marketing
Attention is brutal right now. Your event isn’t just competing with other events. It’s competing with Netflix, TikTok, group chats, and a million other ways people can spend their time and money.
At the same time, demand for live experiences is back. In Loopyah’s Event Attendee Study 2025–2026, 34.4% of event goers said they’re attending more events than last year. But they’re picky. Rising costs mean people are more selective and more value-conscious than ever.
Here’s the catch: a great event doesn’t guarantee a great turnout. A weak marketing plan will quietly kill even the strongest lineup or concept. A strong marketing system, on the other hand, can sell out an event that’s still a work in progress.
This playbook walks you from idea to final ticket sold with a practical, no-fluff approach you can actually run.
A full system for planning, promoting, and scaling event attendance
Data-backed tactics based on how real attendees actually behave
Repeatable workflows you can use for every future event, no matter the size
Before you post a single teaser or boost a single ad, you need to know exactly what you’re selling and to whom.
Ask yourself:
What’s the core purpose of this event? (Learning, connection, pure fun, fundraising, discovery?)
Who is this event *specifically* for? (Not “everyone in tech” – more like “early-stage SaaS founders” or “local indie rock fans.”)
What feeling should people walk away with? (Inspired, connected, hyped, smarter, recharged, nostalgic?)
Your event identity is the combination of purpose, audience, and emotion. It drives everything: visuals, copy, channels, even pricing.
Examples:
“A one-day summit for women in fintech who want fast, tactical career growth.”
“A late-night warehouse party for underground house fans who hate commercial clubs.”
“A family-friendly food festival showcasing the best local street food and live music.”
Your value proposition is the one-sentence promise that answers: “Why *this* event instead of everything else I could do with that time and money?”
Use this simple template:
For [who], [event name] is the [type of event] that delivers [specific outcome or feeling] because [unique reasons].
Examples:
“For early-stage SaaS founders, ScaleSprint is the only one-day conference that delivers live teardown sessions with operators who’ve actually scaled to $10M+ ARR.”
“For emo and pop-punk fans, Nightshift Fest is a two-night, no-sponsorships, no-fluff festival that feels like 2007 again — but with better sound.”
Your marketing has to match how ticket buyers actually think, not how you wish they would think.
From Loopyah’s Event Attendee Study:
67% say lineup, performers, or speakers are “very important” when deciding to attend.
50.4% say ticket price is “very important.”
41.4% care deeply about accessibility and convenience.
Most people buy 1–4 weeks before the event unless something nudges them earlier.
That tells you exactly what to emphasize: lead with lineup and experience, back it up with clear value for the price, and remove every obstacle around location, timing, and logistics.
Think of your marketing as a system, not a bunch of random posts and emails. The funnel has three main stages:
Awareness – people discover your event exists.
Consideration – they compare it to other options and decide if it’s “worth it.”
Conversion – they buy a ticket (and ideally tell their friends).
Advocacy – this is where the real ROI kicks in. Advocacy turns attendees into promoters
How do people actually discover events? In our study, 65% of ticket buyers rely on social media posts or ads, 56.4% hear from friends, and 37.6% use search engines.
Your job at this stage:
Show up consistently where your audience already spends time (social, search, local channels).
Use strong, scroll-stopping visuals and a simple message: what it is, for who, why it’s special.
Once someone knows your event exists, they start checking: Do I really want this? Can I afford it? Will my friends go? Is it legit?
Here they’re:
Clicking through to your event page
Watching clips and browsing photos
Asking friends or colleagues if they’re going
Saving the link “for later” (danger zone)
Retargeting, email reminders, and social proof do the heavy lifting here.
This is where people decide “I’m in” or bail. And too many events lose buyers at the last step because the checkout is slow, confusing, or full of surprises.
In Loopyah’s attendee insights study, 48% of attendees abandoned checkout due to unexpected fees added at the end, and 34.8% left because the price changed with demand-based pricing. That’s not a marketing problem. That’s a friction problem.
Deadlines and smooth checkout sell more tickets than clever copy ever will.
Advocacy is what happens after the event—when the experience is strong enough that people want to talk about it. Most events go silent the moment doors close, and that kills momentum.
Your goal is simple: make sharing effortless and rewarding.
Give attendees a fast highlight reel, a few ready-to-share photos or videos, and a clear reason to come back (or bring someone new). Just like checkout friction kills conversions, follow-up friction kills advocacy—if people have to dig for content or perks, they won’t bother.
