As the pandemic begins to loosen along with the nationwide lockdown, people are eager to get back into the world. At the same time, many entertainment venues are eager to capitalize on that excitement as people seek a return to the “normal” they once knew. If you want to stand out, you’ll need your venue to market itself to enable event planners to find you and book more events.
If you’re looking for some entertainment venue marketing ideas to get you started, the following are some tips for venue advertising to consider.
Increase Your Venue’s Discoverability
One of the primary purposes of your marketing efforts is to increase your venue’s discoverability. It does this specifically by increasing the number of people aware of your venue, along with those who’ve visited it and can vouch for it. If you can attract more people to your venue and they can boost your reputation via word-of-mouth, you’ll be able to thrive.
Optimum discoverability is your ultimate goal, which the following advice can help you accomplish.
Design An Amazing Website
Your website will be invaluable when it comes to increasing discoverability. You will need to optimize your website to enable planners who visit it to get the information they need as soon as they need it. It will help them achieve what they want to with ease.
Your website ultimately needs to leave a wonderful impression of your venue. Otherwise, you may risk losing business. You also need to optimize your website for SEO, which will ensure that people find you on Google and other search engines.
With a beautiful website, you’ll be able to develop an online hub for your business that boosts your online reputation. At the same time, you’ll be able to maximize visibility.
Curate An Online Following With Social Media
You should develop an online following of people within your target market, which can increase awareness of your venue among your target audience. You’ll be able to leverage the success of past events that you hosted by posting photos, videos, and floor plans.
One of the most invaluable assets that can help you achieve this is social media. Using the right platform, such as Facebook and Instagram, lets you gain followers that come to know your venue and keep you in mind for their next event. You can also use email marketing and social media to release information about upcoming events, build hype around them, and increase visibility.
For smaller venues, it also helps to maintain an active presence within event planning circles. That will make it even easier for corporate event planners and others to find you.
Advertise Your Venue and Location
If you put enough money toward PPC and social media advertising, you can increase awareness while people research entertainment venues online. You can supplement your SEO and other marketing efforts to ensure your venue stays out there in front of your target audience.
When it comes to PPC, you should try to bid on highly relevant keywords to the kinds of events you hold. Doing so will help maintain cost-effectiveness as you avoid paying for keywords that are too broad and ineffective. To get the most from these efforts, you can also use multi-channel marketing to advertise on other platforms. For example, you can invest in radio or even local TV spots, which connect you to people on a local level and boost your web searches, which improves your online ad effectiveness.
Keep in mind that there are many ways to reach Millennials and other audiences with digital advertising, so be sure to determine which methods work best for your venue based on your specific demographics.
Help Planners Plan Better
It also pays to build a reputation as a knowledgeable authority interested in helping your customers rather than simply getting them to use your venue. You can position yourself as a resource to help planners make events better by offering advice and guides. You can also use multiple channels to accomplish this, including a resource section on your website, helpful blog posts, or regular emails. Additionally, you can share this advice and guidance on your social media channels.
Providing a resource for your audience and supporting it with excellent service can effectively establish trust among your audience. In turn, you can increase the likelihood of having people recommend your venue through word-of-mouth advertising.
Gear Your Venue for Future Success
Now that the nation is beginning to reopen and people are starting to plan their favorite events again, it’s crucial to establish your venue as the place to hold them. To make sure your venue attracts event planners and connects with audiences, you need to use effective entertainment venue marketing strategies. If you can get the most from your marketing efforts, you’ll position your venue for lasting success.
