How to Sell Event Tickets Online: A Step-by-Step Guide

Step 1: Make a dedicated event page

To sell tickets online, you’ll need a dedicated page where your audience can learn more about your event and easily purchase tickets. With an easy-to-use ticketing platform, you don’t need any technical experience or knowledge of coding to build a custom event page — all you need is a few minutes to sign up. Once you’ve created an account, you can get started with a customizable template to create an event listing that matches your brand and makes the buying process simple for your customers.

Step 2: Add your event description and a picture

This is your chance to highlight what makes your event unique and cover the most important details, like where and when your event is happening. Remember, you only get one shot at making a first impression! So, think about who your target customers are and write your event description like you’re speaking directly to them. In a few sentences, tell them what your event is all about. Be clear yet concise when explaining your value proposition: why should they come to your event? For example, if you’re hosting a local festival, they’ll be jamming out and making unforgettable memories with friends and family. If you want to optimize your event website even further, include a high-resolution image that packs a punch, make sure your site looks good on both desktop and mobile, and more.

Step 3: Choose how you want to get paid

Before your event goes live, you’ll need to set up payments for your ticket sales. The main way to get paid is by connecting your bank account to your ticketing platform and getting paid via direct deposit. Typically, you’ll receive payment a few business days after your event is over. Another option is to use a third-party payment processor, like PayPal or Authorize.net, along with your ticketing platform. No matter what payment option you choose, be sure to consider the costs associated with it.

Step 4: Promote your event

The best way to sell event tickets online is to build buzz with a multi-pronged marketing plan including social media promotion, email blasts, sponsorships, and more. To sell the most tickets, be sure to start promoting your event months ahead of time and carry these efforts through event day. Looking for ways to bolster your event marketing strategy? Consider creating high-quality content of lineup announcements, giveaways, contests, and exclusive behind-the-scenes sneak peaks of your event to share across your social posts. Launch an email campaign to past attendees or newsletter subscribers to get them excited for your next event. Or even consider offline promotion (like putting up flyers in coffee shops, universities, or restaurants), which can be extremely effective in drawing in more people from your area.

Step 5: Launch your ticket sales

Once you’ve created your event page and selected your payment method, you’re ready to start selling some tickets! As you prepare for takeoff, ensure you’ve taken full advantage of the many benefits of your event ticketing platform including multiple ticket types (like general admission, timed entry, and reserved seating), event registration questions, a reserved seating chart, and ticket offerings to multiple performances or time slots. Once your ticket sales are live, be sure the link to your ticketing page is posted all across your social media and website, so people know it’s time to buy tickets and 2can get theirs easily.

Step 6: Track your sales

Now that you know how to sell tickets to an event online, you can generate detailed reports that will pull the data you need in an instant. By creating custom reports based on your sales, orders, and attendees, you’ll gain a deeper understanding of your entire event. Smart reporting tools also make it easy to keep an eye out for any red flags (like large orders or duplicate accounts) to avoid chargebacks. Plus, with the right ticketing platform, you can even connect Google Ads to track the success of your ads and gain visibility into social media activity to find out which platforms are most popular with your audience.

Step 7: Check in attendees

A worthy ticketing platform will give you plenty of options that make it easy for you to welcome your guests and keep your admissions lines moving quickly on event day. Use your platform’s mobile app to scan tickets quickly at the gate, or generate a printable list of guests to cross off by hand. Whichever option you choose, a ticketing platform (like Ticketleap!) makes the check-in process fast, easy, and secure. Want to make sure you have all the other essentials covered for event day? Download our free checklist!

Step 8: Build an audience for your next event

After your event wraps up, those custom reports will especially come in handy! Send follow-up emails with surveys to your attendee lists to get their feedback and evaluate responses from your registration forms to help tailor your next event. Gauge which marketing strategies brought in the most sales and which can be better optimized. You can even consider sending out targeted email blasts to inform your attendees of upcoming events and offer discount codes for future experiences that they can share with their friends.

Follow this step-by-step guide and you’ll be on track to pull off your best event yet! To help with that, Ticketleap’s intuitive software walks you through how to sell tickets for an event with ease. From setting up your branded event page to selling out your venue, Ticketleap is equipped with a full set of features to assist you every step of the way.