How to effectively promote your event among local audiences

By National Convention Centre Canberra 

Successful local community or niche-market events can be a powerful way for small businesses to connect face to face with potential customers and raise their public profile. However these events are only as effective as the audience they attract.

Here are some simple ways to efficiently reach out to the local public, with limited marketing resources, and get your next event the attention (and attendance) it deserves.

Make the most of what you’ve got, and start early

Many of your best tools for event promotion are already on hand.

Publish dedicated event pages on your own website or blog and send out advance invitations to your existing customer contact list. While this may only attract a small number of visitors, the people who view your website or blog regularly are the most likely to attend your event. With a little encouragement they might even extend the invite to others in their network.

Social media is a cost effective way to get your event in front of potential attendees. Use the social media channels you already have in place to promote the event and link back to the relevant pages of your website. Keep the content as interesting and engaging as you can and be sure to incorporate social media elements like hashtags.

Reach out to your local community through community bloggers, event listings and local free papers. It’s a no brainer that the earlier you start the more potential coverage you’ll get.

Get friendly and collaborate with influencers

Take the time to identify bloggers and other influencers in your area that cover local events, local news or tie into your niche in a relevant way.

You can offer interesting content, exclusive interviews and access to your blog for cross promotion in return for spreading the word and promoting attendance at your event. It’s a collaboration that should help both parties.

You don’t have to go it alone 

Putting on an event requires a big investment of time and resources. Consider forming a partnership with a company or business that is close to your audience target. Doing this could potentially double your audience as well as helping to increase the return on investment for your event.

Remember that the more involved you are in the community, the greater the opportunity for promotion. Check out local charities and consider becoming a sponsor, or including a fundraiser as part of your event. As well as positioning your business in a positive light this can help to generate some excellent local publicity.

Spread the word

Consider the regional (or free) newspapers, local radio and community TV organisations that service your area.  Local sources of advertisement are usually more accessible than larger media with much more reasonable pricing. Given enough lead-time, some of them even give free access to local event listings.

What you see is what you get

To maximise the local impact of your next event you want to be seen. Get some visibility by placing posters in strategic locations. Some event venues, such as National Convention Centre Canberra , offer advertising solutions such as an external Electronic Billboard to advertise events up to six weeks in advance.