Look into connecting with local media. Most local newspapers, radio stations and television stations would love to help the community know about your festival or event. There are two ways of approaching this. You can either take out an ad, which may be costly or ask if they’d be willing to interview you or your organizing team. The latter is free and a great option to get the message out. You’ll also build connections for future events.
Use social media correctly. It may sound a bit hypocritical to mention how social media isn’t enough for promotion, but properly used social media can be a game-changer. One single post on your own Facebook page isn’t enough. But if you start using all the correct techniques, such as using a hashtag, posting in all related groups, creating bitesize promotional bits that you post on your page every day and asking all speakers and entertainers to use your hashtag. You may also look into Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) techniques and see if you can use specific keywords and make sure that you are promoting aggressively on all social media channels.
Make tickets easy to buy. If you are charging a fee, you’ll want to ensure that getting tickets is as simple as possible. Have a few tickets available at the door, announce where tickets can be purchased in all your promotion material, assign a few people to be official ticket sellers, and use websites such as Eventbrite. Not only do these sites allow people to purchase tickets from the comfort of their homes and help you keep track of who is coming, but they often have internal promotional and marketing avenues. Some people even purposefully search them to find local events.
Sell special tickets. If you can, offer promotional events. Take a cultural film festival that will be held over a weekend. Break down your ticket tier into small bites. So, sell a ticket for a full day of activities, a full weekend of activities, an early bird ticket with a cheaper price tag, and a VIP ticket with special goodies. You can even add a ticket that is only usable for one specific movie. Price them all accordingly. Because people like feeling like they are getting a deal, and people who may not be able to afford a justify paying for a weekend but may be willing to pay to see that one movie they are desperate about. You’ll have more foot traffic and attendees. And who knows, they may decide to splurge once they get there.
Go where your audience is. Like attracts like. Make sure you promote your festival and activity where potential participants like to hang out and post on the type of social media that they use. If you are having a food festival, promote where foodies hang out. Make sure that your poster is in grocery stores or local restaurants.
Create contests and giveaways. Before your festival, event or activity, create a contest. Ask people to send in photos using that hashtag mentioned above, or invite them to caption a related image with the promise of a prize for the funniest one. Remember that some social media such as Facebook is cracking down on “Share this event with friends” or “Tag a friend” competitions. But that doesn’t mean you can’t create those giveaways. Just be creative and remain within the rules.
