How to maximize effective event marketing
When marketers at MCI USA, a global engagement marketing agency, were tasked with finding attendees for a conference on laser optics and quantum technologies, they weren’t initially sure how to reach their target audience.
“They’re not really an Instagram crowd,” says Mary King-Moore, event marketing manager at MCI USA.
Through conversations with the client, the planners discovered that attendees would more likely be on Bluesky, so they marketed the event on that platform (as well as on LinkedIn, Facebook and X). They also placed an ad with a relevant industry publication, and when crafting emails and other messaging, they worked with the client to ensure the technical language was right for the audience.
“We use a multichannel approach so our message is seen at different touch points, which hopefully reinforces the value and gets people to attend,” King-Moore says. “If you just do a single one-and-done email or only rely on social media, you’re not going to get the traction you need.”
Marketing is key to driving attendance for any event, but for meeting planners already dealing with a thousand other details, it doesn’t always get the attention it deserves.
“Planners don’t typically see themselves as marketers, but you can’t think of marketing as an afterthought,” says Margaret Launzel-Pennes, co-founder and CEO of Pop Experiential, an event and experiential agency, and VP of marketing communications for MPI Southern California. “People will finish their hotel contract a year and a half in advance, but then only start marketing eight weeks out. At that point, you’ve lost your window.”
Read More: Experiential Events: From Buzzword to Business Driver
Define the Value Proposition
The first step to effective event marketing is to spell out what makes your program special.
Think of it as product marketing, says Caitlin Fox, president at mdg, a marketing agency focused on association, event and corporate clients. “That means defining a clear value proposition, differentiating against the competitive set and articulating why your event matters now,” Fox says. “The planners who are winning aren’t just promoting agendas, but they’re packaging outcomes: deals closed, knowledge gained, communities formed. Attendance follows when the event is marketed as an essential solution, not just a date on the calendar.”
It’s also important to maintain consistency in how you market the event to build its brand value over time. “We’ve seen clients who wanted their event to grow, but every year they were changing the logo, the colors and even the name,” King-Moore says. “People weren’t sure, is this the same event? Consistency in terms of the brand is really important.”
Leverage Data to Tailor the Messaging
When Launzel-Pennes recently went on a “road show” to give presentations in Las Vegas, Los Angeles and other cities, she used AI to develop customized presentations for each group. She also uses tools like Augie, an AI video generator, to create videos promoting her events.
“The messaging has to be different for different audiences,” Launzel-Pennes says. “You can use AI to create images and videos that tell people why they should attend. It doesn’t cost you that much to do this stuff anymore.”
Read More: How AI Is Beneficial Before, During and After Events
Video captured in person at events is also a powerful tool for event marketing, says Michelle Granger, director of partnerships at edgefactory, a creative agency, who uses footage to create recap videos and dynamic “hype videos” to market future events. “It’s all about grabbing people’s attention,” Granger says.
Through all their marketing efforts, planners should test and monitor what works (and what doesn’t) and continually gather data from attendees to inform future marketing.
“A lot of people gather data from attendees, and they don’t use it,” Launzel-Pennes says. “That data can give you insight into how to tailor your messaging.”
“Stop chasing volume and start chasing value,” Fox says. “Refocus on your core value proposition, identify the segments most aligned with it and double down on them with differentiated campaigns. Attendance growth follows when you narrow the aperture and speak with sharper relevance, not when you try to out-shout the noise.”
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Chuck Kapelke, a veteran communications professional, is a perpetually fascinated observer of human behavior; he holds a B.A. in anthropology from Harvard College.
This article appears in the November 2025 issue. You can subscribe to the magazine here.
