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You’re organizing incredible events for your audience. You’ve given it all: your time, energy, and creativity. But when you glance at the bank accounts, they’re nothing less than running on empty.
Questions and questions about how to make money hosting events are hanging all around.
What do you do? Increase the price of the tickets?
Well, ticketing isn’t the only way to make money hosting events.
Numerous methods can open new revenue streams from your events. All it requires is for you to identify opportunities within the scope of your event creatively. They’re right there; you need to spot them and then go smartly about them.
In this blog, we’ll decode why monetizing your events is beneficial for the event itself, 15 interesting ways for event monetization, and all the things you should avoid while striving for event revenue.
Let’s dig in!
Gatekeeping your event with a ticket filters the people who are genuinely curious to attend. Think about it; an event filled with people who value the experience and need the learnings.
This positively impacts the overall engagement at the event. You can expect these people to participate in the sessions and network more. Accountability also comes into play. If people are investing in something, they will want to make the most out of it.
You can reinvest the additional revenue to enhance the event experience, such as securing high-profile speakers or adding creative elements like NFT galleries—or even something more out-of-the-box.
Finally, ticketing an event creates a sense of exclusivity. The perceived value of the event in the minds of people increases. This generates demand for the event.
Now that I’ve made the case for the benefits of monetization, let’s get into the specifics of how to make money from events.
Beyond the main event, think about how you can facilitate the attendees one step further. Map all of their pain points. Based on that, create exclusive experiences for them.
Let me give you an example of how this works with HubSpot Inbound–one of the biggest events for marketing and customer service professionals globally. Apart from their thirst for knowledge, people come there for loads of networking.
To cater to that, Hubspot Inbound hosts several sponsored activities that facilitate networking. These include pre-event happy hours, post-event parties, and much more. The curated experiences allow the attendees to connect deeply before and after the event.
Just like that, there are several ways you can design exclusive experiences that can both facilitate your audience and help you earn money from it too. A win-win!
Organizing networking sessions is an excellent way to generate extra revenue.
Exhibitors and attendees prefer to get acquainted with each other before the event so that on the big day, they get straight to business. This is especially beneficial for B2B events where there are major transactions taking place, and a single interaction isn’t enough.
Pre-event networking sessions can be either ticketed, charged as an add-on, or sponsored through your partners.
For example, vFairs arranges networking events at TopGolf for people attending IMEX–a massive trade show in the events industry. This activity is super-beneficial to warm some leads.
Another interesting way to curate an exclusive experience is to host private lunches or dinners. These are exclusive meals with keynote speakers, sponsors, exhibitors, or VIP attendees. The intimate setting fosters strong bonds with clients and enables you to stay on the top of their minds.
For example, vFairs hosts customer dinners with their clients usually after the event ends. The setting encourages networking among different event planners and organizers and also enables vFairs to understand how they’re helping their clients along with what needs improvement.
On-demand content refers to recorded sessions, presentations, workshops, interviews, or resources that attendees can access for a premium.
When positioned as exclusive, this content is made available only to specific ticket holders or for a limited time, adding an element of scarcity and value.
There are different ways you can go about it.
You can offer on-demand access to event content to VIP ticket holders or premium subscribers only.
TED Conferences allows its premium members to revisit their favorite TED sessions from the conference.
Another excellent way to monetize through content is to provide early access to specific focused training and courses that’ll help during the event. This can create a sense of urgency and exclusivity.
For example, Adobe Max conferences offer an add-on for their pre-event labs which can last for half a day or for three days straight. These labs give you the time to explore a product, skill, or workflow in more depth.
People often fly in from various continents to attend different events. Finding accommodations in an unfamiliar location can make the attendees anxious. As the event organizer, you can assist.
You can book rooms in a hotel near your venue and give attendees an option to reserve rooms as they register for the event. You can charge the hotel commission for every booking they get for the event.
This way, you’ll make their lives easier and earn a little extra on each booking.
vFairs accommodation module allows attendees to self-book the lodging they prefer. The platform also provides real-time information about the number of rooms booked and the number of accommodations left, making it easy for you to manage.
What’s one thing that the event brings together? Attendees. What does that translate into? A platform to market products and services–and not just your own. Let me show you what that means.
You can enable your sponsors, as well as other enterprises to showcase their products and services on the event day.
They can display their solutions through dedicated stalls, providing a physical or virtual presence that feels approachable and interactive.
Meanwhile, you can either charge for the space you provide them or take commissions for each sale.
Sponsored products are items that can be distributed during or before the event. These can range from physical items to digital tools or services.
