When the pandemic swept the globe, the events industry seemed to be put on hold. Conferences, festivals, business workshops to fashion, and cultural events have been affected.

But the world adapted. Virtual events happened in place of the cancelled shows. There was a sudden influx of content online to market events.

Now, with the world slowly getting back to its feet, how can your event stand out from all the noise and get the spotlight it deserves?

A successful event, whether online or in-person, is every organizer’s dream. Filling the room with people chatting, buzzing with activities, and attendees wanting more after each event looks like a perfect scenario. But without people knowing your event, how can you fill up a room?

Here’s a guide to help you craft the best event marketing plan to attract the right people and, well, get them to attend.

1. Get to know your target audience.

First and foremost, your event won’t get the attention it deserves if you’re targeting the wrong people.

Before you start marketing, know the people to who you are going to market your event. This will help you decide on the information and content you’ll create to connect with the audience you want. There are several ways to do that.

• Use Analytics. There is no best place to start than starting with your numbers. Use data to make informed decisions about your customers or the people interacting with your website or channels – looking into their demographics like age and location, and then digging deeper than the surface level.
• Create Psychographics. Once you’ve narrowed down your audience using data, it’s time to know “why” they interact with you. “What is their buying behaviour? What are their interests? Why should they attend? What value does this event bring them?” List down the answer to these so you can pinpoint the best message for these people.
• Run a Little Survey. If you want to know your audience a little more, you can try sending out a little survey. It can be through email or social media. Try to keep it short and simple so it won’t take up too much time.

2. Create the right content

Creating the right content for the right people is crucial to marketing an event successfully. Remember that it should consist of three phases: pre-event, during the event, and post-event.

Pre-event content consists of all the promotional content you’ll be creating and sending out. Content ranges from emails, social media posts, press releases, or blog posts.

When creating content to market your event, it’s important to take note of the following:

• Website or Event Landing Page

Create a website or dedicated event landing page where potential guests can get all the event information they need. You can host this on your website or create it from a listing website.

• Events Page on Social Media

Time to use the power of social media in marketing your event. You can create Facebook event pages to help generate the buzz you want. LinkedIn also has the Events features that allow you to create professional events such as seminars,  meetups, or online workshops.

Social media event pages can be very beneficial in marketing any event. You can reach people outside of your current following and share content easily with people interested in attending. You can even use it for follow-up campaigns after the event.

• Promotional Materials

In creating assets for your event, always remember to stick to your event branding. As you’ll create tons of graphics like photo and video content, a cohesive and consistent look should always be observed.

Take the time to figure out the best content to share before, during, and after the event. You might want to stick to short animated videos during the event promotion stage. Answering questions about why people should attend and then giving them brief event details. During-event content, event photos, and videos should do the work. Post-event posts should include feedback and testimonials from guests. This helps build your reputation as an event organizer while keeping attendees’ interest in your next event.

3. Calendar your activities

Now that you’ve managed to figure out the people you want to target and have created the perfect content for this audience, now is the time to calendar all your activities. A good marketing plan should always feature a sensible calendar that will work best for you – one that highlights your event in a special way.

A calendar will help you plot out the key deadlines leading up to your event.

These steps might help you:

• Mark the final event date on your calendar.
• If you have deadlines and tasks, mark them out on the calendar as well. If you’re running a series of content coming out, include the writing deadlines and publishing deadlines on the calendar. This helps you keep track of everything.
• Plan how and when each content is coming out. When does your promotion start? When is the social media post for the last day of ticket selling coming out? Make sure you plot everything out on the calendar, so nothing gets lost.

Here’s a sample marketing calendar to help you get started:

• 3 months before the event
  • Event landing page designed and published
  • Registration page working
  • Event logo finalized
  • Early bird discounts set up
  • Launch announcement on social media and email
  • Reach out to possible partners and promoters
• 2 months before the event
  • Two blog posts about why people should attend
  • Tie up with a popular blog site to reach out to new people
  • Share blog content on social media
  • Start social media content promotion
  • Announcement of the end of early-bird discounts
• 1 month before the event
  • Final blog post to attract last-minute sales
  • Social media content on full blast
  • Planning and schedule of during-event posts

Now that you’ve set up a well-thought-of event marketing plan, it’s time to execute it. There are tons of marketing tools and event ticketing platforms available to help you navigate event planning and marketing. Leverage the use of these tools with your marketing plan so you can sit back and watch as ticket sales go in.