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Donald Trump-Event Promoter?

June 6, 2012 By Comments

photo by blog.reidreport.com

It seems we’re seeing “The Donald” a lot more as of late. I know, I know. He seems to be a spokesperson for a lot of companies lately. And he’s also a major contributor and supporter to Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign. We’ll see how that pays off down the road, won’t we.

Careful What You Ask for, Especially When Promoting Political Events

I am going to give you a little tip here on how to promote an event – never ask a question that you really don’t know the answer to. Or another way of putting it is; never ask a question that can potentially lead to embarrassing answers.

Often, as part of political events, the candidate will offer themselves to the winner of a contest. Of course these types of promotions are done as ways of raising campaign money. Certainly nothing wrong as many politicians will do this to raise the much-needed campaign funds.

Donald Trump Is Learning How to Promote an Event the Hard Way

Promoting an event, or rather how to promote an event, can be a difficult task and can take some mastering. Unfortunately, for Mr. Trump, it seems he’s not taking the time to learn how to promote events properly.

The Romney campaign decided that it would run an event promotion to have dinner with Mitt Romney and Donald Trump. To Republican voters this could be enough of a draw to make them want to contribute to Mitt Romney’s campaign. At least that was the hopes of the campaign itself. So Mr. Trump took to Twitter (he seems to like twitter as of late) and posed the following question:

Donald Trump promoting an event on twitter

Now, again, it’s not so much about the event itself. With this, it’s more about the way the question is posed. Or, more importantly, it’s about the question itself that was posed. As you can guess, twitter world went abuzz with people answering Mr. Trump’s question. And I’m sure you can guess, most of the answers are not even fit to print in this article. So instead I am posting a link so that you go and take a look yourself (but don’t forget I did warn you). Click here to see the twitter community’s answers to Donald Trump’s question.

With event promotion communication is the key. But the take away here is that you’d better be careful what you ask for because you just may get the answers that are really on everybody’s mind.

 

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Conference Planning Tips on Promoting Events

January 17, 2012 By Comments

For many of you involved with conference planning, you’re all too familiar with the term “the devil is in the details”. It’s hard enough to set up the conference or event itself but then being tasked with  promoting the event can add a whole other stress level to your workload. In other words, for many of you, including myself, one of the toughest challenge to conference planning is promoting the conference or event itself. After all there’s nothing worse than having the big event day arrive and only a half filled room.

Conference and Event Planning Tip for Promoting-It’s All about Your List

First thing I ask a party and event planner about promoting their event, is who are they going to invite. First and foremost you need a good clean list that you can promote your event to. And you have to make sure that your list is the right audience. We’ve all heard the term “opt in” list. And today it’s becoming more and more common to have a double opt in list. If you currently do not have a clean opt in list then making one should be priority number one for you. Unless you have very deep pockets to do an extensive advertising campaign for your conference or event then it’s vital that you have a current database that is relevant to the conference planning you’re doing. Opt in basically means that the person on your list has requested to receive information or to be part of your overall database. The term double opt in means that the person has not only requested to receive information, they have also completed the additional step of verifying that it was indeed them that requested to be added to your list. An event planning checklist should include techniques for promoting events. And more importantly time to develop your list properly

The old days of just collecting names and e-mail addresses are quickly becoming a thing of the past. Social media can play a vital role in helping you create a clean opt in list. Unfortunately there is no quick fix or expedited track to developing a clean list. It takes time to build an opt in list as you’re basically establishing yourself as someone to be trusted on the topic you’re talking about within your industry. And that takes time.

Other telltale signs that your current list may need to be revisited are the stats that you can review from an e-mail blast that you have completed. Today, most all e-mail marketing software will provide you with statistics. Here are a few areas that you can review and evaluate your current database;

Bounces- (or more specifically hard bounces). Bounces are usually referred to as either hard or soft bounces. A soft bounced e-mail can generally mean that you are out of office or on vacation and may have an auto responder replying to any e-mails that you receive. A hard bounce, on the other hand, means that the e-mail address doesn’t exist anymore. Basically it’s in your better interest to remove your hard bounces often as you can run the risk of being flagged as a spammer if you continually send additional e-mails to hard bounced e-mail addresses.

Opt outs and reported as spam – for my guidelines, I always want my opt outs to be well under 1%. Averages for opt outs vary by industry but it’s safe to say that if you aim for 1% or lower you are in a safe range.

Open rates – while we would all like to think that 100% of our e-mails sent are opened the reality is that the majority will never be opened. A good open percentage could be anywhere from 15% to 30+ percent depending on your industry.