You can take different approaches to generate event income from sponsored products. For example, you can include sponsored products in the official event swag bags and charge sponsors for them.
You can also distribute sponsored products as prizes for a competition. Other than that, you can provide spaces for sponsored sampling stations or interactive product demos.
All of these techniques are easy to implement, help provide a dynamic experience to the attendees, and contribute to growing event income.
People love to share their experiences with others. And what can be a better approach than to have it printed on a t-shirt that screams “I attended the best conference”.
No seriously, people love to do that, and it’s your chance to encash the opportunity.
Go with trendy, and relevant merchandise for your audience. Typically, people prefer to purchase branded diaries, pens, water bottles, t-shirts, AirPods, tote bags, caps, etc.
Some conferences add “limited-edition collectibles” in their merch collection to create a sense of urgency. To increase the sales of your merch, you can introduce a pre-order system, so attendees can secure their favorite items in advance. This ensures guaranteed sales even before the event begins.
You can sell digital products directly through an event app or virtual event platform. These products can include e-books, industry reports, NFTs, templates, and more. It’s a trending way to make big money from small events.
With vFairs’ virtual event platform, you can set up a digital shop within an exhibitor’s virtual booth. This makes it easy for attendees to browse and book products during the event.
Union Streat Kitchen at the Nus Trade Show
Sponsorships are important. And the only way to convince someone to invest in your event is by providing them with a strong sponsorship package. It should specifically highlight how exactly you’ll be providing them with relevant exposure and what is going to be their ROI.
There are two ways to approach sponsorship packages.
It’s the traditional approach where you provide tiered packages, each differentiated by the quality and volume of benefits you are going to provide.
Usually, companies name these packages as Silver, Gold and Platinum. You can name them in unique ways too. For example, I saw an EdTech platform naming their sponsorship packages as Dojo, Guru, and Sensei, inspired by Japanese names for teachers and classes.
The A La Carte offers partners more control over their packages. Sponsors can choose the offerings they prefer from a list of options.
This customization helps sponsors maximize their return on investment by selecting opportunities that directly contribute to their objectives. For instance, a company seeking brand visibility might prioritize logo placements on event materials. On the other hand, someone focused on engagement will go for exclusive speaking slots or branded networking lounges.
What’s one thing that your partners walk away with after the event? Leads. When it comes to B2B events, it’s usually the most important thing.
You can facilitate their lead capture process by providing them with their very own Lead Capture App, for a price of course.
But what is a lead capture app? It’s an app that is meant to substitute the inefficient process of business card exchange. Through a lead capture app, exhibitors can collect leads by simply scanning the QR codes of the attendees that are usually on their badges or event apps.
You can also scan business cards with the lead capture app, or import leads manually. What’s interesting is the app enables you to segment leads in different categories on the go. For example, hot, cold, warm, etc. Once the event ends, the leads can be exported to CRM of your choice, or downloaded as a CSV for follow-ups and analysis.
Another great strategy for growing event income is getting creative with the advertisement options you provide to your partners. This can work for both in-person and virtual events.
Here are some ad options that you can offer.
The event landing page is where attendees find all the information about your event and register as well. This makes it a prime spot for monetizing event registrations. Leverage that traffic by selling ad space on the event landing page.
You can provide different advertisement options on your event app as well.
For example, vFairs Mobile App gives you the ability to display splash ads and banner ads. Splash ads are custom graphics that are displayed on full screen once someone opens the app.
You can offer this as a premium option because this ad pops out even before the app launches giving guaranteed visibility.
Whereas banner ads are embedded at the bottom of the app. The banner stays even when you’re scrolling through the app.
If you’re going for a virtual event platform, you can dynamically advertise your sponsors and exhibitors.
First, you can integrate sponsor logos into the platform. You can also place branded welcome videos that pop up when an attendee logs into the platform. The video format allows better engagement with the content.
Other options include branded notifications, features in the sponsor hub, and more.
Finally, this one goes without saying. You can creatively display ads throughout the event venue to maximize sponsor visibility.
Options include digital signage or LED screens in high-traffic areas, branded check-in zones, and photo walls that double as social media shareable spots.
Functional sponsorship opportunities like branded charging stations or table centerpieces at luncheons also work well.
One of the major reasons enterprises participate in events is to gain extra visibility. You can provide several options for paid promotions to your sponsors and exhibitors. This can include featured blog posts, social media posts, email blasts, logo placements on the website, and beyond.
Another excellent way to monetize your event is by offering paid speaking slots to your sponsors and exhibitors. These slots help the presenters to gain recognition and build a rapport with the attendees.
