5 Mistakes You're Making When Promoting An Event Online

 I work with a lot of dance companies. I see them investing their time, energy, and money into these amazing events, to only have a fraction of the community they were expecting show up. Often, the perhaps disappointing outcome is not a result of a lack of marketing effort, poor planning, or potential customers (in this case, dancers). The outcome is a result of misdirected marketing. While my advice may be gathered from these dance marketing observations, these mistakes and tips can definitely be generalized to other fields!

Mistake #1: A Little Too Late

You start posting about an event 2 weeks before…A similar company already marketed their event a month ago and your community saved the date! You just lost half your guests.

Instead, start posting about your event AT LEAST a month beforehand.

Mistake #2: Unclear Marketing

You maybe have a couple flyers out but the details are scattered. You don’t have a 1-page flyer with the location, date/time, name, and details of the event. This flyer may also be ambiguous. Is it for a social? A workshop? How much does it cost? Where can people sign up?

Invest in a professional flyer with clear details. You can give more details about the event in the caption, but really the flyer should be able to stand alone without any confusion. Remember, people often share flyers without any of the attached captions and additional details. Also, make sure the vibe of the flyer aesthetically matches the vibe of the event!

In addition to the flyer, videos with more explanations are great too. People want engaging, accessible, & digestible information about the event.

Mistake #3: Not Using All of the Channels

You have a favorite social media platform and stick to it. By doing this, you’re severely limiting your reach! Facebook (events, groups, feed), Instagram, WhatsApp, email, print media, local event apps… there are so many avenues to reach your customers!!!

Utilize your network too! Collaborate with others (both online and off), share with your micro influencers, & ask for help. Your network is bigger than you realize.

Mistake #4: Boring Content

You post too many slides with too many words. Your videos have too much filler. You lost your viewer before they even understood what your event was!

Remember, you have 3 seconds (or less if they don’t feel like reading) before someone scrolls past your post. Hook them before that! Cut out all the unnecessary content. People are lazy & get bored easily. If you love words, consider including a visual element (like a dance video or photo) on the first slide of your carousel, and the text in later slides. Or, incorporate the text into the video. Whatever you do, make it engaging.

Mistake #5: Infrequent & Forgettable

Besides being boring, your marketing could also be getting lost in the sauce because it’s scarce. Maybe you posted a couple times on IG throughout the month & thought that was enough. Maybe, you were wearing many hats and were overwhelmed with planning the event & marketing became an afterthought. Maybe… you didn’t want to SPAM your audience.

Guess what? Your audience has a short memory. They likely forgot about your event and found something else that called to them. Have you heard of the Rule of Seven? On average, your customer needs to be exposed to your event SEVEN times (more or less) before taking action.

SO, make sure you are posting to your stories, your feed, & sharing to all the proper networking groups more than a couple times!

Your event marketing plan doesn’t need to be perfect. Identify where you can improve your marketing & write it down for the next time. You got this!!

Want more? Need an exact plan for your upcoming event? Contact Five6seven Media & Marketing!