Growth Hacking for Events

Growth Hacker: “a person whose true north is growth”

Get SMART

Growth hacking requires goal setting

Be sure that your event goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound

Set a strict - but realistic - timeline for arranging vendors, sponsors and speakers

Determine goals for weekly ticket sales and monitor your numbers carefully

Think Murphy’s Law - anything that can go wrong will go wrong

Learn from your missed deadlines and other failures through relentless experimentation

Growth-focused event professionals find out exactly what went wrong, document it and make appropriate changes

Experiment to Succeed

Content is King

Many failed startups can tell you that even the best marketing strategy cannot possibly succeed when built on a bad product

Prove to your target audience that your event is relevant and exciting

Put out consistently beautiful and interesting content

A steady stream of social media and blog posts with an email campaign, or something more creative, is the best way to encourage registration

“Going Viral” Takes Planning

Virality is not serendipitous

“Shareability” must be deliberately built into your marketing strategy to capture exponential growth

Events capture virality when attendees are incentivized to refer their friends through social deals

FOMO Is Your Friend

Make sure your potential attendees are constantly reminded of how awesome your event is

You can do this through first-person testimonials and unforgettable photos/videos from your last event

Encourage speakers and sponsors to share content on social media

Consider the Long Term

Keep an eye on sustainability

Don’t stretch a small planning team too thin and never accept more attendees than your venue can handle

Remember to gather data and take detailed notes on everything that happens on the day of the event - this will help when planning for the next event