Corporate events offer fantastic marketing opportunities for your company. However, without engaging the interest of attendees from the outset, all that hard work and planning might not have the chance to pay off.
Pop your creative hat on and promote your event in ways that bring people flocking to the venue door. Here are four key tips that work.
1. Make your invitations do the work
We all know what it’s like to sort through hundreds of emails. For the most part, generic invites are lost, deleted or quickly forgotten about. Go a step further with your invites and send them by mail, or hand deliver them to targeted audiences. While it might take some time, personalise them as much as possible.
Most importantly, make sure you boldly and specifically inform invitees of what’s in it for them. For example, if you’ve hired industry speakers, tell your guests exactly what they’ll learn. If you’re targeting families for an outdoor event, advertise that you’ll have a hot dog cart with delicious relishes and children’s entertainment, along with what you’re promoting.
2. Take full advantage of social media
Promoting your event on social media means much more than sending out a few tweets or posts. Engaging content that entices people is the key to success and this goes far beyond informing potential guests of the details alone. A great way to attract attention is to consistently highlight various aspects of the event, well in advance.
You could do this by asking one of your guest speakers to write an article or post to establish credibility and interest. Post videos of the entertainment you’re providing or of previous events. Reach out to websites in your niche and ask if they’d like to share your event news, in exchange for doing the same. If you’ve hired event catering in Sydney, upload photos of the mouthwatering food guests will enjoy.
3. Create a buzz with giveaways or competitions
Everyone loves to get something for free, right? Competitions and giveaways offer an exciting way to build interest in your event and ensure attendance because they're so hard to resist.
A competition might be a part of an entertainment schedule, in terms of a game or a quiz. A giveaway could be as simple as having a lucky door prize and including this information on invitations. If families are attending, promote free hot dogs, unlimited drinks or complementary face painting.
No matter your budget, just mentioning the words ‘free’ or ‘giveaway’, regardless of the prize, means automatic engagement.
4. Keep promoting after your event
After working hard to promote your event, don’t waste the opportunity to maintain and continue building engagement with your company. Straight after the event, connect by posting photos or videos to social media and sending email newsletters wrapping up the action. Personally call key attendees to thank them for coming or to ask them to provide valuable feedback.
By using these tips, you’ll be well on the way to successfully promoting your next corporate event!