Conference Planning and Promoting-There Are Great Resources at Your Fingertips

Today promoting an event is a crucial component for conference planning. For any of you setting up a marketing campaign you would be best served to read up and become aware of what your e-mail marketing benchmarks should be. MarketingSherpa provides a yearly e-mail marketing benchmark guide. This guide provides very useful information on what you can expect, or rather should expect, from your e-mail marketing campaigns for your industry. If you’re not hitting your conference planning targets then it’s very likely assign that your database list needs to be reworked. While this is no easy task it is crucial that your list is relevant and geared towards topics in your industry. A quick look at your e-mail distribution stats will give you an idea of what work may or may not lie ahead for you.

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Promoting an Event – Nobody Does it Better than Kim Kardashian

November 5, 2011 By Comments

Photo courtesy of Damian Morys Foto on flickr

You’re probably wondering if I’m out of my mind…read on.

Promoting an event can be one of the most important parts of event planning. Whether it’s for a fundraiser, a product launch or even a social event, promotion is the name of the game. Once all those planning ducks are in a row, it is imperative to concentrate on the promotional end of things.

Just turn on the TV or radio, or go on line to Twitter or Facebook (or any social media outlet) and you will see some great examples of event promotion. Whether you were one of the millions that watched their “wedding” or not, we all have to admit, Kim Kardashian is a master at promoting an event. Yes, her product is herself but she has proven time and again that, above all, her self-promotion skills are beyond extraordinary.

Promoting an Event – Part One

It’s a fact that from start to finish, the high speed “Kardashian” promotion train blasted out of the station and never looked back. Not only do they publicize and promote everything in their lives from soup to nuts, they make what seems like every second of Kim’s romantic relationships public.

They took a new, brief and possibly even passing relationship and exposed and broadcasted it to the masses. They promoted, prompted and publicized all the gory details until millions of viewers took the bait and became involved. It was like a car accident; you didn’t want to look but just couldn’t help yourself. Then they sold those same viewers on a “wedding” and got millions to watch yet again. If that’s where the story ended, we would all agree that it was a successful case in promoting an event.

However…

Promoting an Event – Part Two

Seventy two days later the marriage is off and there are rumors, speculation and accusations that every component of their relationship was, and is, a hoax. So the question remains, was this successful promotion or not?

Honestly, I’m not sure if there even is a correct answer. But what I do know for sure is they got exactly the results they desired. So some would term this exercise, regardless of the consequences, a success.

Promoting An Event – Lessons Learned by US!

By giving promotion some advance thought, you will be able to go the distance and get the most out of your efforts. Here are a few tips to get you started on the right road to event promotion.

Audience – I can’t say this enough,  one of the most important pieces of event promotion is to know your audience. Once you pinpoint who is your audience is, it will help you narrow down the various advertising outlets you can utilize.

Approach – Once you determine your audience, you can then decide which media channels are applicable. Typically when blue printing your approach, several media areas are engaged. Whether its social media like Twitter and Facebook, TV, radio, newspaper, websites, billboards or word of mouth. And remember, don’t just advertise in the area of your event, be sure to include the location of your audience in all your advertising.

Time-line – Once audience and approach are established, it is key to set up a promotional timeline. By scheduling accurate promotion lead time you will be that much closer to ensuring success. The reason for promoting an event is to drive traffic and get your audience to your event. By not allowing enough time to promote, you are putting yourself way behind the eight ball. And that can be a tough place to get out of.

We all think it and therefore we all know it, when it comes to event planning and promoting an event, we get out of it what we put in to it. So before diving in, think things through and be sure to consider your audience, approach and timeline before you get started.

 

 

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Social Event Planning Can Be Profitable

November 3, 2011 By Comments

We’ve all seen the newsletters or announcements. You know, the ones where we get invited to the social event of the week at one of the hottest locations in town. Social event planning, if done properly, can be very rewarding. However, if you’re just getting started in social event planning, don’t expect things to happen overnight.

There Are Steps That You Will Need to Take to Do Social Event Planning Properly

There are a couple ways to approach social event planning. If you’re already in the event planning industry chances are your contact list is geared to the meetings and events industry. If that’s the case and if you’re switching to the social aspect of event planning then you’ll want to take a methodical approach about announcing that to your contact list. The goal here is not to confuse your followers about what it is you’re doing. You may want to approach a few of the local venues that you have worked with in the past about cohosting a function where the venue itself will be featured. And if you’ve got the contacts chances are that venue will be more than willing to cooperate.

