- Leveraging e-marketing can be the perfect way to promote signups, attendance, and engagement for your next in-person event.
- However, certain marketing strategies can be far more effective and worthwhile than others.
- People tend to forget that email is still relevant in the age of social media marketing. But when it comes to online marketing, email is one of the most effective methods.
- Whatever event marketing ideas you use, it’s important to know your target demographic and have a plan of attack to get your message out there.
You’ve successfully planned an exciting company event. Congratulations! It’s going to be an incredible experience! It is now time to announce it to the rest of the world. However, maybe your finances are limited (almost nonexistent), or you have no idea how to get started. How will you go about publicizing the event you’re hosting?
Don’t worry; we’re here to help you market your next event online. Here are some terrific ways to promote your event online, whether you are a social media expert, a fan of email marketing, or need an online shop to sell tickets for your event. You are welcome to use this as a guide to marketing your event online or as a convenient reference for whenever you find yourself in need of some fresh ideas.
Six e-marketing ideas to promote your next event
Event marketing ideas don’t have to be overly complicated or complex. Leveraging e-marketing can be the perfect way to promote signups, attendance, and engagement. However, certain marketing strategies can be far more effective and worthwhile than others.
Here are some online marketing ideas to ensure your event is as popular and successful as possible.
1. Optimize an attention-grabbing landing page
Creating an event-specific website or landing page should be one of your first steps in event promotion strategy. You can use a landing page or website to urge your target audience to register for the upcoming event. Additionally, people can buy tickets, sign up, or spread the word about your event by using social media buttons linked to the event page.
For this strategy to work, your event page needs to be a one-stop-shop for attendees’ needs by including all the necessary information, like time and date, an itinerary, sign-up links, secure payment options, etc.
But sometimes having the necessary info isn’t enough. This is a landing page, not a digital business card. Make your landing page more effective at converting visitors into buyers.
- Focus on a single conversion goal from the headline to the last call-to-action.
- Aim for the right audience and gear content towards them.
- Include features that pique the interest of those who may not be able to make it. Teasers, a glance at speakers, quotes, or images from previous events are all examples of this type of content.
- Promote the event but set clear expectations.
- Streamline ticket reservations or signups.
- Include testimonials from previous events.
2. Drive attendance via email
People tend to forget that email is still relevant in the age of social media marketing. But when it comes to online marketing, email is one of the most effective methods.
An email marketing campaign is the perfect way to drum up interest and encourage people to pre-register or sign up. Email newsletters are great for keeping your email list up to date on future events. Send out emails with new event announcements, interesting updates, and post-event wrap-ups but don’t overburden the inbox with too many messages at once.
You can also offer exclusive discount codes in your email newsletters to pique readers’ curiosity and keep them coming back for more.
Still having issues generating leads from your email campaign? Then, follow these five essential tips and email marketing best practices.
3. Optimize for keywords to boost search potential
You knew that SEO would show up somewhere, but it’s with good reason. Keywords are already part of your SEO strategy if you have a company website or regularly create digital content. The same goes for any event.
Put plainly; you want to incorporate keywords in your event description so that Google knows where to send individuals who might be interested in attending your event. For example, how amazing would it be if your event showed up for an “events near me” local search?
You can even find phrases that are relevant to your search by using Google’s Keyword Planner (AdWords account required) or by doing a simple search on Google.
Using Google as a keyword research tool is as simple as searching for relevant terms and phrases, then making a note of the following:
- Autocomplete suggestions
- The results of the ‘People also ask’ section
- The “related searches” section
Using these tools, you can compile a nice list of keywords to include in your online promotional copy.
Here’s a handy guide for on-page SEO that event planners should utilize. Learning SEO basics will take you a long way, but you can always contact the experts. 😉
4. Leverage social media marketing
The latest research shows that there are expected to be 3.96 billion social media users worldwide in 2022—a 4.8 percent increase from a year ago, with a typical usage time of almost 2 and a half hours each day.
For this reason, social media marketing cannot be ignored as a promotional tool for your event.
Utilize the steps below to advertise your virtual event to reach the people you want to attend:
- Choose platforms based on where your audience spends most of their time—Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, LinkedIn, etc.
- Create event hashtags that your audience can utilize to join the conversation on all your event-related postings.
- Facebook events may raise awareness, provide vital information, and engage your audience.
- Can produce social proof.
- When friends attend or are interested in an event, others may follow suit. You can add a description, timing, links, calls-to-action, etc., to Facebook events.
- Utilize platform features to promote your event and personalize postings, engage attendees, and raise awareness with them.
- Instagram’s Countdown Sticker
- Snapchat’s Geofilters
- TikTok’s filters and stickers.
- Use teases to build buzz and deliver event specifics. This online event marketing idea can help you introduce speakers or share interviews.
These social media tools can help you establish a marketing strategy that guides your social media event promotion.
5. Ask for help from bloggers and journalists
To ensure more people learn about your event, involve journalists and bloggers. Call or email reporters and editors at online newspapers, publications, or associations to pitch your story. Some may not respond, but those that do can provide tremendous linkages and publicity.
Tell industry bloggers about your event. Ask them to blog about it and offer them something in return like a discount promo or other event-related.
Although they’ve lost some shine in the eyes of Google, press releases are another way to spread the word about your event.
6. Partner with affiliates and influencers for event promos
An effective way to advertise your event is to work with well-known and respected brand ambassadors and influencers.
You can leverage referral marketing where customers promote your event in their circle of influence. You can work out an arrangement with affiliates where they are paid a fixed commission for driving signups. Or, you can reach out to influencers, requesting they create promotional content for your event. Consumer-generated content is a more effective purchase decision driver than branded and influencer content. Just make sure you pick the right influencers to work with and avoid having an influencer fail.
Ready to kick off your event marketing?
The question is, why are you still hunched over your desk? There is no such thing as a bad time to start thinking about and marketing your event!
Actually, hold on, you should probably read these Five Digital Marketing Lessons We Learned from the Fyre Festival Fiasco because you can learn as much from its event planning failures as from its overly successful marketing campaign.
Whatever event marketing ideas you use, it’s important to know your target demographic and have a plan of attack to get your message out there.
If you choose to work with RMG, we promise to do everything to make your event marketing successful. So don’t hesitate to get in touch; we’re a welcoming bunch!
