Post-event marketing explained.


After organizing any kind of event, the first thing you should do is take a well-earned break. Post-event marketing can wait for a day. Sound good? Good… Now let’s talk marketing.

There have never been more ways to stay connected with attendees after your event. Between Zoom, social media, and email, everyone everywhere is literally just a click away. But what do people really want to talk about after the event? And how can you make sure that you have an impact? In this article, we’ll break down everything you need to know about post-event marketing and how to keep people excited about your event (long after it ends). Let’s get to it! 

GIF showcasing a virtual meeting with attendees on the left and a chat stream on the right

Plan virtual meet-ups and networking sessions.

In a recent Forbes article about virtual events, Allen Yesilevich writes, “Due to their ability to cut costs […] and bring together professionals from around the world, virtual events — or hybrid events — have proven they have a rightful place in our digital strategies.” 

We couldn’t agree more. Virtual gets people face to face at the drop of a hat and keeps people networking.

After your event, consider organizing small virtual meet-ups for attendees. Maybe even include a speaker from the event. Give people thoughtful discussion topics, and keep it informal and short. Think of these as similar to a quick drink with friends in the lobby bar — but virtual. 

Meet-ups will help people reconnect, network, and eventually increase collaboration in your industry. People no longer have to wait until the next in-person event to see each other. Instead, they can jump into a quick meet-up with their friends whenever you organize it. 

We actually just launched Expo Theater, our very own streaming platform (pictured above). It’s specifically designed to connect speakers and attendees, create interactive sessions, and many more tools just for event organizers. For more info, drop us a line at info@expopass.com.

Post-event marketing can be achieved well by recuting content into featured videos

Re-cut your content! 

Following the Toronto International Film Festival, the event released a high-quality 90-second wrap-up video for the event. 

There were scenes of attendees arriving on the red carpet, enjoying the festival, talking on panels, and the whole thing was narrated with interesting quotes from the festival’s presenters.

In-person, hybrid and virtual events can generate tons of content (as long as the camera is recording, of course). Try recutting this footage to capture the best parts and to create meaningful reels for social media. 

Think like a movie maker. Pull together an uplifting message or an interesting idea, and present it in a visually pleasing way that will get people’s attention.

Reach out to speakers to add a voice-over or elaborate on an idea from their presentation. Maybe even add a meme somewhere or talk about recent events to keep things current. The key is to squeeze the most out of your excellent event content!

Creating interesting polls and surveys is a great post-event marketing tool

Create interesting polls and surveys.  

If you really want to know what people thought of your event, sometimes the best thing to do is ask. A well-crafted survey or poll, sent to the right group of attendees, can give you the honest feedback you need to keep improving your marketing.

Try to think of out-of-the-box questions. Bring up ideas that are unique to your event, the speakers, and the overall message. Don’t be afraid to ask attendees specific areas where things dragged or didn’t work as well. Constructive criticism is good! 

But more importantly, keep questions forward-looking. This survey should help spark ideas with attendees about what they want to see next and inspire them to talk about what’s on their minds in general. 

Worried about not getting enough survey responses? Incentivize the survey with an invitation to a short virtual meet-up, or maybe some swag you had saved. Then make sure people get that swag right away. They’ll remember your hospitality when it comes time for the next event!

Post-event marketing can be achieved by writing than you notes and wrap-ups

Write Thank You notes and wrap-ups.

Sometimes a well-crafted email is all you need to keep people engaged with your event. But before writing, consider who the email is going out to. 

If it’s going to people who attended the event, then the message to convey is — “Thank you for coming! This is what we have coming up next…” Keep it short, sincere, and focused on events or opportunities that are coming up, just for them. This would also be a great place to share a link to a social media photo album so your attendees can tag each other. 

For people who registered but didn’t show, the message to convey is:  “This is everything interesting that you missed at the event!” Maybe even throw a little FOMO in there, but in the kindest way possible. Chances are they didn’t want to miss out on purpose. So make them feel like they were there. 

For people who never registered, the message to convey is: “These are some of the big ideas we covered! But not everything that happened…” Build intrigue so that they will register for the next one. 

Whatever way you email– remember, people get a lot of emails. So put some unique ideas in there to make you stand out. 

Post-event marketing can be achieved by sharing your event with the press.

Share your event with the press. 

There’s a general public interest in events of all kinds right now. People want to know how they look, how they are happening, and the different ways people are meeting safely

Think beyond just the press for your industry. Local news may want to know about how your event was such a success. Also, don’t forget to share pictures and videos. It’s best if everyone can see success with their own eyes.

Take the lead in getting the word out about how incredible your event was. You never when a journalist may be looking to write about an event just like yours!

GIF of a tiny house tour

Follow-up with original content and analysis.

Months after Apartment Therapy’s virtual Small/Cool event (which searched for the smallest and coolest apartment), their production team visited the winners to create new in-person content. 

We love this idea of following up in person after a virtual event. It sparks new life in the event and presents the whole concept in a new and intriguing way. 

When your event is over, think about how you can create content that builds on everyone’s experience. This could be video, podcasts, social media posts, or even be long-form journalism or analysis.

Follow up with attendees about what they are working on. Give in-depth analysis about the future of your industry. Use your event as a jumping-off point to get creative and make something new for everyone to enjoy.

When in doubt, keep people connected. 

Post-event marketing is all about staying in touch and developing connections long after the event. 

Virtual meet-ups with attendees and speakers can help keep the conversation going. Mountains of recorded content from in-person and virtual events will keep social media pages interesting for months. And don’t forget that the press is genuinely interested in how events are going right now. This is the time to promote all your hard work. People will want to hear about it! We promise.

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