Most event organizers know the feeling: an event is looming in the all-too-near future, and the guest list isn't what your sponsors, supervisors, and attendees are expecting. It can be tough to figure out how to attract people to an event, but fear not—we've got you covered. Here, we'll take a look at exactly what you need to do to boost event attendance fast.
Attract Attendees To Your Event By Understanding Your Target Market
It's key to know the demographic you want to reach in order to draw people to your event. If you're looking for people who have a common interest (for example, attending a sporting event or music festival), you'll want to learn more about where people with those interests spend their time, both in real life and online.
In addition to understanding the interests of your target market, you'll also need to understand other demographic factors, such as average age, income level, family size, and more. When you understand your target market, you can work to remove barriers to their attendance. If you're working to attract a younger crowd, your advertising will look different than if you're trying to attract retirees.
Promote Your Event The Right Way
To boost event attendance, you need to let your target market know that the event is happening. It's key to understand the best way to reach them in order to get them excited about what you have to offer.
Email Marketing To Boost Event Attendance
For some age groups (such as older adults), email is a perfect fit for boosting event attendance. Younger groups are less likely to read marketing emails. The good news: in many cases, email is a free or low-cost option that can increase brand awareness (even if your email list members only notice your brand information in the subject line).
If you decide to use an email marketing service in your quest for how to attract people to an event, you'll likely be able to see how many people on your marketing list actually open your email. This can help you and your marketing team figure out what type of subject line is the best fit for your target market. While it can take some time to figure out exactly what gets your target market to open their emails, keeping an eye out for trends from year to year can provide some insight into exactly what subject lines attract your target market to your virtual event, hybrid event, or in-person event.
Remember, you'll also want to customize your email marketing based on your target market's experience with your event. If you have a group of people who have attended your event in the past, it can be helpful to include pictures from previous events, fun facts about the success of previous events, and other information that will help them recall the fun they had last time, encouraging them to come back and enjoy the event again.
Use Social Media To Attract Attendees To Your Event
Social media marketing is key for spreading the word about your event, especially if you're working to boost attendance at the last minute. It's important to know where your target market hangs out online in order to reach them effectively through social media.
Most adults in the United States use YouTube and Facebook, and both of these platforms can be effective in attracting people to your event. If you're specifically looking to engage the under-30 crowd, it's smart to use Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat to get them on board.
In addition to using social media to advertise your event, you'll also want to get your staff and other key event organizers on board with promoting the event on their personal pages. Tagging people who have attended the event in the past can go a long way in getting the word out. When people see that their friends are posting about an event, they feel a more personal connection to the idea of attending than they do when they simply see a targeted ad.
Much like email marketing, if people see a reminder of the fun that they had at a past event in an ad, they may be more likely to decide to attend again. Share fun moments from events of previous years—especially in photo and video format—and be sure to tag people in the photos so that their friends and family also become interested in learning more about the event.
Build Excitement To Maximize Event Attendance
Advertising is a great first step in maximizing event attendance, but you'll also want to build hype around the event to help people get excited about what's to come. Remember, it can take people some time to figure out how to promote an event and get people to commit to attending, and building excitement is an important first step to helping people decide to learn more.
How To Attract People To An Event: Create a YouTube Channel
YouTube isn't just for advertising your event and trying to get people to commit to attending. You can also use the platform to build hype surrounding the event. The videos that you post don't need to be perfectly edited or lengthy—they can simply show the process you and your team are going through to create an awesome event, from setting up the space to meetings discussing giveaways and food options.
When you post a video on your YouTube channel, it's important to boost brand awareness by pushing the video out on several social media platforms, as well as sending the link out to your email listserv. Videos typically perform well on social media—it can be smart to push out a YouTube link as a part of a paid advertisement on Facebook or Instagram to help ensure that your target market is likely to see what you've put together.
How To Attract Attendees To Your Event: Create an Infographic
Infographics are a quick, simple way to share information about your event, and provide your target market with the information they need to decide whether they'd like to attend without forcing them to scroll through long blocks of text.
Infographics can share a wide variety of information, from statistics on last year's event performance to information on the amount of time and planning that's going into this year's event. Be sure to include some fun facts in your infographic (such as the number of drinks consumed at the previous year's event, or the number of pigs-in-a-blanket the crowd went through) to keep your target market interested.
How To Attract People To An Event: Promote the Event Agenda
All too often, event organizers leave the event agenda until the last minute. Speakers may be slow to confirm, presenters may be hesitant to commit—all issues that can make it tough to let attendees know exactly what to expect. Sending out a solid agenda, however, is key for building hype around the event.
Remember, it's ok to make changes to the agenda down the line. Sending out a tentative agenda is better than sending out no agenda at all, and allows potential attendees to get a sense of what they're paying for when they decide that they'd like to attend.
How To Attract Attendees To Your Event: Use the Latest Event Tech
We get it—if you've always done your event a certain way, you may be hesitant to open up to new changes. Using the latest event app and event tech, however, can show guests that you're keeping up with the latest technology to make the event the best that it can be.
Be upfront with your guests about issues from past events that will be solved using your new technology. If you had RSVP issues in the past, a slow check-in process, or difficulty with scheduling, let your guests know how your new technology is working to mitigate past issues. When guests see that you've listened to their feedback from previous events, they may be more likely to decide to step up and attend this year.
How To Attract People To An Event: The Bottom Line
At 6Connex, we know how much work you put into your events, and we understand how hard it can be when the day of the event is fast-approaching and your numbers aren't where you need them to be. Our fully customizable event platform and event app is here to help. Our dedicated staff will work with you to create the solutions that you need to make your event the best that it can be. Reach out to us today to learn more about how our platform can work for your virtual, hybrid, or in-person event.
