How do you convince people to attend your event? Telling them how great it’s going to be is mostly unconvincing, and self-praise usually bombs. If so, what arguments can you use? The answer is simple: look for inspiration in psychology.
Here are 5 tips to show you how:
The Illusion of Scarcity
According to psychological studies, the pain of loss is much greater than the pleasure of gain. The human psyche is such that we hate to miss out on anything. Especially if it’s something that we have a sense of being part of. Would you like to apply this principle to your event? Then create the illusion of scarcity. “Sold out” promotes sales. For example, offer discounts for early bookings to paid events. If your event is free, make only a limited number of tickets available. An additional effect is that by increasing the perceived value of your event, the number of no-shows will decrease.
The Psychology of Contrast
Suppose you have two ticket prices: a price point of 50 euros and 80 euros respectively. How can you increase the ticket sales of the more expensive tickets? By adding a 3rd category of tickets at 120 euros. You’re probably not going to sell many of those, but it will boost the sales of your 80-euro tickets. The reason being that if you only have two choices, then the most expensive option seems very expensive. However, if you have a third choice, then you’ll be more likely to choose the medium-priced ticket. That is the psychology of contrast.
Conformity
We feel comfortable conforming to others. Considered in a negative light, this could be construed as social pressure. However, what others are doing exerts a definite influence on our behavior, whether consciously or unconsciously. "More than 1,500 marketing professionals have attended this conference in recent years.” Such a statement cannot easily be disregarded by any marketing professional. Add into the mix that spots are limited and you’ll very likely be sold out.
Authority
Famous names tend to impress. If you have a well-known personality on your guest list then don’t be shy to advertise it. Or make sure that you snare a well-known guest. If they consider it worthwhile to attend your event then his or her fan club or supporters would most likely also want to attend.
Stepping Up
We believe that we always make well-thought-out and rational choices. This might certainly be the case when purchasing something for the first time. However, psychological studies show that the second time round we tend to be much less vigilant and are more likely to quickly choose a product or service that we’re already familiar with. If we apply this to events: it makes sense to first offer a cheaper event. Thereafter you can organize a more expensive version. People will already know you and will be more likely to buy into it, even if it is more expensive. Your first event will probably not earn much, but it offers an easy leg-up to the second event. And that will yield good results.