Keep it tight:
Send a same-day thank-you + recap.
Provide shareable content in one click.
Offer real loyalty perks or referral rewards.
Do this right, and your attendees become your marketing engine—reducing your spend and increasing your sell-outs.
Next, we’ll get tactical on all three stages next.
Organic social is where you build buzz and community around your event — without paying per click.
Focus on 2–3 core content pillars:
Hype & announcement – lineup reveals, theme drops, date and venue confirmations.
Experience POV – short clips and photos that show what it actually feels like to be there.
Social proof – reposted stories, UGC, testimonials, “your friends are going” posts.
Aim for a simple weekly cadence instead of random bursts. For example:
3–5 short-form videos (Reels/TikToks/Shorts).
2–3 photo carousels or graphics (lineup, schedule, venue, FAQs).
Daily Stories as you get closer to the event (polls, Q&A, last seats, price rises).
Short-form video is your workhorse here. Platforms like TikTok even publish best practices for structure and hooks, such as their Creative Codes framework. Build for the first 3–6 seconds: clear hook, energy, and a visible reason to care.
Paid social lets you scale what’s already working organically and reach people who haven’t met you yet.
Start simple with two main campaign types:
Awareness campaigns – target interests, behaviors, and lookalikes (fans of similar artists, attendees of similar events, job titles, etc.). Optimize for reach or video views.
Conversion/traffic campaigns – retarget people who watched your videos, visited your site, or engaged with your posts. Optimize for purchases or checkout initiations.
Use vertical video (9:16), strong captions, and on-screen CTAs such as “Tickets on sale now” or “Prices rise Friday.” Don’t assume people will read the tiny text under the video.
You don’t need a celebrity to move tickets. Micro-creators with 3–30k highly engaged followers often outperform big names when it comes to actual conversions.
Look for creators who:
Match your audience (same city, same niche, same vibe).
Have strong engagement (comments from real people, not just likes).
Already talk about events, nightlife, learning, or your specific niche.
Give them a clear brief:
Key talking points (lineup, unique hook, date, location).
What you want viewers to do (buy now, join waitlist, follow the event).
A unique promo code or tracked link so you can measure results.
A lot of people literally Google “things to do in [city] this weekend” or “[topic] conference 2025.” You want your event page to show up there.
Basic SEO for events:
Use clear titles like “Tech Leadership Summit 2025 – San Diego – March 3–4” instead of only “TLS25.”
Include keywords in headings and copy (event type, city, dates, niche).
Add Event structured data so Google can feature your listing in its event results. See Google’s Event markup guidelines for the technical side.
For a deeper dive into building high-converting event pages, check out our guide on event landing pages once you’re done here.
Your event page is your main salesperson. Treat it that way.
Must-have elements above and below the fold:
Clear headline: who it’s for + what they get (“A 2-day summit for B2B marketers who want to double pipeline in 12 months”).
Date, time, city, and venue up top — not buried halfway down the page.
Lineup or speakers with photos, logos, and short, benefit-focused bios.
Schedule highlights: main sessions, headliners, key experiences.
High-quality photos or video from previous editions (or mockups if it’s your first).
FAQ section that kills objections: refunds, accessibility, age limits, transport, dress code, food options.
In our study, 40.6% of ticket buyers said exciting visuals in content make them click “buy.” Don’t cheap out on imagery. Even one strong highlight reel can pay for itself many times over.
If you want more help building the actual run-of-show around this, our event program template guide pairs nicely with this section.
Email is still one of the highest-ROI channels for selling tickets. The key is sequencing, not one-off blasts.
A simple event email funnel:
Announcement – date, theme, high-level value, and early-bird pricing if you have it.
Nurture – lineup drops, speaker spotlights, new sponsors, behind-the-scenes, FAQs.
Convert – deadline emails (“prices rise tonight,” “final 50 tickets,” “last chance to grab VIP”).
Pair this with retargeting ads that follow people who visited your event page but didn’t buy. Show them the reasons they were interested in the first place: speakers, friends going, urgency.
For copy ideas and timing, see our breakdown of high-performing event reminder emails.
People don’t just ask, “Do I want this?” They ask, “Is this safe? Is it legit? Will I feel awkward?” Social proof answers that fast.
Reviews & testimonials – quotes from past attendees with names, photos, and roles where relevant.
Social screenshots – positive comments, tweets, DMs (with permission or anonymized).
Logos – notable speakers, performers, sponsors, or companies that attend.
