media. Then, seek to connect with them and find a way to get them talking about your event.

Reach out to as many influencers as necessary, but be picky in your choices and ensure they fit your brand’s image. When choosing influencers to work with, you may want to ask yourself some of the following questions:

What is the influencer’s area of expertise?
How does your institution align with the influencer’s audience and image?
Is a certain influencer and their audience using the same channels and platforms as your audience?
What does a typical follower of this influencer look like? Is this influencer likely to be interested in your institution?
What is this influencer’s reputation? Are they generally well-liked?

Remember that every niche has its influencers:

Petfluencers, aka “pet influencers,” are not just about dogs and cats. Many petfluencer accounts include rabbits, turtles, squirrels, horses, hamsters, hedgehogs, and more. Pet influencers are technically humans who post animal-related content on social media platforms. Just like regular content creators and influencers, each photo or video speaks to a specific audience and is designed to elicit a reaction and response. Petfluencers are perfect for attracting visitors young and old to a zoo.
Museum and art world influencers: The best example of how museums can leverage influencers is the Louvre’s record-breaking 2018 attendance year following the release of Beyonce and Jay-Z’s Apeshit video. The video used the Louvre as a backdrop, showcasing artworks throughout the museum. Following its release, the Louvre welcomed 1.2 million visitors in 2018, a 25% increase over 2017. While Béyonce and Jay-Z’s sponsorships don’t appear all the time, the same principle can be applied on a smaller scale to any cultural institution.

Finding the most followed influencer is not necessarily the best approach; you should seek out the person who has developed the best trust with your target audience. Carefully consider who you’re approaching and their celebrity before approaching them. You are entrusting the reputation of your institution to a third party so you need to ensure that the relationship you build with them is what you are looking for and that the influencer represents your institution and your values.

Leverage paid advertising to sell more online tickets

Social media marketing and partnerships with influencers are certainly profitable but may not be enough to sell all your tickets. People may know about your event but may not feel compelled to buy tickets. That’s where paid advertising comes in. Unlike social media campaigns, where you often shoot blind and hope that promotions reach the target audience, Google ads can be geared to the demographics (gender and age) and the location of the people searching. Just be sure to cap the amount you want to spend on your ads. Omitting to limit your ad budget can mean you spend more than you earn. You can also leverage more ticketing-specific online ad spaces, such as Trip Advisor, Yelp, etc.