You’ve done your homework and planned the most perfect, unmissable event, but how can you make sure the people you want to attend actually do? This is where promoting your event comes in.
It’s not enough to hope that people will just find out about your event – you need to make sure they do. Let’s look at five ways to promote your next event and make sure it’s a success.
Start early
The earlier you can start promoting your event, the better. As a rule of thumb, you should aim to start at least one month before it takes place, but this could be longer depending on the scale of the event. This will give you plenty of time to iron out all the details and allows you to build hype and awareness around your event.
There are lots of different ways you can promote your event early on, including:
- Social media marketing
- Email reminders
- Posters at the venue or in your area
- Contacting local newspapers
Network and communicate with your audience
One of the most important ways to promote your event early on is to network with your audience. Building strong relationships with the people you want to attract to your event will help you to create and share content that resonates with them. It’s a good idea to collect the details of your event attendees early on, so you can follow up with them closer to the date and remind them to book their tickets or make travel plans.
Promote through your own channels
If you have a company or brand that’s relevant to the event you’re promoting, you can use your own channels to spread the word. This could be through your school or college’s social media accounts, your own social media accounts, or the venue where the event is being held. Being able to use an existing network with a decent reach already is a good way to promote your event to lots of people, fast.
Collaborate with influencers
If you want to reach a large audience, you could consider partnering with an event influencer. Many influencers will be happy to promote your event if you’re willing to collaborate with them in return. Don’t forget, if you have a budget to work with then influencers will be expected to be paid for their time, so don’t always bank on getting something for free.
Host a pre-event party
Hosting a pre-event party is a great way to get your attendees together in one place. You can use the pre-event to promote your upcoming event and collect details from your attendees to market to them in the lead-up. You can use the event to build even more excitement around your event and create pre-event PR to spread the word amongst local newspapers, magazines, and more.
Marketing, marketing, marketing!Â
It can’t be overstated – marketing is one of the most important tools at your disposal when it comes to promoting your event. We previously wrote about how to promote an event, where we discussed different types of marketing, but in a nutshell here’s what you need to know.
Digital marketing is incredibly popular and is one of the best ways to reach your audience. Using social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok will enable you to promote your event in the lead-up to it. You can post videos, images and graphics to show off your line-up, event details and more.
Also, during the event, it’s important to share images and videos as it unfolds, as this makes people realise what they’re missing out on. Maybe next time they won’t pass up the opportunity!Â
Promoting your event
An event can be a fantastic way to grow your business, meet new people and increase your visibility. However, it can be difficult to draw the right crowd. The best way to do this is by promoting your event and the earlier you start promoting, the more people will be aware of it and be able to attend.
