Develop a “financing plan” for your event, and estimate the numbers.
Find out how you will pay for the event. Most events are funded by sponsorship’s, ticket sales, internal marketing budgets, or a combination of all three. When you create your event budget, you will need to estimate how much money you can realistically generate from each area. Before you book your office or sign any contract, it’s a good idea to start signing sponsors first, or sell tickets in advance to make sure there’s enough interest in your idea to fund it.
Create an expense budget – and save money through “in-kind” sponsor donations.
Events tend to cost more than the average small business owner thinks-mainly in terms of location and food and drink. Remember to evaluate all the permits and licenses you will need. An event planner can help you avoid headaches. Make a complete list of all expenses and then highlight areas where you think sponsors can play a role by offering something in-kind. The more you work with other brands and partners to host your events, the more you can save.
Consider crowd funding as a new option to raise funds for an event.
If this is your first run of events, use crowd funding platforms to reduce risk. By posting your events on these platforms, participants must commit to tickets for the event. If the minimum number of participants requested is not satisfied, the event does not take place.
Getting People to Attend
You will need a DETAILED marketing plan.
Create a marketing plan for the event. The more organized you are, the more professional your event will be.
Be tireless in your efforts or your event will fail.
If you do not want to be at your event alone … then market and still market.
Define the good reasons why people must present themselves.
What is the draw for the participants? You need to define what you are doing at the event that will bring the target participants to the door. For a consumer product it could be a party with entertainment and demos of products and tributes. For a work audience it could be an educational content or an exciting and known expert speaker. Whatever it is, do not lose your connection with the reason why you want this particular audience to cry out.
Buy advertising on social networks.
The purchase of advertising on social networks is often overlooked by small events. Social advertising platforms (Facebook and Instagram above all) offer in-depth targeting options that can significantly help you reach our target audience in our geographic location. The good news is that high budgets are not needed and ticket sales can be easily measured.
Use YouTube to promote your event.
YouTube is the second global search engine after Google. Uploading videos from our previous events or interviews with our speakers / artists is a great way to convince potential participants to click on Buy. The video provides significant visual cues that greatly affect our decision-making process. With events we always feel the risk of not knowing what will happen, the video alleviates this tension.