New Year’s Eve is the biggest event of the year, but it’s also the most competitive. That’s why it’s important to get a head start and get your event planned out so you can have a successful and profitable night.
Follow these 9 tips to ensure a successful New Year’s Eve party.
1. Publish Your Event Now
You need an event page, and you need it to be launched now. This gives you time to market your event and attract customers so they can start making their plans around your party. It’s important to have a section of your website or a specific landing page dedicated to your event. Simply having a sentence description on a third-party ticketing company’s website isn’t going to cut it. People want to know the vibe of your party, understand why they should attend, and get a gage at what they can expect by attending. Plus, having your own page allows for greater SEO opportunities, allowing guests to find out about your event in search results.
It’s also important to make sure customers can buy tickets directly on your website and aren’t redirected to a third-party. Redirects oftentimes lead to cart abandonment, and you can lose out on that customer’s data. Work with a ticketing company that’s built for nightlife events and integrates with your site for the best experience and to collect the most data.
2. Do an Exclusive Pre-Launch
Experience is everything, and it’s what drives your customers to be loyal. Your customers are looking for a personalized experience, especially those that attend on the regular. Consider doing a pre-launch with the customers who have come to your venue throughout the year with an exclusive release before launching your tickets to the public. Reach out to them either via text or email and give them preferential treatment on tables and tickets. This is going to make a big impression on your most loyal customers, and it’s going to drive them to plan their night out with their friends at your event.
3. Use Your Data
Data matters more than you realize. It’s what allows you to understand what does and doesn’t work to set you up for success. Use last year’s data to understand which channels brought in the most guests, and replicate that. If you don’t have access to last year’s data, get a provider like Vēmos that allows you to access all of your information in one central spot.
One of the most important pieces of data you’ll want to track is your marketing channels. You need to track where your customers are finding you and why they’re choosing your event over others. To do this, assign specific links to each channel and staff member. Then, use those links on your various channels (i.e. a different link for Facebook, Twitter, third-party media, digital ads, etc). Also make sure your staff is using their personal link when hey promote your event so they get credit. The results will inform you of what you should and shouldn’t be spending your time and money on.
4. Leverage Marketing Channels
Once your tickets are set up and your trackable links are in order, it’s time to start promoting. Here are a few things for you to consider:
• Set up your social channels ot be in line with your event by updating your images and post cadence
• Add an events section on your Facebook page that gives full information about your NYE event, and integrate your ticketing page into your Facebook fan page for people to buy tickets directly through social
• Consider contests or ticket giveaways to build engagement and interaction
• Run Facebook ads to target a specific segmented audience
• Get your promoters engaged and turn them into a mobile box office
• Leverage partnerships with third-party outlets, such as your booked entertainment, sponsors, key social influencers, and media outlets. Partner with them and have them promote your event on your behalf.
When you get your marketing channels to work together, you’ll have a bigger audience reach and a higher likelihood of selling out before your event happens.
5. Incentivize Guests to Purchase Tickets Early
Encourage people to pre-purchase their tickets by creating supply and demand. Showing them your price will increase as the event gets closer creates demand for the few supply of early bird tickets. You can set your tickets to increase price by the week, day or even hour leading up to your event. You can also set your tickets to increase by quantity after x amount of tickets are sold. This encourages people to buy early and have time to share their plans with others. Plus, when guests pre-buy their tickets, you’re generating revenue before the night of your event.
6. Strategize Lines the Night-Of
Line strategy is important for the night of your event. Create a different line for a different type of customer, such as a line for your pre-sale customer, a line for customers paying at the door, and a line for your VIP table customers. This is another way to encourage pre-sale and allows your staff handling pre-sale checkin to only focus on that task and increase line speed. On the other hand, it allows your staff selling tickets at the door to only handle that task, aiding in long waits for door sales. The more organized your lines are, the faster your speed of night will be, the happier your customers will be, and the faster they’re through your door to spend money on drinks.
7. Don’t Lose Site of VIP Table Guests
Your VIP guests are important, and you want to make sure they’re not getting lost in the shuffle of general admission purchases. Set up your door to handle tables through a different entrance and check-in process. That way, your highest spenders are getting exclusive treatment right off the bat. Also make sure your staff knows to keep an eye on how many people are sitting at each table. During a hectic night, it’s easy to overlook a party of 10 actually brought 20 people with them. And as a result, you just lost out on payment for 10 extra people. That’s one of the easiest way venues lose money on New Year’s Eve and other big event nights. Having a separate entrance and a reservation system that ties to your events/ticketing system will help alleviate this issue.
8. Train Your Staff
Operations are a huge component for an enjoyable night. Get all your staff up and running on the same system and strategy, and work out any kinks beforehand. Make sure your promoters have their links to sell tickets and are able to sell on mobile devices while on-the-go. Also make sure your door staff are on the same page for a door process and are ready to scan guests in as they arrive, sell tickets to those who need them, or escort VIP guests to their table. All the small details matter, and it’s what leaves a lasting impression.
9. Set Up Safety and Compliance Procedures
It’s easy to lose sight of safety and compliance when preparing for the busiest night of the year. Yet, New Year’s Eve is typically the night where people over consume, which accounts for the highest amount of emergency room visits. Work with your bartenders to make sure they know when to stop serving overly intoxicated guests. Have a door process in place to check IDs and ensure you’re not serving minors. It may no the the fun part of New Year’s Eve, but it’s important to mitigate your liability on this busy night.
Cheers to your successful New Year’s Eve event and hosting a fun party for your guests to ring in 2017.
