7 Ways to Promote Your Event
How many sales do you need to make to consider your event a success? How many entries, registrations, units or sales will make your product launch amazing?
And, how can you promote your project on a limited budget?
One of my website management clients hosts and promotes new events each and every month. To help them promote their first event, I sent them a list of things they could do to attract new competitors and visitors, increase entries, and make more sales.
Though I'm no marketing genius, I do have a fair amount of experience promoting things. So, I hope this list helps you promote your next event, product launch, retreat or business venture.
7 Ways to Promote Your Event
1: Email Your Subscribers. Again.
As the saying goes, the money is in the list, so make sure you're emailing the people on it frequently. If you don't have an email list, you should start building one.
Promote your event to your subscribers with a new email for every event. Talk about any sponsors you might have. Share your excitement, and make the call to action (CTA) big and bold. Mention any prizes you're offering or any freebies people can get by attending.
By the way, if you don't yet have one, here's how NOT to build an email list.
2: Enlist the Help of Sponsors
Don't forget, your sponsors (if you have them) have a vested interest in the success of your event. They've provided money or product to you so you help them grow and market their business. Ask your sponsors if they’ll email their list, or a part of it, about the event on your behalf.
3: Create a Sponsored Post on Facebook
Everyone and their grandmother is on Facebook. Except for my father-in-law. Weirdo.
So, use Facebook as a way to promote your event. You'll need a business page to do this, but Facebook ads are a powerful way to get your event in front of a targeted audience. You can pay less than $1 per person, per click, to get people to your site. If you need help with this, check out my friend Heather's business at GetSocialMoxie.com.
To create a great sponsored post to promote your event, use pictures taken at the venue. Use good lighting in your photos. If possible, include people in your pictures. And, as a real boost, feature pictures of people doing something fun and relevant in your ad.
Need help defining your audience? Download my avatar worksheet and identify your ideal client.
4: Go Live
Live streaming is all the rage these days, and for good reason. Video captures emotions, energy, and a whole host of other powerful things to help you promote your event.
Use Facebook Live, Periscope, Snapchat, Instagram Moments, and any other type of video as you walk around the venue for your event. Show everyone where things will go, how things will run, and give visuals of what it will be like on the day of the event.
If possible, travel to the event site a week early to generate hype. Also, show up a few hours before the event starts to draw attention to what you're up to. Use phones, drones, and other wearables, and you can create some amazing videos.
5: Email Your List (Again)
If you recorded a video, download it and repurpose that content. If that video is available on your Facebook page, email your subscribers (again) and include a direct link to where people can check out the replay.
It also helps to upload your video to a platform like YouTube or Vimeo. And, in the body of your email, include an image of the video playing (those are good for getting clicks).
6: Print Media
While this might be the least cost-effective way to promote your event, print media does have the ability to draw crowds. Every time I walk into my local ‘Bucks (i.e., Starbucks) or Smoothie King, I notice a handful of flyers and business cards on the bulletin board.
If your venue hosts events regularly, you could hand out your print media a few days before your event to encourage people to visit your site or call your phone number to register.
I wouldn't invest too much to promote your event with local media since the cost per pair of eyeballs will be significantly higher than a well-designed Facebook ad and measuring your ROI is much harder (though not impossible).
7: Ask for Referrals
I'm amazed at how many of my clients are growing their businesses based solely on referrals. Way to go guys!
A great way to generate warm leads for your event is to email everyone who’s already registered to attend your event and ask them to bring or tell a friend or forward your email to a friend.
You could offer discounts for referrals or provide some sort of referral scoring system like punch cards or promo codes. But you don't have too! Don't underestimate the human desire to bring our friends along for the ride.
Over to You
I don't host or promote a lot of live events; partly because most of my clients and audience members are all over the world. However, as I mentioned before, I've promoted lots of products, courses, and programs. The goal is always the same – get the right message in front of the right people at the right time.
So, with that said…
What have you done to promote your events successfully? What has worked best for you? What hasn't?
