How to Attract the Right Audience and Increase Your Event Attendance

Are you getting started in hosting talks or group experiences to share what you love, but not sure how to attract more audience? You’re not alone. Most of us have great ideas and content, but when it comes to promoting an event, we can feel overwhelmed. Not to mention the various tools and marketing channels out there for us to choose from.

In this blog post, we’ll guide you through essential things you need to consider to identify the right audience and promote your event to them at the right place with the right message. You’ll also learn practical exercises to help you increase your reach and attract more people to your event.

1. Think about WHY your audience should attend and tell a story.

Yes, you’re trying to sell yourself and your event. Instead of focusing on the event itself, look a little deeper and find a unique angle worth highlighting. Maybe it’s your own personal journey on how you overcame significant obstacles and valuable lessons learned. Maybe it’s how you are able to combine your different passions or experiences into one unique theme or activity. The point is people are much more likely to respond to content that’s about someone instead of something. Use the best story possible as a way to soft sell the event, and you’ll likely see the desired results.

2. Identify WHO your potential audiences are.

Write a list of all the possible audiences and think about their personas in detail. Are they parents? Children? Disabled people? Students? How old are they? What’s their income level? In what industry do they work? Will they respond to a discount code? This exercise will help you brainstorm audiences you may not have thought about before. The more details you get into, the more you know your audience and what they are looking for in their lives. You may have been teaching an art experience to a group of students in a college, but have you thought about hosting a “Drink and Draw” event targeting young professionals who are looking to mingle and meet new people in a social setting such as a bar? Identifying all potential audiences will not only help you discover new audiences but also help you clarify different messaging you need to attract them and what channels you will use to reach them. The more targeted messaging you have for each audience, the more likely you are going to win their heart.

3. WHERE do your audiences live and play? Know your platforms and utilize influencers.

Different audiences will likely appear in different places. If you are hosting a music jamming night, why not go to live music bars at night and spread some flyers or even better, talk to people that come to the live music nights? If you want to get older professionals to your event, Instagram and Snapchat aren’t going to help you much. Take time to craft compelling copy and put it on the right platform to increase attendance. Join online communities and offline interest groups. Whether you deploy a street team for some experiential marketing, implement an email lead nurturing flow, or engage in a text messaging campaign, remember it’s important to create as many touch-points as possible to get closer to your audience.

You can also find influencers or local media to help you scale up your effort and reach larger pool of audience. You’ll need a compelling news hook to offer an influencer or journalist if he/she is going to promote your event. If that’s not possible, consider calendar listings in the area newspaper and on local websites.

4. Not sure WHAT to put on your event listing? Follow the below tips:

Now you’ve run through all the key points above, you can start crafting your event listing with these key points in mind:

• Don’t Overcomplicate — But make sure you address at least: Who should attend — any prerequisites or level required, why they should attend — the benefits of attending, and when and where the event will be happening.
• Provide an Agenda —People have busy lives, so it’s important to provide a brief and clear agenda in bullet points to help them quickly find out what to expect and how the time will be spent in each activity at the event.
• End with a Clear Call-to-Action — Your end goal is for people to attend. Make sure you always provide a clear call-to-action.
• Use Visuals — Pictures are worth a thousand words. Videos are worth even more. The point is you should be using/creating visually compelling assets because that’s what people want to see right now. Their eyes might glaze over yet another block of copy, but enticing them with an eye-popping picture or an attention-grabbing video is a much better bet to earn a conversion. Whatever you choose, make sure your messaging match the asset.
• Consider Hashtags & Tagging — If you’re looking to increase attendees organically on social media, consider using hashtags. You can make your own and start including it in all your social copy, or you can piggyback on existing hashtags that are relevant to your audience. For example, if your event is during a conference you should definitely use the official conference hashtag to drive people to your specific event. But be wary — hashtags are advisable on Instagram and Twitter, but less so on Facebook or Linkedin. Know your platform.

5. Test. Optimize. Repeat.

Consider testing different copy each time to see which ones work better. Record all your learnings each time so you can continue to improve and find your sweet spot.

Attracting the right people to your event takes more than just writing down a description and spreading loads of flyers. You need to be super clear on all the benefits you can offer your attendees and find your unique selling points, whether it’s your personal experiences in the area or fun activities you created for the event combining your multiple passions. Before crafting your listing, you’ll also need to understand all your potential audiences, where they appear and what their different needs are. It’s also about seeing a bigger picture to maximize your reach while still being personalized in your approach and messaging. This way, you’ll not only reach a bigger audience but also attract the right audience who will benefit from your event.

We hope you enjoyed this article. Get started in pursuing your passions by joining our community at PassionDig.com.

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A special thanks to www.purewow.com for the information on what age groups suit what martial arts.