Social Media Promotion Via Free Event Sites

As a social media expert for over 5+ years, I have spent a lot of my time educating groups of small business owners in the art of social media and without the internet, I wouldn’t have reached as many people as I did. If you have an event you want to promote online, here are 10 sites that will help you do that.

1. Eventbrite : Eventbrite is one of the most well known and used event sites to promote an event. I am a huge advocate of Eventbrite and have used their services for years. Although the service is free to list events, you will pay a small percentage of your earnings if you are promoting a paid event and someone pays via Eventbrite.

2. Meetup : If you want to create a networking event, Meetup is the site to do it on. With millions of professionals attending events daily on Meetup, you will be able to connect with people you never would have in your day to day life.

3. Events.org : This site, although American is good for online event registration and event management. It boasts user friendly web-pages making it easy for supporters to say “Yes, we’ll be there”. With the “invite a friend” feature it is easy for them to extend the invitation to others as well. Events.Org Online Registration is free to qualifying non-profit organizations.

4. Lanyrd : Lanyrd is great for companies looking for conferences, tradeshows and events globally. Lanyrd allows you to add events, discover new and exciting conferences and track your friends to see what events they are attending.

5. Yelp : Although Yelp may seem like the yellow pages for everything we hate to search for, this is far from the truth. Yelp does allow you to find and create events which is perfect for those who want to use a website for two different reasons.

6. Eventbee : Although Eventbee is not free, it will only cost you $1 per ticket sold, regardless of how much you make. This site should be used if you are hosting a paid event. Remember, if they don’t drive any buyers, you don’t pay. Features include discounts, seating plans, registration forms, multiple payment options and ticket types.

7. Startup Britain : Coming from Startup Britain, it is a great platform to promote your events, without paying a single penny. Not only can you add events, you can also add job openings, contests, deals and raise money.

8. Zvents : Although Zvents may seem U.S based, its not. You can search for events, venues and even performances for shows all around the world. Add your own event, with a description, image and location to make sure you are targeting the right people.

9. Chinwag : Chinwag is a community of digital media and marketing professionals connecting through forums and events. Chinwag is a great hub for more than just events. If you want to read some great articles while looking for events, this is the place to do it.

10. Eventful : Eventful allows you to find up and coming events, as well as submitting them based on your location. Eventful has 25+ categories full of events so make sure you also list your event.

As great as it is to promote your events on the above sites, you also need to be using social media to promote your event. The likes of Facebook, Google+ and LinkedIn allow you to create pages specifically advertising your event for free. Some of the above event sites may not be for you which is fine but remember that Google will rank you higher in search based on your online influence. The more you are mentioned by credible sites, the better your SEO will be.

Don’t forget to prepare before the event, have content for the whole event period and connect during the event to build your community. If you would like to find out about any up and coming events I will be holding, have a look here.