Event Planning - Event Marketing (Part VII)

Collecting contact information and building regular attendance

People often refer to email marketing as a goldmine, stating that it's where they really earn their revenue. It might lead one to ponder the specific reasons that make email marketing so effective.

The key lies in the fact that individuals seldom change their email addresses. Email is a personal medium to contact someone, and most people do not overlook their emails. They notice all significant emails, and if your emails have a low "open rate," it's because recipients opt not to open them, not because they didn't see them.

If your emails consistently offer great value, pique interest, or provide entertainment, and recipients view them as valuable, it's likely that they will be opened and read, or at least skimmed.

The intimate re-engagement and consistent ability to connect with people are precisely why email marketing is an essential component of your marketing toolkit.

Collecting email addresses and promoting upcoming events through email campaigns is often more effective than using social platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok, as emails are less likely to be overlooked than social media announcements.

Outlined below are the optimal moments and strategies for gathering email addresses and contact details:

• Collect email addresses when people sign up for your events online,

• During the event registration process,

• While running raffles and prize giveaways

• Offer incentives for providing an email address, such as free items.

• Promote your email sign-up on social media and remind attendees during the event to subscribe to your newsletter for notifications of future events.

• Offer exclusive discounts on future events to those who sign up.

• Use website pop-ups to encourage sign-ups, and if feasible, display your website URL and social media handles prominently at the event.

Pre-event build up with email marketing

Events are inherently social experiences, which naturally positions social media as an ideal platform for their promotion.

Establish a Facebook group, Instagram account, and Twitter account to share event photos. Consider posting on LinkedIn as well.

Begin by creating a distinctive hashtag for your events. Including at least one hashtag in your posts can boost your reach by 10-20% on various social media platforms. Utilizing multiple hashtags may further extend your reach, but avoid excessive use as it can render your post difficult to read and give off a spammy impression. Employ the hashtag yourself and inform your attendees about it. Ensure the hashtag is concise, memorable, and incorporates your brand. For instance, if your company is named XYZ, consider using #xyzevents or #xyzcommunity. This fosters a continuous social media conversation around your events, encouraging attendee participation. It also provides insights into attendee feedback and generates more excitement around your events than you could alone.

Additionally, you can capitalize on existing hashtags. For instance, when promoting event discounts on social media, you can include hashtags such as #discounts or #sale in your posts. Utilizing local hashtags is also beneficial. For example, if your event is taking place in New York, hashtags like #NYC, #NewYork, or #NYCEvents can be used to increase visibility.

Another strategy to generate excitement before the event is to engage with speakers, fellow organizers, or sponsors on social media. Sharing each other's content and cross-promoting to your respective followers can significantly extend your social media presence. This public interaction will capture people's attention and enhance the event's appeal.

Utilizing your personal connections for social media marketing can be beneficial. If privacy is not a major concern, leveraging your personal network can provide substantial support, increase content sharing, and boost event attendance.

Additionally, it's beneficial to share a wealth of excellent content from other thought leaders within your niche. They may notice and share your posts, which can earn their favor and potentially attract some of their social media followers to you.

Utilizing beautiful and inspiring images can make your social media posts stand out. This often results in increased attention, engagement, and comments, which may contribute to higher event attendance.

If you're short on time for social media marketing, you can automate and schedule your tweets and social posts well in advance with tools such as HootSuite or Buffer.

Genadinik, Alex, Event (2014) Planning: Management & Marketing For Successful Events, Kindle, ISBN: 1519178204, 

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