If you are planning to organize a corporate event, there are hundreds of things to plan. You need to select food suppliers, find and contact your guests and speakers, arrange funds, rent classroom, send invitations to attendees, and rent training room. Of all things, marketing your upcoming event could be the toughest challenge. Even seasoned marketers make some common mistakes in event marketing. Just printing some leaflets or brochures may not help promote your event to your target audience. You should avoid the following common mistakes to make your event marketing more effective.

Using only one marketing channel

Marketers today have the opportunity to use multiple marketing channels, including social media, local advertising, and email marketing. Not using any of these channels would be a mistake. Some marketers focus too much on only one marketing strategy. For more effective event marketing, you need to diversify your marketing efforts and use all the channels in the best possible way. For instance, you can use Facebook to let your followers know and create buzz around your upcoming event. At the same time, you can hand out leaflets to your local customers, while also running an email campaign to have more people interested to know about your event. It is always a good idea to use multiple channels, so that you can reach out a wider audience.

Not having a unique marketing proposition

As an event planner, you should be able to tell what sets your event apart from others. Most marketers today focus only on their products and services. They know their products inside out, but have a little or no idea about the unique selling proposition of their products. Unless you know why your products are better than that of your competitor or what value it is likely to bring to your customers, you’ll not be able to develop a unique marketing proposition. As a result, your marketing campaign may not be effective enough to attract more people to your event.

Targeting wider audience

It is very important to promote your event to the right audience. For best results, you should narrow down your focus based on demographic, purchase behavior, age, and other aspects. Once you can pinpoint your audience, it would be easy to plan your marketing campaign accordingly, and thus increase the response rate.

Inability to engage with your audience

Whether you are marketing through social media, leaflets or brochures, you should be able to engage your target audience. This is not a one-time task. You should interact with your audience on a regular basis. For instance, you can ask questions on social media. Let your followers respond to your questions. You too should answer any of their queries about event or product. Building a two-way communications helps strengthen the bonding between your brand and your audience. This eventually helps you keep your audience engaged and interested in your events.

While it is a good idea to use social media channels for event marketing, you should avoid overdoing it. Consider using only a few, selected social media platforms where you are likely to find most of your target customers.