Getting the word out about an event - Word и Excel - помощь в работе с программами

December 30, 2019
Marketing

Every business owner wants to drum up
excitement about their latest product. Create enough of a buzz, and the product
will fly off the shelves, hitting the ground running, and posting strong early
sales.

But a product, no matter how good it is,
can’t sell itself. To build interest and get people using a product and
service, businesses need to come up with increasingly creative ways to get the
word out. A strong product launch marketing strategy will generate interest
among the existing customer base, and reach new potential customers, for
maximum effect.

To get the most of out any marketing budget, here are four creative ways to get the word out about your event, product, or service. For more information on advertising strategies and promotion ideas, visit Progressive PR.

Creative Ways to Get the Word Out About Your Product, Giveaway or Event

Host a giveaway

Whether you are launching a product or planning an event, giving away a pre-determined quantity of the item or a handful of tickets to the event is a good way of drumming up interest.

There is a reason why Instagram and
Facebook users frequently see giveaways where users are invited to like a page
or share a post for a chance to win. These marketing strategies work and
quickly get the word out.

Give influencers early access for a product review

Influencers are social media users with
an exceptionally large online following. They are a marketer’s best friend
because they are often authoritative voices in a given industry. Users trust
their opinion and their recommendations influence consumer buying patterns.

If you can find the right influencer that produces content that is relevant to the product/event industry, they can be a valuable tool for getting the word out. Many brands have influencers produce an unboxing video or a review of their product in exchange for early access (or a cash incentive). For example, before Apple released the iPhone 7, it sent Unbox Therapy, a popular social media influencer a free device ahead of the product launch, which Unbox Therapy posted about on its page.

Email marketing

Your mailing list is a useful tool to
leverage when promoting a new product or service. These are proven customers
that spend money or have signed up for email updates about the industry.
Therefore, they (or should be) part of any target audience for a new product.

Social media ads

Where once the television and print media
dominated, social media has emerged as king. Facebook, for example, boasts of
more than 1.4 billion active monthly users. With an audience this large, social
media outlets are a gold mine for potential customers and guests.

Most platforms allow companies to publish
paid advertisements that will appear in users’ newsfeeds. They also allow for
highly targeted ads that only appear to users with specific interests, within a
specific age range, or in a specific location.

Social media ads offer a wealth of
options for savvy marketers looking to get the most out of their monthly
advertising budget.
A successful marketing campaign for a new product or
event will employ some, or all of these advertising strategies for maximum
impact.

Check Also

Using Social Media to Market Your Business

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There are several ways of getting the word out about your local event. You can reach potential new clients when you turn to local marketing venues.

Human Interest Story

An age-old free advertising opportunity to gain attention is through a local newspaper, TV and radio station. You can plan your event so it has a unique interest to these local news reporting venues and possibly gain a spotlight or two.

A few examples of ideas that can stir local media to highlight your event and even possibly conduct an in-person interview. In addition, you can promote your event via your normal local marketing channels.

Martial Arts

Host a competition that is sure to be a newsworthy event.
Invite a renowned guest instructor to teach at your event.
Hold a free class at a school prior to your event.
Offer tips for women’s defense highlighted on local TV.

Paint and Sip

Invite a news worthy guest artist to speak before your group.
Feature a class or series on specific art movement, such as Impressionist.
Offer to highlight a specific technique for a human interest TV slot or print.
Partner with a local gallery or art museum to boost visibility.

Cooking

Sponsor a giveaway with one-on-one instruction with a newsworthy chef or a cooking set.
Host a mini-preview of your event with a local group/organization.
Offer coupons for a free class or session during your event.
Partner with a cooking supplier for a giveaway during your event.
Partner with a school or non-profit and host a local bake sale, before or during your event.

Escape Room

Take advantage of seasonal celebrations, such as a Halloween themed escape room event.
Invite a magician/escape artist to participate for a human interest slant.
Offer a unique theme depicting a history event, ghost story, etc.

