All About The Details

SELL YOUR AUDIENCE ON ATTENDING

Even if it is the 100^th year of the event you are planning you still worry about if people will attend. As the planner of the event, you are responsible for marketing your event to the right audience. You want to motivate people to attend your event.

MARKETING TOOLS: 

Example of promotional materials used for Cascadia Wildland’s 11th Annual Wonderland Auction
Source: Cascadia Wildlands

There are many tools available to you. Some options include: direct mail, newsletters, press releases, posters, word of mouth, paid advertising, etc. Don’t just rely on previous successful methods. Times change and so do dissemination methods. Your best tool is to give your audience a good reason to attend.

ADVERTISING TOOLS:
There are hundreds of outlets where you can spend your advertising money. Some options include, radio newsprint, magazines, television, social media, websites, direct mail, etc. When deciding which medium you want to use, consider which ones your intended audience uses.

While going through the marketing planning process I like to go through a pre-planned process where I hit certain areas. Some of these include:

1. Determine your target audience
2. Gather examples of ideas and printed pieces that you have liked in the past
3. Settle on a relevant theme
4. Divide key components to your marketing campaign: teasers, promotional gifts, invitations, posters, brochures, press releases, advertising, etc.
5. Set up a timeline for when each piece should be disseminated

Once all the craziness of the event has settled, it is important to take some time and analyze the success of each marketing effort.  These methods can be as simple as asking your guests how they heard about the event or using online tracking methods to measure what outlets attendees learned about the event. Use this data when trying to plan your marketing efforts for future events.