Learn practical tips for engaging virtual events in this Ebook
Sign up for freePlanning an event takes months of work. You can’t risk having a low sign-up rate—the success of the event and your performance review depends on it. But how to find your audience and promote your event in the places potential attendees are hanging out?
There are plenty of ways to advertise your event depending on its type and your target audience.
By the end of this comprehensive event marketing guide, you’ll be able to combine different actions and lay out a plan for your custom event marketing strategy.
Livestorm helps teams collaborate and deliver memorable live or on-demand video experiences.
An event marketing strategy is a plan for using an event to promote a brand or product. Your strategy could be a high-level timeline of promotional activities or a granular, step-by-step breakdown of attendee touchpoints.
Before you can implement your event marketing strategy, you have to write it.
To do that, you need to define your objectives, understand your audience, and establish a timeline for planning, promoting, and pulling off your event.
Goals are your strategy’s best friend. There are different goal-setting approaches that you can follow:
Assign specific key performance indicators (KPI) to each objective so you can measure the success of the event. If you’re hosting an online one, set virtual event metrics and track them using the Livestorm analytics dashboard.
Setting boundaries for your project will help avoid making promises you can't deliver or blowing your department budget. Evaluate all your available resources, including:
Plan to close potential gaps before you start promoting your event.
Your event marketing strategy should be tightly linked to your target audience so you can craft posts that speak directly to them. You should know everything about your audience:
This information will simplify the decision-making process on further steps like deciding the format of your webinar and identifying touch points with your audience.
Your marketing strategy will likely be different depending on the type of event. Define the:
Identify when you need to start and finish promoting your event. If you’re hosting an event on-demand, determine whether or not you'll need recurring promotional activities. You may find project management methodologies useful for laying out your timeline. For example, you could build a Gantt chart where you can assign tasks with deadlines and detailed responsibilities.
Leads need to be exposed to the same information several times before they click or convert. Map out the places where your audience will hear from you, what you’ll be including in those communications, and in which format. Drip registrants with information and reminders to drive attendance.
Here's an example. Your potential attendee:
You can also list the things that happen during and after the event:
Livestorm helps teams collaborate and deliver memorable live or on-demand video experiences.
It’s time to take action! Approach this list with a mix-and-match mentality. Use the information gathered during the planning stages to come up with your unique promotion strategy. In this section, you’ll find ideas to help you:
You need a registration page for any type of event. The format might vary depending on the type of event. Every landing page should contain:
Send further information via email like any required pre-reads, recommended hotels and maps with accessibility, or fun things to do in the event destination.
If you’re hosting an online event, you can use Livestorm to create your registration page with a custom form. If you’re hosting a hybrid or in-person event, use tools like Carrd or Swipe Pages to easily create these event landing pages.
The best strategy is to host an event that impresses the audience and adds so much value that they can’t help but talk about it afterward. Hosting an impressive event can look different depending on the type of event.
Another marketing event strategy idea is to create a promo video for your event. Determine whether you want it to be animated or want someone to memorize a script and record it. Either way, you’ll need to:
If you’re making it in-house, consider following an event marketing trend to make it more organic. Use tools like CapCut to edit your video, or use Instagram Reels templates. Take a look at this video as an event marketing example from Delack Media Group:
Your target audience hangs out in different places, you need to be there as well. Don’t stick to popular marketing channels like Instagram, LinkedIn, and email marketing. Contact influencers, think of smart offline initiatives (e.g. handing out flyers on a campus), and leverage your network to come up with a word-of-mouth strategy.
Use Facebook and Google Ads to place promoted ads on Instagram and Facebook, and add promotion to relevant blogs and Google searches.
Include public relations tasks as part of your event marketing. Give the media a press release with your well-designed assets to start generating buzz. A press release can be as simple as a Google Doc that outlines your event, mentions sponsors, and links to promotional resources. Send it to news outlets and influencers or post it on your website.
People trust other people over brands. Brands will always say that their products are the best, but a person can choose the ones they’re willing to represent. Use these event marketing tools to find niche influencers to promote your virtual event(it works for in-person events as well!):
Create different pricing tiers with early bird tickets offered at a discounted rate as a registration incentive. When you release tickets in stages, it generates a sense of urgency. So, people will want to buy the cheapest ticket and will buy it faster. You can even use a price optimization tool, like the one on Eventbrite, to automate price changes.
Pro tip: If you’re using Livestorm to plan, host, and analyze your virtual or hybrid events, connect it to Eventbrite directly and redirect attendees from your registration page to it without any trouble.
Create a branded hashtag for the event and think of initiatives that invite your attendees to announce on social media they’re going to your event. To do so:
Don’t let all of your efforts disappear after one event. Record and stream your live events online to reach a wider audience. Make sure you have the right equipment and team to record high-quality video and audio.
Use a platform like Livestorm to create a registration page for people to sign-up for the live stream. Also, use the same platform to create an on-demand video and gate it, so anyone can watch the event at their own pace when they share their contact information.
Many in-person events can happen virtually. You only need superb virtual event software that lets you talk and engage with your audience. Livestorm is your best option if you want to make interactive virtual events as it comes with several features to plan, host, and analyze your event. These include:
You need a strategy to market your event—a list of coordinated actions you’ll take to reach out to potential attendees and get them to sign up. Pick out the actions you’ll take as part of your event marketing plan.
The best event marketing strategy is the one that suits your business goals and gets your audience buzzing about your brand. You should also aim to minimize repetitive tasks by automating as much as possible. Try using a platform like Livestorm to automatically send email reminders and set recurring events, taking the hassle out of virtual event management.