10 Social Media Event Promotion Strategies to Try — With Examples

Your event is looming, and you’re eager to make it a success. Employing a smart social media strategy is the answer to selling those all-important tickets. So, how can you get started?

If you want to know how to promote events on social media, you’ve come to the right place. In the following guide, we will cover how to market an event on social media like a real pro.

Why should you use social media to promote an event?

Social media has become a key instrument for promoting events in the digital era as it has an extensive user base spread across different platforms that enables events to reach a large audience and facilitates engagement.  Around the world, 4.9 billion people use social media, giving you access to a mass audience at the touch of a button. Read more to find out how to promote events on social media.

How to promote an event on social media: 10 Impactful ways with examples

Best social media promotion ideas before your event

1. Countdown

Through posting daily or weekly countdowns on social media you can arouse the interest of your audience. You can complement this approach with cool visuals and captivating captions.

The tactic does not only keep your event always in the mind of followers but also helps them to put a mark on their calendar and stay engaged as the date of the event approaches. Make sure you pay attention to the best time to post on social media when using this approach.

Best for: Creating the anticipation and boosting the thrill before the event. For instance, music festivals may share daily countdown posts which include appealing video snippets of artists performing and thus generate a buzz among its followers.

Example: Winter Wake Up the Poconos

‍

2. Landing Page

When you are promoting your event via social media, you need to direct your audience somewhere. It’s the second stage after hooking your followers. A landing page that is specifically designed for the event is the centralized space for all the most important event and registration information. It is where you share the meaty details of your event, and draw the audience into it.

Your landing page should be eye-catching and informative with actionable buttons for ticket purchasing or RSVPs. This ensures you provide an opportunity for interested people to learn more about the event and then take the next step by planning their attendance.

Best for: Including key details of the event and track the success of the registration. An industry tech conference could have a landing page of its own where users could purchase tickets or RSVP directly with keynote speakers' presentations and topics listed.

Example: Made Festival 2024 Landing Page

3. Polls

They are an effective way to engage your audience and gather valuable insights leading up to your event. By conducting polls on social media platforms, you can involve your audience in decision-making processes, such as choosing event themes, preferred session topics, or even selecting event merchandise.

This step not just creates the feeling of inclusivity and community but also gives you feedback that improves your event planning and content strategy by ensuring that your event interests the audience that you target.

Best for: Encouraging the audience for their active participation and taking feedback. Conduct polls to involve your audience in decision-making, such as choosing event themes or preferred session topics.

4. Teaser Trailers

They give a preview of what participants will experience during the event thus creating anticipation and enthusiasm. By creating short video clips or trailers that feature the most important highlights, special guests, or attractive events, you can make those who follow you on social media curious and generate a buzz.

This technique not only grabs their attention but also gives them a sense of what is to follow and compels them to attend the event. You can use YouTube Shorts to promote your event, for example.

Best for: Previewing the event and giving a taste of what to expect. Release short teaser trailers highlighting key moments or attractions of the event.

Example: Craft Conference 2023 Trailer

5. Create Event Hashtag

The use of a hashtag for your event enables you to trace and track the social media activities that are related to your event and as such can help you to gauge the audience sentiments, as well as determine the level of engagement, and identify those social influencers who are actively promoting your event.

Utilizing event hashtags in the posts of the attendees, speakers, and sponsors, too will be an efficient tool. This helps to maximize the reach and effect of the event promotion and, as a result, reach an even wider audience and generate excitement as the day of the event arrives. This approach can work for webinar promotions, live events, and even tours.

Best for: Facilitating conversation and increasing brand visibility. Create a unique event hashtag and urge attendees to include it in their posts.

Example: Taylor Swift’s #ErasTour Hashtag

Best social media promotion ideas during your event

6. Live Streaming

Remote attendees can get involved by airing live discussions, performances, or other activities as they are taking place. This means that they can participate in the event as if they were physically attending it.

This, in turn, increases accessibility besides building a sense of inclusion. Individuals from across the globe interact with your event in a relevant way, driving audience engagement and consequently amplifying the event's impact.

Best for: Extending reach to virtual audiences and fostering real-time engagement. Stream live performances, keynote speeches, or behind-the-scenes moments for remote viewers.

