How to Promote an Event: Step by Step

Event marketing can sometimes feel like something of a dark art, particularly to someone who doesn’t already have an events planning and marketing background. There are many balls to juggle here, from design and content creation to direct and digital marketing strategies and beyond. 

Digital has led the way lately, and for good reason – but for larger-scale events, it can be all-too-easy to get lost in the data; demographic information, click-through rates and reach are all important numbers in their own way, but do not alone give you the tools to increase conversion. Data does not an inspired strategy make. With this in mind, what are some direct and actionable steps you can take to successfully promote an event?

Signage

While majority portions of marketing budgets today are given to digital efforts – which we will touch on shortly – there are traditional and tangible marketing decisions you can make that have real-world impacts on the visibility of your event. One such decision would be to print signage.

Signage is a broad church, and can be applied in numerous distinct ways. You might invest in foam boards as a form of semi-permanent indoor advertising; these would be mounted in venues or in exhibition spaces to direct would-be attendants towards the event in question. Corrugated plastic signs are inexpensive and all-weather, and can be used to great effect on the day of the event as both promotion and direction.

Social Media

Social media is the meat of most event marketing strategies, being the most direct route to reaching individuals. Targeted in-feed advertising can place your event right in front of your key event demographic, with social media platforms allowing you to tweak your advert appearances right down to geographic location. 

Dedicated social media accounts for your event or events company allow visitors to engage more directly with you, too, creating a line of contact for common questions and giving you and opportunity to build an organic online audience. This will not only improve event attendance, but improve exposure and attendance for future events through returning ‘customers’.

Links to Digital

Driving audiences to event information is key in your campaign, and the more innovative your methods for doing so the better. Link-sharing sites like Linktree have become popular repositories for information and media links, and are great for drumming up PR support; meanwhile, QR codes can be used to great effect in art-led media campaigns and posters.

Website

Of course, the most important link of all – save for a link to a tickets portal – will be your website. Whether this website is for a standalone event like a festival, or for an overarching events brand, this will be the best digital selling point for your events. Populate it with pictures and details of past events, as well as links out to ticket portals, social media and events partners.