Promoting an event without event marketing software is like digging a hole with a spoon; it’s possible, but wouldn’t you prefer a shovel?
A quick scan of Google suggests the options are endless. But we know that finding software that can increase ticket sales and optimize audience targeting is a daunting task — and most options aren’t going to cut it.
That’s why we hand-selected the top four best event marketing software options on the market based on their top features.
As an event marketing platform ourselves, we understand the importance of choosing the right marketing software. We’re here to help you determine which software best fits your upcoming events and what factors to consider when selecting your event marketing software.
The Best Event Marketing Solutions
What to look for in an event marketing platform
Your event marketing platform should provide a centralized space to automate tasks, provide a seamless attendee experience for in-person, hybrid, and virtual events, manage your event in real time, and much more. Here are the top factors to consider when selecting the right platform.
1. Social media marketing
At its core, social media marketing is storytelling to connect with your audience using words and images.
Expect 2024 to become the biggest year yet for consumers to buy directly from social media platforms. Currently, 91% of businesses use video as a marketing tool, but you can expect videos to become shorter and short-form content to cater to people’s short attention spans.
An event marketing software should integrate with different social media platforms to help you reach a larger audience and optimize your advertising spend to create effective campaigns.
Look for software that includes:
- Conversion tracking
- A/B testing for targeting and design elements
- Budget optimization
- Tracking pixels
- Embedded checkouts
- Audience and behavior reports
💡Pro tip: Your event marketing tool should have a dashboard where you can analyze your data from one place. For example, Stay Silent creates fun and engaging campaigns to stir up excitement and anticipation for their events. By partnering with Eventbrite, they can track and measure which marketing tactics resonate with their audience.
2. Email marketing
Email marketing is one of the most effective methods to nurture event leads and turn them into regular customers.
Using a combination of specific email types and triggered emails, you can retarget potential attendees who’ve ‘abandoned cart’ or shown interest in your event using a variety of particular email types and triggered emails.
An email marketing software should automate your email marketing campaign from opt-in to ticket purchases. This will save you time and effort and ensure your email campaigns are effective and consistent.
Your email marketing software should have the following:
- Pre-designed templates
- No contact limits
- Automated workflows
- Data and analytic reports
💡Pro tip: Use email marketing software that segments your subscribers to help you send more relevant and engaging emails to your subscribers. For example, Something Dope For The People has a 67% email opening rate thanks to Eventbrite’s intelligent marketing system.
3. Targeted marketing
A great event marketing software provides insights into your target audience, such as their demographics, interests, and behavior. It uses the data you already have from past events to create ‘lookalike’ or ‘custom’ audiences.
Your chosen event registration software should:
- Build a customer list
- Create targeted buyer personas
- Reach ‘warm traffic’ for people already interested in events similar to yours
- Track your performance with real-time data
💡Pro tip: An event marketing tool should also assist with finding different groups of people interested in your events and help you target attendees at different stages of the marketing funnel.
4. Search engine optimization (SEO) marketing
To get discovered by new attendees, you need to rank in different search engines for relevant keywords.
While Google is the most popular search engine, optimizing your content for other search engines, such as local event discovery sites, TikTok, and YouTube is important.
Ranking in the first few search results helps build credibility. It signifies that users interact with your brand and consider you an authority on the subject.
An event marketing software should help with the following:
- Keyword optimization
- Creating high-quality content
- Optimizing event discovery ads
- Building an SEO-optimized event website
💡Pro tip: Partner with software that prioritizes event discovery platform audience targeting. For example, The Riot Comedy Club used Eventbrite ads to connect with audiences outside their community and boost attendance. With a $45 ad spend, they received 1,114 impressions in just over four days.
The best event marketing solutions
We have carefully selected the four best event marketing solutions for event creators in 2024 based on their versatility, features, and ease of use.
1. Eventbrite
Eventbrite is an event management software that integrates with various platforms to track your marketing data, target different audiences, increase ticket sales, and receive detailed reports — all in one place.
It’s perfect for hybrid events and virtual events as well as in-person events.
