How to Sell Out an Event with a Sales Funnel

Matt Astifan
Web Friendly
Published in
3 min readNov 29, 2017

When you find something in business that works, you do more of it. That’s exactly what happened with my event funnel — I found that I was having huge success getting people to my events and while they were there, I would do a soft pitch for my service and rake in the profit.

This is how I make super successful event sales funnels:

The Event

The events that I promote in my funnels are not designed to make money off of the ticket sales! The ticket sales are used to fund the cost of the event, allowing it to be at a high-end location and have a polished experience, thereby building my credibility and setting the stage for me to pitch my high-ticket service. My events are always sometime in the middle of the week, lasting about four hours, and priced moderately, usually around $40 per ticket.

Event Funnel Landing Page

The first page someone lands on in your event funnel will give the visitor just enough information to make an impulsive decision to buy a ticket to your event. There should be a clear headline at the top of the page, but above your headline should be a sentence or two that enforces scarcity and pushes the reader to make the decision. Below the headline should be a large, professional photo of the event speaker and adjacent to the picture should be a series of bullet points that specifically and tangibly describe the benefits of attending the event — these should mean the same thing to everyone who reads them. Testimonials are also a great touch at the bottom of the page to reinforce the value of the content and speaker. Finally, include a large button with a call to action: “Get Tickets Now”.

Order Page Ticket Upsell and Order Bump

When someone clicks through on the call-to-action button, they land on your order page. Here they will select how many tickets to purchase and it’s an opportunity for you to upsell. Offer one ticket at $35, two for $60, and four for $100. This will boost your ticket sales massively and will encourage people to help recruit for you, bringing their friends along. You can create more scarcity by raising the price of tickets as the event date comes nearer. Keep in mind, there will be about a 20% no-show rate, so always oversell the event. If you have 200 seats to fill, sell 250 tickets.

Another effective event ticket sales trick is to offer a VIP seating upgrade: “We are reserving the front two rows (approximately 40 seats) for a small group of highly-motivated people. If that sounds like you, add VIP seating to your order for only $15.” This easy offer costs you nothing, has two major benefits: it will increase profits and put the motivated buyers right in front of your nose for your live pitch!

Thank-You Page and One Time Offer

While you have an interested audience who just bought tickets, you can piggyback on their interest and impulsivity by offering a great deal related to your event. On the thank you page, have a simple slideshow video with a voice-over presenting your one time offer. The offer should be a $100 — $300 product or service, such as a training, that relates to the theme of the event. You can expect 5%-10% of people will take advantage of this offer, a healthy profit boost.

Event funnels have been a highly impactful means of publicising my brand and filling rooms of highly qualified prospects to pitch my services to. By mimicking my keys to success, you can rake in impressive profits as well.

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Matt Astifan
Web Friendly

I research and share easy, simple and proven marketing strategies for Internet entrepreneurs via the web @webfriendly and live in-person events @i_masterminds