Anyone who hosts events knows that it is no easy task! In order to attract the correct audience and ensure they attend your event, you need to create a flawless event marketing strategy. Whether you are planning for an in-person or virtual event, your marketing strategy will be the roadmap to hosting your event.
An event marketing strategy is defined as the way you market your event to the correct audiences using different tools and channels. Your event should have goals that the event should try to achieve, so keep those goals in mind when creating your marketing strategy. Be mindful of who your audience is, and what social media channels they use, as you can market your event there.
If you don’t create an event marketing strategy for your event, it will be more difficult to measure goals, attract the correct audience or even determine if your event was a success. Your event marketing strategy can help you with items like guests registrations, social media engagement and even how many leads were generated from the event. Different types of events require different event marketing strategies, so research what kind of strategy you need to develop.
Now that the basics of event marketing strategies are covered, we can dive into some ideas for your next event. These ideas can help you achieve your goals, gain the correct audience and deem if your event was successful.
What better way to promote your event than by using your own social media. Your company’s social media channels are liked and followed by supporters of your company, and that community is who you should be marketing to. This community of supporters will be able to share your event page to their friends and followers, reaching an even larger audience. Event hosts can create a hashtag for your event and use it to promote on all channels as well!
Event hosts should keep a record of everyone who has attended events in the past, as those people are the ones you can send an email blast out to. The email should contain all of the necessary information regarding the event, including dates, times, and a link to purchase tickets. You can also use emails to provide countdowns to your event to help generate a buzz around your event!
Read and Learn: How to Add Energy, Impact, and Results at Every Stage of Your Webinar
Events typically have two different landing pages: one to purchase tickets and one for information regarding the event. Landing pages are also used to create excitement around the event, with countdowns, pictures and videos from previous events and any guest speakers that may be attending. Remember to stick to your event goals when creating a landing page; if one of your goals is to sell a certain amount of tickets, your priority should be on the ticket selling landing page!
Early bird discounts are a great way to sell tickets to your supporters, even at a discounted rate. With an early bird rate, you’ll be able to sell more tickets with the understanding that the price of tickets will increase as the event gets closer. Be sure to create a deadline for early bird discounts, which can help to create a sense of urgency for guests buying tickets!
Creating a blog for your event can help to publicize your event! You can also attract the interest of potential guests by adding in photos and videos from past events. Guests who have attended your events in the past can give testimonials on past events that can also be put on the blog! Typically, blogs are less salesy than landing pages, so guests won’t feel pressured to purchase tickets.
Going to the press to market your event can help to create an entirely new audience! If you choose to go to the local press, be sure to include the title of your event, basic details and a compelling hook. You may reach a new audience you never thought about from your press release.
Guests from past events create a strong network that can network the old fashioned way: by word of mouth! Having incentives for attendee referrals can not only help you get new guests to attend your event, but the attendees will also have something to work for! Incentives may include discounted tickets or a private Q&A session with guest speakers. New guests attending your event will expand your network even wider.
When it comes to marketing your event, you want to reach the largest audience possible. Marketers can engage with an agency and add a tag onto their webpage. Any user that visits that webpage will see the tag, along with all of the marketing you added to that webpage. You can use remarketing to promote your event to a certain demographic of people; the ones who are right for your event!
Guest speakers can add a whole new range of potential guests for your event! Be sure to acquire these guest speakers before your event, that way you can use their name and likeness on any marketing materials. Attendees will be more inclined to purchase tickets to your event when they see you have obtained some influential guest speakers.
Influencers have a way to get potential guests to come to your event! Reach out to influencers who align with your company goals, and invite them to your event. Even if they cannot attend, they can still market your event on their social media channels; guests will be more likely to purchase tickets once they see someone influential endorsing your event. If possible, have the influencer record a video that can be played at the event.
As previously mentioned, social media is a great way to promote your event, and have that event be shared. When creating a promo ad for your event, be sure to use pictures and videos of past events to try and attract a new audience. Keep these promo ads short and to the point, with a call to action at the end. Give your potential guests a link to purchase tickets which can be sent directly to their email.
Events can be marketed in a number of ways, and you can find which way works best for your company. When having smaller events, be sure to bring up your future event so guests can use word of mouth to promote your event. The use of influencers within the industry can also help to spread the word about your event; be sure to take advantage of them!
