The Price is Right

1
The Price is Right
Optimizing pricing and promotional discounts for
more successful events

• Presenter
• Ryan Bell
• Marketing Analyst

This session will begin in a moment. Please turn
your cell phones and pagers to silent mode.
2
Introduction

• General Pricing Info
• Common Pricing Factors
• What does the market say?
• Early-bird Discounts
• How much?
• How long?
• Group Discounts
• Averages
• When to use it?
• Example Event
• Questions

The Price is Right
3
Background Information

• About This Data...
• RegOnline has Hosted gt50,000 Events
• Now including our own Super Summit!
• Incredible Opportunity to Study Event Data
• Focusing on Events from 2006 (Approx. 4,000 data
  points)

The Price is Right
4
My Goals

• What I want you to take away
• A better understanding of event prices
• The idea that your event is a marketing process
• Some thoughts on discounting

The Price is Right
5

• Event Pricing

The Price is Right
6
Pricing How do I price my Event?
of Guests
Cost
Goals

• Generally Accepted Practice
• Determine Goal Break even, 15 Profit, 500
  attendees, etc.
• Compute Total Cost for X Attendees
• Divide Cost Across X
• Adjust for Error
• Add Profit Margin

The Price is Right
7
Pricing How do I price my Event?
New Event 500 Attendees Need 20 Profit Venue
costs are 40,000 (40,000/500) x 1.10 x
1.20 105 per attendee
What does the Market say?

• Established Event
• Client or Organization has Price in Mind
• Reconcile Costs with Price
• Negotiate Costs to Improve Margin
• Adjust Final Price as Needed
• ??? Per attendee

The Price is Right
8
Pricing What does the market say?
The Price is Right
9
Pricing Additional Pricing Metrics
How Does Price Differ for Multiple-Day Events?
1 Day Events 70 of Average 0.70 x Avg.
2 Day Events 70 of Average 0.70 x Avg. x 2
3 Day Events 55 of Average 0.55 x Avg. x 3
5 Day Events 45 of Average 0.45 x Avg. x 5
The Price is Right
10
Pricing Additional Pricing Metrics
For Example An Environmental Conference
Average Price 900.00
1 Day 630 Total 630 Per Day
2 Days 1,260 Total 630 Per Day
3 Days 1,485 Total 495 Per Day
5 Days 2,025 Total 405 Per Day
The Price is Right
11
Pricing Additional Pricing Metrics
The Price is Right
12

• Early Bird Discounts

The Price is Right
13
Early-Bird How Long?
Events with Fewer than 100 Attendees
Events with More than 500 Attendees
The Price is Right
14
Early-Bird How Long?
Events With Fewer Than 100 Attendees
25
A shorter promotion is better. The emphasis is
on Urgency!
The Price is Right
15
Early-Bird How Long?
Events With More than 500 Attendees
A longer promotion is better. The emphasis is on
Informing!
The Price is Right
16
Early-Bird How Long?

• For Events Between 100 and 500 Attendees
• Events between 101 and 300 tend to be more
  successful with shorter specials.
• Events between 401 and 500 tend to be more
  successful with longer specials.
• Price of admission is not correlated

The Price is Right
17
Early-Bird How Much?
The Most Successful Early-Bird Discounts fall
Between 5 and 20
For determining the discount amount price
matters, size doesnt.
The Price is Right
18
Early-Bird How Much?
Events That Cost Less than 200
The optimal discount amount is 5 to 10
The Price is Right
19
Early-Bird How Much?
Events That Cost Between 201 - 500
The optimal discount amount is 5 to 10 This is
the most flexible category
The Price is Right
20
Early-Bird How Much?
Events That Cost More than 500
The optimal discount amount is 15
The Price is Right
21
Early-Bird How Much?

• Common Pitfalls
• There is a difference between new and existing
  events
• Existing customer base can respond negatively
• New events might not be established enough
• Compounding Variables Can Interfere
• E.g. If you start a discount and simultaneously
  raise prices
• Be careful to test only one thing at a time

The Price is Right
22

• Group Discounts

The Price is Right
23
Group Discounts
The Average Group Size is 3 Registrants...
...The Average Group Discount is 25 per Attendee
1 Person 3 People 100 225
Group discounts work well because...

• Increase the Amount of Socialization that Can
  Occur
• Put People At Ease Because There is Always a
  Familiar Face
• Twice (or more!) the Networking can Occur for
  Each Organization

Perhaps most important...they increase attendance!
The Price is Right
24
Application
The Price is Right
25
For Example...

• You Conduct a Series of Marketing Workshops
• You charge 750 to attend
• Each workshop typically has 20-50 attendees
• Registration is open 60 days from the event

The Price is Right
26
For Example...

• Following These Guidelines You Would Consider
• Offering a different price to a new market
• Enacting an early bird discount of 10-15
• Having the discount end 30-45 days from the event
  date
• Adding a group discount (the average is 25)

The Price is Right
27
Thank You

• Thank you for attending this session.
• regonline wishes you the very best in making your
  events more successful!
• If you have any questions about the data or
  results presented in this session, please feel
  free to contact me at
• rbell_at_regonline.com

The Price is Right