Getting Big Event Promotion on a Tiny Budget
Precious few event managers have the luxury of a promotional budget that allows them the extensive reach that they believe their event deserves, but there are ways of achieving a high profile without blowing the budget on big-dollar ads.
- Leverage sponsor assets - You're promoting your sponsors but it serves their purposes to promote your event in return through employee memos, newsletter content to their customers, and the provision of merchandise you can use for gifts.
- Utilize your venue - Get your event listed on their calendar and website as early as possible and make full use of their signage.
- Obtain free media - The broadcast and print media in your area have calendars and listings of upcoming events that you should also be on for as long as you can.
- Mobilize special interest groups - Clubs, amateur sporting teams and community groups with an interest in your event's topic can be tapped for volunteer promotional projects as well as outreach to their membership and audiences.
Marketing your event in ways that do not require huge outlays of cash for conventional advertising is limited only by your imagination. Here are just some of the ways you can make a huge-dollar splash for a small outlay.
- The Demonstration - Press attention is focused by a demonstration, and you can get extra media-attraction points by structuring the entire thing as a tongue-in-cheek promotion. Have picketers march back and forth in front of your venue with signs (This Event Is Unfair – To All Other Events) and chants (Heck No, We Won't Go, Anywhere Else, But Here) that actually promote your event.
- Temporary Tattoos - Cajole everyone involved in your event in placing a temporary promotional tattoo in a visible place such as the forehead, neck or back of the hand. The tattoo will wash off in a few days but the promotional value will last right through to your box office closing.
- Cheap Gas - Contract with a modern gas station in a prominent location to sell gasoline for an hour in the middle of a Saturday at 99 cents/gallon, with you making up the difference. You can restrict the total sale to five gallons and only to both sides of a pump. Given that the average time to pump, pay and move on is three minutes you'll only end up serving about 40 customers at an outlay of about $15 per customer. There is no other way you can spend $600 and get this much attention as the queue will stretch all the way down the street and attract massive media coverage.
- Spin The Wheel - Set up a casino-type spinning wheel next to your box office. Once your customer has purchased the ticket they can step up to the wheel and spin it. Most slots on the wheel will win the customer a small, cheap prize, but some will refund them half or the total amount of the ticket, with one slot winning a valuable grand prize you managed to get donated by a sponsor.
- Bat Signal - Rent a big spotlight and affix the logo of your event to the lens. Project it onto clouds, on the sides of buildings, at sporting events or anywhere that you can make it visible to a large number of people. Make sure before you implement this that it's legal in your jurisdiction.
- Flash Mob - Get an amateur dance troupe to set up a choreographed dance in a crowded environment such as a commuter train station at peak time or in front of a major league stadium just before the game. Ensure that their clothing is clearly marked with your event logo and rivet the attention of thousands of people.
- Celebrity Lookalikes - There's nothing like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Cher or Lady Gaga signing autographs in front of your event venue to rivet the attention of the passersby. Have plenty of security on hand in case some fans start thinking that this is the real star and not a lookalike.
Get those creative juices flowing and come up with guerilla marketing ideas that will promote your event to the greatest number of people at the lowest possible cost and watch your attendance soar!