You cannot expect to run events without promoting them, but designing and running an effective promotion and advertising system can be complicated: budgets are often limited and compete with other essential costs.
Promoting well in today’s competitive landscape also means bringing in specialist marketing, communications and design skills, which cost money in turn and are sometimes hard to find. As if that were not enough, there is the lead time — which calls for careful planning and constant coordination — and the sheer energy a good communication and promotion campaign demands, all constrained by the need to keep attention on the many other crucial aspects of an event.
All of which means that when it comes to promoting an event, the first thing to be done is to choose between routes and activities and between tools and strategies, in an arrangement that tries to square effectiveness with efficiency as best it can. And just as often, where several of these dimensions meet, you find word of mouth: still one of the most successful forms of advertising there is — effective because people tend to trust recommendations from friends and colleagues, and efficient because it can amplify the event’s message without significant extra cost.
But how do we set word of mouth going and make the most of it, so that it delivers at a reasonable cost and on a timescale that suits our event? Email campaigns can be an excellent resource if they are structured as a series of steps that, like a funnel, progressively activate the recipients and turn them from mere receivers of communications into genuine ambassadors for the event. A precise path, but neither long nor complicated, and one that can be summed up in three stages:
1. Start with the A for awareness and anticipation
The first step is to create a series of messages capable of generating awareness and interest, and the key words at this stage are curiosity, information and anticipation. Balanced properly, they let you build a whole flow of communications that alternates moments of waiting with moments of revelation, creating a journey that satisfies both the more rational and the more emotional side of any audience. Some examples? You can start with emails that present the event in an appealing way and use intriguing subject lines to catch the recipient’s attention. You can then add progressively more informative emails, with detail explaining why the event matters, what its objectives are and what the benefits of attending will be, along with previews of notable speakers, exclusive programmes and special activities to build interest. Using engaging images, teaser videos and inspiring quotations certainly helps make each piece of content more dynamic and more attractive.
2. Activate and build engagement
Once you have their attention, the next step is to involve the audience and lead them to take specific actions: registering, completing a profile, requesting information, booking an appointment and so on. Surveys, votes or games can be very useful for getting there, because interaction prompts action, while dynamic elements such as preview videos, infographics or testimonials from past attendees can do a great deal to hold attention and build enthusiasm. Keeping communication constant and relevant is essential, which is why every message should be matched to the different stages of preparing the event and to the needs of its recipients. That not only strengthens the emotional bond with the audience but also makes it more likely that people will engage actively before, during and after the event, becoming a genuine asset to its success.
3. Turn recipients into ambassadors
The final step is to turn the recipients of the campaigns so far into genuine ambassadors for the event, not merely keen to attend but committed to promoting it actively among their own contacts. Emails that encourage people to spread the word are very useful here — through special incentives for sharing, discounts for bringing friends, exclusive access to premium content they can pass on, or public recognition such as digital badges. But the keystone holding the whole structure together at this stage is one thing and one thing only: communication with ambassadors has to be a dialogue, because only people who feel heard see themselves as protagonists and act like it, taking the success of the event on as a personal mission. That is why it is essential to be reachable and open to discussion, and to acknowledge and value each person’s contribution to spreading the event’s message. This approach not only amplifies the event’s visibility, it also creates a network of trusted supporters who can go on promoting and supporting future events too.
Can an email marketing strategy do all this? Yes, if it is well planned and well tested. It can do more, in fact: thanks to the automation available from specialist providers, once this communication flow has been set up and validated it can run on its own, saving still more time and resources.