How to increase ticket sales to freshers events
Every year, freshers week presents an opportunity for event organisers to introduce a new generation of university students to their events, as thousands of young people discover new event brands, nightclubs, promoters and parties through freshers events.
The potential for selling tickets for Freshers Week 2023 is enormous, but there are a number of key steps that event organisers can take when it comes to increasing ticket sales for freshers week events; whether that’s Student Unions, student nightlife promoters or nightclubs.
From getting to know your audience, to utilising student brand ambassadors, here are some top tips to help increase ticket sales for freshers week events.
Table of contents
- What is freshers week?
- When is freshers week 2023?
- Increase ticket sales
- Know your audience
- Be student savvy
- Use student brand ambassadors
- Tap into student communities
- Sell tickets online
- Additional resources
What is freshers week?
Freshers week - sometimes called Welcome Week - is the first week of term for students starting their time at university. Designed as a welcome period for new starters, freshers week is characterised by meeting new people, joining student societies and university sports teams, settling into halls of residence, exploring campus and/or a new hometown, and attending any number of freshers events and freshers parties held at the Student Union or in local nightclubs and venues.
When is Freshers Week 2023?
The date of freshers week can vary from university to university, but generally freshers events will take place in the second half of September. For example, Bristol Freshers Week begins on Sunday 17th September 2023, while Leeds Freshers Week starts later on Monday 25th September 2023, and freshers fairs, balls, dinners and parties at Oxford and Cambridge often run into October.
Five top tips to increase ticket sales for freshers events
Know your audience
Student unions or student nightlife promoters who run successful events know where their audience is and what they respond to. Get to know your audience by researching what others are doing and what is popular, whether that’s competitors, non-student events, or other brands popular with students.
Freshers fairs provide a huge opportunity to promote your events, with the vast majority of uni freshers attending these events early on in freshers week. Find ways to get your name out there as early as possible - whether that's attending the freshers fair as a brand, or sending student brand ambassadors or student reps.
Be student savvy
Being smart with pricing and promotional tactics is important for the student market and freshers events. Budgets are tight and any opportunity for savings could be central to purchasing decisions.
Offer incentives for attendees to buy tickets early so you can understand demand for freshers events ahead of time. Use features like a waitlist and pre-sale to generate hype around events, and use special freshers deals to increase ticket sales. For example, UK-wide venues like PRYZM offer freshers wristbands which guarantee entry to all freshers events, as well as nights across the year, at their venues.
Use student brand ambassadors
Recruiting your own student brand ambassadors to become the face and voice of your brand across their university can massively increase the reach of your events. When it comes to freshers students who are unfamiliar with the events in their new hometown or city, student influencers on social media could be a vital source of information and inspiration.
The FIXR Rep Platform allows you to incentivise peer-to-peer marketing, turning your biggest fans into an invaluable marketing resource and rewarding them for promoting your events in their student networks.
Tap into student communities
Harness the power of student societies or sports clubs who can become not just regular attendees, but passionate advocates for your events. There's a huge variety of societies and student communities - from established cultural groups, sports teams or, to more niche groups interest
It’s important to think about who your event would most appeal to, and find ways to communicate and engage with them in a way that feels authentic. Whether that’s going as broad as possible to maximise reach, or finding the smaller, more niche student communities that can become loyal ticket buyers.
In freshers week, and throughout university life, student societies and sports clubs have a huge amount of influence over the events that their members attend - via both online and, crucially, offline channels - so make the most of this opportunity as early as possible.
Sell tickets online
Creating a stress-free, seamless ticket buying experience online is an easy way to increase ticket sales for any event - and freshers week is no different.
By selling tickets online, using a ticketing platform that is trusted by students, you can offer a tool to discover and book events, as well as keeping tickets for all events - from freshers parties to nights out throughout the year - in one place.
Students rely heavily on smartphones at every stage of the event journey; reflect the behaviours of your target audience by ensuring your website and ticketing platform are mobile friendly.
Additional Resources
Read More:
- Marketing Your Events to Students: A 10-Step Guide
- How Using Reps Can Revolutionise Your Freshers Week
- How to Organise a Freshers Party
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