Whether you’re hosting a one-week camp or a one-hour seminar, you need to make people aware of the event in order for it to be successful.
Here are 5 useful event marketing tips to help get those seats filled:
1. Promote your events through ALL communication outlets REPEATEDLY.
Your target audience is overloaded with information, so you need to put yourself in front of them again and again.
Repeatedly spread the word about your event across all marketing channels.
- Send e-mails to prospects several times before the event date with a link to the registration page.
- Post about your event on your social media networks at least once a week (again, include a link to the online registration page).
- Ask staff to mention the event at the front desk, and at the beginning and end of classes and lessons.
- Post flyers around your facility.
- Make calls to invite your members.
2. Get everyone involved with promoting the event.
Beyond your staff, ask your members, friends, and local businesses to help spread the word about your event. Those that help promote the event, and feel a part of it, are more likely to attend and bring family and friends.
3. Add video and pictures to your promotions.
Videos and photos are more likely to get the attention of your prospects, plus they add visual interest to your promotions.
Record a short 20-30 second video clip of a happy member that has just attended one of your events.
Take pictures of happy students in action during your next tournament or camp.
Include the videos and photos in your marketing emails and social media posts to make that human connection and show prospective registrants all the fun they’ll have.
4. Set a capacity and promote the limited availability.
Put a limit on the number of spots available at your event to get people to take action right away. Rather than waiting, prospective registrants are more likely to register since there’s a good chance they could miss out on the opportunity if they stall.
Advertise how many spots are left as the event date draws near by posting about it on your social media pages regularly.
5. Build in an added bonus to encourage early sign-ups.
You’ll see most events offer an early bird price break for those that register by a certain date. This is an effective tactic used to get people to take action early on, rather than waiting to register days before the event.
As an alternative, you could provide a tangible gift ― such as a T-shirt — to those that register by a specific date.
Either way, an incentive tied to a deadline is almost guaranteed to give you a nice spike in event registrations.