How to Promote Your Events on Social Media [Guide + Tips]

Every event organizer’s fear is spending time and money planning an event, only to be disappointed by poor attendance. One of the best ways to avoid this disappointment is to strategically promote your event using the right marketing channels for your target audience, and for most businesses, social media is a great way to get the word out. 

In this guide, we’ll show you how to promote your event on social media, and how social media can be an important part of your overall event promotion strategy. 

Why Promote Your Event on Social Media?

Yes, social media might be more commonly used for memes and dance trends, but it’s also a valuable channel for event promotion. Social media gives you direct access to an engaged, relevant target audience, and it’s easy to promote your event to that audience (and often beyond) with organic content and/or paid ads. 

To save time and make sure your posts are creative and eye-catching, you can use AI-assisted tools like Canva (for quick, aesthetic graphics), Taskade (for general help with unique content creation), and Capcut (for simple video editing). 

You can also use Eventtia to easily and quickly create branded event registration forms and event pages, that you can share on your social media. 

Before You Start Promoting Your Event on Social Media

Before jumping into social media event promotion, there are a few things to think about. You’ll need to: 

1. Make sure you have a good understanding of your target audience 
2. Find the right social media platform for your audience 
3. Establish marketing goals and decide what data to measure during the campaign
4. Create a content calendar for your event promotion social media posts 

As we mentioned, it’s best to make sure you have all the event details figured out first, from dates and times to an event website or at least a registration page. After that, you can start promoting your event on social media.

How to Promote Your Event on Social Media: Tips + Best Practices 

To promote an event on social media, you must reach out to people before, during, and after it. Below, we will discuss different social media promotion strategies in different phases of event marketing.

Use Paid Ads

Organic social media marketing, like regular posts, reels, and stories, will reach your followers and help inform them about your event. If you want to expand your reach beyond people who actively follow your page, paid social ads are an effective strategy. To use paid ads: 

• Choose your platform(s): Facebook and Instagram are ideal for event promotion, but LinkedIn works well for professional or industry events. TikTok ads can work for younger audiences.
• Set up event-specific campaigns: Instead of running a general brand awareness ad, create a campaign focused specifically on your event. Use Facebook Events Manager or Instagram Promotions to set up event response ads.
• Target your audience: Target users based on behaviors (e.g., “interested in live music” or “frequent event attendees”) and create Lookalike Audiences from your existing followers.
• Use compelling creative: Use a short video clip or an eye-catching image with your key event details (date, time, location) in the first few seconds.
• Optimize for conversions: Set the ad objective to “Event Responses,” “Conversions,” or “Website Traffic,” depending on how you want people to RSVP.

Let’s take a look at an example from Wharton Online, which uses LinkedIn paid ads to promote an upcoming virtual program. Although we can see that it’s a “promoted” post, they’ve done a good job of making this look organic, which means the audience is more likely to engage with the post. It has minimal text while still providing the important information, like dates, duration, and a simple “Enroll Now” CTA.

Use the Right Hashtags + Create a Unique Event Hashtag

Hashtags serve two main purposes for your event: Hashtags related to your event can help your posts reach a wider audience, whereas a unique hashtag for your specific event lets people share (and find) event-related content more easily. To make sure you’re using hashtags properly: 

• Research popular industry hashtags related to your event topic. Tools like Hashtagify or Instagram’s search function can help.
• Create a unique event hashtag. Keep it short, easy to spell, and memorable (e.g., #NYCFoodFest24). Check first that it’s not already being used!
• Use a mix of hashtags. Combine branded (your unique event hashtag), industry-specific, and trending hashtags to expand reach.
• Encourage attendees and partners to use your event hashtag before, during, and after the event to create organic buzz.

In general, the shorter the hashtag, the better. You’ll want to fit the hashtag in a shortened URL for link sharing purposes, and you’ll also need to consider the character limit in platforms like X. Once you’ve decided on an event hashtag, consistency is key. Keep using the hashtag on anything relevant to the upcoming event, and encourage your attendees, speakers, partners, vendors, and sponsors to also use the hashtag when posting about your event. 

Also, during the event, make sure the hashtag is visible everywhere so your attendees will notice it and use it on their posts.