“Your friends are going” hooks – group tickets, friend tags, or lists of cities/companies already represented.
Our data shows 38.8% of event goers are nudged to buy by positive comments and reviews, and 45.6% by seeing friends attending in content. Show the crowd, not just the stage.
Pricing is both math and psychology. You’re not just picking a number; you’re shaping buying behavior.
Smart structures often include:
Early-bird tier – cheapest tickets, limited quantity or time-bound to lock in early demand.
Standard tier – main price once early bird ends.
Last-minute tier – higher price for late buyers (and a nice bonus for your revenue).
In our research, 67.6% of attendees said early-bird discounts would motivate them to buy earlier. 43% said an early-bird bonus like merch or early entry would also work, and 42.8% like low-fee or fee-free windows.
Use both levers:
Discounts – good for price-sensitive audiences and early momentum (e.g., “20% off until Sunday”).
Bonuses – good for preserving price while rewarding early action (e.g., “First 100 tickets get early entry + limited poster”).
If your checkout sucks, your marketing budget is leaking money.
From our study, the top reasons attendees abandoned checkout were: unexpected fees (48%), dynamic price changes (34.8%), confusing seat maps or no good seats left (30%), and slow or buggy sites (19.8%).
Fix the basics:
Show total price (ticket + fees) as early as possible — no nasty surprises on the last screen.
Offer guest checkout; don’t force people to create an account just to buy one ticket.
Support modern payment options (Apple Pay, Google Pay, major cards, maybe PayPal depending on your market).
Use a clean, intuitive seat map for reserved seating, and highlight the best-available options.
If you’re ready to upgrade the ticketing side, explore what’s possible with modern event ticketing software that’s built to convert, not just to process payments.
Most people procrastinate. Your job is to give them honest reasons to act now instead of “later.”
Date-based urgency – “Prices rise on May 10,” “Early bird ends Sunday,” “Last day for VIP upgrades.” Our research shows 31.6% respond to “prices rise on [date]” messages.
Inventory-based urgency – “Only 23 seats left in your section,” “Final 10 early-bird passes,” “Last 5 spots for the workshop.” 21% are motivated by limited seats in their section.
Use real numbers. Fake scarcity erodes trust fast and kills repeat attendance.
Video is the closest you can get to letting people “test drive” your event before they buy.
Trailer-style hype videos – 30–60 seconds, fast cuts, on-screen text with date and city, big emotional hits.
Vertical clips – “POV you just walked into…” “Here’s what last year looked like…” “This is why people flew in from 10+ countries.”
Speaker/performer clips – 15–45 seconds, one strong quote or hook per video.
Strong visuals build a recognizable “look” for your event so people start recognizing your posts instantly.
Mood boards – share your event’s aesthetic early (colors, textures, lighting, venue vibe).
Carousels – lineup reveals, “what’s included,” venue sneak peeks, FAQs in slide format.
Branded templates – reusable designs for announcements, new speakers, price changes, and partner shoutouts.
Written content quietly boosts both SEO and trust. You don’t need a novel; you need clarity and relevance.
Speaker/artist spotlights – who they are, why you chose them, and what attendees will learn or feel from their session or set.
Behind-the-scenes posts – show your team, planning process, stage builds, tasting sessions, rehearsals.
Combine this with your broader event digital marketing strategy so you’re not reinventing the wheel every campaign.
56.4% of attendees in our study discover events through word of mouth from friends. That’s huge — and often underplanned.
You can’t force people to talk, but you can make it much easier:
“Invite a friend” links on your confirmation page and emails.
Group discounts (e.g., “Buy 4 tickets, save 15%”).
Shareable social assets attendees can repost with one tap.
Want to go deeper on this angle? We break it down in our piece on the friends effect on event attendance.
A good promoter or street team can act like dozens of mini-influencers embedded in local communities.
Simple structure:
Recruit – via your own audience, local groups, and past attendees who loved your event.
Equip – give them trackable links, codes, promo assets, and a clear pitch.
Reward – commission per ticket, free access, VIP upgrades, or exclusive merch.
Marketing doesn’t stop when someone buys a ticket. Engaged attendees bring more energy, more content, and more friends.
Private groups – WhatsApp, Discord, Slack, or Facebook groups for attendees.
Teasers – map reveals, set times, speaker AMAs, sponsor perks, on-site surprises.
Bad creator fit feels fake. Good fit feels like a friend recommending something you actually want.
