How to promote a St Patrick’s Day event

St Patrick’s Day. A time when people from Ireland and beyond come together to celebrate. The holiday, which takes place on March 17th, honours Ireland’s patron saint, St Patrick. 

But why? Well, St Patrick lived a storied life. He set up schools, churches and monasteries in Ireland. After he died, the mythology around him increased. Legend has it that St Patrick banished snakes from Ireland. The scriptures say he delivered a sermon so powerful, the snakes departed the land and fled to the sea. 

So, it’s safe to say: such a momentous historical figure deserves a celebration to match. And celebrate people do. According to the product review website Much Needed, the UK public spent a massive £5.9 billion on St Patrick’s day in 2019. 

It’s not just the UK, either. Argentina hosts the world’s largest St Patrick’s Day celebration. A whopping 500,000 Irish and Irish-Argentine people gather to party, have fun and commemorate the saint. 

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Why is St. Patrick’s Day beneficial to promoters?

Well, take a look at the numbers. The amount of money spent in the UK in 2019 speaks for itself. A lot of people will be looking to spend money on St Patrick’s Day. How many times have you opened Instagram on the weekend of March 17th and seen the feed awash with St Patrick’s Day content?

Probably quite a lot. So, as a promoter, you have ample scope to deliver fantastic events. But it’s not all about partying. St Patrick’s Day is a varied holiday, meaning you can appeal to different audiences with your events. 

Whoever you decide to aim your events at, you’ll need to do one thing: promote them. With that in mind, we’ve rounded up some tips on how to promote a St Patrick’s Day event. 

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Early birds and group tickets

Everyone loves a deal. So, why not treat your customers to a chance at securing tickets early? It’s St Patrick’s Day, after all. You can run super early bird and early bird tickets and offer ticket deals for multiple attendees to get to your event. 

Think about it: most people arrive at your event with their friends. There’ll be a lot of events advertised to them in the run-up to St Patrick’s Day. For customers, the ability to buy one ticket that gets three or for people into the event will make things a lot easier to organise. 

The Beta Promotion Centre makes this easy to do. Learn how to add early bird tickets here. 

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Utilise contest marketing

Contests help spread the word about your St Patrick’s Day event. Set aside a few tickets and give them away to a lucky winner. If you’re on Instagram, create a post with some eye-catching assets. 

From here, give clear instructions on what to do next. It could involve instructing people to follow your page and to share the post on their stories. 

This way, you can target people who don’t follow your brand. If there is a crossover between what they like and your audience, it might pop up on their explore page. Your brand will receive an uptake in followers with each new entry. 

When they share the post to their story, the feedback loop continues. Anyone from their following seeing the post can enter, meaning you’ve gained extra followers and potential attendees to your event. 

You could also run a poll. This is a chance to ask light-hearted questions and make the experience fun for your followers. You could do some St Patrick’s Day-related things here. How about asking some questions about the legends of the Saint?

Again, make a post and instruct people to follow. But this time, direct your entrants to your Instagram story so they can vote. Any unsuccessful entrants may be interested in your event, and they could end up buying tickets. Remember to follow the contest guidelines of the platform you choose. 

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Explore brand partnerships and sponsorships

Brand partnerships and sponsorships are when two brands collaborate to add value to what they’re doing. They can really help your event. For example, if your event were to be sponsored by another brand, you can place the sponsorship fee they pay you in your budget. 

That money could help pay for an esteemed performer or assist with running costs. If you’re promoting an event in your local area this St Patrick’s Day, look into a collaboration with a local business in your town or village. 

Once you’ve got an idea of who you’d like to collaborate with, you can begin to think about what you would like to do with a brand. This is where the collaboration will start to take shape, and there are several ways to bring a brand partnership or sponsorship to life. 

An established local business sponsoring a family food festival or providing equipment for a St Patrick’s Day event are two examples where both parties gain value. It also strengthens the links between businesses in the local area. Click here for more information on sponsorships and brand partnerships.

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Take promotion outside

PR stunts and guerrilla marketing can be helpful. It’s a long-term strategy, one that involves a lot of moving parts, but it’s worth exploring. If you play your cards right, you could go viral. There’s an opportunity to liaise with the press, too. That can help you get the attention you want. 

It’s crucial to leave a mark on people viewing the campaign. People tend to remember things that resonate with them emotionally or make them laugh. Similarly, something extremely abstract can make people marvel.

You can pair it with your social strategy. Let’s say you’re collaborating with an artist who has created a piece of street art celebrating the history of Saint Patrick’s Day. You could invite people who see it to upload pictures to a hashtag. Then, tell your followers how they can find it and that it’s to do with your event. Run a competition and pick someone at random as the winner. 

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