This is particularly helpful for B2B exhibitors as the transactions heavily rely on reputation.
Product marketers are continuously striving to generate additional awareness of their products. Events are a great way to achieve that. You can offer paid slots to demonstrate tech products during the event. But you need to make sure that the tech is relevant to your audience so that the experience of attendees isn’t affected.
First, let’s talk about onsite exhibitions.
Start by offering booth spaces based on size and location. The closer a booth is to entrances or main stages, the higher the value. Highlight the expected foot traffic and visibility these spaces offer to sponsors and exhibitors.
Make sure to have a clear layout to show available spots and their pricing tiers.
Next, for online events, sponsors and exhibitors can set up branded booths on the virtual event platforms or the event app. They can display logos, banners, and videos and even host live chats with attendees.
You can also provide the option to take it a step further by branding an entire exhibit hall. Suggest the exhibit hall naming option as a premium upgrade. It’s an excellent way for sponsors to stand out.
How do events make money in a way that drives long-term growth and sustained revenue?
One of the most powerful (and profitable) strategies is the membership model. It benefits you as well as your attendees. For you, it becomes a way for growing event revenue and build long-lasting connections, whereas your attendees can enjoy various benefits throughout the year and continue earning value.
We can take an example from TED Conferences. They offer dynamic membership models that offer benefits such as yearly access to TED conferences, on-demand content from TED Live, closed social communities, book clubs, etc.
There are different approaches you can take to structure your membership offerings.
You can offer a membership model that provides attendees with access to all your events throughout the year. This can include access to various webinars, conferences, or smaller workshops.
Members can pay an annual fee for continuous access enabling you to have a predictable revenue stream.
For loyal attendees, you can create a VIP membership tier that offers special perks like early access to tickets, discounted prices, exclusive content, priority seating, or private networking opportunities.
These benefits also include access to different private communities for VIP members only. For example, the TED Conference provides access to private book clubs where they have meaningful discussions.
These benefits add value for repeat participants, encouraging them to return year after year and increasing the lifetime value of each attendee.
Who doesn’t love to win?
Infusing gamification within the scope of your event is an excellent way to engage your attendees. It can open a whole new revenue stream for you.
But the question stays, how can you go about making money through hosting merely games? Well, if you go creatively about it, there are a number of interesting ways you can.
Here are some suggestions for you.
A sponsored scavenger hunt is an exciting activity where you hide different sponsored products throughout the event venue. Your attendees can be either provided with a list of things they are supposed to find, or clues that will be revealed after they find each product.
With vFairs, you can host sponsored scavenger hunts during in-person events, or on their virtual platform as well. The performance of the attendees will be tracked through live leaderboards.
You can opt for different prizes and rewards in the form of cash or tech products. Sponsors can also provide their branded merch as a reward as well.
Sponsors can have their logos or branding featured on the wheel’s segments. In exchange. They can promote their products or services through exclusive prizes.
Another interesting way is to charge sponsors to have their branding included in the photo booth experience. They can go for customized backgrounds or logo placements within the booth.
You can boost your event income by offering add-ons and upsells like paid photography, catering upgrades, and other premium services. These extra offerings create an enhanced experience for attendees while generating additional income for you.
You can offer participants to purchase professional photography services before the event. You can also charge for physical prints, framed photos, or merchandise featuring event images.
Provide an upgraded catering menu for attendees who want a more luxurious dining experience. This could include access to gourmet meals, premium drinks, or specialty food stations.
As discussed earlier, ticketing improves the experience of your event by creating a sense of exclusivity. Attendees feel obliged to make the most of the event given the investment they’ve made. But what kind of ticketing is going to yield you the best results? That’s something to think about.
There are different approaches you can take for ticketing and registration. Let me list the important ones for you.
Offer multiple ticket options based on access levels. For example, standard tickets for general entry, and premium tickets that include perks like workshops, masterclasses, or VIP lounges. The added value motivates attendees to opt for higher tiers.
There is an increasing trend of people registering late for events. You can leverage this trend to convert a maximum number of attendees right before the event.
Consider implementing limited-time flash sales in the final weeks leading up to the event. Offering exclusive discounts or bundled deals can create urgency and capture last-minute buyers ready to commit.
Distribute discount codes through partners, sponsors, or email campaigns to incentivize registrations. This is a great way to attract attendees who may be undecided.
Offer discounts for group bookings. Many companies send teams to events, and discounted group rates can encourage larger registrations, boosting attendance and revenue.
