Collaborative Post¦ To point out the obvious: Without attendees, even the most carefully orchestrated event will perform poorly. If you are extremely fortunate, the main attraction will be a minor celebrity, which will help bring more people to your event.
However what if you do not have the luxury of celebrities? How do you get the most out of your event marketing especially if you are on a limited budget? Fortunately, there are numerous strategies for getting your local event noticed.
Image via Unsplash CC0 License
Printed marketing materials
These days, when it comes to marketing, our thoughts naturally turn to digital marketing strategies, and of course, this is important. However, when it comes to promoting a local event, printed marketing materials still work very well, if not better. Think carefully about your flyer design, put posters in local businesses and do a leaflet drop.
Harness the power of social media
You were waiting for this one, weren’t you? It is almost impossible now to effectively promote an event, whether nationwide or local without using social media.
Facebook will most likely be your primary channel . You can share detailed event updates, add links and engage and interact with your audience both before, during, and after the event.
Twitter is excellent for providing quick, real-time updates both before and during the event. One of the best places to put your hashtag to use – we will look more at the hashtag below.
If your event is aimed at a professional audience, LinkedIn is the place to look. There are groups of people who are interested in a particular subject, so find one that corresponds to the main theme of your event.
Instagram and Pinterest are visually compelling channels and are ideal for sharing preview images of the event, as well as photos from previous participants, and providing people with exclusive behind-the-scenes shots of, for example, event preparations and key speakers or entertainers.
Use a hashtag at every opportunity
Every event needs a hashtag, and you also need to use it at every possible opportunity. Use it on your social media posts, event updates and encourage participants and guest speakers to use it. Incentivize people to use the hashtag – perhaps offer a prize at random to someone using the hashtag. However, err on the side of caution. While including a hashtag in your Tweets has been shown to increase engagement, do not go overboard. Evidence shows that posts with more than two hashtags receive 32% less engagement than those with no hashtags at all. Use hashtags, but do not spam with them.
Make sure you make the ticketing process easy
Meeting your ticket buyers where they are is an important part of effective event promotion. That means making it simple for them to purchase tickets from wherever they are. If you are sharing links to your event on social media, include a “Get tickets” call to action (CTA) in your post. If you already have a website, you do not want people to leave it to buy tickets or register for your event. They should be able to do so right on your website.
Disclosure: This is a collaborative post.