Stop throwing discounts at new attendees. I think we're using early bird pricing wrong. Most use early birds to incentivise early booking and chase new attendees. But what if we flipped the script and used these incentives to reward our loyal crowd instead? Repeat attendees aren't just ticket sales - they're our community builders, our word-of-mouth engine, our biggest advocates. They’re also most likely the reason that new attendees will want to come. Yet we’re often caught throwing our best deals at first-timers. If we want to turn attendees into fans, let's start treating our regulars like VIPs and giving them: - The best prices - Priority access to new events - Exclusive meetups and access - Behind-the-scenes content - Special area access with free drinks, snacks and workspace I'm sure we could add loads more exclusive incentives to this list. Let's stop chasing new attendees at the expense of our loyal base. And build a community of fans who'll do our event promotion for us. Now's the time to acknowledge and reward those who've been showing up for us all along. PS Apart from the early bird, this principle would be great for free-to-attend events too.
This came up at the PPA event last week. I got a bit on my high pony about how the biggest trick the events business misses are they don’t think like a subscription business. So many levels this works on. Not just the KPis and metrics - I see events moving towards those a bit - but the whole concept. Take 8 steps back and say how would I run an event like a subs business. Sponsors and delegates. Why are subs busnineses the best in the world. Is it inherent in the business model or is it also how they view the world. Because it’s a bit of both. P.s. rebook doesn’t count. That’s a given and only one part of thinking like a subs business.
I run a convention for professional balloon decorators, and our deepest discounts have always been offered to those returning to the event. It's for a limited time of course, but we end up with sometimes as much as 30% of our attendees registered for our convention within the first two weeks of registration being open. Rewarding those who support you is always the best way to go.
I absolutely agree Tamar! Special incentives and special pre-sales for the loyal community.
Absolutely terrific (and SO simple) ideas, Tamar Beck! I hope #EventProfs will help spread the word.
Exactly what we did for Ophthalpreneurs 2025. It’s our second meeting. Last year, those who attended took a chance and risked their registration fees, accommodation, flights, and time out of office on a meeting that was unknown. They made us successful so our thank you to them was early access to registration. For repeat major sponsors, they received a 10% discount as a token of appreciation. We are creating a community and those helping to build it should be recognized.
Absolutely this! I have genuinely had conversations where it’s been suggested that you shouldn’t contact your returning attendees until late in the campaign because they are going to pay anyway and so you can bank the full rate. The mind boggles. We all know how galling it is to be a loyal bank customer and see the the shiny cash incentives dangled for new customers.
*please also apply to retention exhibitors, they should get the best prices early in your sales cycle
Early birds, that aren't too big (full price accordingly). Repeat dels get early bird PLUS repeat discount 🙂🙂
We had a very similar conversation just yesterday Karin Hausmann Cathy Oates (CCXP) Definitely time for a rethink
Helping corporate event marketers move up the ladder.
4moBRILLIANT idea!!! They say that the repeat attendees are the only ones who book far out from the event, anyway!