Spotlight 25: Spread the word about your event

The success of your event depends on your marketing strategy; the more visible your event is, the more the people who'll register for it. That's why it's important to have an effective and multifaceted event promotional strategy—one that can make your event known to the entirety of your target market, wherever they may be on the internet.

At Backstage, we've got a full set of promotional tools that can work in tandem with your event marketing strategy to make it all the more impactful and cohesive. Let's take a look at how you can put them into action.

Market your event on social platforms

Social media is the most happening place on the internet. As such, getting your event trending there is the easiest way to connect with your target audience. Backstage gives you the option to post on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Also, as social platforms give importance to the visuals, posts created on Backstage require banners by default. You can either go with one of the available templates (which can be further customized) or add your own banner.

To create social posts, go to the Social share tab in the Promote tab of the Manage dashboard. Choose a banner image for your post, add a message, and, finally, click the icon of the social platform to which you wish to post. You'll be redirected to that social platform where you can post the banner along with your message.

Add an event banner to promote it on blogs and websites

Your blog or website has probably already built an audience that's interested in your work. Since they're invested in you, it's easier to convert them into attendees. This is especially true if your event is an annual one and they've attended before. In Backstage, you can generate an iframe code for the banner and embed it on your blogs, websites, and other pages to inform interested people about your event. The button in the banner will be linked to the event microsite so people can easily find your event and register for it.

To get your event banner, go to the Blog or website tab in the Promote tab. Choose a layout for the banner, select a format for the date and time, and customize the button text. An iframe code with your specifications will be generated on the right along with a preview of the banner. Copy this code and paste it into your blog or website's HTML code to add the banner there.

Leverage discount codes

Everyone loves a good deal. That's why discounts are one of the most successful promotional strategies that most marketers swear by. Selling tickets at a reduced price using discount codes will boost registrations at your event. Backstage has two promotional code options—discount codes and access codes. For this purpose, we'll use the former.

Create your discount code in the Promotional codes tab of the Promote tab. Discount codes can only be applied to paid ticket classes—hidden ticket classes can't be assigned to discount codes. Also, you can choose to calculate the redemption count for whole orders or individual tickets. Your attendees can then use the code for discounts when purchasing tickets to your event.

Advertise with affiliates

An easy and cost-effective way to expand your event's reach is by using affiliates. These are people or companies that promote your event to their audience for a commission. In Backstage, you can track the performance of each affiliate individually with unique affiliate links. These links tell you how many people visited your event microsite by way of that affiliate, how many orders they placed, and the revenue generated through those ticket sales. With these metrics, you can refine your affiliate marketing strategy.

When onboarding affiliates to promote your event, generate a unique microsite link for them in the Affiliate tab of the Promote tab. The tracking code in the link will help you track the performance of each affiliate and understand their value better.

Learn more about making the best use of the features in Backstage's promotional tools repertoire, fine tune your event marketing strategy, and sell out your event. Subscribe to our forum to be updated with the latest Backstage news. If you have any feedback or questions, please write to us at support@zohobackstage.com.

Happy organizing!

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Spotlight 26: Host interactive virtual sessions with Backstage OnAir
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