The event industry experienced tremendous upheaval during the COVID years, but now it’s back and better than ever. On average, teams expect a 10% increase in attendees over 2024, and attendees themselves expect high-value events. Seventy percent of attendees look to events for training and professional content, 75% are there for demonstrations, and over 80% say they want to network. With event monetization, you can put these growing attendance rates and attendee interests to work for you. Effective event monetization sets reasonable pricing for your event to gather revenue as you plan and execute your event. Let’s explore what this strategy entails and how you can put it to work. Understanding Event Monetization Let’s start by exploring what event monetization is and what it offers for your upcoming events. What is Event Monetization? Event monetization refers to all the strategies you use to generate revenue from your event. When you raise funds from your attendees and participants, you have more budget to invest in your event and cover your costs, in addition to generating profit. Monetizing events can take a variety of different formats. For example, you might charge for registration tickets, create added-value experiences, or build different sponsorship opportunities. We will explore all the different ways you can monetize your events below. Successful event monetization, however, requires you to break the process down into two key components. You have to know who you want to target with your event monetization strategy and what matters to them. The more value you can offer the target audience, the higher returns you will see. Balance the price you charge and the value it offers. In addition to knowing what people value, you have to consider what they will pay. Why Is It Important? Having a firm understanding of the value of event monetization allows you to maximize your success. Relying solely on ticket sales can limit your potential revenue and deprive you of opportunities to form relationships through sponsorship and exclusive participation opportunities. Using the strategies we will explore below can have a variety of benefits for your brand and your overall event success. Some companies feel hesitant about monetizing their event, as they worry that the cost might limit participation. However, generally, the opposite is true. Monetization provides you with greater funds, so you can make a greater investment in the value of your events. Event monetization can give your event the impression of greater value. Two identical events, one free and one with charged admission, often have differences in perceived value. People appreciate what they have to work for more. You have more revenue streams while engaging the community. This gives your business overall increased stability and opportunities for growth. Monetization filters your audiences for those most likely to come. Free events often have high registration but lower participation. If you charge people, those most interested in the event will register and you will have higher engagement rates. You will filter your audience to align more with your target demographic. Your event is built around a particular persona or personas in mind. When you charge people for different types of participation, you will better attract these participants, as only those who see the value in your event will be willing to pay. This can help drive post-event sales. Key Revenue Streams for Event Monetization As you plan your revenue streams, you will quickly realize that the only limits lie in your imagination. Let’s look more closely at the most common strategies for event monetization. Ticket Sales Ticket sales give you a number of techniques to enhance your sales and your users’ experiences. Early bird pricing: This technique involves letting people buy tickets for a discounted rate if they buy before a particular date. It offers a sense of exclusivity and encourages people to act for fear of missing out– as your discounted rate will soon disappear. Not only do you start filling up your event in advance, but you can also watch your ticket sales and see how well you reach your target markets, allowing you to modify your marketing for the regular ticket sales. Tiered pricing: With this pricing strategy, you can offer varying levels of participation and access through different types of tickets. For example, certain ticket levels may include bonus certifications, access to exclusive events, or additional services. Group discounts: Here you encourage people to register with others, such as their professional business team, for the chance to get a discount. This builds your audience and gives you the chance to impress all the decision makers at once. Audience segmentation: You can also offer different types of personalized pricing, which uses data to take into account demographics and past experiences with a given participant. This can help encourage repeat attendees and maximize revenue by creating pricing schemes based on the needs of target attendees. Sponsorship Sponsorship offers an excellent way to not only build your event monetization strategy, but to also improve relationships with other businesses and your overall network. To bring in your sponsors, however, you have to offer them something of value. They often appreciate benefits such as promotions of their brands or opportunities to engage significantly with your attendees. Many event planners will organize a few tiers of event sponsorship. You might have a lower tier of sponsorship that includes logo and brand promotions before, during and after the event. A second tier might also offer call-outs from event speakers or other forms of special highlights. Meanwhile, a top tier might include unique engagement opportunities with attendees to network in addition to everything included on the lower