The spirit of an event, be it a sporting event, a film premiere, or a live concert, is created by the audience. The more people take part, the higher the excitement and energy levels.
The same is true for B2B events. The more attendees you attract, the more conversations and chatter you generate, and the more successful your event will be.
So how do you capture as many attendees as you possibly can?
Let’s see these 5 must-try event promotion ideas:
1. Offer early bird discounts
We all love discounts. A sure-fire way of getting more people to register for your event is to provide exclusive ‘early bird’ offers. Set a clear deadline for the early bird pricing or only put a limited number of tickets on offer – scarcity marketing will create a solid buzz around your event, while tempting attendees with a discount they can’t refuse.
2. Leverage social media
Given their massive audience outreach, Social media channels like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn have proven to be popular mediums for event promotion.
Facebook has a huge active user base. Here is how you can use Facebook to attract people to your event:
- Create a Facebook page centered around your event and share it in different groups. If your budget allows, go for paid promotion as well. This will generate quick returns for a small investment.
- Cross-promote the event with an event marketing partner who has considerable influence in generating buzz and increasing registrations.
- Use Facebook Live Video to stream your event promotion activities.
Twitter is another widely-used medium in the events industry. There are many ways through which you can promote your event on Twitter:
- Create a catchy hashtag for your event and find creative ways to get it trending. You could even devise a competition, encouraging registrants to retweet and include the event hashtag for the chance to win a prize!
- Create an influencer list and target them through smartly crafted @mentions.
- Host a Twitter chat, share live broadcasts.
Event organizers are also leveraging LinkedIn as an effective promotional tool to entice more attendees to their events. Given its huge professional user base, LinkedIn can help attract the right audience to your event. You can:
- Write an informative article that has share value.
- Post a short video highlighting all the exciting things about your event.
- Join different groups and promote your event.
3. Geotag your campaigns
Geolocation is the new buzzword in event marketing, as marketers are finding new ways of reaching customers through location-based targeting. Even the aforementioned technologies such as AR advertising is based on the concept of geotagging.
Combine AI and predictive analytics with geotagging to narrow down the behavioral patterns of target audiences and matching them to their niche desires. This allows you to take personalization to the next level, by tapping into regional content and local influencers. Make sure to incentivize data collection by highlighting perks and benefits – consumers can be understandably concerned about privacy!
4. Make a highlight reel
Create a highlight reel of the best moments from past versions of your event, or release a teaser trailer of keynote speakers and planned activities for an upcoming one. You could even include a celebrity guest cameo! Promotional highlight reels can be a short, sponsored video shared across all social channels; this will certainly create a lot of interest around your event.
5. Be Transparent Around the Perks of Attending
Tout the benefits of attending as much as possible. Why? Because potential attendees want to ensure they’re going to get value from your event. They are busy people who need to convince their boss to invest in your event so if you can’t sell it well, then they will not be able to either. This is where things like testimonials, inspirational videos, and impressive stats from previous events will come into play.
Add a “Why Attend?” page to your event website. HubSpot does a great job at this; just check out the why attend section of the Inbound site. This page does a great job at selling the benefits to potential attendees by providing compelling visuals, testimonials, impressive stats, and even an entire section dedicated to convincing your boss!
In conclusion, events are a great opportunity to make real human connections. “That’s mostly what a conference is about. Sponsors find themselves in a weird space, but if you make your brand approachable, talk to people, and offer value then you’re going to leave with ROI,” says Aaron.
So get out there and market your event. In case you need any help or guidance with that, we are always ready to help you out. Contact us.