Pro-tip: Integrate multiple payment options within the registration form to create a smooth registration experience.
vFairs Event Ticketing and Registrations module streamlines registrations, enabling you to build a custom registration website, create a custom registration form, and integrate multiple ticketing and payment options.
How to make money at events beyond the sessions and networking opportunities? Well, an interesting way to go about it is by offering different art experiences to the attendees. These installations can substantially improve the experience of your event. For each sale, you can charge a commission which will result in growing event revenue for you.
There are different styles of art installations you can go for. Here are some examples:
You can create art setups designed around a specific theme or message to evoke certain emotions or convey particular ideas. This will elevate the experience and become a conversation starter among attendees.
For example, at a party preluding the 2024 Olympic Games, various artists created sport-inspired installations, such as Honor Titus’s tennis-themed sculpture and painting.
These are art pieces that respond to attendees’ actions, such as touch or movement. This makes attendees active participants in the artwork.
You can design spaces that fully engage the senses, often using technology to create lifelike experiences, such as virtual reality simulations.
For example, during the London Design Festival 2024, a green space installation called Vert was featured. It had about 20 plant species nestled in a biodegradable net. This offered visitors a relaxing and refreshing shelter in the city.
Record income from tickets, sponsorships, and add-ons. Compare it to your goals and analyze what hit the mark and what didn’t.
Did your efforts pay off? Calculate the ROI for your event. If you’ve conducted similar events in the past, you can compare your current ROI against your previous ones.
Surveys and polls can reveal what people loved (or didn’t). Roll out surveys to your attendees through email. You can also calculate the Net Promoter Score (NPS) for your event. This will help you gauge how likely they are to promote your event.
Use tools to see where attendees spent the most time. For example, was it certain booths or was it the games that paid off? Popular areas mean more potential for revenue.
With vFairs event reporting, you can track which areas of the event were most popular among the attendees.
If you went ahead with different add-ons and premium options we suggested like pre-event networking sessions, or issuing on-demand content, you should analyze how that worked.
You can calculate how many attendees bought upgrades or merchandise. These numbers show what’s worth repeating.
It’s also important to analyze if your sponsors got value from their booths or promotions. Happy sponsors mean repeat deals.
Monetizing events is important. But don’t fall into the trap of making your events all about making money. Your event serves a bigger purpose than that. Here are some mistakes that you must avoid:
Prioritizing revenue over building genuine connections can harm your reputation and discourage long-term partnerships. Your focus should always be on winning trust first.
Your sponsors, partners, and exhibitors should all be relevant to your audience. Products or services that don’t align with attendee interests can lead to poor sales and missed audience event monetization potential.
Bombarding attendees with ads can create a negative experience, making the event feel commercialized rather than valuable.
If the benefits of your premium packages aren’t clear, attendees may hesitate to invest, resulting in lost revenue and unmet potential.
Monetizing your event is all about finding the right balance between creativity and attendee value. You’ve got to deliver an excellent experience while capitalizing on various opportunities at the same time.
Start with easier event ideas to make money. For example, ticketing, sponsorships, add-ons, and exclusive experiences. Then go for some premium offerings such as book clubs, memberships, access to private communities, etc.
Most profitable events to organize include conferences, trade shows, workshops, and fundraisers. These events typically have high ticket sales, multiple sponsorship opportunities, and plenty of room for add-ons, merchandise, and exclusive content. So choose the event format wisely.
Platforms like vFairs allow you to implement all of the strategies we mentioned above in both virtual and in-person formats. Plus, you can also monitor revenues and engagement in real-time.
Lastly, while you strive to grow event income, remember that your rapport always comes first. This is why you should prioritize the satisfaction of your attendees, sponsors, and exhibitors any day.
Create exclusive experiences like pre-event networking sessions, private dinners or VIP lounges. You can also offer on-demand content, early access to workshops, or premium perks like meet-and-greets with speakers. The more unique the experience, the more attendees are willing to pay!
Sell tickets, offer sponsorships, and create premium content like workshops or on-demand sessions. You can also sell digital goods like e-books or online courses and set up virtual booths for exhibitors. Keep it simple, engaging, and worth paying for!
Create hype on social media to get people to buy your tickets. You can also charge exhibitors and sponsors for extras like running paid ads, sending out dedicated emails, or posting on social media.
You can sell sponsorships for branded spaces or booths and charge for premium add-ons like catering upgrades or on-demand content.
Popular fundraisers include charity auctions, gala dinners, walkathons, crowdfunding campaigns and raffles. Other profitable event ideas are online donation drives, peer-to-peer fundraising and exclusive ticketed events with VIP experiences.
Fiza Fatima
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