16 Event Promotion Tips
16 Event Promotion Tips
Yes, we’ve all been there. We’re promoting the event and we write something, we post it, we share it and then …crickets. Nothing happens. But this may be some consolation: you are not alone. This happens to everyone. Even the pros hear crickets sometimes.
But the event promotion pros also know how to avoid the silence and make some noise. Want to know the secret? Get ready for it. Promoting an event, (or anything) online isn’t about doing one big thing. It’s about doing lots of little things.
That’s right. Web marketing is the combination of a hundred little actions that all add up to a bigger result. This is good and bad:
- It’s bad because it’s hard to know where to start
- It’s good because you can start anywhere
So let’s get into it. Here are 17 event promotions tips for your next association meeting, trade show or event.
Social Media
- On your company Twitter bio, link to the event registration page, not just your company home page.
- In the auto-response emails sent from your website (usually after someone fills out a form) and a blurb about the event and link to the registration page.
- Similarly, on the thank you page that visitors see after they fill out any form, link to the registration page.
- Create a hashtag for the event.
- As people start registering, say hello to them on Twitter, especially if they have large social followings. Use the hashtag.
- On the thank you page after a visitor registers, give them options to share, via Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter. You can even write the tweet (I’m going to the event #hashtag) and create a “click to tweet” link.
- Schedule tweets in advance using HootSuite, TweetDeck or Buffer. You can schedule tweets just before early bird registration ends, just before regular registration ends, when the event begins and when it ends.
Get help from Speakers and Sponsors
- Ask the speakers and sponsors to write a short guest post about their topic for your blog. Once it’s live, request that they share it with their audience.
- Ask the speakers to promote the event on the social networks and with their email lists.
- Send a short list of questions to each of your speakers. Compile the answers into a blog post, (this often takes very little time). Once it’s posted, share the post on Twitter, mentioning the speakers. They will likely share it with their followers. If there are juicy quotes from their answers, include them in the tweets. This is just one type of blogger collaboration.
Email Marketing
- Use subject lines, (and headlines) that inspire awe or anxiety. Studies show that subject lines that have lukewarm emotional content are less likely to be opened. “10 things you’ll miss if you aren’t at this event”
- Send emails early in the morning or on the weekends. Studies show that these times lead to higher open rates.
- If you have quotes from feedback or surveys from previous events, use these as supportive content in the emails. If possible, show the face of the person who provided the quote. You may be able to find a picture on LinkedIn.
Search Engine Optimization
- Make sure that the title tag and header text include the topic and the word “event,” so people searching for events on that topic may find you in search engines. For example, an event about content marketing may benefit from a title and header such as “content marketing event”.
- Make sure the registration page has a nice long description of the event. It should be around 500 words but the text should be concise and broken up into short paragraphs. Use lots of formatting, including headers, sub headers, internal links, bullet lists, etc. You can find more advice on this SEO checklist.
- Link to the event from other pages on your site including older blog posts. Any page or post that ranks in search engines should link to the event page.
- Ask partner organizations to link to the event page or add the event to their calendars.
Hopefully, there are at least a few event promotion ideas in here that you hadn’t tried before. And remember, these are in no particular order. Do anything in any order. The more you do, the fewer crickets you’ll hear.
Looking for more ideas? Here’s a longer list of content promotion tips. If you’d like to suggest an addition for your fellow readers, please leave it in a comment below.
You can catch Andy Crestodina at MPITechCon February 19th 2013 at IIT in Chicago. If you would like to get more information about MPITechCon (THE tech conference for the meetings and events industry) goto http://www.mpitechcon.com
Andy Crestodina is the Strategic Director of Orbit Media, a web design company in Chicago. He’s also the author of Content Chemistry, An Illustrated Guide to Content Marketing You can find Andy on Google+ and Twitter.
Andy is a Principal and the Strategic Director at Orbit. Andy leads business development for Orbit and connects clients with the firm. Within the company, Andy oversees sales, strategy and marketing. Andy employs his extensive knowledge of content marketing, search engine optimization, social media, and usability to develop the most practical and viable web solutions for partners, clients and friends. In addition to establishing relationships with new clients, Andy leads Orbit’s own web marketing efforts. He enjoys sharing his best web marketing advice and frequently speaks at events on web marketing strategy. And also writes regularly for the Orbit blog and monthly newsletter. He is active within the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce and with many of Orbit’s non-profit clients. Andy is a graduate of the University of Iowa, where he studied Mandarin Chinese and became certified to teach. Also, he has passed the GAIQ Test (Google Analytics Individual Qualification).
Comments
Don’t forget about media outlets! Many sites, especially the hyper local ones, let you post events, such as Triblocal and Patch.com + many suburban media outlets. Be sure to submit info to Crain’s, Chicago Grid (new Chicago Sun-Times biz magazine) and DNAinfo Chicago. If it’s entertainment oriented, send/submit to TimeOut and Metromix. Each publication and its website provides directions on what and how to submit. Also check sites of relevant trade associations and inquire as to whether they will accept, post or promote events from outside organizations.