Have a dance
floor collecting dust? Are
you tired of your conference room collecting dust? You might need to reconsider how you market your
venue as an event location. You will need to do some work if you don't have a
venue that has spectacular views of Sydney Harbour and a large capacity for
events.
These 15 simple,
but effective, venue promotion strategies will help you attract talent to your
space.
Before you get started: Define
your audience
Before you
promote a venue, you need to identify who you want to attract. Two distinct audiences are needed for your venue:
1.
Your venue
attracts the right clientele
2.
People who book
event spaces (i.e. Conference organisers, marketing managers and tour promoters
It is easy to
identify the first audience by seeing who walks through your doors. Think about what kind of events your customers
might attend to help you define the second audience.
For example,
take a place known for being a fun-loving, grungy, dive bar with a small stage. This venue attracts a young, hipster crowd. The venue already attracts tour promoters and small
labels to use their stage on weekends. But how do they fill up on Tuesday nights? The venue could offer professional networking
events to their existing clientele by targeting the same industries as their
current clientele. This would include creative agencies and startups, or edgy
startups. They
could also target small-batch craft liquor companies to host launch events and
tastings. This would allow them to tap into existing suppliers.
15 ideas for venue promotion
Once you have a
clear idea of who your target audience is, you can start to promote them. These 15 suggestions for venue marketing will help
you get started.
1. Rewrite your marketing materials
After you have
defined your venue and the audience you want to attract, you can start to
examine your marketing assets. To ensure your venue's goals are being met, review
your website, social media channels and
marketing collateral.
2. Update your
venue photography
Are you taking
photos of empty rooms? Or are you using grainy iPhone photography? You might want to bring people together in your
space and capture the moment with professional photos. It will be easier for people to imagine themselves
in your space if you show them the venue during live events. How do you do it? Continue reading...
3. Organise your
own events
Events draw a
crowd. That's why you want to host more. Hosting an event yourself is a great way to show off your venue
as a hotspot for events. People
will experience your event firsthand if you fill your venue with people they
are interested in. The
type of event you throw will depend on the goals of your venue. Here are some
examples:
- Open Day to show off your
venue and favorite suppliers
- For local event
professionals who want to get to know your venue, "Famiil" is a
way for them to do so.
- For your customers and
their guests, host a VIP party to expand your network.
- Invite local businesses
to your event at Locals Night
- Local artists can compete
in a band showcase.
4. Get together for
a highly-coveted event
You can offer
your space to an experienced event organizer for free if you are looking to get
into the events market. A
partner event that attracts your target audience will help you to establish
your brand and provide valuable learning opportunities. Reach out to the events you are interested in and
try to make a deal.
5. Sponsor an event
to benefit charity
You can offer to
sponsor an event for
charity if you don't want to be involved in event organization but still get
bookings. This
gives non-profit organizations a significant cost savings and lets them learn
more about how to work with events.
6. Invest in Search
Engine Optimisation
Search terms
such as "event venues Melbourne" will always be in high demand. So
think outside of the box. Think
about how another person might describe your place. What would your ideal customer search for if they
were searching for a venue similar to yours? What can your website do to appeal to your
customers? These
are some common search terms:
- "Cheap functions
venues Sydney"
- "Warehouse Melbourne
event venue"
- "Hipster event venue
Adelaide"
- "Waterfront event
venue Perth
- "Rooftop venue
hire"
- "Live music in
Victoria's regional areas"
7. Register as an
event venue
Potential
customers will use more than Google to locate venues for their gigs or events. You can increase your chances of being found by
ensuring your venue is listed on local venues-finding websites such as:
- Venuemob.com
- Venues2events.com.au
- EventBirdie.com
To ensure your
details are correct and include information about your venue, such as a location,
you should also claim any local listings on aggregate websites such as Google My
Business and Yelp.
8. Get together
with a reliable ticketing service provider
Partnering with
an online ticketing service provider can help increase your sales if your venue
hosts regular events. Sold-out
events mean more recognition as the top venue in your city to book and help you
attract more talent.
Eventalways offers a range
of integrated promotional tools, including custom email invitations and social
sharing. These tools can also be used to make recommendations to an audience of
event-goers and ticket-buyers.
9. The features
event organizers love to sell are yours!
You've probably
heard the expression "sell the sizzle, but not the steak"? Instead of selling the space, you need to sell
the experience. When selling your space, think beyond the typical
function pack. Event
planners will look at an information sheet to determine your venue capacity and
floor plan. But don't forget the features that make your space attractive.
If you host a
seminar on business, is your venue well lit to keep attendees awake? Are there great bars nearby for cheap knock-off
drinks? These
details will prove useful for organizers and could help you book your event.
10. Make a virtual
tour
Hosting a
360-degree virtual tour of your venue is a step beyond photos. To showcase your venue from every angle, use a
service such as Google's tour creator.
11. Spotify can
promote your venue
Did you know
that Spotify can be used to reach music lovers if you own a venue for live
music or host gigs? You
can create shareable content and help define your space. Your chances of converting Spotify fans into ticket
buyers are even higher if your ticketing provider allows you to distribute
your events to Spotify. Promotors looking to book your venue can benefit
from having a loyal and buying audience.
12. Your
professional network
Event venues
that are successful have a large network of professionals they trust and know. You can leverage these relationships to promote your
event via
word-of-mouth or reciprocal arrangements. A preferred list of suppliers should be available
for entertainment, catering, MCs, photographers, and AV hire. Music venues should be in touch with local DJs,
musicians and record labels to find the right suppliers. These businesses can help promote your venue to
their clients. So build relationships with existing contacts and ask for
referrals to identify your preferred team.
13. Make smart
marketing decisions by collecting data
Are you gathering
data to help your marketing efforts? Simple technology like promotional track links or guest-check-in
apps can help you determine where your venue's marketing budget should go
to achieve success.
Analytics will
tell you how many people are visiting your website from online advertisements
that you have run to promote an event at your venue. Tracking links will help you determine which
advertising is converting into sales and allow you to spend more on the right
channels.
14. Create
a segmented email database
To ensure that
your email newsletter is a success, you should have a segmented list. This
will allow you to distinguish your event business from any other customers who
come through your door. Although
event organizers do not need to be notified every week about what is happening
at your venue, they may be interested in receiving a quarterly targeted email with
information on recent successes and upcoming promotions to book your space.
15. Add
a blog on your website
Write a blog post about highlights from events. It might seem odd that you would write about an
event that has ended. However, there are many benefits to regular blog content.
- Improve your search
results by adding fresh content.
- Give potential guests a
better idea of what an event at your venue is like.
- Create links to share via
email and social media.
- Linking to event
partners or valued sponsors.
- Your site should feature
more videos and photography.
Comments
Post a Comment