When it comes to growing your business, there are plenty of paths you can take. However, there’s one strategy that’s gaining serious traction across all industries. Leaders and marketing teams are now using live events more than ever before to engage with their audience, and it’s not hard to see why.
Globally, 43% of online consumers say they want more video content from brands. This startling statistic shows that despite our best efforts to produce video content, users still want more.
Live events make it easy for you to show off new products, get to know your customers, and build your lead lists. Another benefit of this marketing strategy is you can host and market your event on multiple platforms, which will undoubtedly lead to more signups and engagement.
Now, let’s look at five powerful ways you can promote your next live event.
Determine the Goal of Your Event
The first thing you should do is figure out the purpose of your live event. You’re going to struggle to get signups if you can’t clearly explain to users why they should attend your presentation.
Imagine inviting someone you barely know to your house, but you don’t tell them why you want them to come over. Odds are, you’re going to end up with a lot of strange looks and very few guests. The same rule applies to live events.
Review your customer personas and think carefully about how your event will help users reach their goals or resolve a pain point. For instance, a marketing firm might hold a webinar on how to build your email list. The pain point is a lackluster email list, and their goal is more prospects. With this information in mind, a business leader can give free advice and promote their product as a premium solution.
Ask Existing Subscribers to Sign Up
The next step is to get people to subscribe to your event. We recommend reaching out to existing email and social media subscribers first. These people have shown that they are interested in your industry and would likely benefit from your live presentation.
You can use your email marketing software to create and schedule messages for specific customer segments. Focus on creating personalized messages that encourage users to register for your event.
Let’s use the marketing firm example from earlier. If you wanted to promote your live event on email marketing, you would start by targeting subscribers interested in relevant content and offers. Take this extra step to ensure that you’re sending targeted messages, which could lead to more conversions.
It’s also possible to get more registrations by telling social media subscribers about your presentation. If a consumer is interested in the industry or your product, they will likely sign up for your event. Whether you’re asking customers through email or social media, simplicity is vital. Include the benefits and a simple form so users can quickly secure their seats.
Publish a Designated Landing Page
Another way to promote your event is by creating an event landing page on your website. Essentially, a landing page is a section of your website designed to get consumers to take a specific action. In this case, the goal is to get users to sign up for your next live event.
Ideally, your landing page will simply explain the benefits of your event, show testimonials from previous attendees, and ask users to sign up. If you want to maximize your conversions, make a landing page that’s functional, informative, and incentivizes users in a way that’s not pushy or intrusive. Adding videos to your landing page can also get you more signups. On average, landing pages with videos get 80% more conversions than those with text and images.
You can choose when to put up your event landing page. In our experience, one month is the perfect amount of time to get users engaged while minimizing the risk that they will forget they signed up.
Feel free to create various types of landing pages until you find something that works for your brand. Experiment with different options and measure your results. If you’re willing to test some of your design choices, you can get more event signups.
Introduce Yourself with Dynamic Ads
Dynamic ads are an excellent way to introduce yourself to people who may need your product but have never heard of your company. Facebook and Instragam allow business owners to create dynamic ads with just a few clicks.
These promotions are based on snippets of offers that you upload to either Facebook or Instagram. You can choose different offers, visuals, copy, and more. The AI algorithm behind the dynamic ads system then analyzes the data and curates ads designed for specific segments of your audience. The program looks at user behavior and interests, then decides whether they should show your advert as a sponsored post in their feed.
Under the right circumstances, dynamic ads have the potential to reach a whopping 1.95 billion people on Facebook. If you want a quick way to get news of your event out to a broad audience, dynamic ads can help you reach your goals.
Listen to Feedback
The last piece of advice we have for you today is how you can continue improving your events over time. At the end of each presentation, don’t forget to ask participants to share their thoughts. If users have constructive criticism or praise, they will happily let you know if you send out a feedback form.
You can learn a lot about your target audience and improve your events by reviewing customer feedback. We recommend compiling what you learn after each event and taking steps to proactively improve future presentations.
For example, if most attendees said that you didn’t have enough Q&A time, you can plan to add an extra half an hour to your next event. When you understand what users expect from your live presentations, you can more closely match their needs and get more post-event sales and engagement.
