Want to make your next event the one everyone’s talking about? It all comes down to how you promote it.
No matter how much effort you put into planning and organizing, you need a great turnout to make it a hit. That’s why the best event promotion strategies are crucial to your event’s success.
If you’re stuck in a rut or on a tight budget, it’s time to get creative! This post will walk you through 10 unique strategies to bring more attention to your event. Reach a wider audience, build hype for your event, and get people talking!
A Solid Event Advertising Strategy Gives You the Edge
You can’t rely on word of mouth alone to advertise an event. Remember, at any given time, you’re competing with dozens of other brands to capture your audience’s attention and hold it. That’s why a savvy event advertising strategy is critical.
Before you start promoting your upcoming event, take some time to develop your strategy. Know your target audience, consider all your channels, and build an event marketing plan that works.
The right strategy won’t just bring your event to your audience’s attention. It will actively encourage them to buy tickets and attend. Social media marketing, email campaigns, and branding are all elements of a successful marketing plan. Of course, there’s no universal solution to every event; a talented marketing team and the right software will make all the difference.
10 Innovative Ideas to Optimize Your Event Advertising Strategy
Not sure where to start? Here are 10 surefire ways to advertise an event:
1. Start a Personalized and Creative Email Campaign
An email campaign is a fantastic way to keep people engaged and interested in your event.
Here’s how it works: using an email marketing platform, you’ll build a list of people who have interacted with your ads, filled out a contact form, and want to learn more. Then you can send out email blasts to keep them updated.
What’s in a blast? That depends on what you’re advertising. This may include newsletters with upcoming event dates, reminders to buy tickets, discounts and promotions, etc. As long as your emails are brief, snappy, and engaging, they will keep your audience hooked.
2. Utilize QR Codes That Link to Important Event Updates and News
Online advertising is effective, but you can’t dismiss real-life ads. Flyers, billboards, posters, and signs are useful tools to reach a local audience. The problem is, you still want to encourage people to check out your website for more information.
So, how can you integrate your digital campaign with a non-digital event advertisement? It’s easy — just use QR codes.
A QR (Quick Response) code links a physical event listing to your online event advertising campaign. Anyone who scans the code can see live updates and important news. It’s a great way to keep people engaged without cramming your physical ads with too much information.
You can generate a QR code for free online. Link the code to your event landing page or newsletter, then incorporate it into any flyers or signs promoting your event.
3. Develop Geotags for Your Event
One trick to help your event reach a wider audience is to use geotags. A geotag links the physical location of your event to a social post or photo. This will bring your posts to more people locally and boost your search engine optimization (SEO).
Add your venue or geographic location to your posts on every social channel. Location-specific hashtags can help reach more people in your area, too.
You can also create your own geofilter on Snapchat for attendees to use during the event. Geofilters are awesome for boosting brand awareness and fostering a sense of community among attendees.
4. Use Influencer Marketing Across Social Media Accounts
In our digital age, it’s pretty easy to scroll past ads. That’s where influencer marketing comes in.
Social media influencers will promote your event through their everyday content. This isn’t a free strategy, but it is effective — a social influencer will speak directly to your audience and hype up your event, encouraging them to spread the word.
5. Create Fun Social Media Contests for Awareness
Here’s another fun social media tool: contests!
This is a low-cost strategy that will get your followers to do most of the legwork for you, spreading awareness and bringing in new attendees. All you need to do is come up with a contest and offer a prize (e.g., free tickets, merch, drink vouchers, or whatever works for your event).
The contest itself shouldn’t be complicated. It can be as simple as encouraging your followers to tag their friends in a post. If your event involves music, a dance or singalong challenge could be a fun idea. Whatever you choose, be sure to promote the contest across every social media channel and encourage your followers to tag as many other accounts as they can.
6. Try Ad Retargeting When Users Leave an Event Website
When it comes to online advertising, you have to assume your target audience has a short attention span. Ad retargeting will remind people who visited your website to come back and check it out again.
It’s up to you who will see retargeted ads. Remember, a lot of people will click on your website — that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re interested in your event. You might want to extend retargeted ads to people who had tickets in their cart and never purchased them or someone who clicked through multiple pages on the site.
7. Offer Unique Ticket Types and Discounts
Here’s a harsh truth: not everyone will be all-in for your event. To bring in more attendees, you have to offer incentives. Discounts, one-day or half-day tickets, and other budget-friendly alternatives can turn a “maybe” into a “why not?”
You might want to consider these ticket types to help reach a wider audience:
- Early-bird discounts: Cheaper tickets for people who buy in advance will boost your attendance weeks ahead of time.
- Kid tickets: Encourage your attendees to bring their little ones at lower prices for kids.
- Single event tickets: If you’re hosting a festival or multi-day event, consider selling lower-priced tickets for attendees who want to see just one band, act, or keynote speaker.
- Inclusive and non-inclusive options: Consider inclusive ticket options with a food or drink voucher, merch, or other perks to help your attendees feel like they’re getting the best deal.
8. Design Awesome Event Merch and Promote It Everywhere
Everybody loves merch!
Make sure your event marketing plan includes creative, trendy merch you can promote before the event starts. Hats, T-shirts, baby onesies, you name it — branded merch will grab people’s attention and build tons of hype for your next event.
9. Leverage User Generated Content for Promotion
The more people post about your event, the more people will see it. Encourage your followers and past attendees to post as much as possible. That way, your target audience learns about your event through friends and family, not just ads.
We already mentioned geotagging and social media contests as ways to leverage user-generated content. That awesome merch will bring more attention to your brand across social media, too. If you’re going to promote your event on Facebook, encourage followers to like and share your page so it will show up in their friends’ feeds.
You can help to boost your attendees’ posts during the event with creative photo spots and Instagram-worthy décor. Plus, don’t forget a creative geofilter to keep your brand name on every Snapchat!
10. Create an Event Hashtag Across Social Media Platforms
Finally, tie all these strategies together with a creative event hashtag.
Your hashtag should be unique, specific to your event, and catchy. Use it in all your social media posts and encourage your followers to use it, too. Remember those contests? Ask participants to include the hashtag in their posts so you can see them and give out prizes.
A hashtag is one of the most helpful free tools in an event planner’s arsenal. It will help you keep track of your social media engagement and measure the success of your posts. With enough use, your hashtag can start trending. This will help your posts really take off.
The Right Event Management Tools Can Help You Reach Your Event Audience
There you have it; 10 creative strategies to boost your engagement and bring more people to your event.
An effective marketing plan is the only way to give yourself a competitive edge and reach a wider audience. Whether you’re planning a concert, competition, festival, or party, you have to bring in the crowds to make it a hit — not a flop.
Looking for more management tools and resources on how to advertise an event? At Events.com, event planning is what we do. Keep track of everything from your mailing list to merch with the best event management software.
