12 Great Online Locations to Promote Your Event

Posted by Dawn Baird, Partner on Apr 19, 2011 in business, marketing, news and events | 7 comments

The following list is compiled from ways in which we have used online tools to help promote events.  (Don’t forget the offline stuff too.  Blog post in the making…)

Twitter

It makes sense that if you’re using Twitter already, you tweet information and links to events you’re running or helping to promote.

• Tweet often.  People who are online at 07:30am may not be online at 3pm, or 10pm. Experiment, to see which times get the best results.  You can measure this in simple ways, by engagament (i.e. Replies, Mentions and Retweets) or by using a URL shortener for example, such as Ow.ly (an URL shortener and link visit tracker).
• Experiment with different phrases.  As people expand the number of Twitter users they follow, things become unmanagable.  This is where tools such as Tweetkdeck and Hootsuite play a role in helping users filter tweets for keywords. As you might expect, not everyone follows the same keywords as may be obvious to you.
• If you’re not already on Twitter and open an account solely to promote a single event, don’t expect too many bookings.  People like to get to know you first.

Also, take a tour of Twitter for Business, to learn about other promotional tools.

Your Own Website

There is no better place to promote an event than your own website.

• Twitter aside (in our case), it is probably the source of the majority of visitors to your event booking page.
• Remember to use Google Analytics, or some other website statistics package, to record the source of all visits.

Facebook

We’ve already blogged How to Use Facebook to Promote an Event, but there’s no harm mentioning this again.  (Remember to come back once you’ve read this post.)

Eventbrite

The three best things about Eventbrite are:

Event invitation, booking, payment, reminder and notifcation management

OK, that’s five. But, this (almost free) application is worth its weight in handbags.  See Eventbrite pricing for further details.

• Automate sending of invitations, notifcations and reminders (including complimentary tickets) to a pre-existing list of contacts
• Take bookings – with multiple payment options – online

Tracking links

• Would you like to be able to see which online marketing effforts are sending most links to your booking page?
• Would you like to identify which affiliates are sharing your links more effectively than others?
• Would it help focus future marketing events if you could see which tracked links were ineffective?

Customisation

There are buckets of customisation options in Eventbrite.  One of my favourites is the facility to create ticket forms, widgets like this one, calendars and links to promote your event with a clean, professional look.

WhatsOnNI

Register and add your event (free) to WhatsOnNI.com.  Events are uploaded along with an image and approved on the same day.

Email Newsletter

Using a legitimate email contact list, sign up to Mailchimp today.  I’ve surveyed the best of the rest, and this is the one that was consistently easy to use and written with non-tecchies in mind.

Advantage NI

Advantage shares Northern Ireland news and events and has a Business Directory that you can add your details to.  Register with Advantage NI to being making use of the website’s promotional facilities.

InvestNI

NI Business Info is an InvestNI webiste where you can read crucial business information and view business events in Northern Ireland.  Register with NI Business Info, to begin accessing information and sharing events.

SyncNI

SyncNI publishes a Northern Ireland business calendar listing varying types of events, though its focus is business, technology, science and innovation.  Register with SyncNI (for free) to list business events, post news, share press releases and blog posts.

Addictive Creatives

Addictive Creatives lists news and Northern Ireland creative events.  Contact Addictive Creatives with details of your event.

LinkedIn Events

You can add LinkedIn Events as long as you already have a LinkedIn profile.  Like Facebook, you, attendees and other interested parties can add their name to the list.  You can also send invitations to anyone in your contact list.

Business Events Hub

The Business Events Hub Facebook page is added to regularly by business people sharing and promoting events.  As long as you already have a Facebook profile, you can Like the Page, then share links to events.