If, on the other hand, you’re new to event planning in general then you’re going to need to budget for the time it’ll take you to establish yourself as a player in the industry. Consider joining industry associations and then go to as many networking events as possible. In addition to the educational experience that you’ll receive at these networking events you’re also starting to build your contact list.

Social Media Plays a Vital Role in Social Event Planning

Whether you are new to social event planning or you are just re-focusing on social events you will want to make sure that your social media accounts are geared to promoting social event planning. Social media sites that you should have are:

  • a blog – you can easily establish a blog by using WordPress. WordPress has several templates to choose from to help create your look.
  • Twitter – make sure you attract followers that are interested in social events. Also your tweets should stay focused on social events. Do not bore people with where you went for coffee this morning etc.
  • Facebook – you should create a page on Facebook that deals only with your social event planning. Next your goal is to get as many people to “like” that page so that you can get exposure in the Facebook community.
  • LinkedIn – in addition to your LinkedIn profile where you will promote your blog, your twitter account, and Facebook, you should also either join a social event planning group or create one of your own.

Establishing a regular newsletter will also help get your name out. Your goal in the newsletter is not to necessarily promote yourself (although you’ll be doing this indirectly). Rather it’s to provide information on your social event as well as other related news and/or events. Remember was newsletters that opt in subscribers is your goal. Otherwise you could be flagged as a spammer and I can create a whole other set of nightmares for you. To get help with your opt in lists approach to various venues where you plan to host your events. Most venues will cooperate or at least promote you to their contacts. Eventually your newsletter will become a source of revenue for your social event planning business.

The goal with social event planning is to provide an opportunity where people can come and experience something that they generally would not have received by going to that venue on their own. In my event planning days that was always my goal when promoting a venue to a potential client. I wanted that client’s delegates to be able to experience something in the city that they simply could not have done by going there alone. Creating something that is unique and fun for people to attend is always a sure way to build followers for future events.

There are a lot of people making a very good living in social event planning. If you feel this is an area that attracts you then make sure you are aware of what will be required before you will be a success. I’ve seen many people with very good ideas not succeed. It was because they didn’t budget for the amount of time it takes to establish yourself in the industry. Remember Rome wasn’t built in a day.

 

 

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Tips on How to Promote Your Event on Social Media

November 2, 2011 By Comments

The premise around social media is to basically get noticed by people that are following you. Or better yet, to promote your event and/or yourself so that people want to follow you on social media. Which begs the question – how do you go about promoting your event on social media to both get noticed and get attendees to your event? If you are using Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc. then no doubt you have seen ineffective ways that people use these mediums to promote their events. The number one turn off on any of these social media mediums is when people start promoting their company, themselves and their websites blatantly. That is not what social media is intended for. At least on the surface.

Using Social Media to Promote Your Event Correctly

Ultimately our goal with using social media in our businesses is to draw attention to what we are offering. But those of you who think that you can simply put links to your website or promote that you have simply the best product out there, etc. are setting yourselves up for failure. As I’ve mentioned before social media is a slow build. Things will not happen overnight. However when used effectively social media is a great way of letting people know you exist. But in today’s world you have to be better than simply letting people know you exist. Make sure you have something of value to offer any potential followers. The best way to use social media effectively is to offer advice or information about the industry you are in. Talk about latest trends, link to other relevant sites, and offering your opinion – all without making an obvious sales pitch – will eventually will build trust and people will want to start following you. But be very careful once you establish that trust. I wouldn’t recommend changing midstream just because you have a lot of followers and start putting links to products or services that you’re selling.

When you have an event to promote, using social media properly can be an effective tool. On LinkedIn, for example, in addition to letting your connections know about your event, it’s also recommended that you search for like-minded groups where you can post your information. On Facebook it’s very important that you don’t mix your personal and your professional “friends”. Your personal friends are probably not interested in your professional events so be careful that you’re not wasting time or more importantly wasting their time by promoting something that they’re not interested in. Find corporate pages that are similar to your industry, “like” those pages and then offer comments. On twitter, in addition to promoting your event to your followers, the use of hash tags (#) can be effective for finding groups that share similar interests. Start following like-minded lists and in turn get yourself listed.

Using social media to promote your event needs to be a calculated process. In addition to promoting the event itself it’s important that you have an area where people can sign up and register with the ease. EventBrite, as one example, is a free service that allows you to track, send reminders, and even collect payment. Using social media correctly can be a very effective way of getting the word out about your event. The take away advice from here is to make sure you do things right the first time – as the old saying goes – you only get one chance to make a good first impression. Don’t blow it.

