Whether your event is online or in-person, working hard to create a spectacular event is only half the work - now you have to work out how to catch your audience’s attention and secure those attendees. There are a number of tried and tested routes that our conference organisers use to ensure maximum attendance.
The idea is to create a buzz surrounding your event and excite your attendees in the lead up to the event. Pre-event content marketing is extremely important to creating a successful event, and as planners, we’d love to share some of our most successful tactics. Now, more than ever, these steps are especially important to keep your audience engaged and excited on an ongoing basis.
Sneak peek or behind the scenes content on your social channels
Showing your audience a sneak peak of what’s to come or sharing some content from behind the scenes of the event and planning will be much more engaging than just the standard event details. Remember that people retain images and information that is visual, much more than audio information. Visual appeal is evident from engagement statistics on different posts and platforms so it’s highly important to share images that will catch people’s eye and yield engagement.
Share short informative video content from your key speakers
If you’ve already revealed speakers, you may want to share a snippet of them covering a topic you’ve going to be diving deeper in to during the event. Going that step further will get your guests on board with the ethos and purpose of your event. You could even ask a sponsor to write a short blurb or video which will draw attendees in and capture their attention. This content is also really sharable, so encourage people to tag their friends and spread the word.
Leave clues to tease your audience
Whether it’s an event open to the public, industry specific professionals or company employees this is a great way to add excitement in the lead up to your event. Dropping small clues, riddles or images will all get your attendees thinking about and anticipating the event ahead of the day. This can be done through the workplace, out in public areas, or via purpose-built emails so be sure to consider this one when you want to get your audiences mind on your event. Be as creative as you can with this one, the more creative the more likely you’ll catch your audience’s attention.
Hashtags
Creating an event specific hashtag will not only create a buzz around your event prior to the date but also keep the content alive and linked post-event. Hashtags are a great way to link content and other important elements to the event, as well as previous events. Again, get creative with this - #Thecompanyconference2021 isn’t going to get people excited, and isn’t unique. Try and think outside of the box - you could use this to create another layer of mystery behind the theming.
Get your attendees involved by re-sharing their images or testimonials from previous events
Pushing out content from previous events will create a great buzz and excitement, as attendees are reminded of the success of previous events if they’ve attended before. To new attendees, it adds another level of trust that you are able to deliver what you’re promising. By engaging attendees you’re making them part of the event and the excitement which will not only make them feel values and included but also make your event look welcoming to others.
Influencer Marketing
There’s no denying that influencer marketing can really assist in promoting your event. It’s important to plan this approach very carefully. It can be difficult to navigate your way in the influencer world – you need to make sure you choose someone who can represent the company, ethos and event in the right way, whilst also reaching the correct audience. Given the correct platform and the right influencer this can propel your event from something no one knows about to something everyone is talking about!
Choose the right time and platform
Lastly, we mentioned a point that to most seems obvious but is often a big downfall for event marketing. Choosing the right platform for your audience and posting at the right time. Creating great content alone will not assure you get those attendees to log in or attend. You need to make sure you are putting it out there in the right places for your audience to see and at a time that is most likely to gain their attention. There’s a lot of research out there about each of the platforms, so if you’re tackling event marketing alone, take a look at the statics before you commit.
There are many ways to create excitement in the lead up to an event and there isn’t a straightforward formula that works for every one. Hopefully some of these ideas will work for you and your event as they’ve proven successful over the years for our many events. If you’re still unsure or would like some extra guidance, we have a dedicated communications manager in house and would love to help you market your event!