tiers. Typically, to find sponsors, you will promote your sponsorship opportunities the same way you do your event. Identify the target audience of those most likely interested in sponsorship and create a marketing campaign to reach them. You might reach out personally to the other businesses that you would love to have in attendance as well. Consider the likely budget, audience, and interest of a potential sponsor as you design strategies for engaging them. You can see a great example of sponsorship opportunities when you look at the GitHub Universe 2020 event. Here, top-tier sponsorship opportunities offer the chance to set up a virtual demo station, brand and logo placement, brand promotion during the event, and a dedicated discussion board. The lower tier also included brand promotion and logo placement and a demo opportunity, but less of a high-featured status. Merchandise Sales Merchandise can also offer you an excellent strategy for bringing in additional revenue. Merchandise can take on so many different formats including: Apparel Themed products Bags or hats Drinkware Posters However, to get people to buy your merchandise, you have to get them excited about it. Social media can be a great way to promote these products. You can highlight the products in posts, work with influencers to get them in front of people, and use them during giveaways on your pages to further promote the event. Your merchandise should also be prominently featured in other event promotions. Include pictures and information in your emails, event apps, and other formats you use to connect with your attendees. Exhibitor Fees If your event is structured like a trade show, exhibitors will set up booths that allow them to participate in your event and engage with your audience. When you have the right exhibitors in attendance, it can enhance the entire event, as you will provide even more engagement and networking opportunities for your audience. However, the key is to attract the right type of exhibitors. To do this, you need to know your target audience and the type of experience they will want when they come to your event. This can help you identify brands that will fit best. Once you know the type of brands you want to encourage to exhibit, research potential fits and put together a pitch that clearly articulates the value of your event and why they should come participate. Let them know about the venue, your attendees, any speakers you will host, or anything else that makes your event unique. At the same time, promote your event to bring in applications from more interested parties. For exhibitors, prices are given based on the size of the exhibit. You can sell different booth sizes, allowing people to customize how much space they want their display to take up. You might also include bonuses based on special event participation opportunities, such as engagement with speakers or the chance to run publicized demonstrations. Virtual Add-Ons Since the time of COVID, virtual and hybrid events have also become mainstays in the modern event planning space. If you are hosting a virtual event, you can also create monetization opportunities in the online space. Consider creating on-demand content access. These subscribers might gain access to special material that further helps them with their business goals. We also recommend holding exclusive webinars or Q&A sessions, where people get to learn from your speakers in a more intimate atmosphere to ask questions and discuss their experiences. Innovative Monetization Strategies While the above strategies might be more traditional event monetization, we also have a few innovative strategies that can help you leverage your creativity and raise more funds. Crowdfunding and Pre-Event Fundraising To help bring your event to life, you can use crowdfunding and pre-event fundraising to help you raise the initial funds. With these financing strategies, you can encourage people to pool the money you need to start planning the event, allowing them to get in on the process from the ground level. To run a successful campaign, you want to choose a reputable platform and give your audience a clear idea of the value your event will bring. Since crowdfunding does not guarantee them a ticket, you have to show them why helping you plan the event offers value. You also want to offer them some type of attractive reward for participating, such as VIP vouchers when they register for the event. In addition to telling people why they should help you crowdfund your event, you also have to make it easy for them to participate. This means offering different levels of donations and including custom options as well. Some funding sites that can help you get started include: GoFundMe Kickstarter Patreon Crowdfunder Workshops and Masterclasses Online learning has become a popular format for people across industries. Offering bonus learning opportunities, such as workshops or masterclasses that align with the theme of your event, can help keep people engaged and build your reputation as an expert in your field. You have a number of ways you can offer these classes. For example, you might include them as a bonus for those who purchase a certain type of ticket. You might also offer them as a prize or sell them separately and promote them through the event app. Pricing these types of classes requires careful thought. You want to consider factors such as: Your target audience and their budgets Other available courses and learning opportunities on the subject (and where they are priced) How much value you plan to offer, such as whether the course will include engagement with your brand to answer questions, and how much information you will include. Once you set your prices, you can market your classes alongside your event and reach out to your attendees about the new availability. Subscription Models Subscription models can