Other Ideas for Getting the Word Out

Offer local discounts for a set time period for purchasing tickets.
Donate a percentage of the proceeds to a local charity, volunteer fire department, or local police.
Partner with a local school to donate a percentage of proceeds to a specific program.
Conduct a local poll.
Hold a themed online scavenger hunt prior to your event.
Offer discounts to schools, organizations or related groups.

Social Media and Local Outlets

You can engage local businesses, organizations and groups on social media. Become a regular participant so fellow local residents recognize your name and that of your business. Be careful not to post advertisements, unless the group allows this.

Join a local business Facebook page that encourages networking and advertising. Post coupons and discounts along with upcoming event news and pictures.
Create a Facebook Event Page and use targeted news feed ads.
Contact your local Chamber of Commerce for mention in the monthly newsletter (must be a member of the chamber).
Start a #hastag for your event that will appeal to locals.
Advertising on online and physical community boards.
Place notices in church, synagogue and other religious meeting places bulletins and boards.
Print flyers to distribute or hand out. Ask to place a stack at a related business and offer to reciprocate.
Purchase ads on local websites, newspapers, and radio and TV stations.

There are other ways for getting the word out about your event that range from free word of mouth to paid advertisements. A little creativity can create a buzz about your event to draw new local clients.

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May 14, 19

Filed under: Featured, Getting Organized

Across the world, anarchists and autonomous anti-capitalists are constantly at work putting on different kind of events where they live for the purpose of bringing people together, engaging the public with new ideas, and also raising money and building capacity for a wide variety of groups and projects.

A sandwich board encourages people from off the street to come into a local community center in Brooklyn, New York.

In this column, we’re going to discuss some basic ideas about how to promote events and by this we mean gatherings and happenings that take place in a set setting which usually feature some sort of activity that takes about 2-4 hours. This could be a speaker, panel, film, presentation, or workshop. Larger examples would benefit events, music shows, conferences, and festivals.

A beautiful full-color poster announces the prison strike in 2018.

Our goal with this specific column will be to discuss how to get more people to come out to your events and how to in turn, build up your group and affinities through organizing them.

Keeping Goals In Mind

As with anything, we first have to think about what our goals are when we organize events. First and foremost, we are looking to meet new people through organizing in our community, people that we then can begin to build affinity and relationships with into the future. Hosting and putting on events allows us the space to begin to make these connections, as well as form alliances with other groups, educate and organize those around us, and also fundraise to sustain our projects.

We also have to specifically think about the event we are working on in terms of goals. Does the event represent an intervention on our part in the wider context of a tension, a struggle, or an unfolding reality around us? Does the event intend to bring out people from the community and or neighborhood, or just the same set of friends that always show up? Will there be childcare at the event and will it be accessible to people of all ages and abilities? Will the event be a success for the group that is coming through giving a presentation? These are all things to keep in mind.

Form teams to go out and promote your event in your neighborhood and wider community.

After the event is over, there are also many questions to ask. Did it go well? Were there any problems? How was security? How was the turnout? How much money did you raise? Was there any problems with the police or fascists? Did the crew organizing the event do a good job facilitating and running the event? Did people who said they were going to bring food show up? What could have gone better next time? A post-event debrief often can allow people the opportunity to address these topics and learn from potential mistakes and celebrate successes.

Making Flyers and Promotional Materials

With these goals in mind, a big part of getting the word out is having the right promotional materials. In this section, will will focus on real life, printed materials. And, whether you are a graphic artist or can barely work a photo filter, the good news is that there are a lot of free online programs that will give you the ability to easily make snazzy flyers and images to promote your events both online and offline. Here are some basic online tools that are free to help you promote your events, and while we encourage people to learn how to use Photoshop and Indesign, if you don’t have access to these programs, here are some easy alternatives.

Pixlr: An online free image editing web app. Think of it as a basic form of photoshop that works a lot like Instagram. This program is perfect for making images to share on social media like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Just upload an image and then use the filters and effects to make the photo look how you want. Crop and change the size to fit the dimensions you need, and you can also add text to make it look like an actual flyer with info.

There are many places online where you can make great looking promotional materials for social media and to print out.

