As an event organizer, you probably already know the benefits of early birds. No, not the pre-dawn risers who wake up at 5:00 am for pushups, green juice, and proverbial worms… 

We’re talking about the early birds who can’t wait to snag registrations to your event before everyone else.

When event registrants purchase registrations in advance, not only does it make your planning process easier, it builds sales momentum and gives you the bonus of early cash flow! 

You don’t even have to wake up at 5:00 am to fly to victory with the early birds. If you use these expert tips, you’ll be selling registrations while you sleep.  

1. Generate Excitement Before the Sales Begin 

Whether it’s for Christmas, your birthday, or that Summer blockbuster movie, we’ve all experienced how a good, old-fashioned countdown can fill us with positive anticipation. 

Use our countdown clock to create a sense of urgency and excitement for your event. 

Then, a couple of weeks before your sales go live, start building hype on social media. We recommend that you create a batch of five to six posts ahead of time and spread out the content in the two weeks leading up to the sales launch. Emphasize the incentive to register early, and countdown to the date of the sale in each post. 

2. Build Your Email List Early

No matter how excited your potential registrant feels, don’t rely on their memory to close the sale for you. 

Use your pre-sale graphics to direct leads and interested customers to a landing page where they can enter their email addresses. That way, the moment the registration opens, everyone on the email list will receive an alert encouraging them to jump on the opportunity.

3. Get The Word Out!!

The moment you go live, shout it from the rooftops!

Blast your social media platforms; email past registrant bases, and alert your pre-sale interested registrants. Going live is a big deal—make sure the world knows!

4. Incentivize with an Early Bird Deal

To turn the average, procrastinating registrant into an early bird, you need to offer something far more enticing than a worm: a sweet deal. 

Consider discounting the price, the VIP experience, the swag, or all of the above. Whatever the incentive, make sure to treat these early-bird buyers like royalty.

5. Make the Rewards Available Instantly  

While a scavenger hunt can be a fun activity for certain types of in person events, they’re a guaranteed way to annoy your customers online. Don’t make the early bird customers open three browsers to search for coupon codes. 

Apply the incentive automatically, so they receive an instant reward for being on your page and supporting your event.

6. Keep Quantities Limited

When registrants believe there is unlimited inventory and unlimited time to register for your event, they will procrastinate. If there are less than 15 discounted registrations—or 15 discounted days—remaining, they will get moving! 

Use the countdown on the event purchasing page to show the dwindling seconds and the seats. Make sure you let people know. Even just a hint of scarcity can serve as a catalyst for people to grab their registrations before the early bird perks run out. 

7. Don’t Display Expired Sales

Just for a moment, ​imagine taking a kid past a candy store window—the sticky, caramel apples and gummy sour patch kids on display in all their glory—and then telling the kid that the store is closed until next Monday. Obviously, they would feel disappointed. 

Likewise, if you keep your early bird prices plastered all over your website, your customers will feel the same way. Lingering evidence of expired deals can come back to haunt you. 

When latecomers are painfully aware of what they missed, they’ll often delay purchasing in hopes that another promotion will come along. They might reach out to you, pleading for an exception. 

Make it easier on everyone involved. Once the early registration period has passed, bury the evidence of their missed early bird price opportunities and point the registrants to their existing opportunities.

8. Provide Multiple Chances for Deals 

The one-chance early bird experience is a myth. The most successful promoters offer limited-time sales windows several times throughout the months leading up to the event.

If your registrants hit snooze for the first promotion, give them a chance to jump at the alarm for the next one.

9: Consider a Last Minute Extension 

When offering a early bird discount, consider offering a 12 hour extension to promotion of your early bird deal to catch those who might have just missed it. 

No one likes missing out, so extending the early bird unexpectedly might shake out some of those who were on the fence and barely missed the promotion.

Final Takeaway

If you want to boost your sales right out of the gate—maybe even sell out before your event—put these tips into action. 

All of these features are native to RegFox and you can set them up in minutes. 

If you need help with the setup, reply to this email with your questions. Our team is on stand-by in the chat ready to help you host your most successful event ever!