 

 

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Eventbrite – It’s Really That Easy

October 27, 2011 By Comments

Photo courtesy techweet on flickr

We’re all looking for ways to simplify things, both personally and professionally. And when you consider what a large role technology plays in our lives today, it seems the logical place to start.

Although dates vary, the first call made on a mobile phone (non-radio powered) occurred around April 1973 (the prototype weighed over six pounds!). Too big and boxy to carry around, car phones became popular in the 1980’s and hand-held cells were in demand by the early 1990’s. But it was only around ten to fifteen years ago that cell phones became affordable for the average consumer.

Cell phones changed everything for meeting and event planners. No more running to the pay phone; no more desperately trying to track down suppliers; no more “lost” staff. It certainly made all our lives a lot easier.

And now Eventbrite is taking things to the next level for meeting and event planners everywhere!

Eventbrite – Who Are They?

Founded in 2006 by Kevin and Julia Hartz and Renaud Visage, Eventbrite grew rapidly and by 2009 had already grossed $100 million dollars in ticket sales. By December 2010 that number grew to over $400 million.

So what exactly is Eventbrite?

Eventbrite – What Do They Do?

The New York Times said that “Eventbrite is to ticket sales what Google is to search terms.”

They’ve been called the Ticketmaster for events. Eventbrite is a website designed to assist event planners and organizers. Although initially designed to facilitate ticket sales, it is so much more than that.

Eventbrite allows you to create a customized event page, market your event through social media and even collect payment. All on one web site!

Eventbrite – How Does It Work?

The first step is to setup your customized event page. Their user friendly format allows you to download logos, images and links to your own website. Your event page will enable attendees to register and buy tickets online for your event. It also includes the ability to specify different ticket types, offer discount codes and even sends attendees bar coded tickets to avoid double printing.

So you’ve set up your event page…what next? Promote, promote, promote! Regardless of medium, the success of any event is dependent upon your ability to promote it. And Eventbrite even makes that a little easier. Your event page is automatically connected to search engines (including Google) which will maximize your exposure as potential attendees search for your event. It also includes easy integration with major social networking sites including, but not limited to, Twitter and Facebook. Coupled with the ability to send out evites and follow up communications, Eventbrite makes your job that much easier.

And then it actually helps you manage your event! Attendees can pay for their tickets through a secure site (choice of PayPal or Google Checkout); you can create wait-lists for your fabulous, already sold out event and it can even generate name badges for you.

Eventbrite – Should Planners Everywhere Be Worried?

Eventbrite believes that “anyone can be an event organizer” by utilizing their website. And while this website is designed to simplify the job, planners should fear not! While it may ease our lives with its convenient and well designed capabilities, it can never replace event and meeting planners. Because we still bring creativity, organization and lots of personality to the table!

By continuing to embrace modern technologies, meeting and event planners can simplify their lives while bringing their events to the next level.

 

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Even Pres. Obama Uses Social Media to Promote an Event

October 9, 2011 By Comments

We all know that social media is a crucial part to any marketing plan. Social media is a very effective way to promote an event. In late September, Pres. Obama was in California to promote his jobs plan. Which in itself would be nothing new for a president to do. What was unique about this situation is that Mr. Obama chose LinkedIn as the venue to promote his jobs plan. This is a very calculated and smart move on the president’s behalf. As his 2008 campaign showed us, his team utilized social media to mobilize his base – and even create a large youth movement.

The Benefits of Using Social Media to Promote an Event

LinkedIn is a very popular social media website. And it’s growing by mind boggling numbers day by day. Is LinkedIn’s success because they are excellent at advertising and marketing themselves? While I don’t want to discount that they are, in fact, probably very good at marketing, the real reason for its success is because of its platform. When built, or used, properly social media is a very effective way to promote an event. The reason is that you are typically connected with like-minded or similar business minded individuals. And when you start promoting an event chances are that the audience you are reaching will be interested in what you are promoting. Also with LinkedIn, their platform allows you to create or join groups where you can invite other LinkedIn members to become a member. And again people will join groups because they have something in common with what that group is offering. So when it’s time to promote an event, turning to your LinkedIn groups as a vehicle often provides successful results. Or at the very least you’re getting the attention of the group members. It’s very targeted marketing.