BeFunky: Another free online image editor. This also has a collage maker that is really cool.
Audiogram: Audiogram allows you to make short videos for Twitter and Facebook that includes a static background image with music and audio speech played over it, with text optional. This is the perfect tool to announce events and add flare to social media about your event. You will need to sign up with email for this one, but it is free.

#ThisIsAmerica: We talked with members of @LBU_IWW who recently went public with their union campaign in #Portland, becoming the latest group of service workers to join the #IWW. We talk about the growing movement + how they were inspiried by @BVWkrUnion. https://t.co/xaXeRaDsgh pic.twitter.com/t93rEB6z8A

— It’s Going Down (@IGD_News) March 23, 2019

Canva: Free flyer making web app. Requires email but is free to use.
Audacity: Free open source program for making podcasts and recording music. Use this program to record audio sections for Audiogram or other video programs to share online.

Offline Promotion

In this digital age, people often forget about promoting events offline, however we are in the opinion that just doing online promotion can often be a mistake, and that to ensure the highest degree of turnout, both online and offline promotion is best. Here are some basic ways to promote your events that don’t involve the internet:

Putting up flyers in businesses windows. Getting a flyer up in a well trafficked store window is a great place to advertise your event. Places like grocery stores, corner/liquor stores, coffee shops, restaurants and smoke shops also often have bulletin boards or places to put down free publications or flyers. Bring tape with you to make it easier on the workers to say yes and be prepared for them to say no or, “I’ll have to ask my manager.” Make a mental note of establishments that say yes and be ready come back to the same spot with the next flyer.
College campus and community bulletin boards. Campuses and other public places often have bulletin boards for promoting events.

Example of quarter sheet and poster.

Hand out quarter sheet flyers and leave them around town. Quarter sheets are simply small flyers that fit four to a page on an 8.5″ by 11″ sheet of paper. These are great for handing out on the street, putting in newspapers, handing out at events, or leaving a stack for people to grab in various spots. Some great places to hand out flyers is at the skate park, farmers market, corner and liquor stores in their free area/newspaper racks, coffee shops, grocery stores, and in front of well trafficked places like Wall-Mart, on campuses, places where students get out of school, the DMV, etc.

A combination of promotion online and offline for events often is needed for a greater turn out.

Put up posters everywhere. Making flyers and posters will definitely help promote your event and can be put up on phone polls and around neighborhoods. Get a team and go wheatpasting, or simply get some tape or a staple gun.
Try and get the event listed in the local newspaper or alternative weekly if you think that is a smart thing to do. Many newspapers have an event calendar and will add your event if you email them.

Get creative!

Get creative! Put up banners, sandwich boards, go door knocking, leave flyers on cars, hold an info-point, and come up with other ways of telling people about the event.
Go to group meetings and other functions and announce the event, hand out flyers.
For music events and festivals, for not that much money you can get slick card stock flyers made.
For big events, hit up local radio stations to get the event announced on the air.
If you feel it is worth it, issue press releases to local journalists to get the event covered in the newspaper. Generally, getting a story written before hand (thus encouraging people to attend the event) is better than a write up afterwards.

A Few Tips for Online Promotion

While social media dominates our lives and we are bombarded with event announcements throughout the day, here are some tips for promoting events on social media.

On your social media accounts, make sure you clearly state where and when an event is taking place. Don’t assume that people know where you are talking about. Also including contact information and a website will also help. Make sure your event announcements are clear and also have images and video if possible.

If you set up a Facebook event page, make sure to share it often, encourage people to invite their friends, and post often on to the page to encourage people to come out to the event, promote, download flyers, etc. Also, make sure that you set the list of people attending the event to PRIVATE, this can be done on the desktop, by EDITING the event page and make sure that the event listing is set to PRIVATE. In the past, police and fascists have used open event lists to harass people.
For bigger events, make sure to reach out to IGD and your local counter-info page to promote your event on This Is America, as a post on their site, and to share on social media.

