Events Central

Promoting an event is possible one of the hardest parts of event planning, and is only really necessary if you are looking to put on an event to make money (even if it’s to just cover costs).

The most common types of events that require heavy promotion are club nights and so this section here is going to be primarily aimed at club events, club promoters and also general event promotions.

Before you start promoting the event you need to have a set budget worked out for promoting the event. Bear in mind that the more people that come to your event the more money you will bring in and so the money spent on promotion should provide a good return on investment, just be careful you don’t get into diminishing returns.

So to cover a few of the most important things they’ve been listed below.

Target audience

The first thing to be aware of is your key demographic. Make sure you know who you want to be coming to the event and target accordingly. Knowing and understanding your target audience will increase the effectiveness of you promotion campaign.

Flyers and Posters

If you have done your research into your target audience you will have an idea of the best way to employ these marketing tools. Place your posters where they will have to most impact. Flyers combined with an offer are often a good promotion trick. You can offer a few flyers to interested customers and they will pass them out to their friends it they seem like something of value e.g. 2 for 1 entry / drinks.

Advertising

While this will require a fair amount of budget, targeting the right areas can be very rewarding when it comes to event promotion. This is where knowing your target audience will help you to make the best decisions.

Offers

Club nights are generally competing against other choices in the area, and offers are a good way of attracting people to the event. By making people feel like they have been given something worthwhile they will be more inclined to come and visit your event. Think of things such as free shots / drinks included with the ticket. Another widely used tactic for club events is to make the tickets cheaper for the women. This encourages more girls to come to the club and generally speaking the men will go where the girls are, leading to a busier club which in turn attracts more people.

Theme

Themes can have either a positive or negative effect on your event, depending on the situation. Themes will generally require people to wear a specific type of clothing or do something they generally do not do. While it can seem like fun, to a lot of people it can also seem like hassle to have to purchase additional items that will most likely not be used again. If you are planning to go with a theme, give everyone plenty of notice and don’t make it too much of a hassle to get the required accessories.

Price

Price is important. If you are going to charge on the door people need to feel like they are getting value for money. If you have a big name playing the more you can charge. Don’t put people off by charging too much on the door, you can always get it back off the drinks.

Online

A lot of clubs are starting to see the potential of online marketing. With so many people spending time online on social networks it makes it extremely cost effective and extremely targeted to use online marketing as a way of promoting your event. You can target the right kind of audience and keep them updated on changes and offers. This really has to be one of the most cost effective forms of advertising.

Time

Make sure you give people enough notice if you are putting on a big event. The amount of times that people don’t hear of an event until they have already made alternative plans is huge. This isn’t as much of a problem if your event is a weekly or monthly one, but if it’s a one off you need to start promoting it a few weeks beforehand at least.

If your event is a weekly one it is really important to work on the image of the event and really separate it from just another club night. Take a look at how the big clubs in Ibiza do it, every night is its own brand and its own style, making each night feel as if it’s a one off.

Word of mouth / headline act

These two really go hand in hand. Word of mouth is proven to be one of the most persuasive tools available when it comes to promoting something. The most important thing to consider when it comes to getting people talking about your event is the Entertainment. Whether it’s a DJ, a band or a speaker, the headline is going to be what gets people talking. It’s also what will get people paying more to get in and spending more when they’re in there. If you have the cash, a decent headline act is worth investing in – it’s why they cost so much J

Club Promoters

If you are looking to take the hassle out of promoting your event yourself you may want to consider hiring out one of these guys. They’ll help do the job for you and like the event organisers they will most likely have relationships in place with clubs, printers, advertisers and other useful contacts helping to make more of an impact than doing it alone.

The most important thing is to “NEVER ASSUME PEOPLE WILL JUST COME ALONG!” If you need your event to make money you need to promote it hard, and through multiple channels.