We
thrive on making your job as an event organiser easier so here are a few
guidelines to take on board when marketing your event!
Social
media is the top of our list and should be at the top of yours when determining
how best to market your event. We would highly recommend utilising as many
aspects of social media as possible. Social media can be highly effective
without taking up too much of your time or costing the earth. We would
certainly not underestimate its benefits when promoting your event.
Facebook
Facebook is a
great place to promote events; it allows you to get the message out to a large
number of people at one time. Initially it would be advisable to start
by trying to gain more likes on your Facebook page.
Gaining more
‘likes’
If you log in
under your own account (if the page was created via your personal account), go
to the event’s Facebook page or your organisations Facebook page and there
should be a tab along the top right of the page saying 'Build Audience', from
here you can recommend the page to your contacts.
The more
people have ‘liked’ your page the bigger impact you are going to have; your
reach will increase and let’s face it you want as many people as possible to
know about your event. This will not only be beneficial for this event but for
your brand as a whole and also any future event you may have.
Posts
Once you have
started gaining followers make sure you make frequent posts to engage your
customers and increase interaction with your page.
Facebook is a
great medium for your attendees to ask questions they may not have asked by
email or phone. You can keep your attendees up to date with all aspects of your
event in the run up to the big day through Facebook which can act as a constant
reminder to them that the event is approaching.
Pictures
Pictures
are a massive part of social media, especially Facebook. Posting pictures of
your event and encouraging attendees to ‘tag’ themselves or people/business
they know will help massively for exposure and awareness of your event or
organisation. Having your name or branding on each picture will help even
further.
Twitter
Twitter
is also a very powerful tool when marketing your event.
For
those of you who are not familiar with Twitter, here are the basics to get you
started;
A
few simple guides to Twitter
- Tweets
must be 140 characters or less (this keeps everything short and sweet)
-
#(Hashtag)
is key- if you want to categorise something or just simply sum up your short statement
you can insert #example, it is important to leave out spaces and punctuation's as it won’t be picked up on by the ‘Twitter Machine’, #EventElephant will work but # Event
Elephant will not be picked up on as a hashtag.
- If
someone searches #example they will then find your tweet
-
@Name
E.G. @EventElephant or @Dublindanceshow
-
Direct
Message (A person needs to be following you to DM)
- Retweet
(RT) This is when a tweet is put up again by somebody else. You can ask people
to ‘Retweet’ your tweet by simply inserting ‘Please RT’; this can be beneficial
as all of their followers will see it, don’t be afraid to ask people to RT your
events but don’t overdo it, it can start to annoy people!
- Follow-
once you follow someone you can see their tweets and vice verse if they follow
you, you can see their tweets.
With
Twitter you might want to set up a separate Twitter account for your event,
otherwise tweets from your company or organisations’ twitter accounts about
your event will suffice.
#Hash-tag’s
Create
a hangtag unique to you and encourage your followers and attendees to use it
while tweeting about your event. This will ‘group’ your tweets together and
allow your attendees interact and engage. You can also create a competition for
your twitter followers to encourage them to use your hash-tag.
Targeting your audience
Your
Twitter account like Facebook can be an excellent medium to communicate all
aspects of your event such as special guests or special features of your event.
These two mediums can allow you build up and interact with a targeted group of
attendees.
#eventprofs
is a well know and well used hastag for the event industry Include this in
your tweets and it will be grouped together with other tweets from event
professionals.
Twitter during your event
Tweet
regular updates during your event and look out for your attendees tweeting
questions and updates about your event. This is where your hash-tag comes in. Feedback
is always beneficial especially if it’s during the event and is something that
can be used to help make sure that your event runs smoothly. Utilise this
medium to get as much of it as possible.
LinkedIn
You
can share links to your events on LinkedIn. Post it on your own page for your
own connections to see and post it on other groups which have your target
audience. LinkedIn can be especially helpful for networking and corporate
events.
Market your event through your Blog
It
can be extremely beneficial to create blog entries about your event. Whether it
is an existing blog or one created especially for the event they can be
published before, during, and after your event.
Before
the event you can invite speakers, presenters or sponsors to guest blog or add
comments to your blogs, this is mutually beneficial and your speakers and
partners should welcome the opportunity.
Live Blogging
Live Blogging can also be
extremely valuable if you have the time; this can work really well if you are
running a conference where there are speakers and talks although it can be
adapted to various types of events. If this is done correctly it will ensure
that your attendees are fully engaged with all aspects of the event especially if
there are multiple rooms or stages, your attendees can keep up to date with
what’s happening at any minute.
Live blogging on a small scale
If
you are running a smaller event social media outlets such as Twitter can work
really well as an alternative to live blogging as you can keep your followers
up to date with the happenings of the event instantly, although you are limited
to 140 characters.
Exposure of your blog
By
posting your blog on your various social media sites it will also reach your
attendees and potential attendees and keep them up to date with the happenings
of your event. This should be done for all of your blogs; a simple link
bringing them to the blog post will further engage with your followers and/or
attendees and supply them with useful information.
Blogging after your event
You
are likely to be feeling exhausted in the aftermath of your event however this
is an ideal time to write a blog. The length and nature of the blog is completely
down to personal choice and type of event that has been run. Your blog post can
simply be a reflection of the entire event, pro’s and con’s or aspects that
could have been done differently. You can also invite your attendees to leave
comments and give feedback and suggestions for future events. Regardless of the
nature of the blog is it important to re-engage with your attendees following
the event. If you have taken pictures of your event, use some of these in your
blog.
Local Advertising
Local
advertising can help add to the turnout for your event, yes social media will
reach a far greater number of people but don’t completely ignore what can be
done on a local level. Contact your local newspaper and ask them for any help
they can give you, invite them along for the event to take pictures and
interview attendees, hopefully they will run an article or report on your event
which can raise awareness for your organisation and potentially help future
events.
Create
posters and pin them up in local businesses and suitable areas, keep in mind
who your targeting, you may have a varied demographic of potential attendees
and it is important to ensure they are targeted sufficiently.
Online calendars & Listing Sites
There
are many online calendars, directories and event listing sites that you can
submit your event to and are usually free. These should be utilised and if
possible targeted specifically to your event type, your attendees and your
location. Registering your event to these sites can have massive benefits not
only from increasing awareness but also can help SEO. See example of such sites
below;
Australia:
Canada:
Ireland:
New Zealand:
South Africa:
UK:
USA:
Integrated campaign
Each
event is different and requires different marketing efforts, it is important
before diving into any of the above to define who you are targeting and how
best to communicate with them. If it helps, create a profile or profiles of
your attendees in order to determine how best to approach targeting them. In
theory a combination of the above is ideal and will give you the most exposure for
your event.
