Marketing your events requires alerting members to upcoming events, building their interest, and maintaining momentum to see their registrations through to completion. As such, marketing is time- and resource-intensive, but it makes all of the planning that goes into your event worth the returns.

To help you understand how to effectively market your association’s events, let’s explore a few promotion tips you can implement.

1. Create an event website.

For major events, consider building a dedicated website to promote them. This space should provide details about your event, including what it entails and how supporters can sign up. Include other features on your website, such as:

• An agenda or calendar. For multi-day events, a calendar can provide a timeline of important upcoming dates, such as the registration deadline and activity schedule. If your event spans one day, a detailed schedule for that day can also be useful. 
• Logistical information. Share what time your event starts, where the event will be hosted, what guests should and should not bring, what parking will be available, and where and when check-in will begin. Provide an email address or phone number for members to reach out with additional questions. If you notice the same questions coming up repeatedly, create an FAQ section on your website to address them.
• Event registration. Enable guests to register directly through your website to maximize convenience for web visitors and boost event attendance. Robust event registration tools will integrate with your website, so guests can easily purchase tickets and add-on items, select their schedules, access floor plans and speaker information, and view sponsor details. Plus, you can use these tools to view reports about registrants in real-time to understand the success of your event marketing efforts.
• Attention-grabbing images. Your website design should be easy to navigate and focus on marketing your upcoming event as much as possible by highlighting photographs and graphics that showcase it. Avoid cluttering your pages with too many photos. Instead, by strategically using a few attention-grabbing images, you can guide visitors’ eyes through your website to spotlight key information.
• Branding. Your event website is an opportunity to market your association and present your brand, so ensure your organization’s values are clearly communicated to your audience. Consider the language you use to present your event and how it aligns with your brand. For instance, rather than framing an activity as exciting and fun, focus on the opportunities it unlocks for participants in the future to show its professional value. This might include sharing a story from a member about their experience at your last event and how it helped them in their career.

Determine whether it will make the most sense for your association to create a page on your existing website or a new microsite for your event. A microsite can be useful for any virtual event as it provides space for additional features, such as a secure portal for guests and a livestream. 

2. Personalize communication. 

Your members are a part of your association, and your communications should treat them as such. When reaching out to members about your event, personalize your messages as much as possible. Address each member by their preferred name and reach out to them on their most used communication channel.

You can make your messages truly unique by referencing members’ engagement history. The best way to do that is through segmentation and email automation. Segment potential attendees based on relevant details about their experience with your association. For instance, you might create groups for your long-time members, new members, and non-members.

Then, use an email authoring tool to build templates for each of these groups. From there, your email automation can automatically populate these templates with relevant, personalized information for each guest, creating unique emails for each recipient. 

3. Spotlight eye-catching activities. 

Members will attend an event only if they know what will actually take place, so they can determine if it interests them. In your marketing materials, include as many visuals of your event as possible that highlight its most interesting, exciting, and novel aspects. 

This strategy is especially useful for associations looking to attract guests outside of their current member base. For example, conference marketing typically includes photographs of keynote speakers. Potential guests who may not be familiar with the organization but are aware of the speakers’ thought leadership will still sign up to hear the keynote speech. Then, if they had a positive experience at the event, they may get more involved with the organization in the future. 

If your event primarily features activities that don’t make for eye-catching photographs, effective graphic design can still help convey the importance and value of your event. For example, in a lecture series, you will likely primarily feature photographs of top presenters, audience members listening attentively, and a few individuals speaking with speakers after a presentation. These visuals can still make for effective marketing by using consistent color and interplay with text.

4. Focus on high-engagement channels. 

Your association’s digital strategy should include a multi-channel approach. By reaching out to members across various platforms, you can connect with your entire audience and potentially attract new members who see your posts on public platforms. 

However, this doesn’t mean your association should invest equal time and effort into every channel. While contact on many channels can improve the odds that a member will eventually act on a call to action, some of your engagement channels likely receive notably higher engagement than others. 

When marketing for your event, assess your response rates and focus on channels with a high potential return on investment, such as:

• Email. Email is one of the most popular direct communication channels due to its efficiency and low cost. Ensure your emails are branded to your association and share all need-to-know information about your upcoming event at a single glance. Provide a link to your website and registration page for members interested in learning more and signing up. 
• Social media. It’s common for social media channels to see sudden bursts and lulls in engagement. Keep an eye on your top social media platforms, including LinkedIn, Facebook, X (Twitter), and your online community’s forums. To reach a larger audience beyond your members through social media, consider partnering with an influencer in your field. This influencer could be a member of your association, a presenter at your event, or just someone in your industry with a large platform who is willing to vouch for your organization. 
• Direct mail. Even in the digital age, direct mail can be a surprisingly effective communication method. Receiving a mailed invitation to an event can make it feel more formal or important, which can improve your response rates. 

The exact channels that receive higher response rates will vary from association to association. Keep your members’ communication preferences in mind when reaching out to them, as well. 

For example, your association might have the highest response rates to text messages. At the same time, you might have a significant number of members who have expressed that they only want to be contacted via email. Being respectful of these preferences shows members your association listens to their feedback and is interested in creating a mutually beneficial experience.

Your event’s marketing extends from initial outreach to post-event follow-up. It should aim to meet guests where they are with personalized messages delivered through professionally designed appeals. Start planning your event marketing campaigns early to reach as many members and new guests as possible and get them to mark their calendars well in advance.