Eventbrite ads
We know that SEO is one of the best ways for event-goers to discover you online. When you pay for an ad on Eventbrite’s discovery page, you put your event in front of people searching for events like yours.
With Eventbrite ads, you can:
- Set a maximum ad budget
- Receive reports on how people are interacting with your ads
- Curate your event collections to boost attendance by 25%
- Target people within 50 miles of your event location
Through their customized filtering and recommendation system, Eventbrite ads put your event in front of attendees who are ready to buy.
Conversion tracking
Eventbrite can help you understand where your leads are coming from and recognize successful elements of your marketing campaign.
Eventbrite doesn’t just give you raw data; it analyzes and breaks it down into easy-to-understand visual charts so you can make wiser decisions about your marketing strategy.
Top Eventbrite features:
- Audience reports on attendee demographics, interests, and purchase behavior
- Data insights into what aspects of your campaign are working and which aren’t
- A/B testing to compare social media ads and landing pages
- Tracking pixels that monitor event ads and registration pages for retargeting
- Intelligence audience targeting for email marketing that allows you to leverage past email performance data
Eventbrite’s marketing tools can also help you track your event’s performance, including activity in the search directory, newsletters, and order confirmation emails.
Social media integrations
Eventbrite can seamlessly integrate with the world’s top social media platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram.
This allows you to:
- Use audience interests from Facebook and Instagram
- Sell tickets directly through embedded checkouts
- Use the ‘add to Facebook’ extension for a ‘one-click conversion system’
- Optimize ad creation and promotion with a ‘multi-event ads’ option
Social media marketing can be overwhelming, with so many different platforms and features to master. Eventbrite keeps it simple, so you can focus on creating a movement instead of trying to decipher the latest algorithm.
Automated workflows
Eventbrite is an easy-to-use marketing software that leverages the power of artificial intelligence (AI) and automation to streamline workflows and simplify the event marketing process. This includes creating event listings and sending out event emails.
Level up your event marketing.
With Eventbrite, you can:
- Use AI to help fill out event listings, write emails, and craft multiple social media ads simultaneously
- Make the most of data-driven email templates to boost conversions
- Easily export attendees’ information to a Google Sheet
- Integrate the software with apps like MailChimp, Slack, or Microsoft Teams
- Automatically track ad revenue spend
Eventbrite can help you find out what’s working in your event marketing campaign and what needs to be tweaked to better resonate with your target audience. The platform allows you to use trackable links and create customized event pages to monitor every stage of the event registration process.
2. Cvent
Cvent is a leading cloud-based event management platform that provides solutions for large-scale events, such as conferences.
Key Features
- Easy to use
- Data insights
- Automated features
Limitations
While Cvent is a great software for creators with a significant audience size, it has some limitations when it comes to event marketing, such as:
- Primarily caters for corporate events rather than community-driven gatherings
- Doesn’t include any social media integrations
3. Whova
Whova is an event marketing platform that helps with networking, gamification, and analytics. This platform enables event organizers to create websites with high-quality webpages to help attract and convert new attendees.
Key Features
- Up-to-date data insights
- Social media advertising templates
- AI integration
Limitations
While Whova is helpful, it’s a newer software, and not as well-known by attendees. This reduces their trust, particularly when purchasing tickets. It also has a few limitations to be aware of:
- A steep learning curve — using all of the features on the platform requires a significant time investment
- You may need to purchase ‘add-on’ features for full functionality
4. Splash
Splash is an event management tool that offers a suite of features, including event registration data and a user-friendly interface.
Key Features
- Real-time data and analytics
- Integrations with other platforms
- Automated notifications via Slack
Limitations
Splash has the following notable drawbacks, particularly when it comes to marketing your event:
- Doesn’t offer social media integrations or insights
- Metric insights might be difficult to interpret
Get started with the best event marketing software today
Partnering with the right event marketing software can take your promotional strategy to new heights.
While all of the top four are great options, if you’re looking for an all-in-one marketing solution, Eventbrite provides all the tools you need to track your journey and target an engaged audience.
We’re the leading marketing software in the industry and have helped event creators from all around the world sell more tickets and scale their businesses.
