Navigating the realm of business events isn't just about exchanging business cards; it's a strategic dance that builds trust with clients, establishes you as a community thought leader, and sets you apart from the buttoned-up competition.
While many service providers play it safe, events are a way to surprise and delight your clients and prospects. Between networking events where guests schmooze with the best of them and customer appreciation events where you get an opportunity to build more trust with your clients, don’t miss out on this opportunity to stand out amongst the competition.
Level up your next brand event
Don't just throw money at tradeshows and business events. Instead, create a concrete event strategy guaranteed to build relationships and drive leads.
The naysayers will chime in about the cost of events. While they’re right (business event’s aren’t cheap), here's a thought: what if your event could not only boost your brand but also bring in a little cash on its own?
How to monetize your next business event
1. Sell tickets
The most common way organizations monetize events is to sell tickets. But selling tickets isn’t the sunshine and rainbows solution for every event.
Putting a paywall in front of your in-person or virtual event automatically means you’re limiting the number of attendees for your event. You also can’t trust your name recognition or market reputation alone to get people to your event; You need killer messaging to get prospective attendees to pull out their wallet.
If you can balance the value your event is providing—access to the most influential leaders in your market, a presentation by a world-renowned speaker, or in-depth information that will change the way your attendees do business—with the cost you’re asking for, tickets can be an easy way to monetize your event.
Pro tip: Host a paid event and cover the cost (or offer steep discounts) to your VIP clients or prospects as an incentive to get them to attend and also show your dedication to them.
2. Sell sponsorships
Another common monetization method is sponsorships. If you don’t want to ask your attendees to open their wallets, you can always ask other businesses. The trick here is to find businesses that target the same type of prospects as your business but in an adjacent field so there’s no pirating.
For example, let’s say you’re an IT vendor targeting business leaders in small to medium sized businesses for your next event. You could approach service providers like marketing agencies, accounting firms, insurance agencies or law firms that are looking to get in front of your same audience. Just make sure their services line up with the topic of your event (e.g. you host a cybersecurity event and invite insurance agencies to sponsor).
But asking businesses to open their wallets isn’t exactly an easy task. You need to be clear about the value each sponsor gets when they fork over their hard earned cash. Part of that value is in aligning the topic of your event with the businesses you reach out to, but you also need to provide some additional value that justifies the cost of sponsoring versus just attending. Some easy sponsor benefits include:
Mentions (and links) to the sponsors’ websites from all promotional materials
Spaces for booth setups their sales representatives can man
Opportunities for signage before, during, and / or after the main event
Opportunities to speak in front of attendees before, during, and / or after the main event
Pro tip: Offer sponsorship tiers that cover specific costs of your event (food, bar, speaker, etc.) and align the sponsor benefits to those cost centers. For example, let your bar sponsor create a specialty cocktail or your presenter sponsor introduce the speaker.
3. Sell merch or swag
Selling merchandise or swag to attendees can be another way to offset costs during your event and generate year-round branding opportunities. For large, annual events, the swag can be a status symbol for the wearer that shows off their attendance at your exclusive event. Smaller businesses can create witty, edgy, or otherwise funny materials to sell that relate more to your industry.
Here are some swag examples to monetize at your next event:
Sticker packs or koozies with relevant funny sayings or graphics
T-shirts or hoodies with the same relevant funny sayings or graphics
Beanies with subtle branding or trucker hats with relevant funny sayings
Materials your attendees might need but not have brought (e.g. power banks or koozies)
How do you know which items to choose? Talk to your existing clients and partners! What items would they be interested in receiving or purchasing? What swag do they currently ask to purchase? If you have ideas already, show them mock ups and ask if it’s something they think they’d purchase at an event.
The biggest DON’T for merchandising at your event, though, is to only provide branded materials. Most people can take a dash of subtle branding in their merchandise, but no one likes to be a walking billboard for someone else’s business.
Pro tip: Have extras? Sell them to your employees at cost or give them away to high ticket clients as customer appreciation gifts.
4. Sell food or drinks
Admittedly, this option is less about generating cash and more about offsetting the costs of your event. If you’re going to invite food trucks or have a bar, it’s okay to have guests pay their own way or put a cap on what you’re willing to spend with each vendor.
If you’re catering in a plated dinner for your guests, add the per head cost to your ticket price to cover the food. Or if you’re hosting a bar, offer only beer and wine for free and have guests pay for liquor.
As long as you’re open and honest with your guests on their ticket stubs and have on-site signage, offsetting some of your food and beverage costs shouldn’t be an issue with guests, and it will help you bring in higher caliber speakers and create a higher quality event.
Pro tip: Specialty cocktails, especially if the coloring matches your brand colors, are great ways to bring in subtle branding into your event and also provide a free liquor option if you’re taking the only free beer and wine route.
5. Offer paid activities
Depending on your event, you could also offer pay-to-play activities as a way to bring in a little extra cash. These typically work best for networking or client appreciation events where the goal is getting people to engage with one another.
Host a raffle
Raffles are a quick and easy activity that brings in a little cash without having to do a huge up-front investment. You could even approach local businesses to sponsor or provide a giveaway item for the raffle. Offer more than one raffle at different times during your event to keep guests invested in staying at your event.
Host an auction
A similar option is to host a live or silent auction. Just like with raffles, you can approach local businesses to sponsor or provide items for your raffle with the promise that they get recognized throughout your event.
Host games or other paid activities
Photobooths and carnival style games offer attendees a chance to engage with other guests at your event, and gives them something to do besides stand around chatting with a drink in their hand. It can also set your event apart from the rest. I, personally, love to incorporate one off-the-wall activity that gets guests in the mood for a bit of fun. At one event a couple of years ago, I put together a “Whack-a-Copier” game for a print services and managed IT company. $5 got the guest 5 swings with the sledgehammer or bat of their choice at a copier.
Conclusion
While skeptics dwell on the cost, consider turning your event into a revenue stream. Whether through ticket sales, sponsorships, merchandising, or paid activities, there are creative avenues to offset expenses and make your mark. Remember, the key is to balance monetization with delivering undeniable value to your attendees. It's time to turn your events into memorable experiences that resonate with your audience and boost your brand.
ROI your next business event or experience
With pre- and post-event sales enablement strategies, activate lead generation of a typically brand-only tactic.
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