You can’t expect to sell out your event unless people know when and where it will take place. Social media networking, business partnerships, press releases, email and flyers are all excellent ways to promote an event. However, you shouldn’t overlook word of mouth marketing.
Choose the Right Date
If you want to increase attendance through word of mouth marketing, you’ll need to a choose an appropriate date. Avoid dates that fall on holidays or other special occasions, which could otherwise draw attention away from your event. Instead, schedule your event on a day (or days) when there’s no other major events taking place. You want your target audience to associate your event with its scheduled date, as this keeps people talking about it.
Hire Professional Entertainment
Another tactic that event planners use to get people talking about their event is hiring professional entertainment. Whether it’s a live band, disc jockey or a magician, you should make your event entertaining. And once you’ve chosen a professional entertainment service, you can let attendants and prospects know about it in your marketing material. Some of your guests may share the message with their friends and family, who also spread the word about your event’s planned entertainment.
Design High-Quality Promotional Material
Without seeing and experiencing the event in person, prospective guests must decide whether or not to attend your event by looking at your promotional material. Therefore, poorly designed promotional material can have a negative impact on ticket sales, discouraging prospects from buying tickets and attending your event. On the other hand, professionally designed promotional material can increase ticket sales while encouraging prospects to talk about your event.
Share Rich Media Online
To further strengthen your word-of-mouth marketing efforts, share rich media of your event online. Videos and photos of past events, for instance, can be uploaded to your website and/or social media profiles.
Give Away Something for Free
You can reach an entirely different audience demographic by hosting a contest or sweepstakes with your event. For instance, you could randomly select a single guest, rewarding him or her with a free gift. If you choose this route, promote your giveaway in your event’s marketing material. This can ignite a powerful word-of-mouth marketing campaign, with users spreading the message about your event’s giveaway.
These are just a few simple yet effective ways to create a strong word-of-mouth marketing campaign for your event.
Photo credit: Lisa Verhas