Should I Charge For My Event, and How Do I Collect Payments?
If you are planning an event where you’re charging for entry, you’ll need to figure out a method of collecting payments and tracking registrations. In the virtual world, there is a debate about whether or not to charge for events. It’s true that, in most cases, the expenses associated with a virtual event are much lower (especially if you use a platform like Zoom), as opposed to an in-person event where you have to consider venue and catering costs, rentals, audio visual and more.
So, should you charge for your virtual event? Read on below for the questions I ask my clients to consider when faced with this element of event planning:
Consider your event goals and objectives. Do you want a packed virtual space, where you maximize your attendee allotment? Or, would a more engaged, intimate audience do the trick for you? Do you want your event to generate revenue, such as a virtual fundraiser?
Consider your expenses. Monthly Zoom account aside, consider your event planning and management fees, software expenses, marketing and speaker fees, and other elements that go into creating and marketing your event.
Assess the event’s value. Truly put yourself in each of your stakeholders’ shoes, and follow the same user experience journey that they would. If you are able to articulate the value and what they will take away from the event, you’ll have a better chance of attendees paying the fees.
Be clear about your event’s function in your overall business goals. If it’s part of a sales funnel driving attendees to a larger-ticket item, leaving the fees low or eliminating them altogether is a great idea to make it a no-brainer for your guests to sign up.
Will you be devastated if the event is sparsely attended? Let’s face it, we’ve all signed up for that free webinar or networking opportunity, and then when the day comes, we either don’t feel like going, something prevents us from going, or we forget to put it on our calendars. While free tickets can be a great thing, I generally recommend charging a small amount (even $5) so that your attendees are invested in the experience.
To summarize, you should charge for your event IF:
You can articulate the value of the event for each attendee
You want to be sure your attendees are invested
Your goal is to make money off of the event
Ok, so we’ve decided you’re charging for the event. What now? How do you charge for tickets and collect registration information, so that you can properly communicate with your attendees throughout the process? Below are a few ways that you can collect registration information, and fees, using systems you’re familiar with:
Eventbrite: You can absolutely list your event, create ticket pricing and list all of the event details on Eventbrite. What’s more, Eventbrite also offers the ability to create paid, free, and donation-based tickets, so you can offer multiple methods.
Squarespace: Squarespace not only has the ability to list products, but you are able to list your events and also charge for tickets in this interface! If you do not want to integrate any other platforms, you can have your tickets be a product and charge for them there.
Squarespace Integrations: My preference is to add an Eventbrite or other ticketing widget to my Squarespace site, so that it is all connected and seamless.
Zoom: Through Zoom, you can collect registration information and, using the PayPal integration, accept payments for your event. I don’t love the Zoom interface, but if you are going for simplicity, this definitely works.
Eventbrite Integration: Bonus - Eventbrite and Zoom have an integration capability so that your attendees only have to register once, and they’ll automatically receive the Zoom information.
NOTE: Make sure to double-check your Zoom integration to make sure the settings for the meeting or webinar are correct. For more on this, check out How to Optimize Your Zoom Experience.
If you decide not to charge for the event, and if it’s part of a sales or marketing funnel, make sure that you have call-to-actions sprinkled (tactfully) throughout your event, and in the post-event emails. I’ve even started to see NFTs used cleverly as an add-on to events, so there are ways that you can ‘upsell’ even your freemium clients.