Big Results, Small Budgets: How Free Ticketed Events Win with Eventbrite Ads

Many organisers assume it only makes sense to advertise for paid events—but that’s not the case. You don’t need huge budgets to drive impressive results. With the right strategy and advertising tools, you can drive awareness, boost ticket sales, and build loyalty no matter your budget.

Free events promoted using Eventbrite Ads deliver strong results even with a small budget, showing that advertising can be a smart investment, whatever your event type or marketing budget. In fact, nearly 75% of free event organisers say their top reason for using Eventbrite Ads is to reach new and broader audiences.

Eventbrite Ads place event listings in the top spots on the Eventbrite website and app, including homepage and search results, allowing you to reach more people looking for things to do in your area.

Why reach matters for free events

Most free organisers rely on organic promotion, such as email lists, social posts, or word-of-mouth. But these channels typically only reach audiences already familiar with your events.

Ads help you expand your reach beyond your existing network and connect with people actively looking for events like yours. Whether you’re hosting a class, festival, concert, or community meetup, visibility is everything, and Eventbrite Ads help get your events in front of the right people.

In fact, free events promoted with Eventbrite Ads get 10x more visibility and drive 5x more event registrations.*

With greater reach and more people through the door at your free event, there is a greater chance they’ll spend money, engage with sponsors, or donate to your cause.

Free events see strong ad performance

Between January and March (Q1) 2025, free events that ran Eventbrite Ads achieved impressive results. These included:

Eventbrite Ads delivered a 10% conversion rate for free events, outpacing Meta’s ~9.2% average and topping Google/Microsoft search ads at 7.5%
Free event hosts generated hundreds of registrations with budgets under £150. In fact, Eventbrite Ads drove over 300,000 free ticket registrations in Q1 alone.

These advertising campaigns didn’t just drive clicks, they brought people through the door. Ads aren’t just for paid events; they’re an effective way to grow attendance and fill the room.

What you get with Eventbrite Ads

Eventbrite Ads increase your event’s visibility, with:

Featured placement on homepage, search results, our app, and other high-traffic areas of the Eventbrite platform
Access to audiences beyond your followers or email list
Real-time reporting on reach, clicks, and registrations
10x more impressions on the platform, compared with organic event listings

Start small. Scale if it works.

You don’t need a large budget to get started. Many successful Eventbrite Ads campaigns that ran between January and March 2025 cost just £9/day for 14 days leading up to the event (often costing less than £150 total).

You’re in complete control from start to finish.

If you see strong early results, you can confidently scale up before your event date.

Use the right objective

When you launch your campaign, you can choose between two marketing objectives. You can either select Reach, which focuses on awareness and prioritises ad impressions, or Traffic, which is all about getting clicks on event listings.

When should I start my Eventbrite Ads campaign?

We recommend starting your campaign 1–3 weeks before your event. That’s when attendee intent is highest, and it gives you time to adjust your budget or targeting if needed. Most free event organisers who saw strong performance in Q1 followed this timing strategy.

FAQs

Do I need a big budget?
No. Many campaigns succeed with less than £150 total.

Will I know if it’s working?
Yes. You’ll see real-time data on impressions, clicks, and ticket registrations.

Is it hard to set up?
Not at all. You can launch your ad directly from your Event Dashboard in just a few clicks. Follow these steps on our Help Centre.