Planning an event requires lots of different skills, from communicating with suppliers, arranging venues, organising entertainment and inviting the right guests. One critical element of event planning is event marketing, if the event hasn’t been marketed correctly to the right people, then the attendance will be poor, and the event could be considered a failure. On the other hand, the right event marketing can ensure that events are a complete success. In this article, we look at several event marketing tips that can help your event succeed.
Set up a register your interest form
One of the first things you should do when planning an event is to set up a form or page where people can register their interest in the event. You can then include this form in all of your marketing materials until you have something more firm set up for the event. Post the link on social media regularly and include it as a note in all of your marketing emails. In addition, when thanking guests for attending any previous events, you should include this form. By doing all of these things, you can create an email marketing list of potentially interested people, which you can use as part of your marketing efforts.
Determine your target audience
All marketing campaigns need to have a clearly defined target audience; these are the people that you think will be interested in your event. For some events, this might be crystal clear as the event itself will be set up and targeted towards a particular set of people. For other events, the target audience might be less clear, and you may need to do some investigation work to test out different audiences; social media is a good way to do this; you can use paid social ads to test and determine exactly who is most likely to sign up and register for your event. Once you find your target audience, you can focus your efforts on convincing them why they should attend rather than wasting the advertising budget on audiences that aren’t relevant.
Use different marketing channels
Sticking to one marketing channel that has worked for you in the past could be a good route; however, you might be missing out on other opportunities to invite more people to your event or save money on advertising costs. Email marketing is generally a good channel as long as you have the relevant email lists to target. You could also use social media marketing, LinkedIn marketing, targeted website marketing, search-based marketing channels, and print and outdoor marketing. The channels you select will depend on several things, such as your target audience, marketing budget and the size of your event. However, it's always a good idea to evaluate all channels before making a decision.
Speak to your suppliers
If you're working with a destination management company in Malta, catering or local businesses where your event is happening, these relationships could be beneficial for your event. Ask them to post on their social media channels about the event and mention that they will be involved in the planning, catering or providing the venue. This is a great way to spread your message further to a wider audience for very little work. In addition, these businesses will often be happy to share the information on their channels as it will help them promote what they’re doing and could help them attract more potential customers. If you have images of previous events or materials these companies can use, make sure you send them so they can make your event look as appealing as possible when posting it out on their social media channels or including it in their monthly newsletter.
Event marketing is an essential part of any event planning process. By following the tips in this article, you can increase your chances of success. These tips include setting up a register of your interest form, determining your target audience, using different marketing channels, and speaking to your suppliers. In addition, you can create a strong event website, use social media to promote your event, run a contest or giveaway, offer early bird discounts, and follow up with attendees after the event. Following these tips can increase your chances of planning a successful event.