Building Capacity for Events

Events serve many purposes. They create a social environment where people come together and discuss ideas and form new bonds. They also create an atmosphere where new people can meet each other and get plugged into a broader network. But events also give established crews and groups something to organize around. Here are some ideas for building up your group’s capacity (for ideas on how to form a group, go here) to put on and promote events:

When you plan events, as a group go over what roles people will play and what they will do. Who will run the door, collect money, create a flyer and make social media, introduce the speaker, do security, etc.
Plan as a group to go out and flyer and promote the event.
Develop a network of people who can flyer and promote events in different neighborhoods, thus spreading the work around and covering as much ground as possible.

When your group tables at events or meets, make sure to have lots of flyers on hand for people to take. This way, you are building towards the next event and giving people materials to take with them to promote.
Create and maintain an email list, text blast, and social media accounts which can help bring people out to new events.
If you are able, consider making a publication or newsletter or website to also promote your events, this way people will have a go to place to learn about what the next upcoming event is.

Closing Thoughts on Breaking Out of Subculture

One thing we should keep in mind when promoting events, is that we often have a tendency to only do outreach and promotion in certain areas, neighborhoods, and cultural spaces. But if we only do outreach and event promotion at certain coffee shops, punk shows, and bookstores, we will ensure that only people that frequent those spaces attend our events. This is why promoting events in a variety of working class and poor neighborhoods is important if we are to grow as a movement.

We must remember that not everyone has the ability to come out to events and spend several hours of their day listening to a speaker or watching a film. Work, lack of child care, no access to transportation, and plain exhaustion often keep people from coming out to events. Addressing these real life barriers is important: providing childcare and rides can be vital in allowing people the ability to attend events, just as is providing a meal.

Let’s also work to rethink what an ‘event’ supposedly has to be. Success just doesn’t have to just look like a packed room at the local infoshop or autonomous community center, it could be a block party, a film projected in the park, a festival outside, or a table set up somewhere in a local park or outside the social services office. Workshops and presentations can take place anywhere, so if we know our audience, there’s nothing stopping us from going to where people are already.

Lastly, lets keep in mind that spaces and groups can be intimidating to new people. Most people already have a perception in their head about what a group full of rabble rousers will look and act like – and often people are afraid to get mixed up in anything that might get them in trouble. With that in mind, we have to work at being personable and real with people, both on the streets, at work, and in our communities, in our autonomous spaces, and in our day to day organizing. With these realities and tensions in mind, we can move forward and work to overcome the real obstacles put in front of us.

Here’s to hoping your next event is a smash hit!

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Event marketing can be a great way to generate publicity, nurture existing customers, raise brand awareness and generate new leads. Getting to know people in a social (and fun) setting adds the human elements to business relationships, which is good because, well, people prefer to buy from people instead of faceless corporations.

But if you don’t have enough people in attendance, even a well-done event could end up a miserable failure.

The biggest key to event success is promotion. Treat your event promotion as an integrated marketing campaign. Use different media in a defined sequence to effectively get the word out to achieve your attendance goals.

I always like to start with the end in mind, or my attendance goal. Let’s say my attendance goal is 250 people. Of those 250, I’d prefer an even mix of folks from my list (existing customers and prospects) and new people. That means I need to design some direct response campaigns for my list, and cast a wider net for people not on my list.

As I’m considering different campaign options, I think about probable response rates for my list. “If I need to have 125 attendees from my 2,000 person list, I need pretty strong response rates.” The higher the response rate required, the more personalized the campaign needs to be.

While projecting your response rates, make sure to factor in the type of event, the existing relationship with your list, the event location and timing, and the event’s value (and fun factor!) for attendees.

(A quick note on timing: Great events can fail when they compete with other valuable events. Check around so you don’t lose attendance because your target audience is already attending the XYZ trade show that weekend.)

Back to brainstorming. Think about your audience target and ask yourself:

How many invitees will be interested?
How many will plan to attend based on their interest?
How many of those planning to attend will actually show up?

This gives you your true target. If only half of the people that express interest in my event will RSVP, and ¼ won’t show up, then my initial response target is 333 people from my list.