A great example of this is South By Southwest (SXSW), which adds branded hashtags to all its posts. Here, they use their standard “SXSW” hashtag that’s added to all their content, as well as “SXSW2025” for the official 2025 event. It’s a simple, easy-to-remember hashtag that all event attendees and performers can add to their own posts:

Use Eye-Catching Graphics and Video Elements

There’s a lot of content out there, so you need to go above and beyond to make sure your posts are eye-catching enough to stop your audience from scrolling past without paying attention. Some tips: 

• Design bold, colorful visuals that feature key event info like date, time, location, and theme.
• Add animated elements to make your graphics stand out. Even subtle movements like shimmering text or a bouncing logo can help.
• Use AI-based tools like Canva or Adobe Express to create professional-looking graphics and quick video edits even if you’re not a designer.

As well as creating eye-catching posts, you need to make sure they’re formatted properly for each platform. Instagram prefers square (1:1), while Stories require vertical (9:16), and Facebook posts work best with landscape (16:9).

Let’s take this post from Barnes and Noble, for example. It uses colors and fonts consistent with the brand’s style, and features a graphic showing the event speakers, date, and other important information. The caption provides more context, including an explanation of how to secure tickets. And you’ll see they’re using those branded hashtags, too.

Use Both Long-Form Content and Short-Form Content

It’s important to use both long- and short-form content, and combine the two strategically. You can use short-form content to capture attention and direct people to your long-form posts, landing pages, or registration links.

For your long-form content, write detailed posts (500–1,000 words) on LinkedIn or Facebook about why the event matters, who it’s for, and what attendees will get out of it. You might like to create a “countdown series” with different angles each week.

For Instagram, Use Stories 

Short-form content is just as important as your long-form content. Use quick teaser posts, reels, TikToks, and tweets highlighting speakers, activities, or behind-the-scenes prep. For Instagram, use stories. They’re less likely to get buried by the algorithm than standard posts, and you can add features like a countdown sticker to remind your audience of RSVP dates, earlybird ticket cut-off dates, etc. 

This example from Angel City Football Club promotes a watch party for an upcoming match via Instagram Stories. Once again, it includes dates, times, and a link to RSVP. One of the advantages of Stories is that, unlike regular Instagram posts, you can add the link directly, rather than needing a “Link in Bio” tool. 

Host Contests and Giveaways 

Contests and giveaways are great for building hype and engagement around your event. Plus, if you require entrants to share a post or tag others in it to enter the contest, it also helps get more eyes on your event posts. Here’s how to set up a contest or giveaway for your event: 

1. Choose a simple, low-barrier entry requirement (liking and commenting, sharing a post, or tagging a friend) 
2. Decide on a prize, whether it’s free tickets, VIP upgrades, exclusive merchandise, or a meet-and-greet with a speaker.
3. Clearly explain the rules, including start and end dates, how to enter, what the prize is, and how/when the winner will be chosen and announced. 

One of the most effective ways to do this is to team up with a partner. In this example, Toyota and Beachlife Festival have teamed up to promote a contest for free festival tickets. To enter, participants have to follow both accounts, increasing the followers of both companies.

Post Video Clips from Previous Events 

Posting clips from your past events helps build FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) in your audience, and also gives them a better idea of what they can expect from your event. Try editing short (15-60 second) highlight reels showing past crowds, activities, speakers, and fun moments.

When you’re posting these clips, use captions and overlays. Add text like “Join us again this year!” or “Don’t miss out!” to build anticipation. You can post your clips across multiple social platforms, including Instagram Reels, TikTok, Facebook Stories, and YouTube Shorts. 

Publish videos from Speakers and Influencers

Ask your speakers or influencers to record 30 to 60-second video clips to showcase your event. Make sure the clips start with a quick intro, something like “I’m speaking at [Event Name], and here’s why you should come!”. Give the speakers a simple prompt to answer in the clip. It might be “What are you most excited about?” or “Why should people attend?”. Personal stories are generally the most effective. 

You can post these videos regularly in the lead-up to the event, and remember to tag the speakers to expand your reach.

In this example from Sundance Film Festival, film directors were asked about their favorite memories of the festival: 

Add the Event to Your “Link in Bio” Tool / Profile 

For social networks like Instagram, it’s often difficult to include a direct link to your event in your posts. That’s why it’s important to add the link to your bio, so your audience can find it. It’s pretty easy to do this using a multi-link tool like Linktree, Beacons, or Later’s Linkin.bio.

