Event organizers are always looking for unique ways to promote their events and you can’t do much better than these top seven!

1. Unique hashtags. Far too many event organizers create a totally generic hashtag and therefore lose the vast majority of the value which they could have had if their Twitter identifier had been more specific to their event. Is #BigNewYearsEveParty the best you can do? Do you realize that there have to be hundreds if not thousands of other events all over the country and even the world that will use that hashtag? Take careful steps to craft your hashtag so that it is unique to your event by including critical identifiers such as the city, venue name, or other information which allows it to be directly identified on Twitter.
2. Value videos. Not all of the videos that you create for your event have to push the event’s attendance at a fever pitch, as the most effective videos to share on social media are the ones which provide information and entertainment about topics which are relevant to your event but don’t even necessarily mention it outright. If you’re presenting a trade show on square tires, your most effective video would not be centered around “Show the world you’re a square by attending the square tire convention” but more along the lines of interesting tidbits about square tires, such as the life of the illustrious inventor of this pneumatic phenomenon, and the best way to fit a kidney belt to keep square tire motorists from hemorrhaging.
3. Free Bees. You don’t have to give away bees, but you can certainly draw in event attendees with ample amounts of honey by giving stuff away, and entire hives of it. You can be assured that no one is really going to be motivated by a cheap ballpoint pen embossed with your event’s logo, so ensure that your freebies have a notable perceived value. No one is asking you to give away Rolexes to each participant, but it sure wouldn’t hurt to have an online contest for a giveaway of one of these super expensive mega bling watches. Even if you don’t go the big prize contest route, you can create a wide variety of incentive promotional give aways such as VIP tickets, discount ticket vouchers, free refreshment coupons … it’s only limited by your imagination and marketing savvy!
4. Polls work. It’s not true that the only ones who have the right idea about polls are dogs, as there are very few other marketing strategies available to event producers and promoters than effective surveys. Tie in the successful completion of an online survey to a valuable prize or give away and reap the benefits.
5. Scarcity strategy. One of the best ways that event promoters can build a sense of urgency surrounding their events is to place a firm limit to the time and date which the tickets to the event can be purchased, or similarly have a limit to the number of tickets available. This “when they’re gone, they’re gone” approach can convince a potential attendee to act now while they still have the chance to be at the event.
6. Last minute availabilities. When you as an event promoter make a group of tickets available just days or even hours prior to an event, the success of your strategy will strictly be keyed into your social media effectiveness. If you are able to create a great deal of interest around this ticket availability through an explanation that these tickets had been sold but were subject to last minute cancellations, or due to overwhelming demand you were able to reconfigure the seating in some way to accommodate more people, you will find that last minute tickets can be a considerable sales driver.
7. Thank everything & everyone. Before, during, and after the event, strive to be a thanks factory. Thank everything that moves and even a few things that don’t and establish your reputation as a caring, considerate, and appreciative event organizer.

Engage your potential attendees in these unique ways and your box office take will thank you!