The first step to successful event marketing is to ensure you have the right foundation. The event itself may be fantastic, but if your marketing and user journey from ticket booking to post-event isn’t optimised, you could be missing out.
Here are the key things you need to consider to make your event a success, year on year.
It all starts with getting your event out there. Like any effective advertising, it’s all about planning. Think of who you’re trying to reach, where you’re advertising, and what media channels will get you there.
Understanding your intended audience will help you decide which will be the most effective forms to advertise your event.
For us, a Google Ads Display campaign is a must, and Google Video where possible. With great targeting options and a pay-per-click system, Google is the best bet to get in front of the right audience, in the right place, at the right time (even for smaller events).
Another avenue to leverage is social media advertising via platforms like Meta and TikTok. Social media ads can help you reach new and targeted audiences and enable engagement with your event, creating a ‘buzz’.
And don’t forget about traditional media such as TV, radio, and carefully placed print ads, if your budget allows.
As the anchor of all your marketing, your website needs to authenticate your organisation.
It should contain all the information about your event in an easily-accesible way and let users know what to do next. Consider:
That leads us to the next point:
If you don’t have a seamless booking experience, you’re missing out on sales. Audiences expect to be able to easily jump on any device and pre-purchase tickets.
Online ticketing provides more information than traditional ticketing solutions, enabling you to forecast attendance, plan accordingly, and mitigate loss of sales due to non-desirable weather. It’s also an easier way to manage ticket purchases and cash flow.
From EventBrite to Trybooking, there is an assortment of online event ticketing systems to suit your ticketing requirements—for both you, as organisers, and your customers. These portals can be embedded onto your website and shared directly via your EMS and social media.
Ensure this online booking integration is reflected at the event—there’s no point having online ticketing but checking a name off a printed spreadsheet at the gate!
Plus, consider having a dedicated queue for online tickets to encourage pre-sales.
Another benefit of moving to online ticketing is that it enables you to build and/or expand on your own marketing database.
This database can be used for email and SMS marketing efforts to send out information and reminders in the lead up to the event.
After ticket purchase, you can configure an EMS journey thanking the customer for purchasing tickets and providing them with key information in the lead up to the event.
This is handy not only for conveying key updates (e.g. weather), but also to promote your other products, events, opportunities, etc.
Woohoo, your event was a success! What now?
There are still opportunities after your event to get brand engagement and valuable feedback. Continue utilising your database and channels to share post-event information such as results, donation totals, photography, etc.
There are many survey platforms out there to collect attendee feedback (even MailChimp). Receiving feedback can give you useful insights about your event and how you can improve next year.
Review this feedback and your ticket sales, attendee information, refunds, social media, and more to help you make informed decisions for next year.
What makes us the event marketing experts?
CoBright is the marketing and web design partner of a range of events in Toowoomba and the Darling Downs. Our digital marketing and platform integration projects includes:
