No matter what time of year it is, you can bet that there is a great event happening somewhere - it may even be yours! If planning an event is on your agenda, a good place to start is with a great, versatile venue in a great location, like the Salem Convention Center. But once your event is booked and planning is underway, how do you let people know about your event? It's all about marketing. Planning and marketing a major event can take a lot of time and energy. For all that work you're putting in, you want to make sure you have good attendance, with a successful outcome. That's why marketing an event is so important to get the word out. You can't just HOPE that someone shows up - you have to do the legwork to get them there. Here are a few event planning tips, straight from some of our expert event planners and team members, that can help you through the marketing process and reach the people that will enjoy and benefit from your event. Know Your Target Audience Once you have an idea and begin to plan your event, ask yourself who your event is for. Who is likely to be interested in your event? Ask yourself what your attendees might gain from coming, and what is the best timing for this event? By catering to the interests and needs of the people you are wanting to reach, you can drum up excitement about attending. Beginning about 6 months before the event, you can start planting the seeds of anticipation in your attendees. Using phrases like, “Coming Soon!” or “Don't miss this!” can begin to stir up some curiosity about what's coming up. Once you know who you'd like to reach, your next step is to advertise to places and platforms where these people are likely to be found. Getting the Word Out People spend a lot of time online, so starting with social media platforms, emails, and frequented websites are good ways to get some attention about your upcoming event. Of course, promoting the event on your own website is essential to let people know what's happening. For example, creating a hashtag specific to your event that can be used in social media posts to direct potential attendees to your site for more information can be helpful. And don't forget the value of good ol' fashioned local networking! Getting out in the community and letting people know about your event is a great way to spread the word. Marketing Through Email People can get a lot of good information through an email. You can include early-bird sales and specials to those on your email list, as well as using it to provide a good reminder that they came to last year's event, and that it's happening again! If you have a list of contacts from a previous event, sending emails to let them know something is coming up again, can be a great way to get the ball rolling. Press releases and other pre-event activities can help grab people's attention too and direct them to your website for more information. Remember to provide a link for registration or to buy tickets. Build anticipation by letting them know when tickets will come on sale for this event too! Marketing Through Social Media Social media is another good way to announce and promote your event, share information, and include updates. By posting timely, ongoing notices, you can engage with your followers and keep them interested in the months leading up to the event. Build excitement by counting down the days in ongoing story stickers on Instagram. And if you had a similar event last year, include photos and captions that help them recall their memories of it. Social media is also a great place to get a conversation going by placing a call-to-action at the end of your post caption. Ask people to comment on what they liked best about the event last year, or what they're most looking forward to this year. You can also ask them to tag a friend that they're planning to invite to get them participating. Marketing Through Local Networking Building relationships with other people and organizations is a great way to share information about your event and create new professional connections along the way. You may even gain some new ideas and perspectives by broadening your horizons. If you plan to have vendors at your event, be sure and let them know they can post about the upcoming event too. Encourage them to promote through their contacts and networking outlets. After all, it's to their advantage to have exposure to more attendees in order to get more eyes (and potentially dollars) at their booths. Local businesses that may have an interest in your event might also be willing to help promote it. For example, if your event is focused on a certain topic, like home and garden projects, you might approach businesses that sell or build products related to what your event is offering, like nurseries or hardware stores. Having a flier they can post on a billboard or window that includes a QR code can be a great way to attract more visitors to your website, and thus to your event. The more publicity you can find, the more people you will reach. Get Creative Be creative and think of how you can let people know about your event and what they can gain by attending. Utilize eye-catching photos and graphics, likely made from photos of the previous years event, to entice people to attend. Pre-event interviews can get people talking about it, and the more you can keep the idea fresh in their minds, the more you can continue to promote attendance. This can be done through local media outlets such as radio, TV, and print advertising. Giveaways and contests for free tickets can get people excited and interested in your event too. Even paid ads on social media can grab attention and direct people to your website for more information. Having a clear marketing strategy can help make your event a success. By using a combination of media outlets, local connections, and the right event venue, creative marketing is an effective way to get the attendance you want for a successful event. If you have questions about the best way to plan your event and need a space to host, reach out for expert advice from our event coordinators. We're here to help your next event at the Salem Convention Center be a success!
