(upbeat music)
- What's an event without guests or attendees?
Other than a pricey venue rental, not much.
That's why having a promotion strategy
to get people in the door is a must for success,
no matter what kind of event you're planning.
Luckily, you can put a solid
event marketing plan together
in just a few straightforward steps.
In this video, I'll review
what an event marketing plan is
and key components that will help you
drive ticket sales and attendance.
I'll also share a free template with examples
to help you build a promotion timeline
quickly and easily.
An event marketing plan lays out
a strategy and timeline for event promotion.
Think of it as your roadmap
for all the tools, tactics, and channels
you'll use to get word out
about your event so you can hit sales
and attendance goals.
Event marketing starts with a firm understanding
of your target audience and where they hang out.
So you can promote your event
effectively across multiple channels
like social media, email, radio, and print.
It also factors in the types of content
you'll produce to raise awareness
and ultimately guide prospects to attend your event.
One big question that always comes up is,
how far in advance you should promote your event?
The exact timing really depends
on the size and type of event you'll be hosting.
For example, you might promote
an annual business conference
six to 12 months in advance,
while monthly seminar series
would have a much shorter promotion window.
Here's an example of how you might structure
your promotion timeline for a sales or networking event.
Use the pre-launch period to define event goals,
create your event website,
establish a content strategy,
develop your sponsorship program,
and write press releases.
During the launch period,
promote the event on social media,
leverage event sponsors,
and launch email marketing,
and paid digital campaigns.
After your event, share event updates,
content and highlights via email,
social media and your blog or event website,
whatever timing you decide on,
just know the earlier you promote your event,
the more time you'll have to maximize your reach
and adjust your strategy to hit your goals.
A lot of groundwork goes into launching
and promoting an event.
So let's take a look at the basic steps
you'll wanna consider when creating
your own event marketing plan.
You should always have a way to measure success
for any event you throw.
While ticket sales and attendee numbers
will likely be your main target,
you may also wanna use your event
to launch a new product,
drive leads or increase customer retention.
Be sure to take all of these key metrics
into account when formulating a promotional strategy
and budget to make your event marketing plan
align with your big picture goals.
An event website or landing page is essential
because it's where people learn
about your event and ultimately sign up to attend.
It should establish your event brand
and provide key program and registration details.
Make sure your site is easy to navigate
with a clear call to action and optimize for mobile,
so a large portion of your audience
doesn't slip through the cracks.
Good content enables you to connect
with your target audience
and create ongoing excitement
around your event without being too salesy.
Make it easy for people to see
the benefits of attending
by sharing a clear vision
of your event's mission and value proposition.
And think about what kind of content
will work best for each marketing channel.
Wanna extend your content reach?
Consider partnering with industry leaders
to write guest posts.
Social media is a great way to promote
and build community around your event.
As with any social media campaign,
begin with your audience in mind
and create compelling and entertaining content
that people can't help but share.
Focus on the social channels that align
with your audience best,
and don't forget to create an event hashtag.
So it's easy for people to find,
follow and share your event.
Your top social channels are a natural place
to start when it comes to paid advertising,
but you may also wanna invest in retargeting ads,
pay-per-click campaigns, and display ads
on other relevant websites.
While paid ads put your event
in front of a lot more people,
you'll need to monitor performance
and update your promo strategy
to ensure you get the biggest bang
for your advertising buck.
Email can be a powerful tool
in your event marketing arsenal,
because it enables you to build
a one-to-one relationship with people.
In fact, most marketers surveyed say
email is the single most effective channel
for promoting an event.
So why not put it to work for you?
Tap into your database to announce
the event to existing customers and subscribers
and set up an email campaign to nurture prospects
and registrants before and after the event.
Event outreach helps you cast
a wider net and boost attendance.
So get to work securing sponsorships
as soon as your event launches
to build momentum early,
then collaborate with sponsors
on marketing strategies and make sure
they have the resources they need
to amplify your event.
After all, they have a stake
in your event success too.
Even in the age of information overload and digital media,
a press release can still be a valuable tool
for letting people know about your event.
The right press release,
pitched to relevant media outlets
with clear and unique event information
can drive a significant amount
of attention to your event.
We created a free event marketing plan template
to help you promote your next big event.
It's a perfect base to build on
if you wanna get a quick start on planning.
This template is a high level event
promotion timeline that outlines
when different campaign will be executed,
so you can keep track of event marketing efforts.
What it's not is a detailed breakdown
of every marketing task you'll need
to complete for each channel.
If you're looking for something like that,
check out our marketing templates.
You'll find a lot of great resources
for planning marketing campaigns there.
You can use this template to easily schedule
your event marketing timeline
with simple drag and drop functionality,
color code and filter your timeline
to view marketing efforts by phase,
and create new tasks and milestones for your event.
Here are two examples of how you can use
our event marketing template
to plan and manage promotion timelines for your event.
Again, chart enables you to schedule
marketing activities for your event
in a simple visual timeline
that's easy to update and track as work progresses.
It gives you a high level view
of your event's major promotion strategies,
while enabling you to collaborate on
and share your plan with your team and stakeholders.
TeamGantt isn't just for Gantt charts.
Transform your event marketing plan
into a calendar instantly with our calendar view.
It's perfect for seeing how event promotion timelines
stack up on any given day, week, or month.
Ready to start promoting your next event?
Use our event marketing and promotion plan template
in TeamGantt and save time on timelines set up.
Customizing the template is quick and easy,
thanks to TeamGantt drag and drop simplicity.
And since everything's online,
your whole team can collaborate
on activities in real-time.
And that's it for this video
on our event marketing plan template.
I hope you found it useful.
If you did, I'd love it
if you could return the favor
and hit the like button,
and don't forget to subscribe to our channel
and turn on notifications,
so you don't miss any of our videos.
Thanks for watching.
I'll see you next time.
(upbeat music)