The Obama Administration Knows How to Promote an Event

I read where the Obama re-election team is expecting to spend close to $1 billion. That figure is just mind boggling. One of the key factors for Obama winning the presidency in 2008 was his grassroots campaign. Unlike other candidates who get a lot of their fundraising dollars through corporate sponsored events, Barack Obama used social media to interact with his supporters. Without going into details we know how successful that campaign was. We’ll see what team Obama has in store for the 2012 election.

If it’s your job to promote an event then using social media is a must. Unlike traditional ways to promote an event, social media can be much more cost-effective. But there is a word of caution. Social media takes time to build followers and to establish a name for yourself. There are many people out there that will offer various shortcuts to build your social media presence. But the fact of the matter is that to use social media properly to promote an event you must take the time to build your social media presence.

 

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Facebook – Beyond Connecting With your Friends

September 20, 2011 By Comments

Photo courtesy of AJCI on flickr

Your fifteen year old is obsessed with it. Your former classmates haven’t stopped “poking” you and even your grandma has joined and is now posting regularly. People, businesses, heck, even the Queen of England is on Facebook. It seems like the whole world is on there.

So how can you use Facebook to help take your event to the next level?

Facebook – From Zero to 750…Just Like That

For those of you who have been living in a cave, Facebook was launched in 2004 in a dorm room. Currently with over 750 million active users, Facebook has changed the way we use the internet. No longer used just to connect, Facebook is the go-to site for many members before other search engines such as Google or Bing.

Although originally launched as a tool to connect with classmates (and meet girls), Facebook literally exploded on the scene and grew rapidly, fulfilling a need that wasn’t previously being met. And now, instead of just being a tool to reconnect with your old high school boyfriend or to see the video of your nephew graduating from kindergarten, it’s used by businesses and government as well.

And now Facebook is also a great way to promote your event at little or no cost to yourself.

Who’s Not on Facebook?

Facebook is so easy it`s almost embarrassing! Even if you’re one of the two or three dozen people on earth who have never been on Facebook (huh?) the site is so user friendly, it literally just walks you through it.

A Facebook page is the easiest way and best way to generate buzz and create awareness for your event.

Facebook – Why Bother?

Well, as I mentioned earlier, it`s free. The only cost is your time. And few, if any, marketing tools have that advantage.

Facebook can reach literally millions of users and be a tool to tease or create excitement about your event. You can post pictures, information about meetings, schedules, links and tips about the host city. It enables you to offer a sneak peek to your attendees about how your event is progressing and let them know about recent developments, speakers and seminars.
You can link your Facebook page to your web site and vica versa. You can state it on any materials being circulated to further create awareness and help promote your event. The possibilities are endless!

Facebook – Watching Your Step

After an embarrassing and upsetting situation (from which I thought I`d never recover) my absolute favorite high school teacher, “Mrs W ” gave me great advice that holds true today. She advised me to never to put anything on paper that I didn`t mind everyone, and anyone, else seeing. And while I still exercise caution today, there are a lot of people out there that don`t seem to understand this.

The biggest (and most obvious) difference between paper and the internet is you can rip up a piece of paper. Once something, written word or photograph, makes it online, it’s almost impossible to get rid of it (ask anyone with a sex tape). And whether professional or personal, it`s incredibly important to remember that once it’s on the internet, it`s there forever!

Although it seems pretty simple and straight forward, never put anything that can perceived as derogatory to a competitor, or yourself, online. And although it is possible for people to post negativity, you have the control to delete comments on your own page.

Facebook – After the Event

Facebook isn’t just used to create awareness, it’s also a great tool to follow up after your event. You can post pictures and videos, papers and presentations, even announcements and follow-ups about next year’s event.

A few years ago the term “social media” was relatively unknown, yet today people can`t seem to do without it! Social media continues to grow and while Facebook shouldn’t be the sole way you promote your event, it`s a great tool to help create awareness and community.

 

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Interested in the Event Promotion Industry?

September 4, 2011 By Comments

You may have seen invitations in your inbox or a flyer. Are you the type that looked at these invitations and wondered what goes on behind the scenes to get this information out? Well if you’ve been intrigued by the nuts and bolts of event promotion then it might be worth taking a look at what’s involved in getting into the event promotion industry.

What Are the Best Ways to Get into Event Promotion?

Obviously walking into an event promotion career of your dreams isn’t going to happen overnight. And a bit of a reality check here – you may even have to start at an entry-level position before you get the job you want. But if you really think event promotion is for you then working your way up probably won’t be an issue.

