[intro]For an event organiser, there’s one major detail that can’t go uncovered: you can plan to create the perfect event that’s right on budget and runs completely smooth, but all efforts are fruitless without the right marketing.
You have to make sure you advertise your event and these days that means going digital. No matter what type of event you’re planning or who your target audience may be, for the best reach and maximum turnout, you need to involve tech along the way.
There are plenty of digital platforms and tech options available for your event: after all, not every tool will be right for your particular event so you have to study your different options. We’ve put together some ideas and tech tools to help you to go digital for your event.
Content is King:
In the digital age, content is king and your event promotion should be no exception to this rule. Make sure your event has plenty of online promotional content when leading up to the event.
Online promotional content should be pushed across all your digital platforms before, during and after the event. Smartphones now mean that your attendees will have access to your digital content at all times so use this to your advantage.
By doing this, you can tailor you content to offer them discounted services or promotional goods simply for attending and even push content that will double up as an incentive to attend the next event, i.e. using a discounted or free tickets/drinks/entry etc. Using your content to encourage attendees to sign up with your site to benefit from discounts, prizes or competitions will also build up a list of contacts for future promotional materials.
#Trending:
Jumping on social media trends are also a great way to encourage shares, likes and online interaction in the build up to your event.
Catching on to hashtag trends or popular memes could be used for almost any event. For example, think about the way in which the World Cup utilized the selfie with the ‘show us your goal face’ online trend.
For more corporate events or for product launches, combine this with competitions to encourage image or event page shares, making sure to hashtag relevant industry keywords.
Go Mobile:
Most (if not all) of your attendees will have a smartphone so take advantage of this! Creating a mobile presence for your event can work for most types of audience: from complex, custom apps to mobile push technology to QR codes dotted around your event venue, keep in mind that there’s an opportunity for mobile marketing happening nearly every minute.
Email’s Not Dead:
Email marketing is still a great way to promote any kind of event. Taking some time to segment your contacts will be worth the time spent and could enhance your efforts significantly.
Your younger audiences will respond to media rich emails but keep in mind that these will have to be mobile friendly as the majority of these will most likely be opened from some kind of device.
Slightly older of more professional audiences may expect a more formal format and so take this into account. In both cases, segmenting your audience like this gives you the opportunity to target the individual and make your email marketing as personal to the reader as possible. This helps to avoid you looking ‘spammy’ and will encourage much more click-throughs.
It’s so important to now get your event digital – think about the last event you went to and how they utilized technology. These are just a few basic ideas but there are so many platforms, tools and gadgets for you to incorporate into your event planning. So start making plans to go tech for your event!