How to Successfully Promote Your Destination’s Event Online

What’s a great destination without vibrant, fun things to do? Chances are, your destination hosts some killer events throughout the year. Your visitors will NOT want to miss out on the events you have in store, but they just might not know that yet. How can you harness online channels to instill a healthy amount of FOMO (fear of missing out) in your potential attendees?

Online event promotion is a must for any destination looking to drive crowds to their big day (or night). Here are some ways to decide what online channels will ensure that your destination’s event is well-attended.

Know Your Attendees

You know your ideal attendees are planning out their trip on social media, but social media is a big, vague umbrella. Are they pulling ideas from Snapchat stories of their friends’ getaways? Are they watching their Facebook feed to see what attractions earn 5-star reviews from their online circle? Are they scouring hashtags on Instagram to see what catches their eye?

While you can certainly promote an event through any and all outlets, don’t waste time and money pushing your event where attendees won’t see it. Identify what demographics you want to see at your event and find out where they’re spending their time online. Successful online event promotion doesn’t have to cover all of the bases of social media, but it should cover the ones that matter and cover them well.

What’s the Big Draw?

When planning your destination’s online event promotion, think of what its attendees are coming for—and what they want to take away from it. Whether they’re looking for forever family memories, Instagrammable food or a fun time they’ll tell all their friends about, any reason to attend your event is a reason to post about it.

Targeting what your attendees want from your event is another great way to find out where to promote it to increase the chances that they’ll hear about it. For example, if you’re looking to create family memories at your event, consider partnering with family and parenting sites and blogs that potential attendees frequent. If you’ve got some awesome and aesthetically pleasing food and fun lined up, a set of enticing pictures could make an appealing Instagram or Facebook carousel. Tonight’s stories can be tomorrow’s posts and tweets (with the right event hashtag, of course).

By narrowing down where your attendees are online and where they’ll be when your event is over, your destination can make online event promotion a breeze. Concentrate your efforts into the right online channels, and users will know exactly where they want to be on the day of the event.