You have an upcoming event and you want people to build some hype. It’s understandable! You’ve worked hard on your event, and you think it’s going to be pretty exciting. And hopefully it will lead to some exciting new leads, too. The question is how to express that effectively to your target audience.
Event marketing is different in some ways from product marketing. You’re marketing an experience, and you need to approach it as such. How do you do that effectively? Here are a few of our top strategies.
#1 – Put the Word Out in a Press Release
Write up a press release about your event. The press release should cover what the event is, who’s hosting it, and all the pertinent details of when and where. It should also go into why the event is being held, and why it’s a big deal. Although this should sound professional — this will be pitched to media professionals as a potential story — don’t be afraid to show your excitement for the event in your language.
#2 – Work With Relevant Influencers
Get some influencers involved in your event marketing. Consider inviting influencers to the event, comping their tickets in exchange for social media coverage. You could also build some hype by collaborating with an influencer on a livestream where you can tease more information on what to expect from the event. The influencer can also share with their audience what they’re particularly excited about beforehand.
#3 – Create a Landing Page
Once you’ve piqued some interest, your target audience needs to know where they can go to learn more. That’s why you need a strong landing page. This should include all of the relevant information about the event. A link to a registration form or even a registration form built into the page are essential here. Make sure the landing page follows best SEO practices so that it can easily be found through an online search.
#4 – Let Your Marketing Reflect the Theme
Does your event have a cohesive theme? If not, it should! This doesn’t have to be like choosing a theme for your school prom or anything overt like that. You can go all out with a theme, but for a seminar or workshop that might not be necessary. However, there should be some throughline of what the event wants to create, foster, or focus on. And those themes should be clear in your marketing. Make sure your marketing campaigns and ads match the vibe you want to create for the event before you share it with the world.
#5 – Use Email
Email isn’t going anywhere any time soon. In fact, in 2020, as many as 39% of marketers found that email was still one of the most effective ways to get the word out about their events. Send out an initial email to your email list announcing the event. As time goes on, remind your email list about the event in other emails or mention something you’re looking forward to about it. This will help to build buzz and bring your event to the front of mind for people who are already interested in your brand.
#6 – Use Time to Your Advantage
Start teasing information about your event as soon as you reasonably can. Of course, you want to be sure that your event is going to happen; otherwise, you run the risk of disappointing your audience when it doesn’t work out. But You can begin to tease that you’re planning something early on just to test the waters of interest. As you get closer to the time of the event, you can tease out other little details. This adds a sense of mystery to the event, and it makes your marketing a little more exciting.
#7 – Promote Frequently on Social Media
This doesn’t mean spam people every few minutes, but you will want to promote frequently on social media. The closer you get to the event, the more you’ll want to promote. Use different methods to promote the event — videos, images, text posts reminding people of the key details of the event.
Make these posts interactive, as well. Consider asking your followers how many of them expect to attend the event, or what they most look forward to about the event. When the event happens, consider posting about it on social media throughout the day. And after the event, give a few concluding posts to talk about how well things went and how you hope it proved just as fruitful for those who attended. This last part is especially helpful if you plan to make this an annual event. Those who missed the first year will feel the FOMO and want to join in next year!
