Nine ways your venue can help promote your next event for free
I worked at one of London’s biggest conference venues for over four years, during which we hosted more than 1,500 events. My main responsibility was delivery of the venue’s digital marketing strategy, which meant managing the website, email marketing and social media activity amongst many other things. But despite having a wide range of effective marketing tools at my fingertips, and so many events coming through our doors, no client ever asked me to help promote an event.
At this point you may well be thinking “why would you have wanted to help them?” or “why would they have wanted your help?” and maybe those questions are what stopped most of those 1,500 or so event organisers getting in touch.
But the answer to the first question is very straight forward: I would have helped them because I wanted their business – and in the current market place added value is a great way to convert customers. More importantly, I wanted their event to be a success; a success that I helped with – because customer satisfaction is critical to repeat business, and I wanted them to come back in the future and refer us to their connections.
There are lots of different answers to the second question, including lots of free reasons, and a few of them are highlighted below…
1. List your event on their website
Straightforward and effortless, a spot on your venue’s homepage could enable your event to be seen by thousands of people. What’s more, links from other websites can be really beneficial for search engine optimisation (SEO), meaning your own website could become more visible as a result too.
2. Have a whole page on their site
Better than just listing it, why not have a dedicated page on their website that links directly to information that your delegates need to know (how to get to the venue, nearby accommodation etc)?
3. Free online advertising
Most venues have plenty of space on their sites that could be used for advertising. Some use that space to promote their own services, and there is no reason why it can’t be used to promote your events too.
4. Become the news
Almost every venue has a ‘latest news’ section on their site, and that is the perfect place to find your press releases.
5. Harness the power of Twitter
Most venues will have hundreds, if not thousands, of followers on Twitter; and tapping into them is as easy as 140 characters. Twitter can be a very powerful tool for promoting events, and the more profiles you have working for you, the more potential there is for your audience to grow exponentially.
6. Take advantage of other social media
Your venue will no doubt be using a plethora of other social media tools, so why not ask them to talk about your event across them all?
7. Increase coverage through public relations
A good venue is likely to have good PR channels, which help your event get more coverage than it might otherwise, so why not share all your latest releases with them.
8. Exploit digital signage and other on-site advertising
Your venue could have hundreds, thousands, or even millions of delegates passing through their doors; meaning a well-placed advert could make a real difference.
9. Get help with your marketing strategy
Your venue is already helping you to plan all the other elements of your event, and they are likely to have marketing specialists in their team, so why not ask them for help with you marketing strategy too?
Final thoughts…
There are so many free opportunities for your venue to help you with your event marketing that can have genuine benefits for both parties. So next time you are booking a venue, I urge you to challenge them to provide you with these sorts of resources, and help maximise the success of your event.
We would welcome your thoughts about the potential for lead generation through social media, so please leave a comment, get in touch via Twitter, or email us.
