How to Increase Your Rodeo Revenue
There are many ways to increase revenue for your rodeo. Rodeo revenue will come from a variety of sources, and to grow your bottom line, you need to understand your constituents and the outcomes that each of them are looking to achieve from the rodeo. If you understand the desires of these revenue sources, and what they are willing to pay to acquire them, you can capture a great deal more from your scheduled rodeo in terms of profits. The two main sources for your revenue will likely be your spectators, cowboy participants, and your sponsors.
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How to Increase Spectator Revenues
There are two principal methods of increasing revenue from the spectators of your rodeo. The first is to gain more paying spectators, and the second is to capture more money from the those that sign up. Gaining more spectators will involve more effort, but may yield the better return on investment. Below, we will outline how both of these revenue streams will dramatically increase your bottom line.
How to Increase Ticket Purchases
You can increase the amount of spectators if you simplify your ticketing process. When picking a online ticketing provider make sure it utilizes a simple checkout process that doesn't require accounts for spectators. Fewer pages in your check-out process makes it easier to complete the purchase, and you will make more money. Online fees can vary widely among different providers. Compare top ticketing companies rates, and benefits.
Create a Ticket FormIncrease Ticket Purchases by Giving Spectators What They Want
It goes without saying that spectators of your rodeo want a great experience. Each person comes with their own background and preferences. Some spectators are looking for a rodeo that is well organized. Some want to attend in a rodeo that is located in a beautiful setting.
It can be overwhelming to try to please every type of spectator. You can’t be everything to everyone, but the rule of thumb is to try and please the most people possible within reason. If yours is a recurring rodeo, consider emailing out a survey after each rodeo to get feedback. Ask specific questions about the different aspects of your rodeo, and how important they are to your spectators. When you understand what the majority of your customers want, you can focus your efforts on the most important elements. When you execute masterfully at the most important things to participants of your rodeo, you will dramatically increase satisfaction. Remember that your spectators chose your rodeo for a reason, and if you understand why that is, you can focus your efforts on being the best in those things.
Best Advertising Methods for Rodeos
There are a myriad of ways to advertise your rodeo, but it is important to learn what methods work best. On your ticketing page you should have a question similar to, “How did you hear about this rodeo?” You can also track the effectiveness of different advertising sources by using a unique promo code for each campaign. The promo codes with the higher uses are likely your better forms of advertising. With online advertising, such as Google AdWords, you can have cookies set on spectators computers that click on the ads, tracking who purchase tickets. There are many other methods of tracking your advertising campaigns; you are strongly encouraged to do some form of tracking to optimize your advertising spend. Begin every year with a marketing plan, and have goals associated with the plan. Set top level goals for the rodeo as a whole, but also consider having goals for each type of advertising. Below are several types of marketing that will grow your rodeo participation.
Create a Rodeo Website
Most spectators will find and purchase tickets for your rodeo online. Google, Yahoo, and Bing will rank a rodeo website higher than a Facebook group or fan page. This can be done for free at a site like weebly.com, but you will rank higher in the search results if you pay an actual website company to build your website for you. SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is a field that is best left to the experts, as the rules for ranking are constantly changing. Consider hiring a good web firm to help you in this area if you have the budget for it.
Create a Rodeo Blog
Regularly post interesting editorial content on a blog that people can discuss and follow regularly. This will help you to become the authority in your niche, and your rodeo will be found more regularly by the search engines as interested parties search for specific subjects in Google that you write about on your blog. Content marketing is critical. Giving your readers free, relevant information will endear them to you and advance your goals as it pertains to brand equity. Regularly check your Google Analytics account to learn which blog posts are the most frequently read, and get an idea about which topics are most in demand. Then use that information to your advantage by giving your audience more of what they want.
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Send an Email When You Open Ticketing
When you open for ticket purchases, be certain to let your base of potential spectators know by utilizing your email list. When emailing past or potential spectators, the email should contain a link to all of your social media pages, a link to your website, and a link to your rodeo ticket page. An attractive email with a succinct and incentivized call-to-action can improve your brand image, and will result in more purchases.
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Advertise your awards, buckles, trophies, & prize money
If your rodeo involves competition, many prospective cowboy participants will want to know what the prize money, and trophies will be. It may be their first time attempting a rodeo like yours, and having this information on social media, can help attract more participation. This will help more cowboy participants feel like they can actually place in your rodeo, and you will obtain more cowboy participants.
Send an Email When You Open Cowboy Registration
When you open for cowboy registration, be certain to let your base of potential participants know by utilizing your email list. When emailing past or potential participants, the email should contain a link to all of your social media pages, a link to your website, and a link to your rodeo registration page. An attractive email with a succinct and incentivized call-to-action can improve your brand image, and will result in more registrations. If you work with a Stock Contractor Company who handles all the cowboy registration, you may want to retreive the past registration list to email past participants, and work with your stock contractor company to attract more cowboy participants.
Find sponsors that will help spread the word
Some of your sponsors may be willing to help promote your rodeo. For example, if you have a chain of grocery stores that is a sponsor, they may be willing to put up a banner for your rodeo at each of their locations, or a bank sponsor may be willing to email all their customers about your rodeo and possibly include some type of promotional discount, helping potential spectators feel like they are getting a good deal for being a customer of that bank, which helps both your rodeo and the bank mutually.
Create an Official Hashtag
Hashtags are a fun way for spectators and potential participants to create some buzz around your brand and the rodeo experience. When everyone knows what the official hash tag is, they can all post photos of their experiences with your rodeo, and see other’s who have had similar photos as well.
