According to Momentum Worldwide, events are the most effective brand experience. Attending an event drives 65% of people to recommend a brand and 59% to enter the sales funnel. One way to increase the number of people who attend your event is to reach out to specific groups with an active interest in the subject of your event.
You’re probably already familiar with the typical tactics to promote an event: print and digital advertising, social media, press releases. To help narrow down where to advertise, always consider:
- Who is my target audience?
- What are they reading and listening to
- Where are they congregating?
Follow a similar methodology when reaching out.
The benefits of reaching out to groups who already have an interest in the subject of your event
Let’s say, for example, that you’re hosting a lecture about your town’s role in a specific historical event. There are likely regional or state clubs, groups or organizations built around an interest in local history. There are historical landmarks, historical museums, historical societies, even historical re-enactors. That means there is already an audience that is likely to be interested in attending your event. If you can reach out to them, you are likely to increase attendance to your own event.
Start your outreach efforts by calling the organizer of each group and personally inviting them and their members to attend. Be sure to follow up with a detailed email, poster or invitation that will be easy for them to share. The easier you make it to share your information, the more likely it is to get disseminated to the right people.
Reach out as far ahead of time as you can. Even if they are especially interested, they’ll need time to share your event on their social media, website or newsletter. And if any group makes a commendable showing (if they bring a lot of people or help out in some way) be sure to thank them at the event.
Plan ahead to capture attendees’ contact information.
Take advantage of the opportunity to make as many personal connections at your event as possible. Have a plan for gathering contact information of the attendees. Then, when you next offer an event with a similar topic, you have a list of people who were interested before and could be interested again.
Reaching out will help maximize your marketing.
Events can help increase awareness of your organization. Making a personal connection with groups already interested in your event topic is a great way to expand your reach. Building a contact list of attendees can be invaluable, too. Use it to stay connected through postcard mailings, email blasts and website blog posts. Of course, always include a link to your website in each moment of outreach.