Whether you're just getting started with event promotion or looking to sharpen your strategy, knowing how to reach your audience and turn them into loyal attendees can make all the difference to get more people in the door. That's exactly what our May webinar tackled. We covered practical ways organizers can use event marketing strategies – especially social media and email – to build community, create buzz, and drive more sales.

Event marketing webinar overview

The core theme of this session was simple but powerful: marketing an event is about building genuine relationships and community with your audience. That way, buying a ticket feels like a natural next step rather than a sales pitch.

Presented by the marketing team at Leap Event Technology (the parent company of TicketLeap), this webinar sent participants home with actionable strategies for leveling up their social media and email marketing as well as a deeper understanding of how it all fits within the full event marketing funnel.

Top takeaways for your event marketing strategy

1. Think in context of the marketing funnel first

Before jumping into tactics, we walked attendees through the marketing funnel that underpins every successful event promotion strategy. From top to bottom, it’s made up of the following layers: awareness, engagement, conversion, then advocacy. 

The key insight here? On average, someone needs to encounter your message about seven times before they act on it. That means your job in the awareness and engagement phases is to create multiple meaningful touch points before you ever make the big ask to buy their tickets.

Actionable idea: Map out your next event promotion across all four funnel stages. Aim for at least seven touch points across social media, email, and other marketing channels before asking people to buy a ticket.

2. Grow your social media in 2026 with short-form video

Short-form video is the single most important element of your social media strategy right now. To get started, we shared a framework for building a video strategy on platforms like TikTok and Instagram without starting from scratch. This framework involves finding creators in your niche, watching their most popular videos, and taking note of what's working. Then, adapt those formats to fit your own brand and voice. 

A few additional tips highlighted:

• Consistency beats volume. Post a little regularly rather than a lot and then burn out.
• Hook your viewers in the first 3 seconds to get them to keep watching
• Use early-bird pricing or giveaways to reward early buyers and minimize last-minute sales

Actionable idea: Film a "day in the life as an event organizer" short-form video this week. It's one of the easiest entry points into short-form content and one that could resonate well with your audience.

3. Email marketing turns newcomers into repeat attendees

While social media helps people discover you, email ensures people remember you. Email lets you speak directly to people who already know and love your event. Rather than just emailing people when tickets go on sale, the most effective strategy is staying connected between events with behind-the-scenes updates, community-building content, and personal follow-ups. That way, they’ll be more likely to buy tickets when you finally make the ask.

Actionable idea: After your next event, send a post-event thank-you email with a subject line like "You helped make last night amazing!” It costs nothing, takes minutes, and goes a long way toward turning a one-time attendee into a loyal fan.

Q&A summary

Here are some of the top questions from the audience:

How much time per week should I spend on social media?

Even one hour a day can move the needle! As another method, we recommend batching content in 2–4 hour blocks on weekends to create enough posts for the entire week (or even the whole month!), and then use a scheduling tool to post consistently without having to be on social media every day.

What's the right email frequency for my audience?

We recommend emailing no more than twice a week at peak times, and once a month for a regular newsletter. For organizers running 15–20 events per month, we suggest segmenting your list by interest group (e.g., genre or event type) or sending a single weekly digest covering all upcoming events.

How do I keep my emails out of spam?

Use a trusted email service platform like TicketLeap or MailChimp (you can download your attendee list directly from TicketLeap) to improve deliverability. Most importantly, make sure your list is of people who opt-in by actively choosing to hear from you. Also, instead of pasting raw URLs, use hyperlinked CTAs like "Purchase tickets here" to avoid spam flags.

How do I know if my emails are working?

Focus on three key metrics: open rate, click rate, and unsubscribe rate. Don't forget to track the people who clicked but didn't buy, especially. Remarketing to them by sending a targeted follow-up with a limited-time offer can be one of your highest-ROI campaigns.

Watch the full webinar

If you couldn't make it live or just want to revisit the tips, check out the full recording below! It includes a real-life case study on how these exact strategies were used to sell out a local concert that used TicketLeap.

Final thoughts

This webinar was a reminder that great event marketing can happen with little to no budget as long as you are consistent, authentic, and have genuine desire to connect with your audience. Rather than trying to execute complex campaigns, even one small step can make a measurable difference in how many tickets you sell.

We hope you'll join us for our next webinar on June 17th called "Revenue Boosters: Discounts, Ticket Tiers, & Packages That Drive Sales." This session will provide practical strategies for maximizing your revenue per event. Click here to register for this and all of our upcoming webinars. We'd love to see you there!