Create a Twitter Account and Regularly Tweet
Twitter is a fast way to get marketing messages out there, and it also helps you to continue to engage with your audience. You want to be on their minds as much as possible. The more they think of your rodeo, the more they are discussing your rodeo with others. Most people sign up as a result of a recommendation from friends or family members, so utilize this social platform to continue having your prospects think of your rodeo.
How to Integrate Social Media
Create a Facebook Fan Page or Group
This will help your audience of potential participants and spectators start networking right away. Post regularly on your rodeo page, and use interesting and engaging photos as often as possible. Facebook posts with photos or videos have a much higher engagement rate (shares, likes, etc.).
Find People to be on Your Marketing Committee
To properly market and advertise your rodeo takes extensive effort. If you can find a volunteer committee to help you with various responsibilities, this will expand how fast you can spread the word about your rodeo. Also, perhaps someone in the committee may have some ideas you haven’t considered of places to relay the message of your rodeo, or maybe one of them could do some free design or artwork. If you are really lucky, you may find a web developer amongst your committee members to help improve your rodeo website pro bono.
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Offer Multiple Options
Even among potential participants, and spectators for your rodeo there are likely to be wide ranges in preference and interest. Providing options at your rodeo to cater to that variety will allow you to appeal to a broader audience. This is especially true for family events, since children and parents have very different interests. Comptetitive events such as mutton busting, greased pig, or other spectator participation can also attract more spectators to the rodeo.
Reach out to Influencers
If there is a local blogger that has a large following, consider giving them a free entry to participate in your rodeo in exchange for them writing a blog article about how great your rodeo is. If there is an expert in the area, possibly offer them a free entry as well, and you could ask them to tell their friends and social network following to sign up for your rodeo.
Incentivize Referrals
You already know friend/family referrals is your number one source for rodeo spectator growth, as well as cowboy participation growth, so give out incentives for people to help you grow your rodeo. RodeoTicket.com has two different incentives for referrals that are automated to make it easier for you to grow your rodeo. The first is called the “Social Discount”, and the second is called the “referral program”.
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Have Price Increases at Strategic Times
It is natural to procrastinate, but a good motivation to get people to sign up quicker is to have price increases set in place. The price increases will help you to get more people signed up faster. These people that sign up early will be built-in marketers for you early on, because people want to go with friends and family. The people that sign up later will be paying you more money. Make sure that price increases occur on a day of the week that you have historically seen to be a day more people sign up. Usually, you will want to avoid weekends for price increases. Make sure you email, tweet, and post on Facebook prior to every price increase to drive up ticket purchases. People enjoy taking advantage of last second savings.
Open ticketing for Next Year Right After this Year's Rodeo
People are most excited about your rodeo right after they have just attended and had an exciting experience. Take advantage of this enthusiasm by allowing them to purchase tickets for next year right after this year is over. You may be surprised at how many people will sign up a year early. Offer a discount for early signups.
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Form an Alliance with Other Events
You may decide to create a rodeo series that includes events in your geographical location spaced throughout the year. You could trade emailing your participant lists. You could market at each other’s expos in trade, etc.
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Form an Alliance with Other Rodeos
You may decide to create an rodeo series that includes events in your geographical location spaced throughout the year. You could trade emailing your participant, and spectator lists. You could market at each other’s rodeos in trade, etc.
Advertise Online
There are countless places you can advertise online, such as Google AdWords, related websites, Facebook ads, Promoted Tweets, etc. You can also implement retargeting, which keeps you top of mind with participants who have already visited your website. Consider doing sponsored blog posts on well-known related blogs to spread your influence and expose more potential participants to your rodeo.
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Print Media
Probably the best print media is to just put banners up all over town at busy intersections. You can also try printing fliers and distributing them at other events or stores. You can print posters to be hung at businesses. Other print media you may try includes newspaper advertising, billboards, and magazine ads.
Get a Booth at Other Events
One of the best places to advertise is at other related events. These events have your target audience, and there is no better place to promote your rodeo.
Write Press Releases
Anytime you gain a new sponsor, or make a change to your rodeo, you should write a press release. Submit these to every local news agency in your market. Make sure that your press release includes a link to your website, and a link to your registration page.
How to Get More Money from Cowboy Participants, and Spectators
There are a few ways to get your pool of cowboy participants, and spectators to spend more money. The first is to sell products. Selling products is a great stream of revenue, because in addition to bringing in more money, it also turns your participants, and spectators into walking billboards wearing your logo around town. You can sell products online during the ticketing process, and then offer it a second time at your rodeo.
The second way to increase rodeo revenue from your cowboy participants, and spectators is through price increases. Price increases not only get people signing up earlier, but they have procrastinators paying you more money for the same rodeo. There are people that would rather pay you more money with the option to sign up later in case they get injured or have a schedule conflict. Let them pay you more money.
Lastly, you can consider having a charitable cause associated with your rodeo. Contact us today to learn more about our donation pages for the registration process. Many events are for a charitable cause anyways, so why not ask for donations on the ticket process? RodeoTicket.com can help you garner donations during the ticket process.
Grow Your Rodeo With Powerful Tools
Whether you have a large rodeo or a small one that you want to increase participation for, RodeoTicket.com has the tools you need to dramatically increase your rodeo participation, and spectators. Our easy-to-use online rodeo ticket system will help you save time and make more money. Not all of the marketing strategies above may be right for you, but let us help you put together a marketing plan to reach your rodeo’s full potential!
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