So, you’re marketing your first event. Congratulations! But, it’s a bit "first day of school" scary huh? That’s understandable. It’s a big undertaking for any organisation and a big risk, although the payoffs can be even bigger. Which is why you’re doing it right?

We’ve put together a checklist of the 10 things you absolutely have to know before you start promoting that first event, to help you avoid any of the really obvious slip-ups. We also run an awesome event marketing workshop if you want to delve deeper and kick off your first event with a solid plan, so onto the list:

1. What’s your budget? (If you have one!)

It may sound obvious, but you can’t create an event marketing plan without an event marketing budget. Your budget should be the most you can afford to risk without compromising the potential profitability of your event. A lot can go wrong with your first event and much of it beyond a marketer’s control. So, this may mean for event marketing virgins, you start with a conservative number and then release more funds to reinvest as the bookings roll in. Or it may be nothing at first (not as scary as it seems, trust me!).

2. Who are you marketing your event to?

This doesn’t mean a list of job titles. You need to build up a much more detailed picture than that if you’re going to successfully market your event. Creating buyer personas for your attendees and others involved in the budget sign off process will give you an idea of how they think, what their priorities are and your marketing will be substantially smarter as a result.

3. What sources of content can you tap into?

An event is an intangible, intellectual product. You can’t send out samples of it ahead of time for people to try, particularly if it your first one. The content you produce around your event (blogs, e-books, interviews etc.) is the best way of allowing your audience to “try before they buy”. Make a list of people and things that already exist in your organisation that you could possibly use. Tap into your speakers, your event manager/producer, social media, anyone who might be able to connect you with quality, original information aligned with your event topic.

4. What social media accounts are most suited to use for your event?

Deciding whether to leverage the existing followings your organisation has built up or create a new set of event specific social media accounts that allow you total control over voice and content is a big decision. There are pros and cons to both directions and there’s no “right” answer, only what best fits with your organisation and event marketing strategy. Some things to consider are the size and degree of engagement of your organisation’s current following and how restrictive you might find the current social media guidelines.

5. Where will your event web content be hosted?

Again, when you do an event for the first time there’s an important decision to be made around where you host your web content. Does it live as a subsection of your existing site, integrate with your current blog, have its own site created, have a custom domain/sub-domain? Some of the things to consider when making the decision are whether you’re likely to scale up the number of events you do and how much control you’ll surrender/traffic you’ll gain by being part of an existing site.

6. What data is available to you?

Note: This question is not “what data does your organisation hold?” That’s because it is often the case that data protection and sign up permissions will stand in the way of you using all the personal information your organisation holds to promote your event. Event marketing is a new thing for your organisation; you need to make sure that your messages are welcomed by the recipients. Sales-y email blasts are a quick route to failure; the easiest way to get doors opened is content marketing.

7. What are the dates of your event milestones?

When are you launching your campaign? How many weeks will it run? What messages are launched on what days? When are your early booking deadlines? (If using). When will you evaluate the success of your campaign? (Hint: this is not “after the event runs”). Knowing what’s happening and when will help you keep some shape on your campaign and give you set points at which to make budget reinvestment decisions.

8. Who are your competitors and how is your event different?

Usually, this information is passed on to you by the event organiser, but it never hurts to do your own looking too. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve turned up a major competitive event that wasn’t on my original brief. But your research isn’t really about sanity checking your own event dates. It’s about understanding how your competitors are positioning themselves and how you think your buyer personas will perceive that. It allows you to see where the gap is for your event.

9. Who will support you (in-house and 3^rd party)?

Now, unless you’re incredibly talented and a genius (if so lucky you!), it’s unlikely that you’ll have all the skills you need to promote your event all by yourself. Whether its in-house subject matter experts to tap up for content ideas or outsources graphic design help, every event marketer usually needs a team of people to help them market their event successfully. Mapping out your team and locking down their availability to help you before you start marketing the event will save you much heartache in the long term.

10. Do you know what you’re doing?

This isn’t meant to be an insulting question. Event marketing is a niche discipline that requires a huge body of custom knowledge and skills that can only be gathered either from specific training or from (often bitter) trial and error experience. Even seasoned event professionals don’t get it right all the time and it’s that much easier for a marketer from another background, or a non-marketing person who’s been given the hat to wear, to make a mistake that will sink their event. 

Reading this blog will get you some of the way there, but if you could do with more check out our event marketing workshops, specifically designed for the purpose.