If you have consistent events to promote your business, you know that it can be challenging to get people to attend. Here are some tips on how you can successfully promote your next business event:
- Create an online Event Page– this page will be the central hub for the information about your event. The event page will include the details of the event including date, time, location, RSVP ability, etc. A great tool to use to create an event landing page is Constant Constant’s Essential Toolkit which includes the online event creation tool (used to be EventSpot). Learn more…
- Send an event email to your email list- Evites are great because they are easy and convenient. You should send between 3 to 4 emails before the actual event. The first email should be a “save the date” email, the second email should be the actually event invitation, the third should be a reminder email, and the fourth one should be a “don’t miss out email”. I recommend starting this series of emails four weeks before the event. You can also use the Constant Constant’s Essential Toolkit to send event emails to your email list.
- Send an old-fashioned invitation in the mail– People receive so many emails that sometimes an e-vite can get lost in the shuffle. Sending an actual invitation in the mail can be more costly (card, envelope, stamp, etc), but it is almost a guaranteed way to make sure people actually see your invitation. A great tool to use to automate the sending of cards is SendOutCards. SendOutCards is an online greeting card and gifts company. The system allows you to upload the information for your contacts, select an invitation from their card gallery, or create a card from scratch, customize and even personalize the card, and then it will be printed, stuffed, and mailed out to your contacts for you. Learn more…
- Create an event on Facebook– Facebook is a great social network to promote events. When you create an event within Facebook, it makes it easy to invite people via Facebook, and also makes it easy to promote the event via Facebook. You can include a link to your actual event page on the Facebook page, so everyone is directed to one event page.
- Create an event hashtag (#Event)– Using an event hashtag helps to create a buzz for your event. This especially works on social networks such as Twitter and Instagram, but can also work well on other social networks like Facebook. It makes it easy for people to search for comments or pictures regarding the event, and is also a great way for people to start conversations about the event and make connections before, during, and after the event.
- Promote your event on several social networks– Although Facebook is one of the largest social networks, you can get a lot of success by promoting your event on various social networks where your target audience may exist like LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Google+, etc. A great tool to use to automate your social media posts is hootsuite. You can load all of your event posts in the system and schedule them to go out over an extended period of time on various social networks. Learn more….
- Offer special event promotions- another great way to get more people to your event is to offer a special incentive. This incentive could be anything from a swag bag, to a special drawing, to a discount, etc. People always like to know that they are getting something for FREE or they are getting a great deal.
What techniques do you use to promote your business events? What other tools would you suggest that helps to promote events?