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Advertising Ideas for Events

Puja Lalwani
Events are successful only when desired number of people attend it. To get more people for events, advertising can be the most effective strategy.
Organizing an event is no simple task. It does not matter whether it is small or large. What matters is that people know about it and attend it. All your efforts at event planning will be successful when you advertise it well. Moreover, not only does the advertising matter, but also the medium through which you do it.
The psychology of various advertising methods is, the grander the campaign, the more audience it will attract. These methods depend on the type and scale of the event you are having. The promotional methods for a charity event will be different from those of a rock concert.
Also, your events promotion and marketing campaign should fit within the budget allotted for the event. Fortunately, not every method is extravagant and expensive.

Identify Your Audience

What kind of audience are you targeting for the event? Is it a group of youngsters for a rock concert, or is it a group of businessmen for a corporate event? Depending on your audience, your techniques and marketing strategies will vary.

The Ideas

Get Good Sponsors

The kind of sponsors you get for an event gives the audience an idea about how good the event might be. If it is a well-known company that sponsors your event, audiences will be able to identify with it, and may consider attending the event.
If you get little-known companies as sponsors, it may affect the attendance. It is a psychological aspect that is involved in advertising.
Getting sponsors is a difficult job, but you can try to get a mix of some well-known and some little-known sponsors to strike a right balance. This will also help you use their database to connect to an audience, and the sponsors too will use their own advertising to get you the audience.

Make Radio & Newspaper Announcements

Perhaps the most traditional advertising technique, radio announcements and newspaper advertisements are still most effective for events. The announcement should not be made way in advance, or way too close to the date of the event. A minimum of 2 week notice should be given to your audience.
To further attract more people, give out free tickets or prizes to the listeners and readers upon answering a few simple questions. This will also increase the word-of-mouth publicity. These offers can go on even until the last day to attract a good audience.

Billboards Still Work

Banners on billboards are very helpful. Of course, you have to determine whether it fits within your budget, because it is slightly expensive.
Moreover, the use of billboard also depends on the scale of the event. You needn't put up an advertisement for a garage sale on a billboard. Billboard advertising is more useful if it is a large-scale event such as a food festival, a sports event, or a music festival, etc.

Use Well-Designed Posters

Posters are another valuable technique. Hire professionals to design your posters, because they indeed have a great impact on the audience. Depending on the type of event, the poster will vary. Put up these posters in the necessary areas.
For instance, if it is an event for youngsters, put them up in colleges, at local fast-food joints, and other places where they will catch attention. You may even design different posters and put them up through the planning phase, to keep the audience's attention and to attract a larger audience.

Make the Most of the Internet

If you have a database of e-mail addresses, send out the event details to people via this medium. Moreover, use all your social networking accounts such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc., to tell people about the upcoming event.
Facebook even has an events application that allows you to post the venue, date, and time of the event, and ask other users to send their RSVP. This is one of the new methods that will help you gain a valuable audience for your event.
You can also utilize different smartphone apps such as Whatsapp, Line, etc., to inform more people about your event.

Hand out Flyers

You would assume that posters and flyers have the same function, but there is a difference. For one, you cannot send out posters to a large audience. In such a case, the flyers are more helpful.
Flyers can be distributed at street corners. Flyers can also be put up on windshields, and sent out with the local newspaper. They definitely help you attract a larger group of people as audience for your event. The flyer designs, posters, and newspaper advertisements should be the same, or at least have a common background to advertise the event.

Give out Souvenirs

Based on event, you could give promotional products as caps or t-shirts to those who book the tickets early or to all who attend.
This will leave behind a good and positive memory in the minds of the audiences and it will increase your recall value.
Keeping a log of the number of people that attended the event, and where they heard about the it will help you get an idea about which one of your ideas was most effective. This will help you focus your energy towards the right marketing campaign for the next event you hold. Lastly, ensure that the actual event matches up to your advertising campaign.