Photo by NASA on Unsplash

Guest post by Lucy Wyndham

77% of Americans use social media, meaning that almost the entire nation can be reached online. If you are looking to put on a mass event, whether to promote your company or raise charity donations, the internet is a great way to do this. Social media tools can help you to stay organized, while digital marketing can spread your event to potential attendees. Here are the tools you need to launch a successful event and how to use them.

Get the Latest Software

Organizing an event involves juggling multiple tasks at once, ensuring that all aspects of an event come together at exactly the right time. While you might be a super efficient, organized multi-tasker, there is always the possibility for human error. Utilizing event management software allows you to keep on top of your deadlines and plan an event that goes off without a hitch.

Get your head around this software as early as possible. It will help you to book the venues and ensure everyone gets the right ticket in time. Check out a few different services, choosing the one that is easy to use and ideal for the type of event you wish to hold.

Leverage Social Media Groups

Once you have the event management software in place, you need to reach social media users. This can be done by setting up an event or group on social media and inviting people who may be interested. Facebook has the best tools for this, with other services such as Twitter and Instagram having less group forming capabilities.

Once a group is set up, you need to keep it active and interesting. Post photos and videos with details of the upcoming event, encouraging users to like, comment and share the content. This is a way of organically building your audience for free.

Advertise Across All Platforms

The average social media user has seven accounts, but you can’t guarantee to reach all potential customers if you are only using one platform. Different users prefer some platforms and may not check others, so increase the size of your reach as much as possible. Promote your event on Facebook, but also put a link to it in your Instagram bio, while regularly Tweeting about it.

The more platforms you use the better, but focus your energy on the most popular ones, paying attention to the audience you’ll be reaching. While Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram are preferred among females, Twitter and LinkedIn have a mostly male user base. If you are aiming at a specific demographic, it makes sense to dedicate more advertising revenue towards the relevant platforms.

Event management is easier than ever with the emergence of the digital age. Almost everyone in America is using the internet and interacting with social media. Use dedicated event management tools to stay organized, then grow an audience using both organic shares and sponsored posts to ensure a sold out event. Spread your marketing campaigns widely, but also focus in on your target audience by using social media posts to your advantage.