Event Marketing Elements

Medium s) for the existing list

Email campaigns – This is particularly effective if you routinely email your list and know your emails are well-received. (You know emails are well-received if you track click-through rates, ask for and receive feedback, or include a call to action that is routinely acted upon.)
Personalized letters – In the age of technology and mass communication, a letter addressed to an individual speaks volumes. Send personalized letters that speak to the individual’s interests or needs.
Custom mail piece – If your customers respond well to regular mailings, send a custom mailing or an invitation to your special event.
Telephone – This is highly effective, though time consuming.

Mediums to cast a wider net

Your own email/print newsletter – Past customers may still receive your email or print newsletters. Extend an invitation via your publications.
Ads on other industry newsletters – Purchase ad space in an industry newsletter with readership that matches your existing customers’ profile or demographics.
Partnerships/affinity campaigns – Co-brand your event with another company or organization. Utilize their email or mailing list as a spring board to reach prospective customers.
Social media – Get the word out from your blog or social media sites like Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook or MySpace.
Special notice on your website – Include an event promo on your homepage, and link to a page with specific details about the event. Include an RSVP option and a “contact us” option for the prospective customer who is interested but unable to attend.
Listings on event calendars – Utilize industry websites with calendars of events. Your local chamber of commerce or another community organization may list events on their websites and newsletters as well.

Once your RSVP list begins to grow, make sure to send reminders to those planning to attend. It’s a lot of work and advanced planning to promote an event, but it’s critical to your event’s success.

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As much as you’d like to hope that registration for your event will spread organically through word-of-mouth, it doesn’t often happen that way.

Even the best events still need event promotion strategies to get the word out about them.

Creating an event promotion strategy is crucial for creating a successful event. We’ve listed our 12 best techniques to drive attendance and registration for your next event so that you can attract the right audience and grow your business.

What is an Event Promotion Strategy?

An event promotion strategy is a comprehensive game plan aimed at creating maximum exposure for your event and driving registration.

Techniques for getting the word out include email campaigns, paid ads, organic SEO, cross-promotions, and more.
Retargeting Strategies

Event Promotion Strategy # 1) Targeting Customers and Businesses Who Have Purchased Your Services or Attended Your Events in the Past

Also known as remarketing, this strategy re-engages past and current customers based on their previous purchases and event attendance.

Using a CRM, you can filter through customers’ information to create a targeted email list of people who are likely to attend your next event. Use your existing customers’ emails as the main starting point for a new email marketing campaign. We have more on that in step #5.

Event Promotion Strategy #2) Paid Retargeting Campaigns For Traffic and Lookalike Audiences That Visit Your Social Media and Web Pages

Retargeting ad campaigns use cookies in web browsers to track visitors who have interacted with your website, but left without purchasing anything. This allows you to interact with potential customers after they’ve left your site.

Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google allow for retargeting ads. After a visitor leaves your website, they will see a paid ad for your event in their social media newsfeed the next time they login, for example.

Lookalike audiences, also known as similar audiences, is a way to show ads to people who share similar browsing patterns with your existing customers. This method allows you to cast a wider net to show your ads to people who are likely to be interested in your event.

Paid Ads Marketing Strategies For Events

Event Promotion Strategy #3) Display Ads and Video Ads To Show Off Flashy Visuals

Sometimes Google AdWords text-only ads aren’t enough to entice your customers. You need a way to show them your stunning graphic designs for a more immediate appeal.

Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube allow marketers to show targeted visual ads, such as graphics and videos, to potential customers in their social media news feeds or before and during YouTube videos.

These ads can be set up to be triggered by specific search results, setting up a target demographic, showing only to a specific location, or to show to people who follow your competitor’s pages.

Email Marketing Strategies

Event Promotion Strategy #4) Running Campaigns That Capture Email Addresses

There are many ways to generate leads online to grow your email list. One of the most popular is creating a landing page that offers a free download in exchange for an email.

Create a Google ad that directs to your landing page. Once your visitor is there, all they need to do is enter their email address to download your free guide, white paper, etc. From here you can add their email to your drip campaign.

