A lot will happen up to the day of your event. Understanding it all and keeping it in mind can also be tough, also when you have to execute the event. Therefore, you'll have this guide to keep you grounded on what you need to remember 12 weeks before your event day.
We'll go through how you should promote your event, how to create an event marketing plan, and a checklist for your event promotion.
At least 12 weeks before your event, there are a few things you should have done to prepare. Read along to ensure you have everything checked off.
If you want to sell out as much as possible, you should create an event page at least 12 weeks before your event date.
Your event page should reflect you as an organiser and your event's DNA. It should contain enough information to answer the most common questions, but your page should not be too long, as this will feel overwhelming to the ticket buyer.
There are plenty of platforms you can use for your event. You can read more about each of the most popular ticketing platforms and how they create value for you and your event here: Which ticketing platform you should choose for your event.
If you use Billetto for your event, you'll get the fastest and best checkout on the market. With Billetto, you can also add the event chat agent to answer questions asked by ticket buyers on your event page. You prompt the chatbot to respond in your own tone of voice and brand style, and let it handle all the questions, so you can focus on your event.
Create an event with Billetto today.
Just as you should create your event page at least 12 weeks before the event date, you should also open up ticket sales. Even though you might think your event is the best, you need to give your current and potential followers time to decide whether to attend.
When you open up for ticket sales, you should promote it on your social media channels - both personal and professional.
If you want a guide on how to sell tickets for your event, you can read more here: The complete guide on how to sell tickets for events.
Begin by doing email marketing. Even though it might seem like an outdated form of marketing, compared to social media marketing, email marketing can still be very effective. Globally, around 400 billion emails are sent and received every day. Although that sounds like a lot and for sure not all are read, they still appear directly in front of potential ticket buyers, which might lead to a sale.
With Billetto, you can send emails to your followers to inform them about your new event.
Remember to use your network when promoting your event. While papers were once the most effective way to promote, social media has now taken on that role. It's not only young people who are on social media and see adverts.
There are 4 different age groups on social media: Gen Z (13 to 29-year-olds), Millennials (30 to 49-year-olds), Gen X (50 to 64-year-olds) and Baby Boomers (65+ year-olds). This means that unless your event is made for aliens, who do not fit into the four groups but create their own, your event should reach possible ticket buyers or followers.
Reaching out to influencers helps you reach your audience. For big events, it's good to reach out to bigger influencers in your field. However, one should not estimate micro-influencers with a couple of thousand followers. Those are typically more engaging and actively watch their posts.
6 weeks, we're getting close to your event. Here is where you need to put in some extra work to sell out. Introducing paid media.
Since you should still post on your own channels, they might not have the biggest reach, so you should consider paying for social media ads to reach your target audience.
It does not have to cost your entire event budget; there are affordable options that help you reach a wider audience. A paid specialist is expensive and unnecessary if you are hosting smaller events; instead, you could use Billetto Advertising - a no-cure, no-pay solution that helps sell an average of 20% more tickets. And the best part - you only pay for what you sell with the feature, meaning all the attention you get is all on us.
Read more about Billetto Advertising and the value it creates.
A month before your event, you might still have tickets left; then it's time to focus on retargeting to see if you can reach an audience beyond your target audience. Because, in the end, the goal is to sell out.
You can use Billetto to reach other audiences, understand who might also be interested in your event, and see where they are located.
Read this blog post to see how you can reach audiences: Audiences 2.0 - Get to know your guests like never before.
If you still have tickets left 2 weeks before your event, you can focus on doing urgency campaigns. These could be initiatives like "Last chance - all tickets are almost gone!" or ticket offers like "Get a free drink when you buy a ticket".
These are just last-minute initiatives to try to sell out all your tickets. Otherwise, you could try adding a little more of your budget to paid ads to create last-minute hype.
Additionally, you can send more emails reminding your followers about your event if they haven't bought their tickets yet.
The last week before your event is when you send out final messages and promote your event. You can also tease the event venue, design, and artists. Show your followers that you are becoming ready. Also, show potential ticket buyers what they are missing out on.
Congratulations, you completed your event! Bet it was awesome! Although the event has finished, there are some things you need to do to keep momentum before your next event.
The first is to collect reviews on your event. Write out and ask your attendees for feedback - both the positive and the negative. Remember, positive feedback is great, but negative or constructive feedback is where you really learn something.
Lastly, you should promote future events via email, social media, and other media you used for your event. This will keep engagement high.