During the marketing process for your event, make it a priority to go live on your social media channels! Supporters of your company have the ability to share your live video, and reach an even bigger audience. You can discuss topics such as your upcoming event, what guests can expect, and how to purchase tickets!
Pop ups may be frustrating for some, but they can be useful when promoting your event. Event organizers can add useful information onto the pop ups, and even provide a link to purchase tickets. By using pop ups, you will capture the attention of your guests and anyone who visits your website!
Nobody likes to miss out on fun and special events, and you can use that to your advantage when marketing your event. Event organizers can add countdowns, post pictures and videos from past events and even offer tiered ticket pricing. Once guests see how much fun was had during past events and how much fun you’re promising for this event, they’ll want to join in on the fun for themselves!
While your event is most likely meant to be educational and informative, you can still make it fun for your guests! Provide sneak peeks into what you have planned for your guests, like any guest speakers or fun games. If guests are promised something in particular, and you deliver on that promise, guests will be more likely to return to future events.
The day of the event is finally here! All of your planning has paid off, you have created a perfect guest list and everyone is here. Live streaming your event on your social media can help to promote your event even more! Be sure to record your live streaming sessions, as they can be used for promotion material in the future.
Countdowns help to create an awareness and a general excitement around your event. Countdowns can be added to your company’s website and your social media, so anyone who visits these sites will be able to see the countdown. Potential guests can also see a countdown for the deadline to purchase tickets, which places a sense of urgency around your event.
Guests want your events page to be easily accessible, from navigating the site to the purchasing of tickets. Your registration page, ticket purchasing page and information page can all be accessible through one portal. There may be guests registering for your event that are not great with technology, so making this process easy will be beneficial for everyone.
Sharing your event on social media is the best way to reach a larger audience. Guests can share before the event that they’ve purchased tickets, and that they are attending. When they are finally at your event, they can check in on their social media, encouraging people on their friends list to check out the event. And once the event is over, encourage guests to share any pictures or videos that were taken at the event; these pictures can be shared using the event hashtag, and with permission, be used to market events in the future,
Download Hubilo's Essential Guide to Repurposing Webinar Content
Creating an event has a lot of moving pieces, and it can become overwhelming to plan. With the use of a marketing calendar, event hosts can stay on track and organized. Deadlines can be added, and you can also set reminders to enforce those deadlines. Streamlining task flows can help event hosts plan the correct aspects of the event with the rest of their team’s help.
Depending on the type of the event you are hosting, there may be different benefits for your guests. Some benefits may include expanding your personal and professional network, learning new information, and socializing with guests. If your event or company has an app, there may be a messaging feature that guests can use to chat with one another, before, during and after the event. Be sure to market these benefits to your guests during the event promotion.
Before the event begins, be sure to map out the attendee journey. Event organizers can map out what attendees will experience during the event, including meet and greets, Q&A sessions and any marketing opportunities. If there are many parts to your event, be sure to articulate those clearly to your guests so they have a clear understanding of what is waiting for them at your event.
Hosting a webinar before your event invites attendees to come and ask any questions they may have regarding the event. Event organizers can also quickly provide a run down of the event timeline and any other additional information they have. Be sure to record these webinars, in case there’s any information you need to use in the future!
Videos can be a helpful tool when it comes to marketing your event! Event organizers can record themselves promoting the event to different audiences, which can be used in the future. The use of these videos can also be used in a video montage, as part of your marketing campaign. Different types of videos can be used for different social media platforms, as one type of video may work well for one, but not another.
Finding the right marketing strategy for your event can be the difference between a successful event and a not so successful one. Using a combination of any one of these ideas will ensure that your event was marketed to the right audience and that there was a buzz surrounding your event. Whichever strategies you use, your event will be one your guests will always remember!
Hubilo is the webinar platform built for marketers that helps you 2X your pipeline. Founded in 2015, Hubilo's powerful engagement features, dedicated client experience team, and custom branding tools have helped create over 12K virtual events & webinars, creating hundreds of millions of minutes of high-engagement experiences and counting. Headquartered in Bengaluru and San Francisco, Hubilo's 200+ employees are dedicated to enabling webinars & virtual events that convert.
.png)
Discover how Hubilo's Webinar+ can help you 2X your pipeline
.svg)
.svg)
