Planning Tips, Passions & Experiences: Marketing your Event

The interview I had to today helped me come up with a new blog topic - marketing your event. You have confirmed the venue, the event date and planned out all the details but you need to remember to properly market your event. Some event planners have another company or department help with the marketing of their event but a lot of them do the marketing themselves. One of the things that makes an event successful is the high attendance numbers and if you do the proper marketing you may see this (there are other factors that contribute to high attendance numbers - ticket price, value to the attendee etc.).

There are a number of ways to market your event, here are some of my suggestions:

Use Social Media - Promote your event through LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, your blog (if you have one) and any other social media you can think of. The way we communicate and market products/services has changed and social media is in the fore front. It's really important to use this medium to market your event as many people use social media as their news/activity resource.
Promote through related associations. Promote your event through an association (ie. a gaming event would be connected to a gaming association) if it is related to an association/industry. You can market your event through their newsletters, emailers, website and any other marketing tools that they have.
Go to Networking Functions. If it is relevant, go to networking functions to promote your event. When you are at a networking event, you are meant to talk about yourself and what you do. It is a perfect opportunity to promote your upcoming events.
Use Event Listings. Use free and paid event listings online and in the paper. It's a great way to get the word out fast about your event.
Make a Website. If applicable, make a website that will have all the event details, including registration. If you already have an existing website, you can promote your event through there.
Get a Print Ad. If your budget allows, use print advertising in newspapers and other print media to promote your event. Make sure to use a print publication that is relevant to your event and has a similar target audience as your event.
Put up Posters. Design a poster with your event details and put them up around your city. Depending on who you are targeting, you can place the posters in community centers, libraries, and on poles (that allow postering).