The event is set, the invitations have been sent and the RSVPs are looking good. You are all set to throw a huge event. However, come the day of the event, the venue fills up dreadfully slowly, there is no buzz in the air and it’s already 15 minutes past registration time. Maybe there was a train breakdown you didn’t know about or a crazy traffic jam that blocked up all incoming roads.
Or, maybe people just forgot about your event.
No event planner wants to face that crushing disappointment and sense of defeat. Here are 6 cost-effective ways to prevent such a turnout and ensure people remember to come for your event.
1. Memorable content marketing
Content marketing that is interesting and well-targeted can be extremely powerful in building a brand for your event and getting event-goers excited. Communicating the event well will mean that
- Event-goers immediately know what kind of experience to associate your event with
- Your event is marketed clearly with meaningful and catchy slogans so that your event-goers can share it with their friends easily through word-of-mouth
- Event details and registration links are easily found. It is preferable to set up an event page and ticketing site all-in-one to make it seamless for event-goers
- Your event is shareable on social media
Memorability is of course dependent on the quality of your content which can make or break engagement with target audience.
Don’t just rely on blogs or pictures, why not dabble in fun videos as well! Visuals, in particular videos engage your audience longer and generate more clicks! This builds a more lasting impression and helps your event stay in the minds of your audience longer as well! (I hope you click ours as well!)
To stay on budget, content marketing can be directed at individual bloggers for cross-promotion. In fact, they may be more effective than traditional media because they have closer connections with niche audiences. Many events like music concerts, parenting events, fashion shows, food festivals and tech events are leveraging on individual bloggers to feature their events and it has been very successful.
2. Consistent social media engagement up to the event day
Your social media strategy can help complement your content marketing strategy. Social media is great to give your event the final push after content marketing has established a credible presence. Social media should be closely based on your content marketing strategy rather than decoupled from it. Adapt content from your main content marketing strategy to be more efficient as well!
More importantly, social media engagement needs to be consistent. While social media is great to give your event the final push, it cannot be done last minute. You need to build rapport with the audience first. This team needs to be dedicated to:
- Creating a community where the event or company is seen as the clear supporter of the community. You can start a Facebook or Meetup group early on before the event
- Identifying negative sentiments and rectifying them. If people are saying the event is lacking in certain ways, listen and engage them in tackling any pre-event problems
- Building-up engagement to the event day itself to ensure the event stays in people’s heads. Post useful content or interesting aspects of the event. Get people excited with giveaways or backstage passes. Avoid spam at all costs.
- Engaging community in planning event by using polls
- Post trivia such as “Did you know…?”
- A countdown is useful in adding to the buzz nearer the event day
- On the day engagement is very important as well. Remember to remind your attendees to use the hashtags you’ve created. You could get people to like your group to access resources or enter lucky draws!
- Post engagement such as posting photos of the event can get people excited about the next event and gives memorable closure to event
Social media engagement is a must for events targeted at a younger audience.
3. Timing content release strategically
It is also very important to time the release of content strategically. Put effort and thought into your editorial calendar. Pushing out content too closely together can lead to media fatigue. Releases that are too far apart can leave your audience hanging and even forget about your event as time goes by.
By strategically releasing content as well as linking it to public holidays and current affairs, every media push is maximised rather than drowned out.
4. Listing on event directories and other portals
Easy and usually free of charge, listing your event on event directories and lifestyle portals such as Yelp, Timeout, InSing in Singapore can help your event gain exposure to wider audiences.
But again, be strategic in choosing directories and lifestyle portals. Pitch your event to make it as relevant as possible for the event directory.
You can also list your event on any association, community, affiliate or event calendars who reach out to your target audience.
Check out this list of event directory websites you can start with!
5. Group discount tickets
People like finding friends to go to events with so offering a group discount gives them more incentive to spread the word about your event and bring more people to your event!
And when people come to your events in groups, they tend to remember it better when as they have a friend to remind them about it.
6. Invest in event registration management software
Event planners have so much on their minds that it’s easy to neglect the very people the event was planned for. An event registration management software helps make event-going convenient for event-goers and helps simplify the management of attendance and ticketing for event planners.
Registration management software allows event attendees to save the event in their calendars when they access the event page. They also allow event planners to blast email reminders nearer the event date in a click of a button. These event pages are also easy to share on social media and makes it easier for event attendees to invite their friends.
By having event-goers register even if the event is free, event-goers have to stay on the registration page longer to fill out their particulars and this helps them remember the event details better. At the same time, the registration management software provides flexibility to event organisers to make the forms as simple as possible so that it is as easy as possible for event-goers to register. The software also automatically sends a further confirmation email to event attendees after they have registered, making it even harder for them to forget the event.
Want to try out free event registration software that can help you increase efficiency substantially? EventNook can help you set up an event page for free if it’s a free event!
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