How to Create a Proper Event Marketing Strategy

Although a loving experience, organizing an event requires much time and effort from your part. And then come the worries about the number of people that will visit it and if they will have fun during it.

While it can be a bit overwhelming, creating a successful event marketing strategy does not have to be hard. You just have to develop your budget and goals, use social media and prints, and in the end build just the right hype around the event. We’re here to show you how.

The goals

The foundation of your event marketing strategy lies in the main goal of the event. For instance, you may wish to increase brand awareness with your party, as it is a powerful tool to get people to become familiar with your brand. Before, during and after the gathering you will have ample opportunities to create video, social media, blog and PR content to spread the word of the event.  

On the other hand, the goal may be to increase sales, as the face-to-face opportunity of the event can increase interest, nurture business relationships and close deals. Other possible goals include generating ticket revenue, building partnerships or engaging community members and customers. They don't have to stand separated; one event can intertwine two or three goals at a time.

Nevertheless, when trying to achieve multiple goals with a single event, it is important to prioritize them. We don’t live in an ideal world, and you will have to spend your limited resources appropriately on one dominant and two or three secondary goals.

The budget

The proper event marketing budget is crucial for the marketing strategy. Social media and word of mouth can stretch your budget, but not make the whole thing absolutely free. 50% of businesses allocate over 20% of their overall marketing budget to event organizing.

When developing a budget, use the data from previous events. If the event was organized before, take a look at the previous marketing budget data, attendance, and other numbers. This will help you set up goals and a viable budget. Focus on details, and include everything, like social media ads. Separate them into what is needed and what you hope to afford.

Spend money only on the right things. Watch out for trends and know what the audience expects.

The power of social media

Facebook is the most effective social media channel for event promotion, followed by LinkedIn. You can set your registration platform to allow signing up via a social network to save time for the registration process and pull better data such as pictures, bios and mutual connections between the attendees. It will also encourage social media sharing.

Although social media are global, always be aware of the local level since this is where most of your guests come from. Even if you’re planning on attracting global attendees, you should never oversee your closest environment. In this regard, you could consider hiring an experienced professional who knows all about the local trends. For example, for a Sydney-based event, one would use a Sydney advertising agency to help in organizing an event marketing strategy.

Remember not to use social media for sales messages. Instead, share interests and relevant content to build your followers organically via interactions. Optimize your social media accounts. They are often outdated and not used in the most efficient manner.

In addition, don’t produce the same social media content over and over again. Use different content formats, like pictures and videos, and vary lengths and times to test out what works best with the audience.

The print

Even though we have the Internet and social media, print advertising is still a valuable marketing add-on when it comes to engaging audience. Your prints should have a focal point, so avoid cluttering them as clean flyers are more appealing.

To attract the right audience, design on them a clear call to action. Experiment with texture, size, weight, and cut out elements. Gloss or matt effects are also interesting, too. The message needs to be clear as well, and remember to use colors that are pleasing. You can also use the versions of your flyers as your social media covers.

Create the hype

The right hype boosts attendees’ numbers and event ticket sales. It’s all about getting them excited about the event. Use offline advertising. Organize micro-experiences of the event like flash mob dancing as an affordable way to get the attention.

Try using webinars to create an interest for your event. Interview a speaker that will attend the event, and choose a topic that will be covered more in-depth during the event. Alternatively, host a roundtable discussion in which anything can be asked.

In the end, notify media and industry publications for some inexpensive PR, and provide them with a good reason why the event is newsworthy. You can also use event promotions like an animal ambassador, "bring a friend" or mascot promotion.

So, that’s it. If you follow our pieces of advice, your event will be a real success. The only things left to do afterwards are to track and measure the statistics, and evaluate the event’s performance, like the number of attendees, social media posts and networking activities.