| Increasingly, people are using search engines as their | | | | target. If attendees come almost exclusively from |
| first source of information. Nearly half (49%) of all | | | | Austin, target the Austin metro only. If attendees |
| US Internet users use search engines on a typical | | | | are likely to travel from neighboring cities, you may |
| day, according to a Pew Internet study. | | | | want to target the entire state to increase |
| But for promoting events, search engine optimization | | | | registrations. Also, put the city name in the ad copy if |
| (SEO) may not be the first marketing channel that | | | | you're using a broad geographic area. Some people |
| comes to mind-and rightly so. SEO campaigns can | | | | will come to Austin from Houston for an event, but |
| take months to prove effective, and most events, | | | | some might not. Being clear in the ad copy will save |
| unless they are annual or seasonal, do not have the | | | | you money and save some of your supporters |
| time to build a successful SEO strategy. | | | | frustration. Don't forget to include the city name in |
| On the other hand, emailing event information to a | | | | your search terms, as well. In any case, if you target |
| mailing list is a good method of online promotion-but | | | | the entire United States, you will probably exhaust |
| with increased marketing clutter in the inbox and | | | | your budget on people who may be interested in |
| more consumers using social media for | | | | your event but aren't going to fly across the country |
| communication than ever before, you stand a good | | | | to participate. |
| chance of getting lost in the noise. | | | | 4. Don't expand your keyword list too much |
| Moreover, regional event coordinators may not even | | | | Since you are already geo-targeting your paid-search |
| turn to online promotions at all, assuming their online | | | | campaign, there is no need to also create long-tailed |
| audience is too scattered, and so they opt to instead | | | | keywords, or you will end up with almost no traffic |
| promote their event via local or grassroots efforts | | | | to your campaign. Bid on words that make sense for |
| only. | | | | your event, and try bidding on some general |
| But paid-search marketing, with its ability to target | | | | keywords. For example, for a 10K event, try the |
| geographically, is a great means of increasing | | | | keywords "run," "walk," or "10K." Just make sure to |
| exposure for local events, whether fundraisers, | | | | constantly watch your budget. |
| conferences, concerts, or anything else. | | | | 5. Decide how long to run your campaign |
| When running a paid-search campaign as part of your | | | | Data from previous years is extremely beneficial. Do |
| event promotion, consider the following tips: | | | | the bulk of your attendees begin registering six |
| 1. Create an informative and engaging landing page | | | | months or one month in advance? Coordinate your |
| Be sure to answer the "who, what, where, when, | | | | paid search efforts to coincide with such patterns. |
| and why" questions instantly when someone arrives | | | | 6. Google Quality Score is critical |
| on your site. And if there's registration for your | | | | As you probably don't have time to establish a |
| event, make it as easy as possible for people to | | | | history with the campaign, having a Google AdWords |
| complete the form. If you have taken the time to | | | | account with an establish history and high Quality |
| develop a few good blogger relationships, consider | | | | Score is important if you want to generate material |
| leveraging them for your event promotions. Bloggers | | | | traffic. |
| are typically on the lookout for interesting and | | | | 7. Coordinate with other marketing channels |
| relevant topics to talk about (read: link to). If you | | | | Marketing an event with paid search can be |
| have a page dedicated to your event on your site, | | | | particularly powerful when combined with other |
| you'll give friendly bloggers an opportunity to inform | | | | marketing channels, such as PR or DRTV. The |
| their readers by linking to the event. | | | | combined benefit is often much greater than the sum |
| 2. Emphasize verbs and dates in the ad copy | | | | of the parts. |
| Use phrases to stress the immediate call to action, | | | | * * * |
| "Register to Vote Today," or to invite searchers to | | | | Marketing events with paid search campaigns can be |
| participate in the cause, "Help Fight Cancer." Include | | | | a great source for additional traffic and, with these |
| the dates of the event to create a sense of | | | | tips, can also be an efficient promotion channel. |
| urgency. For example, for one of our B2C clients, ads | | | | After your event, do turn off your search |
| with action-oriented copy had a 150% higher | | | | campaign-but don't abandon your landing page. Keep |
| clickthrough rate than ads promoting the event | | | | it fresh to attract future attendees. Consider |
| without a verb emphasis. | | | | updating your landing page to showcase attendee |
| 3. Speak to those who may realistically attend by | | | | testimonials and pictures, and promote any future |
| geo-targeting your message | | | | events. You can also post links to help visitors find |
| Use attendee data from previous years to make | | | | related events. |
| informed decisions on how broadly (or narrowly) to | | | | |