The Top 3 Campus Event Promoting Mistakes
Who doesn't love the feeling when your board's event is a success? You have a packed crowd, the hashtag you implemented for the event is being used repeatedly, everyone is engaged and the artist is terrific! Those are the moments that I live for. However, sometimes the events we plan don't go over as smoothly, and more times than not it's because you didn't get an audience as large as you anticipated. Often this is from common mistakes event planners and activity boards make when promoting - so here are some mistakes you should avoid this semester when promoting your events!
1. You Don't Make an Event Page
This is a mistake I see every month, and it's an easy mistake to make.
Let's say you have a, oh I don't know, a magic show coming up in two weeks! You get the digital poster your marketing department made and you post it on your facebook page's news feed every couple days. You continue to do this every couple days so that everyone is aware of the event and sees that post! It is the most effective way to promote it on facebook - right?
Wrong!
Posts are great for announcements, and sharing engaging content for your audience. However, if you really want to boost attendance at your event, you need to make an event page.
Posts that don't get a lot of comments or likes will be placed at the bottom of a user's newsfeed amongst cat videos and buzzfeed articles, and any content that looks like an ad is likely to end up never seen by anyone!
An event page is a great way around it, because anyone who is invited to join the event or sees the event can indicate if they are interested or going, which is then shared with their friends who will also indicate if they are going, and the chain goes on and on.
Also, any announcements made specific to that event will be made noticeable by facebook notifications, and the event page can even be shared and posted to different organizations pages and groups which expands your audience! And speaking of other organizations...
2. You Don't Reach Out to Other Organizations
I remember my sophomore year of college we had a contestant from "Dancing With The Stars" perform on our campus. She did an excellent job, but attendance was a lot lower than expected.
I knew the president of the Dance Club on campus and asked why she and the rest of the club weren't at the show because it seemed right up their alley, and I got the famous response
"What Dance Show?!"
I talked with my activities board about that and asked how they promoted, and it was only the standard "social media and flyers" talk. When I asked why they didn't share the info with the dance club on campus they replied:
"Huh. I guess that would have been a good idea. Well this is the way we have always done it so that's how we do it"
It definitely never hurts just to share the event page with different organizations on campus - even if they aren't as related to the event as a dance event and dance club. The Finance Club might be interested in your de-stress cupcake making event for all you know, and even if they aren't, at least they are aware of your board and some of the events that go on!
And speaking of awareness...
3. You Leave Out The Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors
A common misperception on campuses is that the activities events are just for the freshmen, and the upperclassmen have no interest in doing any of that stuff.
I've had a ton of moments where I arrive on campus early to set up for my show, and I head to a coffee shop nearby to get a drink. I'll often make small talk with the people in there and then ask if they are coming to the show that night, to which they always reply "Wait! There's a magic show on campus?!" Needless to say, upperclassmen or not, they are usually pretty excited and interested.
Seen Above: Upperclassmen
Often times the planners get in the mindset of "We never see upperclassmen at the shows, so they must not like to do stuff on campus". I can tell you from experience this is not the case. Upperclassmen are just not aware of the events, because how are they usually advertised? Dorms, student centers, and wherever freshmen hang out.
Upperclassmen typically make up 70% of the student body, but you can't advertise to them the same way you advertise to freshmen. Do most upperclassmen commute to campus? Great! Put posters around the parking garages! Do they eat off campus more than on campus? Perfect! Have promotions on the popular coffee shops or restaurants near campus. Learn how the upperclassmen want to receive ads, and tailor the promotion to their needs.
More times than not, most students will find your events interesting. The problem is they are often not aware, so keep these tips in mind when you are planning your next event at your school and hopefully you can boost your attendance to a record high!
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