Look for audience overlap, not just big follower counts.
Check recent content: are they already talking about similar events or topics?
From Loopyah’s data, people are most likely to buy when content shows friends attending, exciting visuals, and limited-time offers – not just a generic “use my code” shoutout.
POV / vlog-style videos – creator walks through the event, talks about what they loved, and shows moments attendees can imagine themselves in.
Clear offers – “Use my link before Friday for early-bird pricing,” “My followers get a free drink token with this code.”
If you can’t measure it, you can’t scale it. Basic setup:
Unique discount codes per creator.
UTM-tagged links so your analytics tool can attribute sales properly.
Offline isn’t dead. It’s just bad posters that are dead. Good print still works, especially for local events.
Place posters where your audience already is – venues, gyms, cafés, coworking spaces, campuses, transit hubs.
Use a big, clear headline, date, and location. Don’t cram a webpage into an A3 poster.
Always add a QR code to your ticketing page and make sure that page is mobile-optimized.
Local partners can promote your event in exchange for visibility, revenue share, or added value for their customers.
Cafés and bars – co-branded specials, ticket giveaways, table talkers, or flyers at the bar.
Gyms and studios – great for fitness, wellness, or festival audiences.
Radio, local newspapers, and magazines can still work, especially for city-wide or older demographics.
If you go this route, always attach a unique URL or code so you can measure whether it’s actually moving tickets.
Your best marketing ideas are hidden in your past events. Pull the data and look for patterns.
When do most people buy? (Our study shows big clusters 1–4 weeks out.)
Which ticket types sell fastest — and which barely move?
Don’t guess; test. Simple A/B tests you can run:
Two different hooks for your main paid social creative.
“20% off until Friday” vs “Free drink until Friday” emails.
Every event should make the next one smarter.
Double down on channels that drove the most purchases, not just clicks.
Cut or fix anything with high spend but low conversions.
Automation lets you behave like a big marketing team without needing a big marketing team.
Welcome sequences – trigger when someone joins your list or waitlist.
Abandoned checkout flows – remind people who started buying but didn’t finish.
Use SMS for time-sensitive, high-impact moments only: price changes, low inventory, door-opening times, or last-minute changes.
If you work with promoters or affiliates, automate tracking and payouts. Manual spreadsheets don’t scale and always lead to drama.
Tools like Loopyah’s promoter management features can handle links, codes, and commissions automatically so you can focus on strategy, not admin.
Your best next attendees are your current attendees. Don’t go silent after the event.
Thank-you email within 24–48 hours, with highlight photos or a teaser video.
Post-event survey to capture feedback and testimonials.
For inspiration and copy examples, see our roundup of post-event email examples once you’ve built your main funnel.
A simple loyalty strategy can turn casual attendees into superfans.
Points per ticket, redeemable for discounts or upgrades.
Exclusive pre-sales for past attendees.
Treat your events like episodes in a long-running series, not one-off stunts. Keep telling the story between shows via email, social, and community spaces.
If people can’t immediately answer “What is this?” and “Why should I care?” they won’t buy. Cut the fluff, kill the buzzwords, and get concrete.
Marketing starts when the date and venue are locked, not two weeks before the event. Last-minute campaigns always feel rushed and desperate — and they convert that way.
Dark, blurry photos. Overdesigned posters. Three paragraphs of tiny copy on a Reels cover. These all say “low effort.” Your creative is your first impression — invest in it.
Event identity and value proposition locked.
Dates, venue, and ticket tiers confirmed.
Event landing page live and mobile-optimized.
Organic social calendar running with video + photo content.
Paid social campaigns set up for awareness and conversions.
Email sequences scheduled (announce → nurture → convert).
“Last call” emails with clear deadlines and remaining inventory (if relevant).
Retargeting blitz focusing on urgency and social proof, not just awareness.
Events don’t just sell tickets. They sell a feeling: belonging, excitement, transformation, escape. Modern event marketing is how you package that feeling and deliver it to the right people at the right time.
The playbook is simple, but not easy: nail your value, build awareness, nurture consideration, remove friction at checkout, and keep that relationship going after the lights come up.
Start selling tickets with LoopyahStart early. Stay consistent. Treat every event as a chance to learn. If you keep improving the system, “sold out” stops being a miracle and starts being your new normal.
The Loopyah Content Team shares expert insights, practical guides, and industry updates to help event organizers create unforgettable experiences and stay ahead in the event planning world.
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