How to Create Impactful Marketing Material for Events

Events of all types are back in style in a big way. According to recent research, the events industry should continue to grow systematically until at least 2035, topping out at approximately $2.5 trillion. There’s a catch, though: If you’re planning, promoting, and presenting events, you’re going to have a lot of competition. That’s where a strategic marketing plan becomes essential, as well as auxiliary marketing material for events.

Today, though, marketing materials don’t just mean posters and flyers. Thanks to digitization and online communities, event materials can run the gamut from click-through advertisements to TikToks. In fact, event marketers have plenty of different options when it comes to getting messages to potential attendees. The problem is figuring out which ones to focus upon to get the most impact.

This isn’t a small task, either. Since every event has unique intentions and audiences, event marketing materials need to be highly customized. That said, they also need to get the maximum results in return for their financial investment.

To help you and your team identify and create marketing material for events that promise strong ROI and deliver desirable outcomes, consider incorporating the following marketing tools into your plan. Each of them is focused on getting you the biggest boost without straining you financially.

Develop a mobile app specifically for your event

Your organization may already have a mobile app for customers. However, building a separate app for your event allows you to brand your event and capture event-specific data more easily.

Event apps are exactly what they sound like: mobile apps completely focused on giving attendees information on a single event like a conference, convention, or meeting. As event technology provider SmartSource explains, modern event apps go far beyond basic registration or itinerary access. They can showcase sponsors, enable attendee networking, allow participants to build personalized schedules, and deliver real-time updates throughout the event.

When implemented as part of a broader event technology strategy, a mobile event app helps centralize information and keep every attendee touchpoint consistent with your brand. It also creates a valuable data layer that can help organizers understand engagement patterns, collect post-event feedback, and maintain relationships with attendees long after the event ends.

(Pro tip: Consider translating your mobile app content into additional languages. Connecting with attendees in their home language can make their experience more welcoming and help increase your event’s overall ROI.)

Turn your presenters, vendors, and sponsors into influencers

This is the era of the social media influencer, with anywhere from 28% to 55% of consumers willing to take influencers’ advice, via Marketing Profs reporting. You can take advantage of this reality by seeing your presenters (and sponsors) as possible influencers. Many of them likely have strong social media presences, whether on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, or a podcast network. Rather than just hope that they talk about presenting at your event, control the dialogue by formalizing your relationship with them as influencers.

For instance, you might want to arrange to allow your presenters to give away tickets on their social media sites, or to enable them to earn money on any registrations that come through a unique link. This gives them a reason to talk up your event because they’ll be rewarded for their efforts. The more money they can make from their own social media channels, the more reasons they’ll have to partner with you as influencers.

You can do the same with your sponsors and vendors as well. Many of your event sponsors and vendors have existing followings on a variety of social media platforms. By feeding them branded information that they can share with fans, you can control the narrative around your event and give vendors and sponsors a way to highlight their support and participation. Ideally, you should be able to capture more attendees than you might otherwise have gotten for your event.

Post videos online to boost registration and awareness

Most people are accustomed to scrolling through snappy videos to get quick content. Your event marketing team can leverage this habit by offering snackable video content related to your workshop or summit. You’ll need to be open-minded and innovative since your videos can’t be obvious commercials or infomercials. However, with a little creativity, you may be able to come up with some video ideas.

As venue software provider BriteBiz notes, you’ll need a strong performing TikTok channel (or any social media channel) to make this strategy work. If you don’t already have a well-visited TikTok presence, you may need to wait and develop one. On the other hand, don’t be afraid to test the waters and see if you can gain some momentum even with a newer TikTok business profile. Unsure about what types of videos will be catchiest? Consider showing your beautiful venue, share snippets from a speaker’s past presentation, or upload videos of former attendees talking about their amazing experiences. Your videos don’t have to be silly to be sticky, although a little humor may win hearts.

Be certain to create KPIs around your video content so you can determine its quantifiable success. Knowing the objective performance of TikToks and YouTube uploads will help you in your future event planning. Plus, you’ll be able to see what type of content seems to motivate your attendees versus which content doesn’t make a ripple.

Future-forward marketing for the next generation of event attendees

Creating marketing material for events today is much different than it used to be. Nonetheless, you still need to develop marketing materials or else your event won’t reach its intended audience. By trying some new tactics, your team should start to gain more momentum while ensuring that all your outreach remains on-brand and in your control.

Great marketing material for events isn’t just about shouting into the void because it’s really about setting the stage. You want to trigger that “can’t miss” feeling long before the doors actually open. By mixing high-touch digital content with a bit of help from your speakers and sponsors, you turn a simple announcement into a community-building tool.

The goal is simple. Don’t just focus on filling seats, focus on creating an experience so memorable that people are already looking for next year’s tickets before the final session even wraps.