Events planning and promotion has changed in the last few years. Since COVID struck, almost all events have become hybrid – whether it’s a comedy show with a live-stream option, a trade show selling online tickets to meet and greets and demonstrations, or a conference with keynote speeches streamed asynchronously for any-time viewing. It stands to reason that as events themselves have changed, event promotion probably has too! As our online lives become more and more intertwined with who we are offline, eventpromotion ideas have to live within both the online and offline worlds. This trend can be seen in the rise of QR codes, viral social media marketing, and deals delivered via email and push notifications. With that in mind, let’s explore the ten event promotion ideas you must try this year to gain traction for your event, and your brand, in 2023.
1. Offer Coupons and Early Bird Discounts
Coupons are a classic, but they work across industries for event promotion. You could offer digital coupons for signing up to email updates about an upcoming event, or as a reward for buying from your company or perhaps attending another event. You may even be able to build a reciprocal arrangement with another business in your area – you give out their coupons, and they give out yours.
2. Get the Basics Right
You could run the best event promotion campaign ever, but it won’t work if you don’t have the basics down. For a great event, you need to:
- Know your audience
- Understand the goals of the event
- Start planning early
- Budget carefully
- Come up with a killer name
As you can see, a lot of this is marketing. As a brand, you should know your audience well already, and from there you can build out event goals. Is it for publicity? To make sales? To promote a new product or service? The answer to these questions will also come in handy when coming up with a name that draws your desired audience in and represents what the event is going to be like. A quick and dirty tip here? Use a naming agency! Sites like Squadhelp are great value and can save you time and money in the long run while maximizing profits from the event.
3. Make Your Event… An Event
Accessibility has been massively improved by hybrid and online events, and event promotion has had to change too! Now, you can watch a show in Australia from your home in Tennessee, attend a conference while looking after your kids, or avoid crowd anxiety by going to a talk online instead of in person. But at the end of the day, there is something magic about meeting people IRL and having physical experiences. Especially if physical tickets are more expensive than online options, you need to provide bang for your guests’ buck. Honestly, we’re all still a bit overexcited and overwhelmed by leaving the house, so you have to make it worth people’s while to do so! This might mean the chance to meet industry leaders, a live performance of some kind, a gourmet meal or drinks included in the IRL ticket price, or a room full of therapy puppies on site! This is a great one to brainstorm with your team. What would you love at an event? What would persuade you to leave the house and travel? When have you been pleasantly surprised by a cute little extra at an event you were already interested in? Whatever you decide, use it in your advertising!
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4. Save Everyone’s Time With QR Codes
It’s time to admit something big…
They finally made QR Codes happen. And all it took was a global pandemic! Now that we're finally all using them we’ve been forced to admit that quick response codes, more often called QR codes, are actually quite useful. You can use QR codes on packaging or products, traditional billboards, and online. If you want to create buzz, you could even hide QR codes around town on stickers on fliers to get people talking (and clicking). For event promotion, QR codes can lead to the event page, or straight to the sales page for tickets depending on how much other information has already been reliably delivered. If a QR code leads to your general website you will probably need to follow it up with targeted and retargeted ads.
5. Test, Track, and Target Ads
Advertising is easy. Well, it is if you’re not doing it very well!
Good advertising means doing far more than just chucking one ad at everyone who visits your site or paying for a single Google Ads spot. You should A/B test your ads with specific target demographics (aka the potential audiences for your event) and then target and retarget ads at those people. Retargeting can be particularly effective. How many times have you looked an event up, thought ‘Hmm, maybe’ and absentmindedly clicked off its website and onto, say, Instagram?
Yeh, me too. Well, with ad retargeting ads for that same event will begin appearing on other sites. It’s like a little nudge ‘remember me?!’ the retargeted ads say. And 43% of the time they work. I mean, the potential customer has already proved they’re interested in your event after all!
6. Register On Event Discovery Sites
In a mostly post-paper age, people rarely just pick up a local magazine with event listings while they’re waiting for a cappuccino in their local coffee shop. But never fear! We have something better. Event discovery sites. Some are one-size-fits-all, like Eventbrite, while others cater to specific industries. For example, Motley Crowd is built to promote immersive online events. Spend a little time searching and you’re sure to find event discovery sites that work for your brand. And remember, you can hedge your bets by appearing on more than one site of this type.
7. Leverage Social Media
These days, leveraging social media is a lot more complicated than just making a Facebook event page. The first step? Finding out where your target audience hangs out. If you’re throwing a corporate event, think LinkedIn. If you’re trying to sell to Millennials, Instagram is probably a good shout, with Twitter a close second. Gen Z? They’re on TikTok of course. From there, you’ll want to post regularly, giving a little more information every time. You want to keep people interested, so drip feed the need-to-know info a little at a time until tickets are released.
8. Involve Influencers
On a similar note, if you can afford to, you should use influencer marketing to promote your event. This might sound expensive and difficult, but if you take some time to search a little you’ll probably find micro-influencers in your exact niche. Their reach won’t be as wide as macro influencers, but everyone they’re connected to will be interested in your business and your event.
9. Create Engaging Video Content
Want to stand a chance of going viral? Create video content to promote your event. Videos should be diverse and interesting, with a regular posting schedule leading up to your event. Footage from past events makes a great ‘highlight reel’ style video, while shorter taster
videos that raise questions are a great way to build interest. You could show a short glimpse of a venue, drop hints as to who might be at the event, and even show some behind-the- scenes event organizing. Whether your event is primarily online, genuinely hybrid, or unmissable in person, video content is a great way to create genuine excitement among potential visitors.
10. Merch Never Gets Old
Merch is important, but these days it has to be both useful and sustainable. Your guests will remember you and evangelize for future events if they’re utilizing the merch they got last year every day. Forget cheap plastic pens and sheaves of paper promotions – some great ideas for modern practical merchandise include keeping cups or protective phone cases made of recycled plastic, promotions and coupons delivered via QR Code, and organic cotton tote bags.
Final Thoughts on Event Promotion Ideas You Must Try On 2023
Throwing a great event is useless if no one attends! For that reason, promoting your event is just as important as planning it. You should be approaching event marketing and promotion with as much seriousness as you approach marketing your products and services, but don’t forget, ultimately you want an event to be enjoyable! That’s easier to achieve if your audience is already convinced they’re going to have a good time. That can be achieved by using all the smart event promotion ideas outlined in this article.
Grant Polachek is the head of branding for Squadhelp.com, 3X Inc 5000 startup and disruptive naming agency. Squadhelp has reviewed more than 1 million names and curated a collection of the best available names on the web today. We are also the world's leading crowdsource naming platform, supporting clients from early-stage startups to Fortune 500 companies.
