Article
When people hear the word ticketing, they often think about selling tickets.
But a ticketing link can do much more than collect money.
Whether you're running a live gig, free community event, festival, workshop, open day, fundraiser, networking night, venue event or anything else that brings people together, a ticketing or registration link can become one of the most useful tools in your event-marketing strategy.
And yes - that includes completely free events.
Australia’s Biggest Gig Guide (ABGG) believes organisers should think beyond getting people through the door. Every event is also an opportunity to understand your audience, communicate with attendees, measure your marketing and potentially bring those people back to your next event.
That's why ABGG has teamed up with Australian ticketing provider 123 Tix to give event organisers two practical options: have your own ticketing platform powered by 123 Tix, or ask ABGG to create and manage your tickets through ABGGTix, powered by 123 Tix.
Here's the big question:
If nobody needs to pay, why bother issuing tickets?
Because without registrations, you may know how many people liked, shared or clicked "Interested" on a social post, but you have far less information about how many people have actually taken an action to attend.
A free ticket creates a measurable commitment.
Instead of simply advertising:
FREE EVENT - COME ALONG!
you can advertise:
FREE EVENT - RESERVE YOUR FREE TICKET
That small difference can give the organiser substantially more useful information.
123 Tix currently allows organisers to process unlimited free tickets and registrations with no 123 Tix ticketing fee. Organisers can collect attendee information, monitor registrations, control capacity, issue ticket confirmations and scan attendees at the event. Australia's Biggest Gig Guide
So while your customer may still pay $0, you can gain something valuable: data, visibility and a better understanding of your audience.
Social media is brilliant for event discovery, but likes and followers aren't the same thing as registrations.
A ticketing link gives every advertisement, Facebook post, Instagram post, email, website listing, QR code and promotional campaign, somewhere specific to send the customer.
Your marketing journey becomes:
See the event → Click the link → Register or purchase → Receive a ticket → Attend the event.
That gives you a much clearer call to action than simply hoping somebody remembers the date. And, don’t you think people who have registered are more likely to turn up rather than decide or change their mind last minute?
123 Tix provides direct event links, social-sharing functionality and embeddable ticket widgets, so organisers can direct audiences from their digital marketing towards a specific event transaction or registration page. Australia’s Biggest Gig Guide will even set your own ticketing page/platform or event on AGBBTix up completely free.
This may be the most important reason of all.
Your event shouldn't necessarily start from zero every time.
According to 123 Tix, 100% of customer and registrant data stays with the event organiser, and organisers can export attendee information and use their past-event database for future event marketing. Australia's Biggest Gig Guide
Think about what that can mean over time.
Run one event, and you have an audience.
Run another event, and you can potentially invite that audience back.
Run events regularly, and you're progressively developing a first-party database of people who have demonstrated genuine interest in what you do.
For bands, artists, promoters and venues, that's particularly valuable.
A social-media follower might like your music.
Someone who registers for or buys a ticket has taken a much stronger action.
Ticketing also gives organisers something social-media engagement can't provide on its own: real-time registration and sales information.
123 Tix provides real-time tracking and reporting by ticket type, together with registration, attendance and capacity information.
Imagine you're promoting a gig three weeks out.
You've had plenty of likes and shares, but ticket registrations are lower than expected.
That's useful information.
You might decide it's time to increase promotion, contact your database, publish more artist content or change the emphasis of your campaign.
Alternatively, registrations could be flying. Will you have enough staff and resources to handle the crowd?
Now you've got genuine momentum: you can potentially use in your promotion.
Instead of guessing whether your marketing is working, ticketing gives you another source of evidence.
Free events can have a surprisingly difficult problem: "How many people are actually going to turn up?"
Registrations don't guarantee attendance, of course, but they give organisers substantially more information than having no registration system at all.
That information can help with planning things such as staffing, catering, seating, security, venue capacity, merchandise and event operations.
If your event has limited capacity, registration also provides a mechanism for controlling the number of available tickets.
Then there's another benefit that becomes particularly important when something changes.
What happens if there's a change to the starting time?
A weather issue?
Different entry instructions?
A venue change?
Important parking information?
When you've collected attendee information through your ticketing system, you have a way of communicating with the people who registered.
123 Tix offers attendee communication functionality, including email and SMS capabilities for event reminders, important updates, links and event-day information.
That's far more reliable than hoping everyone happens to see an updated social-media post.
Ticketing isn't finished when somebody clicks BUY or REGISTER.
It can also improve what happens at the door.
123 Tix provides a scanner app that allows compatible smartphones and tablets to scan QR codes from digital or printed tickets. The system can identify duplicate or invalid tickets, maintain scan logs, show live attendance numbers and synchronise multiple scanners.
That means even a free event can have a professional registration and check-in process without relying solely on printed spreadsheets or handwritten guest lists.
For larger events, faster check-in can also help reduce queues and give organisers a much clearer picture of actual attendance.
For paid events, ticketing becomes an even more powerful marketing tool.
Depending on your event setup, 123 Tix supports options including early-bird tickets, discount and presale codes, group tickets, family passes, multi-ticket and multi-day discounts, members-only pricing, complimentary tickets and other promotional configurations.
It also supports general admission, reserved seating, recurring and multi-day events, add-ons, merchandise, donations and other event configurations.
So your ticketing strategy can evolve alongside your event-marketing strategy.
This is where we've tried to make things simple.
ABGG can help you take one of two pathways.
If you're an artist, promoter, venue, festival, community organisation, club or business that runs events regularly, having your own ticketing setup can make a lot of sense.
ABGG can help get you set up with 123 Tix, giving you the tools to create and manage your own events and ticketing.
You're not restricted to concerts, either.
123 Tix can handle everything from live music and festivals through to sporting events, agricultural shows, fundraisers, workshops, conferences, community events and free registrations.
The standard platform currently has no setup fee, monthly subscription or lock-in contract, and supports unlimited events and ticket types. Free events attract no 123 Tix ticketing fee.
That can be a great option for organisations that want to take control of their ticketing and develop their own customer database over time.
Don't want to set everything up yourself?
Ask us.
Australia's Biggest Gig Guide can create your event ticketing through ABGGTix, powered by 123 Tix.
And remember:
Your event doesn't have to be paid.
If you're running a free gig or event, talk to ABGG about creating FREE tickets or registrations through ABGGTix.
You can then promote one clear ticketing link:
GET YOUR FREE TICKET
Instead of relying only on people saying they're interested or planning to turn up.
For paid events, ABGGTix can provide the ticketing pathway while ABGG can also be part of the broader event-discovery and promotional journey.
The biggest shift we'd encourage event organisers to make is this:
Don't think of ticketing as simply a way to collect money.
Think of it as part of your marketing infrastructure.
A ticketing link gives people somewhere to act.
A registration gives you an indication of demand.
Your dashboard gives you information.
Your attendee database gives you an audience.
Your scanning system helps manage entry.
And your previous attendees can become the starting audience for your next event.
Even when the ticket price is $0.
That's why Australia’s Biggest Gig Guide recommends creating a ticketing or registration pathway wherever it makes sense for your event.
You can choose the approach that suits your event or organisation:
Set up your own ticketing platform powered by 123 Tix, giving you control over your events, registrations, customers and future campaigns.
Or ask ABGG to create your event on ABGGTix, powered by 123 Tix — including free-ticket events.
Paid event. Free event. One-off gig. Regular venue. Festival. Community event.
Give your audience somewhere to take the next step.
Australia's Biggest Gig Guide + ABGGTix - powered by 123 Tix
