Conference Pricing Models and the Two Things You Must Know to Use Them.
According to balance.com, the two most important things to know before determining your conference pricing model are 1) the estimated costs and 2) anticipated attendees. Working with a third-party planning company like Creative Group, can help you outline all of the expenses associated with hosting a conferences or event.
Budgeting everything from big bucket items like food and beverage down to the tiny details, like speaker gifts, are important to take into account for accurate costs. When it comes to estimating attendance, historical event data is useful along with pre-event surveys.
Here are the five pricing models presented on balance.com; for the original article, click here.
1. Retail Approach = (Expenses + profit margin) / lowest projected attendance figure
NOTE: must take into account fixed and variable costs, such as A/V and food and beverage respectively.
2. Market Pricing – Base fee on what you think people can afford and build the budget in backwards.
NOTE: must prove the value will be worth it.
3. Limited Access Pricing – Tiered pricing, such as General Admission, VIP, Special Breakouts, etc.
NOTE: must create sufficient value in each tier.
4. Incentives & Penalties – Use promotions like “early bird” registration to cover fixed costs and “late fees” to protect against surcharges for food orders placed after the final guarantee date.
NOTE: explaining fees to registrants will help them understand the reasoning and not feel manipulated.
5. Post Event Access – Charge for online access to recorded sessions for those unable to attend.
NOTE: must take into account the costs associated with recording, as well as understand that potential attendees may be demotivated to attend if they know recordings will be available.
