Top 10 Event Promotion Ideas You Should Try

Nov 05, 2024 Praggya Joshi

Planning an event can be daunting. What’s more challenging is attracting potential visitors – but it is definitely possible with some unique event promotion ideas. With too many ways of connecting with your target audience online figuring out what works best for your audience is crucial.  

In this post, we've explained the top 10 event promotion ideas proven to spark buzz for your upcoming event. You can use them and create a killer promotional strategy that will take your event hype to a whole new level.

1. Social Media is Your Best Friend 

One of the best event promotion ideas is to use social media generously. Today, it is the go-to medium for marketers to create buzz for their event. Do you know that about a third of American adults get news regularly from social media? Facebook, Instagram, Twitter (now X), LinkedIn, and TikTok are all great places to show details about your in-person or virtual event. 

For B2B events, leverage platforms like LinkedIn and Instagram. Both these platforms allow you to build buzz for your event in several ways, such as: 

• A dedicated event page with all the details about your event. 
• Run targeted ads to boost the reach of your event among your target audience. 
• Make polls to gauge interest in your event. 
• Use eye-catchy graphics and infographics to promote your event 
• Use event-specific hashtags to enhance your reach 

Tip - Trace and track the social media activities related to your event by creating unique hashtags. Maximize the reach by using hashtags in the posts of attendees, speakers, and sponsors. 

2. Collaborate with Industry Experts and Influencers

How would you feel if someone well-known in your domain spoke about your event? Great, we know. This is why collaborating with industry experts and influencers is one of the significant event promotion ideas. These people have a huge and loyal following on different online platforms. When they promote your event, it markets your event to their highly engaged audience base.  

A great way to use influencer partnerships is through account takeovers. In this approach, you ask an influencer to post from your brand’s social media account. They announce the date and time of your event beforehand to their followers so the audience can interact with them through your brand’s account. Some examples of content that the influencer can post include in-feed posts, answers to common questions, or a series of posts on a specific topic. 

Another common way to collaborate with influencers for event promotion is through sponsored posts. You pay a specific fee to the influencer to get a spot in their feed on their social media platform. 

Tip - Host a pre-event live Q&A or webinar featuring the expert or influencer. Promote the session across your social channels and email lists. 

3. Launch an Email Marketing Campaign

Email is a powerful event promotion tool that builds awareness, enhances outreach, and leaves a lasting impression. Do you know that 81% of B2B marketeers use email to connect with their audience? This approach is useful for creating a meaningful relationship that goes a long way in maximizing attendance. To use it, keep in mind these points: 

• Identify the event's purpose: It can be informative, building awareness, or lead generation. 
• Identify your target audience: The clearer you are about it, the better your messaging will be. 
• Decide the messaging format: It can be short videos, text-based content or a mix of both. 
• Create an event website: Make your event information shareable. You can also use an event mobile app for this purpose. 
• Design your emails: You can use a predefined template or customize it according to your brand details. 
• Test the email before sending it out.  

Tip - Use tempting subject lines and send early bird offers to capture the interest of people. 

4. Produce Engaging Event Content for event promotion

Your content for event promotion should hook potential attendees. This will happen when you know their interests and preferences. Use surveys or analyze data from previous events to learn about your audience. Only after understanding the demographics, should you start planning. Here are some best practices to follow:  

• Determine a key theme that will resonate throughout different forms of content.  
• Based on audience expectations, create tailored content on your theme in the form of blogs, infographics, Q&As, polls, and podcasts.  
• Introduce game-like elements into your event content, such as quizzes or challenges related to the event theme.  
• Don't forget to track the performance of your content on different platforms. 

Tip - Optimize your event content for every screen, from mobile devices to conference hall projectors. 

5. Maximize Your Event Platform’s Features

One of the top event promotion ideas is to capitalize on your event management software's features. Robust all-in-one event management solutions have several features to build brand awareness, engage potential audiences, and maximize the reach of your event content. You can use it in the following ways for event promotion: 

• Use the registration feature to build simple and aesthetic event registration pages. Ensure that they provide all event details. Tailor registration forms to gather specific information that can help personalize the attendee experience. 
• Use your platform's website builder to create branded event landing page. 
• The email marketing tools can be used to segment your audience and send personalized invitations, reminders, and post-event follow-ups.  
• Use built-in social media integration to promote your event directly from the platform. Share registration links, event updates, and countdowns on your social media profiles, and track engagement. 
• Use the event app to keep attendees engaged with push notifications, reminders, and updates. 
• Utilize the analytics features of your event platform to track engagement metrics before, during, and after the event. 

