You’ve got an amazing event idea, secured the perfect venue, and lined up an impressive talent roster. Now comes the challenging part: marketing your event and selling tickets!
Event marketing is all about delivering the right message to the right audience to drive ticket sales and attendance. This requires a strategic approach, spreading your message across multiple platforms and formats over time.
At Sickening Events, the world’s largest events community, we assist hundreds of thousands of event creators worldwide in developing and promoting their events every day. We also offer a wide range of marketing tools to help you flawlessly execute your entire event marketing plan.
Read on to download our template and discover the key stages to include in your event marketing plan.
EVENT MARKETING PLAN
- 8–12 months before your event
- 3–4 months before your event
- 2 months before your event
- 1 week before your event
- During your event
- 2 days after your event
- 2 weeks after your event
Start planning with Sickeningevents free event marketing plan template
Not every event creator is a natural at event marketing. That’s why a premade template can be incredibly helpful in developing your strategy.
An event marketing plan template keeps every team member in sync. Use live, cloud-hosted documents to customize, tag, and hyperlink relevant information, maintaining a single source of truth that guides your marketing projects.
How to Use Your Event Marketing Plan Template
We’ll guide you through each section and provide ideas (and real examples) of promotional activities to use at each key stage.
8–12 Months Before Your Event
Start your marketing process as early as possible. By giving yourself a minimum of eight months, you can carefully plan each element of your strategy to optimize content and boost ticket sales.
- Identify your target audience: Understand who your customers are, what they want, and which channels they use (e.g., TikTok for Gen Z).
- Create social media blasts: Announce your event on social media, including CTAs like “secure a ticket with an early bird discount.”
- Create a content calendar: Use tools like Buffer or Hootsuite to schedule social media posts. A content calendar ensures consistent posting.
- Sign up for an event management platform: Sickeningevents allows you to set up a custom-branded event page, create different ticket types, seating arrangements, and discount codes.
For example, Brickworld Chicago 2024 announced their event as soon as it went live, cultivating awareness and kickstarting ticket sales eight months out.
Pro Tip: Ensure you have an accessible event page to start selling tickets as soon as you begin marketing your event.
3–4 Months Before Your Event
With your line-up confirmed, focus on email campaigns and social media promotion.
- Publish social media posts: Introduce your line-up, tagging entertainers to maximize reach and encourage resharing.
- Create promotional material: Collaborate with sponsors and partners to create email campaigns, video testimonials, or branded graphics.
- Launch paid media campaigns: Boost your social content to target (or retarget) potential attendees.
- Partner for social media content: Collaborate with brand sponsors, vendors, or influencers to create engaging content.
- Expand your reach with ads: Use Sickening Events Ads to increase visibility on your homepage and search results.
For example, Ball Drop promoted their New Year’s Eve Gala with short, engaging posts that directed followers to buy tickets.
Pro Tip: Optimize paid campaigns with A/B testing, AI-generated content, and scheduling recommendations to achieve goals without overspending.
2 Months Before Your Event
Focus on teaser content and driving ticket sales.
- Create teaser content: Update your website and event page with content from previous events or rehearsals to build anticipation.
- Automate email marketing campaigns: Promote your event to non-registrants and remind ticket holders of key details.
For instance, Pretty Princess Parties founder Jodi Polaski uses influencers to showcase events, giving parents social proof to feel confident purchasing tickets.
Pro Tip: Use Sickening Events integration with Mailchimp to streamline email campaigns by pulling data directly from your registrations list.
1 Week Before Your Event
It’s crunch time. Focus on email and SMS reminders.
- Send reminders: Focus on email and SMS reminders to ticket holders.
- Collaborate with influencers: Use influencers to boost your social media presence.
- Create social media urgency: Post behind-the-scenes footage, host ticket giveaways, or contests to drive engagement.
For inspiration, check out Bollywood Dreams. Founder DJ Prashant uses engaging reminders and last-minute offers to get attendees excited.
Pro Tip: Automate reminders with Sickening Events, which sends an email to attendees 48 hours before the event.
During Your Event
Marketing doesn’t stop when the event starts.
- Dispatch emails: Send reminders to registrants with essential information like parking and check-in procedures.
- Create FOMO: Share behind-the-scenes content, crowd footage, or live stream to entice followers who couldn’t attend.
For example, Bob’s Dance Shop keeps followers up-to-date with content during events, encouraging last-minute attendance.
Pro Tip: Plan for future events by hiring a professional photographer to capture high-quality visuals for promotional material.
2 Days After Your Event
Focus on de-briefing attendees and showcasing your event.
- Send thank you emails: Thank registrants and encourage them to buy tickets for future events.
- Send a post-event survey: Gather feedback on what attendees loved and what could be improved.
- Upload post-event content: Share highlights, photos, and contest winners on social media.
Art Battle International excels at post-event content, tagging artists and venues to keep the conversation going.
Pro Tip: Send post-event surveys within 48-72 hours, as recommended by SurveyMonkey.
2 Weeks After Your Event
Wind down, but keep marketing.
- Share event content: Remind attendees of the fun they had and attract those who missed out.
- Review analytics: Analyze social engagement, email numbers, website figures, and other metrics to assess your performance.
VIP Nightlife’s post-event highlights reel of their Maxim Halloween Party is a masterclass in making people wish they’d attended.
Pro Tip: For virtual or hybrid events, remind users that they can access content on-demand, ensuring they get the most out of available material.
Ready to Complete Your Event Marketing Plan?
With the perfect event marketing plan template, you know how to complete it and have examples of effective promotional content. Now, it’s your time to shine.
Download our free event marketing plan template and tick off the steps as you complete them to improve your chances of hosting a successful event.