Example: Ted Live

7. UGC (User-Generated Content)

This method involves asking the participants to publish their photo stories, images, and videos about the event on social platforms.

By motivating attendees to use event-specific hashtags or tagging your event's official accounts, you can develop user-generated content that presents the individual views and experiences of your audience.

‍Best for: Harnessing powers of user-generated content to increase authenticity and engagement. Encourage participants to share their experiences using photos, videos or testimonials.

Best social media promotion ideas after your event

8. Record and Repost

By posting post-event materials like testimonials, backstage footage, or social media highlight clips, you provide social proof of the effectiveness and appeal of the event. This builds credibility and trust for future potential attendees.

Redistribution of content after the event also helps to keep the momentum for your event. It ensures you remain top-of-mind for your audience, so the buzz and excitement continue to spread after the event.

Implementing this is effortless if you’re using a platform like Riverside. You can record in up to 4K and then use our Magic Clips tool to turn your event’s highlights into shareable videos.

Best for: Extending the lifespan of the event through thoughtful post-event engagement. Post teaser videos, highlight reels, recap videos, or fan-favorite moments from the event.

Example: Big Think Event Videos

9. Repurpose as Blog Posts

Repurposing event content into blog posts allows you to take advantage of the knowledge and insights shared during the event and portray yourself as an authority in your industry.

This move not only strengthens the brand reputation but also adds new followers and subscribers who are looking for more information related to the topics discussed at the event. When you use Riverside to record your event, you get an automatic AI-generated transcript and automated summaries. You can edit this to create an easy-to-read blog post for your audience.

Best for: Generating evergreen content and presenting in-depth event details. Transform event presentations or panel discussions into blog posts or articles.

Example: Tips for Growing Your Podcast’s Reach

Start recording with Riverside

Easily record high-quality podcasts & videos remotely

Get Started

10. Merchandise

This is one of the most useful types of social media marketing after an event since it has two benefits—generating profit and sustaining brand awareness.

You not only create a sense of belonging and attachment among the audience, but you turn them into walking billboards for your brand as they use or wear the merchandise.

Best for: Producing supplementary income and advancing brand recognition. Sell souvenirs with the logotype of the event printed on them.

Example: Maisie Peters’ Event Merch (promoted via Instagram)

How to promote your event on different social media platforms:

How to promote your event on Instagram

Instagram offers a visually appealing stage that is perfect for sharing the event highlights and engaging with followers in real-time.

Key promotion tools:

• Instagram Stories: Share your behind-the-scenes moments, countdowns to the event, and polls.
• Instagram Live: Stream live event coverage, Q&A sessions, or exclusive interviews to engage and entertain your audience in real-time.

How to promote your event on Facebook

Facebook provides powerful event creation and promotion tools enabling easy access and interaction with your target audience.

Key promotion tools:

• Event Pages: Set up event pages dedicated to the sharing of information, schedules, and audience outreach.
• Facebook Ads: Build event visibility with targeted advertising to get a wider audience.
• Facebook Live: Display key event moments, interviews, or performances to entice online and in-person attendees.

How to promote your event on LinkedIn

LinkedIn is the most suitable social media channel for public relations promotion of business events such as corporate events, industry conferences, networking events, and industry gatherings.

Key promotion tools:

• LinkedIn Events: Use LinkedIn to create and promote professional events so you can get in touch with professionals in your industry directly.
• LinkedIn Posts and Articles: Use event announcements, speaker profiles, and industry insights to generate excitement and attract attendees.
• LinkedIn Groups: Connect and get involved with the industry groups so that you can post events to their shared boards and connect with the event attendees.

FAQs on How to Promote an Event on Social Media

How often should you post on social media to promote an event?

In general, how often you post is established by the platform and the preferences of the audience. However, you should mix things up in the lead-up to your event. Try out a range of times and frequencies to see what works for your audience.

How do I get influencers to promote my event?

Determine the influencers that are important for your event's niche or the industry and approach them with personalized pitches that show how they can benefit from participating in the event. Provide incentives like complimentary tickets, special access or marketing sponsorship or partnership programs to encourage collaboration.

How early should you promote an event on social media?

Begin publicizing your event at least two months before the actual date and then send out periodic reminders and updates to build eagerness and increase attendance.