Tip: Adjust your promotional efforts based on real-time data from your event platform. Use the data to target underperforming areas and boost registrations. 

6. Run Contests and Giveaways 

Event promotion ideas like contests and giveaways tap into the competitive spirit of people. It increases awareness, boosts connections, and gives you vital audience data. The enhanced exposure through contests has a long-lasting impact. It etches your brand in the minds of people, which leads to greater involvement.  

Follow these steps when designing a contest or giveaway to promote an event.  

• Step 1: Decide the goal. It can be an increase in registrations, social media shares, or brand awareness. Accordingly, set the name of the contest. 
• Step 2: Offer prizes that resonate with your target audience, such as event tickets, exclusive experiences, or merchandise.  
• Step 3: Keep the entry rules simple. 
• Step 4: Make the contest aesthetically pleasing. 
• Step 5: Emphasize user experience. There needs to be a proper flow through which participants arrive at the campaign screen, interact with it, and receive follow-up communication. 
• Step 6: Set a deadline for entering the contest. 

Tip: Promote the contest through an email marketing campaign. 

7. Partner with Sponsors for Promotion

Partnering with sponsors is one of the strategic event promotion ideas that offers mutual benefits for both event organizers and sponsors. You should provide tailored opportunities to boost event sponsor promotions to display their brand effectively. Some examples include sponsored sessions or branded lounges. 

Joint marketing efforts with sponsors, such as social media campaigns and co-branded merchandise are also helpful to promote events. You can also start a contest sponsored by them and include their images in the contest graphic.  

Another method is to make engaging sponsor profiles in your mobile event app and connect them to your event agenda. Ensure to do so in a way that prompts attendees to constantly check them out. The app should also have a link to the website of your sponsors.  

Tip - Offer VIP perks or exclusive experiences sponsored by your partners, such as early access, meet-and-greet sessions, or exclusive content. 

8. Use Relevant Hashtags

The more creative event promotion ideas you use, the better the buzz. One of these is the use of unique hashtags. Design short and catchy ones for your event and start using them well in advance of the event date.  

Include the hashtags in all event-related posts, emails, and promotional materials to build awareness and encourage early engagement. Besides using them yourself, ask attendees, speakers, and sponsors to use the hashtags when sharing event-related content.  

Go a step ahead by integrating the hashtags in your social media walls. This keeps attendees entertained as the walls get updated in real time during the event. So, whenever a new post gets added with the event hashtag to your social platform, it will be seen on the wall. 

Tip - Combine your event hashtag with trending or popular hashtags related to your industry (#EventTech, #Conference2024, etc.) to increase visibility and reach a broader audience. 

9. Tap into Local Communities 

A collaboration with local influencers, organizations, or community groups works tremendously in creating buzz and building trust. You can set up polls and know about popular speakers in your community. Additionally, use recommendations for venues, and learn about the content that will resonate the most with your audiences by leveraging the opinions of the community.  

Engaging residents in the planning of events encourages participation and investment in the event's success. This can be achieved by inviting community members to contribute ideas or volunteer, making them feel part of the process. 

Tip: Partner with local businesses to offer event discounts or exclusive experiences for their customers, driving mutual benefits. 

10. Keep the Momentum Going Post-Event

You don't need to stop experimenting with event promotion ideas described above after the event. Keep the momentum going by sending surveys to your guests to get feedback. Promote them through email and social media.  

There are a lot of ways to use event content after the event and keep your attendees engaged. These include:  

• Creating a recap video 
• Repurposing speaker sessions into blogs 
• Turning event highlights into a meme or GIF 
• Changing the landing page by adding a Thank You banner at the top 
• Sending follow-up emails asking guests to rate the event 
• Creating an event-related newsletter 

Tip - Create a community for your event using a robust event management platform. It connects all the guests and provides you with a way to share event-related updates and bond well with your audience.  

Summing up 

No matter what your event goal is, a plan for promoting it is a must. Ensure they are measurable, so you know what works and what doesn't. Eventcombo's all-in-one event management platform has several features to simplify your promotional efforts. They help in creating buzz and ensuring that your attendees are always ready for your event. Book a free demo here.