Event marketing automation tools make it easier to get more done while still promoting your events. These tools will take the most tedious parts of your job and make them as easy as a few clicks (or they will operate on autopilot in the background).
This means real return on investment for you because you can focus more time on the more creative parts of your job.
It can take a comprehensive suite of marketing software to run an event business successfully, but here we’re going to dive into one topic: event marketing automation tools.
Quick takeaways to save you even more time:
- Vesta (Automate posting to local community event calendars)
- Sparrow (Analytics for concerts)
- Google Analytics (Robust tracking across many channels)
- Use your ticketing solution for email (so it automatically integrates with tickets sold)
- Vesta Email Boost (Reach new email subscribers that have opted-in to hear about events)
- SimpleTexting (Affordable text marketing tool)
- Metricool (Simple social media management that works)
- ToneDen(Automated social media ads)
- Canva (Design and print in one application)
The tools in the rest of this article should help you tie together those event software tools.
Event marketing automation tools
Event marketing automation tools streamline event promotion by automating time-consuming tasks and optimizing marketing efforts. And we all know there are A LOT of time consuming tasks in event promotion.
These tools offer benefits such as automating repetitive but important tasks, saving event promoters countless hours of manual work. With their powerful automations, event marketing automation tools offer chances to maximize ROI for event promoters.
While some tools may require initial setup and financial investment, the time saved and improved attendee experience justify their adoption. Event marketing automation tools are invaluable resources that empower event promoters to optimize their marketing efforts, drive attendance, and achieve event success.
Streamline your local event promotion by entering your details once and having it submitted across a curated list of local event calendars from your Visitor’s Bureau, Newspapers, Radio Stations, and Things To Do sites. If you have a lot of events, you can auto-import to save even more clicks.
This tool can save you thousands of hours a year if you host a lot of events. We’re biased (obviously) but we wouldn’t have built this tool and promoted over 23,000 events if we weren’t on to something.
✅ The pros:
- Simple to use once setup.
- Can be completely automated to pull events from your ticketing page, Facebook, or wherever you already post event details.
- Earn backlinks from reputable local websites for your events so they rank well on Google.
- Highest ROI marketing channel for many event promoters.
❌ The cons:
- If you opt-out of auto-imports, you have to post the events yourself to the platform.
- High ROI, but not going to sell out events with thousands of attendees.
- Limited reach outside of local market unless you pay for additional calendar sponsorships.
Zapier is an automation tool that allows you to connect different applications together. For example, you can have it connect with ChatGPT, Google Sheets, Facebook, and many others.
It can take a little creativity to find what automations can be helpful. One simple one is using Zapier automation to connect two social media accounts. This works really well for image posts. You can have it automatically trigger any time you make a specific post type on Instagram. It will then post that image and caption on Facebook, LinkedIn, and/or Twitter for you.
None of these automations will create a groundbreaking social media presence, but they will free you up to work on more creative social media campaigns and important parts of your role.
✅ The pros:
- Connect multiple tools together.
- Free for basic automations and to get started.
- Tons of potential uses.
❌ The cons:
- Not easy to figure out what automations to do first.
- Sometimes the connections with tools are limited in frustrating ways.
- Starts to get expensive if you use it a lot (but most people don’t run into that for awhile).
One of the most time consuming things for a lot of event organizers is handling customer service requests from attendees. Frustratingly, ticking platforms like Eventbrite don’t offer effective customer support to the ticket buyers. So it is up to you.
By using a chat bot, ChatBot being one of the best, you can automate some of the most commonly asked questions and requests.
✅ The pros:
- Automate common, repetitive conversations with attendees.
- Attendees get better customer service because it is instant.
- Although it’s a paid tool, it can be worth the time saved.
❌ The cons:
- No free plan and can get a little pricy.
- Can take a lot of effort to get setup initially.
HubSpot is a giant tool that can take care of a lot. It’s not always the best for each thing, but it does a great job of connecting the dots.
They have powerful marketing automation tools built-in. Some of these tools are even free to get started.
The downside is that it can take awhile to learn how to use HubSpot correctly and can get expensive if you have a huge amount of marketing contacts.
✅ The pros:
- Incredibly powerful automations.
- An industry-standard marketing tool.
- Great built-in analytics.
- Lots of documentation on how to use HubSpot.
❌ The cons:
- Gets pretty expensive if you have a lot of marketing contacts.
- Hard to understand how all the pieces fit together.
Conclusion
Event marketing automation tools are a game-changer for event promoters, offering streamlined event promotion and significant time savings.
These tools automate repetitive tasks, allowing event organizers to focus on the more creative aspects of their job. With their powerful automations, event marketing automation tools offer a chance to maximize return on investment and enhance the attendee experience.
While there may be initial setup and financial investment required, the benefits of time saved and improved outcomes justify their adoption.
Event marketing automation tools are invaluable resources that empower event promoters to optimize their marketing efforts, drive attendance, and achieve event success. Whether it’s Vesta for local event promotion, Zapier for connecting applications, ChatBot for automated customer service, or HubSpot for comprehensive marketing automation, these tools provide the necessary efficiency and effectiveness for event success.
Embracing event marketing automation tools is a strategic move that allows event promoters to leverage technology and unlock their full potential in the competitive event industry.