help you build a consistent revenue stream that also keeps your audience members engaged and interested in your brand. Subscriptions can take a variety of different formats. For example, you might offer: A subscription pass for events over the course of the year A subscription for special content, such as interviews with event speakers A subscription for ongoing classes or workshops to follow up on the event With a subscription model, the key is clearly communicating to your audience what makes ongoing access so valuable. Affiliate Marketing Affiliate marketing has been a promotional standard since the early days of digital marketing, and it can still offer you tremendous advantages. With affiliate marketing, you offer content publishers the chance to earn a commission from people who sign up for your event following their promotion. For example, if you have someone cover your event in an article with a link to the registration page, they might receive a commission for each person who clicks to register through that link. You can use several successful affiliate marketing strategies to promote your event. You might begin by working with an established affiliate marketing platform. These platforms organize prescreened affiliates, and then you can submit the event you want to promote. You can also find your own affiliates. Look at influencers in your industry and find those who have overlapping audiences with you. Create personalized messages that capture why you think they are a good fit to avoid people thinking of you as a spammer. Leveraging Technology for Revenue Technology streams can also offer you great potential for monetization efforts. Apps can help you promote and collect ticket sales and sponsorships. Digital platforms before and during the event can help attendees reach out to you and engage to learn more about the event and what they can expect. Event planners can use the apps and platforms to also upsell additional opportunities and special access during the event. Measuring Success in Event Monetization As you set up your event monetization strategy, also consider how you will track your success. The better your insight into how people perceive your event, the easier it will be to see what works and what needs improvement. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) Start with your KPIs. These measurements will give you precise numbers you can use to compare growth and development in your monetization strategies. Some to add to your list include: Revenue per attendee Total sponsor contributions Sponsor contributions per level Cost-to-revenue ratio for your different monetization streams Overall ROI of the event. Gathering Feedback Next, you will want to gain more direct feedback from your attendees about their experiences with your monetization efforts and their overall event experience. Post-event surveys can help you gather insights into what people thought every step of the way. You might design special post-event surveys for participants in the different aspects of monetization. For example, you might have one for those who were sponsors, exhibitors, or attendees. The insight you gain from these surveys can help you improve attendee satisfaction because you will get first-hand insight into what they liked and what they thought should be improved. Look for patterns in the responses to learn more about what people respond to positively. Best Practices for Event Monetization As you begin to monetize your event, we recommend a few best practices to help you see optimal results. Building relationships with Sponsors and Exhibitors Relationships with your sponsors and exhibitors will encourage loyalty and participation. They will feel better prepared and engaged with the event, which will make the event more interesting for your attendees as well. Know your sponsor’s goals. Communicating with your sponsors about their goals can help you meet their expectations and demonstrate your interest in their needs. Communicate regularly. Make sure they feel fully informed about everything they need to know concerning your event. Help them feel connected with your team. Make your communication personal. Get to know the brand representative. Dedicate yourself to providing value even after the event. Continue the conversation and relationship even after the event through follow-ups, mentions in your content about the event, and surveys to learn more about their experience. Effective Marketing Strategies Using effective marketing channels to promote your events and monetize them can drive more interest and help you reach your revenue goals. We recommend incorporating several different types of marketing into your effort. You might use: Social media marketing Email marketing Community engagement and marketing Landing pages Direct invitations to valued participants. The key is presenting the value of your event and getting the conversation started about what it has to offer. Understanding Your Audience Finally, the cornerstone of all your event management comes down to: understanding your audience. That rings true for any part of your event planning, including your event monetization. The better you understand the motives and interests of your audience, the easier it will be for you to create tailored experiences and monetization strategies. Analyze your audience to understand what motivates them, where they see value, and what they want to experience at your event. This can help you design monetization strategies that align with their interests to encourage participation. Conclusion Event monetization holds tremendous potential for brands that execute it well. Knowing the types of monetization that would work for your event and tracking your results can help you diversify your revenue streams and see greater success. Consider how you can put these techniques to work for you at your next event.