Promote your event properly to get the attendance you are looking for.
Organizing and managing an event are time-consuming and difficult tasks. But without effective event promotion and marketing, all of the managing might go to waste. To make your event a success you need to reach a target audience and get that audience interested in attending. By using some effective event promotion tips, you can get the audience attendance you are looking for.
Media
Use the media as much as possible when promoting an event. Contact reporters for trade magazines or other publications that will reach your target audience and offer free passes to your event in trade for some publicity before it. Send out news releases to every media outlet you can find regardless of whether or not it pertains to your audience. News releases, if they get published, are free publicity and should be part of your event planning.
Free Passes
Offer free passes to key members of your target audience to get them talking to others about your event. For example, if you are running a corporate trade show, then offer the largest companies free admission passes and encourage them to mention the sall of their contacts. Free passes not only get visitors to your event, but also those visitors will bring guests that will pay to get in.
Network
Your event promotion should have a grassroots network pushing it to help create a buzz. Social Internet websites and event supporters should be encouraged to start talking about your event on Internet message boards, in letters to the editors of newspapers and magazines and in person when they are talking to people. Word of mouth can be an effective form of advertising, and you can reach people that mass media marketing might miss when you create a network of supporters for your event.
Sponsors
Major corporate sponsors involved with your event can give potential attendees something familiar to associate your event with. Your sponsors will also help in advertising the event as increased attendance means increased exposure for them. You can charge sponsors money to be associated with your event, or you can trade a major sponsor's involvement for advertising assistance. The increased attendance will be well worth the trade-off.
