Events bring people together around a common theme, purpose, or celebration. Promoting the event well is essential in order to reach the ideal event attendees to let them know about your event and to get them to attend and make your event a success! Here are 10 tips on promoting your next event and photos from a variety of events to get you inspired!
- Select and curate a collection of images taken at the last event(s) (if it’s an event you’ve had before) that show different aspects of the event that would appeal to your ideal event attendees to be used in marketing this event.
2. Promote the event across social media, using images of the event that would appeal to your ideal event attendees.
- Make sure to re-size the image to the optimal size for each platform
- Create a hashtag just for your specific event
- Use this hashtag in posts and encourage attendees to use it as well
3. Take (or have the photographer take) behind the scenes photos of the event planning and preparation and share these across your event marketing channels!
4. Consult with or hire an event planner, especially for large events.
5. Consulting with or hiring a marketing agency to promote the event is also helpful, especially if you don’t have a dedicated marketing person on your staff.
6. Get companies or organizations to sponsor your event.
- Reach out to companies or organizations that would have an interest in sponsoring your event, such as they may be interested in sponsoring it due to the event location or the type of event is one that would appeal to their ideal customers
- Also ask them to help promote it in ways such as sharing your posts about the event on social media, posting flyers about the event in their place of business, etc.
7. Ask vendors you’ve hired for the event, such as the caterer and photographer(s), to share posts about the event across their marketing channels as well. They’re probably just as excited about the event as you are and would love to help promote it!
8. Have a contest or a giveaway that would be attractive to your ideal event attendees.
9. Reach out to news outlets and publications, as well as bloggers and social media influencers; they might be interested in doing a news story about your event while it’s still in the planning or preparation stages.
10. Be creative! Brainstorm some unique, interesting ways that would work for your type of event to get people excited and interested in it!
For more tips on promoting events check out these articles:
- 16 Ways to Use Social Media to Use Social Media to Promote Your Event by Kimberly Reynolds. Social Media Examiner. (3/5/2015).
- 20 Simple Ways to Promote Your Event Using Social Media by Chelsea Aventosa. Canva Design School Blog. (6/9/2016)
- Event Promotion 101: 15 Creative Ways To Market Your Event by Will in Event Marketing at OneSpot Social. (5/28/2015).
- Top 27 Event Marketing Ideas The Pros Use by Maggie Aland. Fit Small Business.com. (12/15/2016).
Jillian Regan is a professional photographer based in Charlottesville, VA. She focuses on event, corporate/commercial (for business / organizations / freelance professionals), and equine / equestrian (horses) photography. She enjoys creating images that help visually tell the story in a brand’s unique voice in ways that help them better visually communicate with their ideal customers, clients, or event attendees.