Event Promotion Strategy #5) Segmentation and Automated Email Communication To Keep Interested Customers Engaged

Improve your automated email campaign’s click-through rates by organizing, or segmenting, your large email list into smaller, more targeted groupings of emails.

Instead of blasting your event promotion emails blindly to all past customers, sort through your list by demographic, specific location, past purchases, etc.

This helps you whittle down to a segmented list of people who are the most likely to attend your event. It ensures a higher click-through rate and reduces the amount of people who unsubscribe.

Social Media Strategies

Event Promotion Strategy #6) Giveaways

People are highly willing to promote your event for free if there’s a chance that they can win a freebie. Referral contests and hashtag contests are among the most popular ways to spread the word about your event.

Give away prizes to participants that refer the most people or run a social media photo contest and announce the winner who has the most likes or comments.

These contests are also a great way to measure engagement for post-event reporting.

Event Promotion Strategy #7) Videos and Audio Highlights From Last Year’s Event

Repurpose your past video footage from last year’s event to create a new highlight reel that can be easily shared and viewed across online channels.

Include this pre-event promotional video in your email campaigns, on your social media pages, and your website. It’s the easiest way for new participants to get a feel for your event before they even read about it.

Be sure to include previous speakers, customer reviews, and photos in your video, and try to keep it short so it’s easy to watch all the way through.
Search Engine Optimization (Event Website, Aggregators, and Directories)

Event Promotion Strategy #8) Is Your Event Website Setup for Optimal UX, Target Keywords, and Conversions?

Having your event show up in Google’s search results is crucial. Conversion rates are shown to be highest for websites that are in the top three search results.

Work with an SEO expert who can help you pick tactical keywords, the words people are searching for online that will bring them to your website.

Consider setting up a domain name using this keyword that redirects to your website to increase your chances of landing higher up in Google’s search results.

Once visitors are on your website, give them an easy user-experience, with clear calls-to-action to sign up for your event.

Event Promotion Strategy #9) Optimized Content Such As Videos, Guides, and Blogs

Once you’ve determined your tactical keywords, begin writing content. This could include blogs or downloadable PDF guides that use keywords as your H1 header to attract potential customers searching on Google.

YouTube is the world’s second most used search engine after Google, so also consider creating video content using these keywords to increase exposure for your event.

Event Promotion Strategy #10) Making Sure Your Event Is Listed in Offsite Content, Aggregators, and Directories

Aggregators and directories are referral websites that list and link to other websites, usually related to specific themes.

For example, if you’re hosting an event in Chicago, you could go to Chicago Planner Magazine’s directory to search for venues and vendor information.

Use Google to search for directories related to your event, and then contact the website to put your event’s information in their list. Some websites do this free of charge, where others require payment to be added.

Aggregator websites do this automatically, using web crawlers to gather your website’s data to populate their lists.

Use Partnerships with Sponsors, Speakers, and Vendors To Leverage Your Potential Reach

Event Promotion Strategy #11) Ask Your Partners to Promote Your Event and Provide Them With Dates and Content To Make It Easy For Them

Cross-promotion is a win-win for both parties involved. Encourage promoters to post content mentioning your event or website. Then share that content in your social media channels.

Your promoter will appreciate the shout out and your event’s messaging will reach a broader audience that is likely to be interested in your event.

Event Promotion Strategy #12) Target Keynote Speakers Who Are Influencers For Your Audience

Find keynote speakers who are widely influential and have a large social media influence. Your event’s Facebook page might only have a few thousands likes, but your speaker’s page has 100,000 likes. Find ways to cross-promote with your speaker to gain access to their huge following.

It only takes one superstar to promote your event to thousands of people in an instant by sharing your tagged social media post.

Looking for more information on planning a successful event? Check out our guide 2020’s Unforeseen MVP is the Virtual Event Planner.

Ready to test your event promotion strategy?

Every great event promotion strategy needs a great digital event platform. To go beyond the virtual event, try a free SpotMe demo.

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