Creative event marketing strategies to attract attendees No matter how well you plan your event, it won’t be a success if you don’t market it properly and connect with your target audience. How do you do this? We’ve broken down four marketing strategies designed to attract the ideal attendees for your guest list.

Creative event marketing strategies to attract attendees

You’re ready to host a major conference. You’ve selected keynote speakers, chosen a caterer, and scheduled activities perfect for building your network.

There’s just one thing missing: people excited to attend your event!

No matter how well you plan your event, it won’t be a success if you don’t market it properly and connect with your target audience.

How do you do this? We’ve broken down four marketing strategies designed to attract the ideal attendees for your guest list.

1. Social Media Promotion

Practically everyone learns about upcoming events through their social media feeds. By learning which social media channels your target audience uses, you’ll know where to focus your marketing efforts.

For instance, according to HubSpot Blog Research, Facebook is favored by Generation X and Baby Boomers while TikTok is great for Gen Z communities. Meanwhile, LinkedIn Marketing Solutions reports that 82% of B2B marketers realize their greatest success on LinkedIn compared to other social media channels.

You can also match your social media platform with your marketing content. For instance, if you have many photos and video clips, Instagram is excellent for launching a visual marketing campaign.

2. Email Marketing

Email marketing is one of the most effective ways to promote events. You’ll want to send multiple emails including:

• A “Save the Date” announcement email that outlines your event. Provide the date, time, and admission price. Provide incentives for early registration. For example, offer discounted early admission or limited-time discounts on VIP access.
• Event reminders and updates that offer more details, such as special guest announcements and teaser videos. Send out these reminders periodically as your event nears to build excitement.
• Emails with a link to your website's contact form. Contact forms allow guests to ask questions about your event's activities, location etc. You should send an immediate automated response to each sender promising to respond to their question in less than 24 hours and then respond quickly to establish good relationships with potential guests. If multiple people ask the same question about your event, this can inspire a future email providing useful information to your entire email list. Links to your contact form can also be shared on your social media posts.

Sending post-event thank you emails and surveys to your guests helps you learn what they liked about your event, so you can plan for the next one. You can also promote your upcoming event in these emails.

3. Cross-Promotional Partnerships

Businesses that sponsor your conference or gala can do more than just fund your event. They can also promote your event on their social networks, helping you reach new audiences.

Building relationships with influencers who have social media followings that include your target audience is also a great marketing strategy. Work with the influencer to create sponsored posts, videos, or live streams they can share to promote your event. Be sure to like, comment, and share the influencer’s own posts so you can both benefit from this partnership.

4. Contests and Giveaways

A pre-event contest is a great way to attract and connect with attendees. You can offer event-related prizes like free tickets or a VIP experience package to encourage people to attend. Contest entries can be based on how many times someone shares your post on social media, enabling people to help market your event.

You can also promote in-event contests such as raffles or auctions in your marketing emails and social media posts. Highlight photos of some of your top prizes to entice people to attend.

Building a Successful Event Marketing Campaign

Social media, email, cross-promotional partnerships, and contests all provide powerful marketing tools to promote your event. However, the success of your marketing campaign still hinges on how well you know your target audience. By understanding where your guests get their information online and what types of events and activities excite them, you’ll generate the marketing content needed to attract guests.

idloom.events provides the state-of-the-art event management software you need to promote and manage online, live, and hybrid events. Read our in-depth white paper "How to develop a good marketing strategy for your event?" and contact us to see how we can support the promotion of your event.

Sources:

70+ Social Media Demographics for Marketers in 2023 (hubspot.com)

read-me-advertise-better-fa.pdf (linkedin.com)