5 Online Strategies For Creating Event Buzz Fast!
When you’re hosting an event, you’ve got to start getting the word out somewhere; the best place to start is online. If you want to grow your event’s awareness FAST, use these strategies to get people talking.
Ticket Giveaways
Ticket giveaways are opportunities to increase event exposure while boosting ticket sales and brand awareness. One of the fastest ways to boost your event's following and create interest is to host a giveaway ONLINE.
With various platforms to work with (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram ...) you have a lot to work with when doing ticket giveaways. Social media is a common way to promote a giveaway. Before conducting your giveaway, make sure to review the following:
- Make sure the requirements to enter the giveaway clearly enhance the exposure of your event - for example, on Facebook, make sure people like and share the post that has all the details of your event; you're not only expanding your event's awareness but increasing your platform's followers.
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Customize your giveaway to work with the platform you are using. For example, on Twitter, have people retweet your post announcing the event (make sure you include a link for people to see more details). Instagram, have them tag a friend to go with them and leave a comment. Facebook, they can be required to share the post with at least 5 friends. Make sense?
If you are serious about hosting a social media giveaway, we recommend checking out this guide on putting together your giveaway.
Early Bird Specials
Most people don’t think about using early bird ticket sales and discounts to promote their events online. Early bird specials are used to offer an attractive price to possible customers when event organizers start off advertising their event. This strategy is an effective way to create a buzz about the impending event early on so it will gain popularity and catch the attention of a wider audience over time.
Besides creating early ticket sales and event talk, there are a lot of benefits that come with offering early bird specials and promoting price deals. Check them out below!
Partner With Community Influencers
Think about partnering up with community influencers or sponsors; also known as influencer marketing.
According to Social Media Today, “influencer marketing delivers 11x higher ROI than traditional forms of marketing, and 94% of marketers who’ve used influencer marketing found it to be a very effective tactic.” It’s important that you choose a sponsor who is well-liked and somewhat well-known in your community or industry. Even better if the person or group is related to your event in some way. For example, a well-known local musician may be a good rep to help promote your event if you’re trying to sell tickets to their concert.
Think about it, 70% of teens trust their favorite influencers more than celebrities. And 4 in 10 Millennials trust influencers more than their own family! In fact, 3/4 of all people have based purchasing decisions on things they see on social media! That's huge.
What does all of this mean? It means that the average ROI for influencer campaigns is $6.50 for ever $1 spent. We’ll give you a second to take that in. To learn more about picking in influencer that is right for your campaign, click below.
Social Media Campaigns and Promotions
With so many people on social media platforms today, using social media campaigns is a very effective way to promote your event. We suggest taking advantage of all the platforms you can when promoting your event.
Facebook: Facebook can target a specific demographic to increase your conversion rate using Facebook ads or events. According to Omnicore, Facebook users are 43% female and 57% male. Of all the people on the internet, 83% of Women & 75% of Men use Facebook. 62% of online Seniors aged 65+ are on Facebook and 72% are between age 50-64. 88% of online users of age 18-29 are on Facebook, 84% of those 30-49.
Snapchat: Snapchat is another booming social media platform that is quickly rising to the top, but underused by event marketers. Snapchat uses geofilters, which is desirable for location based event advertising. Geofilters are not only a fun way to spice up your photos with filter overlays, but they also let mobile users add a location. This can be specific to a city, community, and even an event. Did someone say free advertising???
Instagram: Instagram gives you the creativity you need to advertise your event online in a fun way. Consider posting behind-the-scenes images or going live during the making of your event. Create an event hashtag to spread the word, tag artists, use past attendees' photos, etc. According to Hootsuite, the demographics of Instagram is ages 13–17: 57 million (7%) Ages 18–24: 270 million (32%) Ages 25–34: 270 million (32%) Ages 35–44: 131 million (15%).
Event Videos: Youtube
Almost everyone uses Youtube today. To break it down based on age groups, 96% ages 18-24, 95% ages 25-34, 90% ages 35-44, 85% ages 45-54, 79% ages 55-64, and 66% ages 65-75.
YouTube Live is another popular live-streaming service that is widely used by many people such as event promoters and for hybrid events. Out of all the online platforms, YouTube has become the most widely used platform for videos in the world.
Take advantage of this platform and post videos on YouTube to build momentum and create interest for your event. Be sure to be authentic, tell a story about the event and capture the magic! Then keep the buzz going by linking the video to Facebook posts and tweets while encouraging viewers to register for the event in the description below.
These five strategies are not just a way to get more ticket sales, but also an effective way to establish brand awareness and build your online presence. With a strong and reputable brand name, people always come back for more.
