You’ve got a great event coming up in 2019, and you want to ensure event management. You can’t hold a successful event without attendees, vendors, and others coming to share the day with you. However, you also have a limited marketing budget. If you want to see the best possible return on your marketing investment for your 2019 event, check out these event promotion tips that will be sure to get your event noticed.
Tip #1: Improve Your SEO
When people are planning out their year, they may turn to Google to discover new events in their preferred industry. From creative competitions to industry-specific events, you want to be sure that when interested attendees do a search, they’re able to find you–but how do you improve your SEO for 2019? Make sure you’re using these key strategies.
Create High-Quality Content
What kind of content are people who attend your event looking for? You might not have a chance to design a detailed content library, but you can put together some basic content that will help enhance your SEO and make it easier for interested parties to find your page.
Use the Right Keywords
Potential attendees might be looking for your next event by geographic region, but they won’t be able to find you if you don’t indicate your region. Target your geographic area as well as the specific keywords that relate to your event.
Add in Some Paid Ads
Paid ads will not only ensure that you end up in Google’s recommended results for some searches, they’ll increase traffic to your site which will, in turn, improve your overall SEO. Do some keyword research as a part of the event management. Be sure that you’re targeting the right keywords!
Tip #2: Know How to Use Your Social Media Accounts
Only 21% of adults across the UK who use the internet don’t have a Facebook account. 44% of internet users check their Facebook accounts at least once a day. Are you taking advantage of that particular audience? For 2019, it’s more critical than ever that you know how to effectively use your social media accounts, especially since shifts in Facebook’s algorithms have made it more difficult to get unpaid content in front of your intended audience. Use these strategies to increase your social media reach:
Post Regularly About Your Event
Make sure that interested parties know what’s happening: when they can expect to see updates, when you’ve put up a new blog post, and what they can expect on event day. Many people set up event pages to provide them with ongoing notifications whenever a moderator posts, which means that people who are committed to coming will see that information on a regular basis.
Put out Some Paid Ads Geared Specifically Toward Your Audience
Facebook offers highly targeted options for ads that will help you get your event information in front of exactly the right audience. Think about your target event attendees. Do they hold a specific position in their company? Have specific interests? The more you target your ads, the better the return you’ll get on your investment, since your ads will end up in front of exactly the right people. As an added bonus, Facebook Ads are fairly inexpensive, which means that you get a great deal of reach for a comparatively minor investment.
Use Those Hashtags
Do you have a hashtag for your event? Make sure you’re using it as a part of event management, especially if you post on Twitter or Instagram! Keep in mind, however, that you don’t want to spam your users: engagement with posts with more than two hashtags drops by 32%. Instead, choose one or two hashtags that you really want to target to help expand your reach.
Tip #3: Make Buying Tickets Easy
When you market your event, you’re encouraging people to immediately buy tickets to attend it. There’s just one problem: if that process is difficult, people will put it off for later, and they may end up not coming at all. Event management is about making the ticket-buying process as easy as possible. Don’t hide it away on your website. Offer the payment options your attendees want most. In 2019, customers crave convenience–and that goes for attending your events, too.
Tip #4: Provide the Right Information
Your event website is the perfect platform for sharing all of the information your clients need about the event. Let them know who’s coming: speaker bios and photos, for example. Post videos about your event. Highlight what attendees can expect, from sample schedules to vendors they can expect to see at the event. Your website is one of the most vital tools in promoting your event. Investing in a good one is sure to generate better returns than a poor, thrown-together website that fails to reflect the truth about your event.
Tip #5: Build an Email List
Who has attended your event in past years? Are you reaching out to them to let them know that the event is coming again for 2019, what they can expect, and how it’s going to be better than ever? Take the time to build your email list. Email marketing is far from dead–and in fact, it can be one of your most effective marketing tools. Use your email to notify potential attendees of the upcoming event or to share information with people who have already registered. Excited attendees are more likely to share that information with coworkers, friends, and family members, encouraging them to attend along with them.
Tip #6: Create the Right Types of Content
Design an infographic that’s relevant to your industry. Put together a few great podcasts that highlight the speakers coming to your event. By creating shareable content, you help spread the word about your event. Not only that, when you create content that has value to people in your industry, you encourage people to trust you and believe in the value of your event, which increases the odds that they’ll attend.
Learn More About Event Management
Do you want to make more out of your next event? Are you hoping to reach a wider platform, expand your reach, and grow your audience? If so, book a consultation today! We’ll work with you to be sure that your event gets the attention it deserves, bringing in the audience you want.
