When you have a big event coming up, you want to give it your best and make it very popular. Popular and viral events tend to be very successful, but creating one such event is incredibly difficult. Long gone are the days when you could create an amazing event and promote it just by word of mouth or an ad in the papers. Today, you have to have coordinated campaigns and use different marketing channels to ensure that a great number of people will hear about it and want to come. Depending on who your audience is, you can focus more on specific channels, but it’s best to combine several if you’re hoping for the best results.
Rely on event discovery websites
People rely a lot on technology to find out what is going on in the world. Aside from social media, there are websites specialized in keeping track of events that are happening on a particular day or in a particular part of town. People of all ages rely on these websites to find out about interesting new things happening close to them, and you should use this promote your event. You can create an official event that you can promote on such apps and websites, even if you’re not planning on selling tickets. You can advertise it as free, and people will be intrigued, and you never know how many people will discover your event unless you give this type of promotion a try.
Hire professional photographer
Everyone likes looking at beautiful photos, and hiring a professional photographer while working on promoting your event could be a great way to get more people to hear about it. When they hear about an upcoming event, people like to check out the venue where it will take place and browse through older photos of similar events to find out what they can expect. Hire a professional photographer and have them capture the ambience so that people can see what awaits them when they arrive. Not only that, but when you post photos of the event afterward, people will fall head over heels for them.
Get posters and banners
Posters and banners are among those old-school promotion tools that are never going out of style. They can be an easy and inexpensive way to let more people know about your event, so think about getting them as soon as you start planning. You can hang them around town and you can even have them at the event itself. There are companies that allow you to choose from different banner printing formats so you don’t have to worry about it being too big or too small for your venue. Create a logo for your event and print it on a huge banner – it will intrigue people and you can keep it for some future event promotions too if you are planning on doing something similar.
Create and use your event hashtags
Use different social media platforms to talk about your upcoming event, but up your game a bit and incorporate hashtags in the story. Don’t be afraid to brainstorm with other people in search of the perfect hashtag for your upcoming event, and every time you talk about it on the internet, use hashtags to improve visibility. You can even take it a step further and include this hashtag not only in your social media posts, but your printed materials and other marketing channels too.
Partner up with others
You can look for a sponsor or two for your event – when you team up with others, it will be not only in your, but their best interest as well to have a successful event. They will be committed and work with you to make sure your event succeeds, and who knows, by the time your event ends, they might decide to partner up with you in the future gain. You can also look for another event brand if you need support. Look for someone with more experience who is willing to act not only as a partner, but as a mentor too. Such brands often have established networks and by teaming up with you, they will expand it further (and so will you).
Hop on podcasting trend
It’s virtually impossible to find someone who doesn’t listen to podcasts these days, so why not use this to your advantage and make podcasting another part of your future event marketing plan? When it comes to equipment, you don’t actually need that much – a good microphone as well as several pieces of recording equipment. You don’t even have to buy it immediately but rather rent it. With a nice podcast, you can reach much wider audience than you did in the past without spending a ton of money. When launching your own podcast, though, make sure you pick a theme that’s connected to your event.
Depending on the type of promotion you choose your event, you can directly impact just how successful it is going to be. If this is your first event and the company you’re working for is still young, it’s perfectly natural that you want to give it your best to ensure it’s going to be a blast. Don’t hesitate to use more than one trick in the book to stand out among others. Combine in-person, old-school, and online marketing strategies and you’ll be satisfied with the final result.