I want to outline a few areas that you can use as a stepping stone to get into event promotion. A good industry for event promotion is the entertainment industry. And by entertainment industry I don’t mean working for music bands or superstars (although if you can get an entry-level job here you would be well on your way to the career of your dreams). Entertainment booking agencies which services the meetings and events industry quite often is a good place to start. And you can find these companies by doing a quick Google search or looking at members of your local convention and visitors Bureau (CVB). The reason I suggest CVB’s as an area to look for entertainment booking agencies is that meeting planners often request this information when dealing with CVBs.

Another area to consider would be looking at the large events that occur in your city. Most cities have festivals and events that occur yearly. Find out if these organizations have volunteers and if so volunteer for the next event. When being interviewed for the volunteer position make sure you tell the person that you are interested in event promotion. The goal here is that, if possible, they’ll put you in that area to volunteer.

I can’t say networking enough. Networking is good in so many ways. But for this purpose, networking can put you in touch with the right people in event promotion. But don’t think that networking will produce results overnight, they won’t. Think of networking as a way of investing in yourself. Not only will you grow as a person but you will be introduced to individuals that share similar interests and ideas as you. At least that’s the goal.

Social Media’s Role in Event Promotion

Like pretty much everything today social media plays a role in event promotion. And a prominent role. So if you’re thinking that an event promotion career is for you then it’s pretty safe to say you should have a good understanding of how social media is applied. You will be using Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, to name a few, to help promote your event. If you don’t think your skills are up to date regarding how to use social media then it’s probably a good idea to look at courses (either live or online) that can help you hone these skills.

Understand What’s Required of Event Promotion

Like many aspects of life people often have the wrong impression of what’s required of certain job descriptions. Same applies for event promotion. While you may think you have what it takes you may find that after a little bit of digging that the actual job description of an event promoter is not really what you’re looking for. I suggest that you talk to individuals in the industry. What you should be trying to find out through these information interviews is what characteristics are typically employed in these careers. And then determine whether or not you have those characteristics and whether you like utilizing them.

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Promotional Events – When Marketing Meets Planning

August 24, 2011 By Comments

Photo courtesy J from UK on flickr

Whether launching an exciting new fragrance across the country, or a customer appreciation event at a local level,  a promotional event is a great way to gain exposure while building relationships with your clients, both existing and new.

It’s still a difficult financial climate out there and everyone is competing for the same consumer dollars, which there are now substantially less of. Things are pretty competitive and everyone is looking for a different way to get the buyers attention and  promotional events can be a great attention getter.

Promotional Events – Who’s Planning Them?

Pretty much anyone, company or individual, with something to sell, advertise or launch. It could be a major record label with a big name star launching a new album. But it can also be your local yoga studio holding a “Bend it for Breast Cancer” fund raiser. Either way the planning takes time, money and the flexibility of an Olympic gymnast!

Promotional Events – Why?

Generally promotional events create three different marketing opportunities … gain attention, increase awareness and maximize sales (or donations for a charity event). Occasionally, someone will sermonize and try to give a deeper or more altruistic reason. The truth is, business is business and everyone needs to make a living. So yes, they may “be driven, with a purpose of bringing…” art or literature or fabulous food to the masses. But they also want to make a buck doing it.

Promotional Events – How to Make it a Success

Regardless of size, a lot of planning goes into a success promotional event. It may be a little easier for a larger company due to an existing department or budget, allocated specifically for the event. But you can still accomplish everything the big guys are doing. You just need to be organized and creative to maximize the benefits.

You’re going to have to promote your event and there are a lot of effective, low cost ways of doing it. Utilize social media, but don’t depend 100% on it. Traditional media such as local TV stations and newspapers are a great way to reach your community. Remember, not everyone tweets! A well crafted press release can not only introduce you to the local media, but also be the first step in building a future relationship with them.

Last year a local bakery changed their format. And while they were doing okay, they were just squeaking by. They invited a local morning show, who shot several live segments. Throughout the morning the crowd in their shop continued to grow with repeat and first time visitors.

Now they got lucky. Most businesses or events don’t get that kind of free publicity. But they took their opportunity and really capitalized on it. They sent a press release to the community paper, which garnered them mentions prior to and following the event. They put up posters, sent out flyers and featured the upcoming shoot on both Facebook and their website.

That event is the gift that keeps on giving because their visibility, both locally and beyond, has increased and business has gone through the roof.

No matter the occasion, a promotional event is a great way to increase awareness while building goodwill within the community.

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