Ways to Increase Revenue, Memberships, and Generate New Visitors

Ways to Increase Revenue, Memberships, and Generate New Visitors

When the weather turns cold and the dark sets in early, consumers are traditionally more likely to seek indoor activities. So what are outdoor venues to do? More and more utilize branded lighting experiences to attract visitors once the lights start to dim.

Branded installations have many benefits and opportunities:

  1. Provide brand recognition

  2. Showcase your venue

  3. Instill trust and strengthen community

  4. Fundraising opportunities

  5. Create memories for visitors

  6. Increase revenue and memberships

  7. Generate New Visitors

If your venue is a non-profit, increasing revenue, memberships, and generating new visitors are most likely at the top of your list of business priorities. When you invest in a new lights program or just enhance your current one, you need to either show a return or, at minimum, cover your costs. Here are several tactics to increase revenue and offset expenses:

  1. Utilize existing assets

    1. While you will want to begin adding new customizable LED lights that allow you to change displays year after year, you can repurpose existing assets to bring a fresh look to the experience.
  2. Implement cashless payments

    1. Implement ways to accept credit cards or use RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification) technology to reduce lines and increase consumer convenience while at your event. Limiting wait times will undoubtedly increase spend.
  3. Seek sponsorships

    1. Don’t let a limited budget deter you. A partnership can be mutually beneficial, and there are several ways to work the relationship by either selling a sponsorship or by bartering for products/services including hospitality opportunities.
  4. Create brand activations with engagement platforms – gather measurement data and insights for your sponsors to increase their spend

    1. Your sponsors are interested in event data and potential opportunities stemming from the partnership. Creating activations that include social media check-ins, games, contests, surveys, etc. are a great way to collect the desired information.
  5. Use volunteers

    1. This is a great way to stretch your dollar. Your volunteers may be eager to help by trading their time for a free admission to the event. And by sharing the experience via social media and driving “buzz”, they help spread the word and increase attendance for your venue.

Branded lighting experiences are a fantastic way to increase your revenue, memberships and generate new visitors. See how GES Events helped the Los Angeles Zoo sell out most nights and garner record attendance by creating a breathtaking holiday light extravaganza.

About the Author

Kristy Hundt


Follow on Twitter Follow on Linkedin More Content by Kristy Hundt
Previous Video
Driving Revenue and Visitor Growth through Branded Experiences [Webinar]
Driving Revenue and Visitor Growth through Branded Experiences [Webinar]

Are you incorporating a branded experience that will wow guests old and new?

Next Article
Using Sponsorships to Lighten Up Your Spend
Using Sponsorships to Lighten Up Your Spend
