An Independent HelmsBriscoe Associate | 636-678-7661 | jstone@helmsbriscoe.com

Jill Stone

Your Meeting Matchmaker Fairy Godmother

How to Be Heard – Marketing Your Event

in: Event Planning Advice

You have amazing content, you are all set to keep that audience engaged and now you need to let everyone know that this event is happening. It’s time to go to market, meeting planner! And yes, the marketing world is big, it can be confusing and it can feel like no one is listening to you when there is so much noise out there. Here are some ideas for you:

Mix It Up: Market your event on various and numerous channels; email, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, direct mail, retargeting and more. That said, do not take on more than you and your team can handle. Do what you can, in as many places as you can, but not so many that you fail to manage the process. Also, make sure you understand how to “talk” on the various channels. It’s worth researching each of the platforms before venturing in.

Email is Still In: Not only is email in, it remains a popular and highly acceptable way to communicate with your audience.

It’s Their Show Too: Your exhibitors, vendors and speakers want a big audience too! Ask them to help with the marketing. Make it easy for them by providing wording, links and visuals that can be easily added to their emails, social media and more.

Enlist the Staff: Ask volunteers, board members and staff to talk up the event on their social media!

LinkedIn: Enlist the officers of your organization to provide you with their LinkedIn connections and create an event campaign communication to their lists. The lists will need to be exported in to a CRM database, the message will need to clearly state where and from who the email originated, and there are anti-spam laws with which to comply. If you are unsure as to how to make it happen, enlist the help of a marketing company that can do so for you (I can introduce you to one if you’d like).

Help Them Attend: Create a toolkit that potential attendees can easily share with their boss in order to prove the worthiness of your program and show the value it can bring to their organization.

Direct Mail Meets Digital: The most progressive direct mail companies out there understand that combining direct mail with digital is a powerful duo (I can make an introduction with such a company for you as well!).

Your event is amazing! Market it well so more people can enjoy your awesome offering!

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