Promoting an event is essential if you want to have a successful event. By boosting your event, you reach out to potential attendees and allow them to see your vision of the event. A lot of planning goes into having a successful conference or seminar, but there are even more factors to make it successful.
One of those aspects is adequately promoted so that people come! This article will cover the basics of promoting your next conference, presentation, expo, etc. So, how to promote an event?
Step 1: Create Your Own Promotional Material
Events don’t get too far off the ground if they do not have promotional material for their audience, mainly students. You can create promotional material that fits your style. There are many different promotion types, from posters to flyers and other things, but we will only cover the basics for this article.
1. Create a logo for your event if you don’t have one already
A logo is a great way to get people’s attention when they see it on promotional material. It gives them a sense of familiarity with what you do and who you are, which creates an interest in going to your events/presentations!
2. Come up with catchy titles or phrases that fit what you’re promoting
It is always good to have a catchy title to remember what the event was about!
3. If you have a lot of information on your poster, add bullet points, so it is easier to read
It can be hard for someone to read long paragraphs of information when they’re being presented with a lot at one time. Bullet points give them an easy way out by just glancing over each point!
Step 2: Promote Your Event Online
You need people for your events and seminars, so promoting your events online is the best way. Here are some great places to promote your event:
1. Make a Facebook page for your event
It can be beneficial if you have a Facebook page that directly promotes your event because people will see it! You can also create posts that mention other related things to gain more interest in your event.
2. Promote your events on Facebook groups
One of the main factors in gaining views and likes for your Facebook page is through shares! One of the easiest ways to get something shared is by creating posts asking people to share them with their friends, whether just their network or through other groups on Facebook.
3. Create a Twitter account for your event
Having a Twitter account can also be helpful! You can promote your events, seminars, etc., through hashtags, easily searchable by anyone! It is always good to keep up with the latest trends to know what hashtags to use to increase your audience’s engagement!
4. Promote on relevant Subreddits
One of the most effective ways to promote online content is through subreddits. It has specific forums where people can discuss and share different things, including general interest content like promoting events.
5. Mention your event in other places you’ve posted about it
It’s always good to promote your event on other social media platforms, whether blogging websites like Tumblr or LinkedIn, or even video sharing sites like Youtube or Vimeo! When you mention something related on these sites (i.e., speaking at the XYZ convention), people will be more likely to check out your post/video because of relevancy!
Step 3: Promotion of Event “On The Ground”
On top of promoting your event online, you also need to get the word out there by physically promoting through posters and flyers if possible! Here is a list of great places to promote your event:
1. Posters and Flyers
If you have the materials, posters and flyers can effectively spread awareness for your events! It’s not just about where they’re posted, though. It’s also essential how often they are posted. If every second poster tells people about a seminar, then no one will ever attend because they’ll think there isn’t anything special going on!
Also, make sure that the information matches what you’ve been promoting online to attract more people from different audiences. You can create posters by yourself or get them printed professionally, which usually costs around $5-10 per poster, depending on the quality you want!
2. With friends
It’s always a good idea to ask your friends to come to your event and help promote it by sharing the poster/flyer with their social circle! Here is a great example: If you’re having a party, don’t just post the address and invite people. Instead, ask them if they could bring some friends in exchange for food or fun activities during the event!
Perhaps establish this early on before you even start planning the party so that when it comes time for promotion, people will want to attend because of what you’re offering in return (i.e., Friends+Food=Attendance).
3. Tabling
If you feel that your event is big enough, tabling is a great way to promote larger events! If your school hosts an activity fair once a year, then tabling is usually one of the main ways of promoting it! You can use the materials for online promotion or design more posters and flyers for this special occasion!
4. Email Campaigns
Many have chosen one option over social media through email campaigns because they are precise on who they send it out to, unlike Facebook, where anyone could be seeing your posts. However, if you’re planning on promoting your event this way, make sure that the email lists you’re using are up to date.
If it’s filled with people who don’t care for events like yours, it won’t be effective compared to someone who uses proper email marketing etiquette!
5. Digital Signage
Another option is digital signage, which can be displayed in malls or even restaurants! This works exceptionally well if several business owners are promoting their services at an event because they’ll probably put up banners and other things outside of their stores/restaurants as well!
When doing this, though, remember that people have short attention spans, so stay within 10 seconds maximum when promoting your event or else they’ll get bored and not know what you’re promoting.
Now you have all the tools necessary to promote your events effectively! Remember that the best way to get more attendees is to promote early on to mention it around their friends leading up to the actual day of the event and create a buzz about it!
Also, remember that even if your online promotion isn’t perfect, in-person promotion can still be just as effective, especially for networking purposes.
If you’re hosting an event in a certain community, don’t be afraid to knock on doors and talk with businesses who may want to help out by promoting through displays such as digital signage or posters/flyers! This will give you more opportunities to publicise your event and boost attendance! Have fun planning, everyone!
