Your trade show is just months away, and you’re embroiled in the planning stages. You may have your signage created and a titans-of-industry keynote speaker lineup taking shape, but ensuring a great turnout is an endeavor that must be prioritized, as well. To ensure your event’s success, you will need an effective marketing and promotional strategy to increase attendance and drive ticket sales. Here, we’ve compiled a list of promotion ideas you can utilize to drum up interest — and skyrocket attendance — for your trade show, conference, or other event.
Publish a Press Release
Sometimes, traditional public relations measures such as publishing press releases and pitching reporters are ideal for getting the word out about your upcoming event. As an event organizer, it is your goal to gain as much publicity for the event as possible — and a press release that announces the date, location, and speakers is an excellent way to kick off some momentum and usher in early bird ticket registrations.
To help exhibitors and sponsors garner media coverage for their participation, offer to provide them with media contacts that will be in attendance. This will help them book interviews with reports on-site to gain publicity.
Think Local
Making the most out of your outreach efforts involves turning to community organizations to help you with everything from marketing to lodging. Partnering with your local tourism and convention board can amplify local advertising, help you obtain hotel blocks, and connect you with local businesses. If your event is at the Philly Expo Center, then partner with Valley Forge Tourism & Convention Board.
Leverage Social Media
When you’re looking for the best ways to increase audience turnout at your trade show or event, social media is an excellent tool. When done right, it lets you intimately connect with attendees before, during, and after the event. Let’s take a look at a few ways you can use some of the most popular social media platforms to your advantage:
- Twitter: Create a branded hashtag to track conversations over Twitter during your trade show, conference, or other event; this is excellent in the way of pushing attendee engagement.
- Instagram: Both your organization’s profile and those of keynote speakers are excellent opportunities when it comes to spreading the word about events. IGTV and Instagram Live are excellent app features that let users publish or stream long-form content to broaden your reach and capture new audiences.
- LinkedIn: For many B2B marketers, this is the primary channel used to promote events, as the platform has several excellent features for businesses looking to reach their target audience. LinkedIn’s paid features let you promote the event right into the news feed or inbox of prospective attendees.
- Facebook: Facebook Events functions as a familiar, streamlined hub of information, special announcements, and sharing opportunities.
Turning to social media platforms goes beyond sharing logistical details, as giveaways and videos are proven ways of driving engagement and momentum leading up to your event! Additionally, if the event is at the Philly Expo Center, we will publish your event prior to the date.
Utilize Email Marketing
With optimal timing and messaging, you’ll be able to captivate the attention of potential attendees right in their inbox and lead them to the registration page! It’s imperative you identify your target audience, build an email list, and determine the best timeline for sending customized email campaigns. This doesn’t have to be a one-and-done tactic either; reminder emails just prior to the big day are encouraged, and survey emails after the event can get you valuable feedback for your next event.
If your event is at the Philly Expo Center, you will automatically be included in our newsletter unless it is a private event or you instruct us otherwise.
Simplify the Registration Process
Attendees that run into a time-consuming or even confusing event registration process are more likely to push it off or dismiss it entirely. If you are opting for online registrations, make sure the forms are easy to fill and navigate, with an appropriate number of fields that gather basic information such as name, contact information, and email address.
Showcase Multiple Value Propositions
Highlight as many benefits of attending your event as possible when promoting it to potential attendees or sending invites out. This includes the vital things guests will learn, entertainment, keynote speakers, companies that will be attending the event, and any incentives for early registrations.
Choose a Memorable, Easily-Accessible Location
Attendees are driven away from a trade show or other event when the venue is too far away or otherwise not easily reachable. Therefore, it behooves you to secure a venue that’s convenient for the majority of attendees and distinctive to set your whole event apart.
Planning an Event? Turn to The Greater Philadelphia Expo Center
Event attendance is the name of the game when it comes to a trade show or other happening being beneficial to not just your organization but to vendors, speakers, and participants in general. From social media posts to personal invitations, there are several ways to increase event turnout — and executing the perfect entourage of outreach efforts is crucial in ensuring its success. For more information about holding your show with us or our promoter services, reach out to us today!
