You only get one chance to get your event marketing campaign right. But events past and present have botched their campaigns to infamous results. You may think professional event planners could never screw up events as bad as these examples. Think again. Even event planning pros commit similar missteps. The results are, at best, unsold tickets or, at worst, a bruised brand reputation. Safeguard your ticket sales and your client’s brand by learning from these notorious event marketing mistakes.
1. Failing to Create (and Track) a Realistic Budget
Everyone remembers the disastrous 2017 Fyre Festival. Head honcho Billy McFarland served six years for fraud related to the botched event and his other ventures. However, one thing is clear. McFarland fully convinced eventgoers that he would deliver the luxury festival as promised. Along with other event planning sins, he grossly underestimated how much it would cost.
Of course, the Fyre Festival is an extreme example of event budget mismanagement to which real event planners like you would never fall victim. But it is a cautionary tale of the pitfalls of budgeting for events, beginning with marketing.
Do this instead: To spend your event marketing dollars most effectively, try these strategies.
- Create uber-specific goals. Specificity is key when it comes to marketing goals. Better goals are increasing website traffic 20% over last year’s metrics, doubling your Instagram follower count, or increasing your email click-thru rates by 30%.
- Understand where your audience hangs out. For example, Sprout Social reports that YouTube is the top social media channel across age groups, with Millennials spending the most time on social media overall.
- Track your results as you go. Know in real time where your audience is falling off, and then bolster your marketing strategy in that area. Or be prepared to pivot when the numbers aren’t where you need them to be.
2. Shortsighted or Misleading Influencer Marketing Campaigns
McFarland couldn’t plan a luxury music event to save his life, but he understood influencer marketing. He invited supermodels and top influencers to the island where Fyre would be held and created a drool-worthy promotional video, which the celebrities shared on their channels. MacFarland also launched a dynamite teaser campaign by enlisting top celebrities to create a solid orange post with sparse details about the festival in captions.
The buzz was ignited, and its promotion strategy was the only thing that lived up to the festival’s name. Though it worked, Fyre’s influencer campaign was monstrously misleading.
Overselling your event isn’t the only way to go wrong in your event marketing strategy. Choosing the wrong influencer can be a big mistake, too. Remember when Abercrombie recruited Mike, “The Situation” from The Jersey Shore, to feature their clothing? And maybe you also remember hearing they quickly pulled back, offering him money to actually stop wearing their clothes.
The Fix: Ensure your influencer campaign’s success by following these guidelines.
- Thoroughly research influencers. Make really sure that the influencers you choose line up with your event’s target audience as closely as possible. Also, be mindful that your influencers align with your event’s values and aren’t controversial in any way.
- Always require your influencers to reveal their post as paid. An influencer organically recommending your event to their audience is the pinnacle of influencer marketing for events. However, maintain your audience’s trust by ensuring paid influencers reveal their association with you.
- Ensure influencers are accurately portraying your event. While you want to give your influencers creative leeway, honesty is paramount. Write your expectations into the contract, and monitor your influencer’s post to ensure everything stays on the up and up.
3. Teaser Campaign That Fails to Generate Event Marketing Buzz
EA’s video game Battlefield V bombed, pun intended. EA’s president, Andrew Wilson, blamed poor marketing on the game’s launch event failure, and a Reddit thread of insightful gamers agreed. One replied, “I’ve never seen such a fragmented release of gameplay videos…”
EA attempted to generate buzz through a teaser campaign, which Wilson admits began too late. But its late start was only part of the problem, as gamers complained that the developer kept too many secrets for too long. By the time the full game was finally released, consumers were already sold on competitors that weren’t so stingy with their reveals.
The Fix: You need teaser campaigns to help you build buzz for your event. Avoid common mishaps with the following tips.
- Don’t frustrate your audience by revealing too little. Being enigmatic at the start piques their interest. But if you’re tight-lipped for too long, they’ll lose interest.
- Spread your teaser campaign across platforms and track its response. The platforms where you receive the most engagement are likely your best marketing platforms to focus the big reveal.
- Timing is key. Consider how long it will take attendees to plan for your event. Will they need to plan for travel or accommodations? Get approval from their managers? Make sure they have all of the information they need in time to jump the logistics hurdles.
4. Sketchy Looking Contests & Giveaways
You’re not into shady shenanigans. But don’t presume your audience knows it. Event goers can be just as “buyer beware” with your events as they are with making purchasing decisions. So, when it comes to your marketing, you want to make sure any contests, rewards, or giveaways aren’t just authentic and legit. Make sure they appear so.
Example? The Kardashians promote contests that promise thousands in prize money and luxe products on Instagram, only tracking down the actual winners of these contests seems impossible. Turns out a third party puts on the contests and pays celebrities like the Kardashians mucho bucks to promote it. To date, multiple media outlets have failed to receive a response from the alleged winners, calling into question whether they are real people.
The problem with these sketchy contests and giveaways is that they make social media users cynical.
Yet, contests and giveaways still remain a top event marketing strategy. Marketing software company Tailwind reports that a contest can help you grow your Instagram followers 70% faster. You also get more likes and comments, which, in turn, helps expand your event’s reach.
The Fix: So, how do you reassure your audience that your contest is for real? Try these tips.
- Keep the prizes modest yet worthwhile. Big prizes are a big red flag that the contest isn’t real.
- Keep the contests relatively small. When contest entrants exceed more than a few hundred, the odds become much more difficult. Instead, target niche audiences across multiple contests. More modest prizes will help you keep your event marketing budget in check.
Learn More Event Marketing Strategies at The Event Planner Expo
Blown budgets, botched influencer campaigns, teasers that fall flat, and contests that make people want to lock their doors. You can avoid these event marketing mistakes by following our insights.
You can avoid even more event marketing blunders when you attend The Event Planner Expo 2025, NYC’s premier industry event featuring top speakers. Learn from their wisdom and experiences. Get your tickets today!
