7 Essential Steps For Event Promotion
It’s 2022, the sun seems to be setting on the pandemic or at the very least it seems to be letting up a bit. Most states in the US are lifting restrictions and the number of cases seems to be dwindling finally…(insert - your preferred superstition…i.e. knock on wood, throw salt over your shoulder or whatever keeps the boogeyman out from under your bed). With these changes to how we can live and move about the world initiated the return of in person events.
But here’s an honest question for you. Have you really planned an event if you haven't planned one that flopped? I.e. no one showed up or worse no one even knew that there was something to show up for in the first place. If you are like me, you’ve been there. The first thing I learned about planning events was that promotion is arguably the hardest and most important part, but it doesn’t have to be. If you’ve got some events coming up, here are 7 essentials that will help you promote it well.
7 Essential Steps For Event Promotion
Step 1 - Start with a plan.
You’ve heard before, “Failing to plan, is planning to fail.” but it’s true. You have to have a solid plan and then run the play. Especially if you are doing the same or similar events regularly you are going to want to have a plan that you use and reuse. If you use and reuse your plan, you’ll learn what things need to be done earlier, what things are actually a waste and what things you need to add to your plan for next time.
So no matter what you do, start with a plan. That being said, don't think about it in a rigid format, but rather think of your next event in movements or moments in time than just one big long series of events. We found this podcast / article from Ideo to be super helpful in thinking through the movements / moments of our events, interviews, and even how we plan out meetings internally. Thanks Ideo!
Step 2 - Develop a content strategy.
We like to start with the big picture content strategy first. Meaning, we seek to define what the primary pieces of content we are going to leverage to promote the event. It could be video content, could be ads, or perhaps a fun NFT.
Once we have the strategy defined and the big pieces of content that we’ll need to support the overall strategy, we can move on to building a content calendar.
Step 3 - Build a content calendar.
Once the strategy is defined, we build a content calendar specific to the promotion. Each piece of content needs to work together and it shouldn't feel repetitive. This is only achieved through thoughtfully planning the content calendar.
Through the process of creating the content calendar for promotion, it will likely display some holes or rather needs for additional creative content to be created later in the process.
Additionally, be sure that your promotional content is mixed. Meaning, make sure you have some video content, a GIF or two, some short form written content, some carousel posts and perhaps a blog or other longer form written content.
Step 4 - Create promo content.
Once you have completed the aforementioned steps…its time to create the content. This should literally just be a punch list of all the different pieces needed to complete the content calendar.
We like to create promotional content that fits within our partners current brand guides. The reason we do this is to make the promotional content feel like it fits within the overall brand’s content so that promotion feels natural and integrated with the rest of their brand and content.
Not sure what we mean? Look at the Big Red campaign we did for Benchmark Coffee Traders. Here's a series of instagram stories that walks through the what, the how, and the story behind the coffee. While this product and the events that surrounded it were branded as the Big Red product, they fit neatly within the Benchmark brand as a whole.
So when you are building promotional content, don’t feel the need to reinvent the wheel but rather seek to build your content that will sit neatly within or under the umbrella of your existing brand.
Step 5 - Build a press kit.
This is a big one. Even if you aren’t going to be having guest speaker(s), it will still behoove you to create a press kit. Why? Because it helps you and your team to think, thoroughly, through the most crucial elements of your next event.
What things should be in your Press Kit? I’m glad you asked. Here’s the minimum requirements for a press kit:
Intro - Define why you are hosting the event, what it is, what folks can expect, etc.
Demographics - who’s your audience?
Event Mechanics - How will the event work? Think about key times, elements, if someone is speaking define how that process will work. Will someone announce the speaker? If so, who is doing this? What will they say? Will the event start on time or will it start 5 minutes late? Will there be anything served, like food and drinks?
Promotion Calendar & Requests for Promotion - Share how you will promote the event and also request how others can promote the event too.
Promotion Collateral - Make sure you define where folks can find the pertinent info about the event to promote it on their end. Don’t forget to add a few recommended posts to keep things as consistent as possible.
Hashtags - If you are going to have specific hashtags, you want the folks who are going to be promoting and cross promoting the events to use, share the hashtags with them.
Social Handles - Make sure you share what your social handles are. The goal here is just to keep things as easy as possible for folks.
Key Info - i.e. masks required? Vax Card? Or maybe a secret password?
Main Questions - If you’ll be interviewing someone, share the key questions that you are going to ask them so they can get a sense for where the conversation will be headed.
Contact Info - Make sure you share key contact info so guests can get a hold of the right people.
Step 6 - Make a funnel.
You know the last time you needed to top off your car with oil and you didn’t have a funnel? Likely, only half of that $8 quart of oil ended up inside your engine…the rest ended up all over the outside of the engine. Then your car smoked for a while until the heat of the engine burnt the remaining oil off of the engine. About that time, you are likely thinking to yourself, “I should really just keep a funnel in my trunk”. Yes! You should always have a funnel both in your car and for whatever campaign you are running. Whether it’s event promotion, getting folks to sign up for your newsletter, or just for lead gen.
Think of building a funnel as if a dear friend was visiting you from out of town. You aren’t just going to sit on the couch and talk about the cool things in your city or town…you are going to engage them in your community by showing them what makes your area special. You’ll think about all the important things for them to see, the places they have to eat and where you are going to take them for a cocktail.
Think of building your funnel in this way. Seek to engage your target audience rather than just pointing to the link to buy a ticket. Plan out their experience of learning about this event. Perhaps you film a video explaining the event. Perhaps you create a gif that showcases what they’ll learn from the event. Just make sure that once you build the funnel, you also go through the process and do it with a critical eye. Look for any sources of friction and anything that doesn’t make sense or is an extra step that can be cut out.
Just as important as the conversion, is the follow up after they’ve made it through your funnel. What sort of follow up happens after they’ve bought a ticket? Perhaps you send them a fun little gif they can post on their socials to get folks pumped about the event and also helps to lead new folks to your funnel.
The key with building a funnel is to think of this experientially & pragmatically. A good funnel will execute on both elements.
Step 7 - Execute
There are a lot of amazing ideas for events that just don’t get executed on. This is where the rubber meets the road. Additionally, there are quite a lot of events that are just “ok”ideas but have excellent execution and they are amazing events. No matter what, you have to execute.
Here’s to absolutely rocking your next event!
Are you planning an event but need help branding it, promoting it or producing content for the event? We'd love to help. You can reach us at thelevco@gmail.com.
Be well,
Luke & The LC Team