If you’re holding a holiday event, get ready for a lot of competition. For most people, the holidays are jam-packed with work parties, family get-togethers, and gatherings with friends. That doesn’t leave a lot of time to attend other holiday events just for fun.
Don’t let that deter you though! With some strategic event marketing, the help of a great event marketing team, and a holiday event website that’s designed to help you sell more tickets, your event can be a huge success.
Essential Features of a Holiday Event Website
No matter what holiday your event is related to, your website has to include some basic features or it will be very difficult to sell tickets. Remember, you really need to stand out from the crowd in order to sell tickets to an event during the busy holiday season, so your website needs to look spectacular.
To that end, here are 10 features to include in your holiday event website if you want to sell more tickets:
1. Answer the 5 W’s
Your holiday event website should answer the 5 W questions: Who? What? Where? When? Why?
That means the details of your event – such as when and where it will be held, who will be speaking or performing, what activities and entertainment will be provided during the event, and so on – should be front and center on your website.
Make sure the description of your event is irresistible. Remember, there is a lot of competition for people’s time during the holiday, so consider hiring a professional copywriter to craft a compelling description of your event that motivates people to buy tickets. This is an investment you won’t regret because ticket sales do increase when people are exposed to the right messages.
2. Beautiful Images
I can’t stress enough how important the images used on your holiday event website are. Use high quality visuals that reflect the holiday season while still being appropriate for your event and audience.
You can follow the link to learn how to design images for your website, or you can hire a professional designer to help you. Most importantly, make sure your website uses images effectively to capture people’s attention and to visually guide them through the messages on your web page with the end goal being to click the “Buy Tickets” button.
3. Videos
Video content can turn a boring event website into an interactive one, but it can also make people feel like they simply cannot miss your event. That’s because video is so effective at tapping into people’s emotions, particularly the fear of missing out (FOMO).
Create a sizzle reel with clips from your previous holiday events or a teaser video that provides a glimpse into what attendees will experience at the event from the décor and venue to the performers and activities. The goal is to create an immersive video that gives people another way to experience what the event has to offer. As a result, they’ll be more likely to buy tickets.
4. Social Sharing
Providing links and buttons so it’s easy for people to share your holiday event with their connections on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and so on is important on every event website, particularly holiday event websites.
The reason is simple. There is so much going on during the holidays that it’s easy for your event to get lost in the clutter. With social sharing buttons, you can leverage the power of your website visitors and extend your reach to wider audiences. Make sure your social sharing links and buttons are easy to see and use!
5. Pricing and an Easy Way to Buy Tickets
Your event website should include an awesome ticket sales page. For example, if you use AttendStar as your ticketing software, you can link directly to your own, customized ticket sales page from your holiday event website.
Pricing should be easy to understand and buying tickets should be a simple process. Eliminate as many obstacles to completing ticket purchases as possible. You can follow the link to learn how to set event ticket prices to maximize sales.
6. Logistics
How do people get to your event? Do you have a map? When should attendees arrive? What should they bring to the event and what should they leave at home? Where do they park? These are just some of the logistical questions you should answer on your holiday event website.
Also, be sure to include this information on your ticket sales page so people don’t have to click to another page to find it. A great way to provide this information is in a frequently asked questions (FAQs) section. You can follow the link to learn how to write perfect event FAQs.
7. Sales Features
There are five essential sales features that you should use on your ticket sales page and as part of your holiday event website. You can follow the preceding link to learn more about each, but here’s an overview.
First, you want to integrate email marketing with your website, so you can promote this event and future events directly to people who visit your site – whether they buy tickets or not. You can get email addresses during the purchase process. In addition, you should include an opt-in form on your website to capture email addresses from people who aren’t ready to buy tickets yet.
Furthermore, you should send automated reminders to increase buyer satisfaction and create discount offers to boost ticket sales. Finally, make sure you’re tracking everything! Data is an essential part of analyzing what efforts are working, what can be improved, and what should be stopped entirely to drive the best results for your event.
8. Your Contact Information
How do people get help if they need it? Who do they contact to get answers to questions about your event? Your website must include your contact information. Ideally, you should include an email address and phone number as well as your physical address.
There are two reasons why it helps ticket sales to provide all of this contact information. First, giving people choices allows them to select how they prefer to connect with you. Second, providing all of this contact information adds legitimacy and trust to your website and event. If people trust your website and event, they’re far more likely to buy tickets.
9. A Blog
Every website should have a blog. If your holiday event website is only live for a few weeks or months, then a blog won’t help you much. However, if you hold your holiday event every year or hold a variety of events each year, and your website stays online all year, then it should include a blog. The reason is simple – entry points.
Every blog post you publish becomes a new entry point to your website. Every post gives search engines like Google another chance to find your site and send people to it through search results. Every post gives people another opportunity to share your content and its link to their own audiences thereby extending your reach and potential traffic even more. And every post gives other websites and bloggers a way to link to your site.
If your content is good, people will share it and link to it, which means your traffic from search engines will grow organically over time as your site’s authority grows. It’s a domino effect that drives long-term, sustainable, organic growth, which could lead to more ticket sales for all of your events in the future.
And one more thing. Blogging builds trust. If you consistently publish useful content on your blog that helps or entertains your target audience, then their trust in you, your brand, and your events will naturally grow. Blogging offers a way to build a relationship with readers that can turn not just into sales but also into loyalty and word-of-mouth marketing.
The bottom line is – if you’re not blogging, you’re missing the biggest marketing opportunity available to you.
10. Charitable Connections
If you’ll be raising money, collecting donated toys, or participating in any other charitable activities before, during, or after your holiday event that attendees can join, be sure to highlight them on your website.
For example, many holiday event organizers invite attendees to bring one unwrapped toy with them to the event for a donation to Toys for Tots or a similar organization. Be sure to share the details on your website if you’re hosting any charitable activities in relation to your event.
Your Next Steps
To learn more about how to sell more tickets to your holiday event, check out the 20 critical features every event website must have. Once you know the elements to include in a holiday event website, you can write, design, and develop the perfect site to sell out your event!