If you have multiple links in your bio, make sure you feature the event link prominently at the top, at least in the lead-up to the event. Once you’ve set up the link, double-check that it takes followers to the right part of your event registration page or website. 

Use Polls for Engagement

Polls are a fun way to engage your audience, and are easy to set up on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and LinkedIn. Keep your poll simple and related to your event, for example: 

• “Which speaker are you most excited for?”
• “What topics do you want covered?”
• “Who’s coming with you?”

Don’t forget to engage with responses – you can reply to comments on the poll, and share the poll results after it closes to keep the conversation going. 

This example from Deel doesn’t relate to a specific event, but rather events in general. You can see how they’re using polls to learn more about their audience and drive conversation around a specific topic. It’s a simple but effective strategy. 

Go “Behind the Scenes” with Event Preparation

Audiences love a look at what’s going on behind the scenes. Post videos and images of preparing for the event to give your attendees a sneak peek at what’s coming up. You might like to show them how you’re setting up the venue, opening boxes of branded merchandise, rehearsing the event, or meeting the guest speakers. 

These videos don’t need to be professional – iPhone videos, casual photos, and funny moments help build excitement and make your audience feel more in touch with you. It’s also a good idea to encourage staff and volunteers to contribute behind-the-scenes clips, too.

During the Event, Stay Active

Your event promotion certainly doesn’t end when the event starts! While it may no longer help with increasing the number of attendees (except for virtual or hybrid events), it can help you strengthen your brand and build hype for the next event.

During the event, post reels/stories of event highlights, go live on Instagram, etc. If your event has speakers or Q+A (Questions & Answers) sessions, you can live-tweet these with quotes, photos, or short video clips. Make sure you’re tagging speakers and any other relevant accounts, and don’t forget to use your hashtags!

This short reel from New York Fashion Week takes viewers backstage and shows them a sneak peek of what’s happening behind the scenes and during the event. It shows snippets of guests getting ready, food and drink offerings, and more to help build hype around other NYFW events:

After your Event: Don’t Stop Promoting

Once your event wraps up, you can keep promoting it on your social channels. For example: 

• Re-post and share UGC (User Generated Content) that comes from your attendees and speakers 
• Interview attendees and speakers, and post the video clips
• Get quotes and testimonials you can use to promote your next event 
• Repurpose your content with a blog post/email recap (and promote this on your socials)
• Save event highlights in the Instagram highlights section 
• Post a highlight reel within 24-48 hours of the event ending 
• Share a gratitude post to thank (and tag) your audience, speakers, sponsors, and partners 

While you’re doing this, keep using the event hashtag, and encourage attendees to post their own recaps and tag you.

More Pro Tips: Combine Social Media with Other Event Promotion Strategies 

Social media is a powerful tool for promoting your event, but it’s even more effective when it’s combined with other strategies like developing a high-converting event website, sending branded event emails to your audience, blogging, and more. 

If you’re only using social media to promote your event, you might only be capturing part of your audience, especially if you’re just using one or two social channels. Instead, use diverse strategies to promote your event, and save time by repurposing your content from one channel to another. 

An end-to-end event software like Eventtia offers multiple solutions to improve your event marketing. Start by creating a branded event registration page or website where your participants can find all the details they need and sign up for your event. You can also save time with Eventtia’s drag-and-drop branded event emails – they only take a few minutes to put together and are a great way of promoting your event with a relevant audience. 

For more event marketing tips, explore our detailed guide on how to promote your event. 

Takeaways: Spread the Word with Social Media Event Promotion 

You can’t just promote your event on social media once and expect everyone to show up. You need to carefully plan and execute your social media event promotion, just like your other event promotion strategies. 

With our tips above, you’ll be able to build hype, drive engagement, and (hopefully) fill those seats. The most important part? Think about your brand, your event, and your audience. Don’t be afraid to be creative and different – it will help both your brand and your event stand out. 

Remember, Eventtia’s all-in-one event management software helps your event succeed from day one. Promote your event with branded websites or event pages, and send high-converting emails to your audience to drive attendance. Schedule a demo to learn how Eventtia can help boost your next event’s registration numbers.