Free Event Marketing Tips: Promote Events With Social Media
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Are your event registrations lagging behind your expectations? Here are some event marketing tips to quickly improve your sign up rate without spending a dime.
Before you spend more on promotion, these strategies help you figure out why people aren’t signing up and improve your conversion rate. So every dollar you do spend later goes much further.
Build trust and enthusiasm with video testimonials
Video testimonials carry emotion and enthusiasm through tone and body language in a way written ones can’t. They’re one of the best free ways to build trust in your event.
How to collect video testimonials
- Ask past event participants: Ask people from previous events, both presenters and attendees, to record a short video. A free tool like VideoAsk by Typeform makes this easy.
- Record testimonials during your events: It’s the easiest time to ask, and you’ll capture the energy of the room.
Share your video testimonials
- Embed the best ones on your event page, ideally edited into one video with short clips from many people.
- Email your list a link to watch them. An animated clip in the email gets more clicks than a still image.
- Post them on your social media profiles.
The art of strategic teasing (that doesn’t feel salesy)
We’ve all seen those cringe-worthy “DON’T MISS OUT!!” banners. But you can build anticipation for free by revealing your event a piece at a time, the way a series releases episodes.
People don’t resist stories. They resist sales pitches.
Three underused teasing channels
- Email subject lines: Rotate a few curiosity-led subject lines for the same announcement, like “The 11:15am slot that nearly caused a committee meltdown.” Then deliver real details inside.
- Partial speaker reveals: Share a quote from a talk or a close-up of one striking slide before the full bio. Hold the big speaker announcements for the final four to six weeks.
- RSVP-locked content: Give registrants something useful, like a speaker’s reading list or a planning template, and make it better than they expect.
Every tease needs real substance behind it, or the hype dies fast.
Understand and overcome objections
Most sign-up pages convert only a small share of visitors. Lift that share even a little and you get more registrations from the traffic you already have.
Your first job is to find out why people aren’t signing up. Common reasons include questions about times and costs, who the event is for, how it beats other options and what they’ll get out of it.
Understand: 3 ways to discover the top objections
- Call a few people who are interested but haven’t signed up. Ask what draws them and what’s holding them back, and write down their exact words.
- Add a short survey to the page asking the same questions.
- Add a free live chat widget like Tawk.to to answer objections in real time.
Overcome: answer those objections on your page
- If people have lots of questions, add an FAQ section.
- If price is a concern, offer incentives like group discounts, nonprofit discounts, early-bird pricing or a commission for referral partners.
- If people aren’t excited, add a short promo video at the top of the page that explains what the event is, who it’s for and why it’s better than the alternatives.
- If it’s none of the above, ask them what would make the event more exciting. Maybe they’d prefer a shorter, more interactive or more expert-level format.
Unless you ask why people aren't registering, they'll probably never tell you.
Find and fix usability issues
Look for confusing navigation and form fields, and find the step in your sign-up process where people drop off. Hotjar’s free plan shows heatmaps and session recordings so you can see where.
- Shorten the form: Ask for the email address first and only the fields you need to register someone.
- Make it mobile-friendly: Most sites are responsive, but your event page also needs to be easy to read and tap on a phone.
- Speed up your site: Every extra second of load time costs registrations. Free plugins handle image compression, and GTmetrix measures the before and after.
- Get your SSL on lock: Most hosts provide a free SSL certificate. Visitors who don’t see the lock may assume your checkout isn’t safe.
Our guide to improving your website conversion rate goes deeper on page fixes.
Leverage your network for organic reach
One of the most underused strategies is partnering within your community. Local businesses, influencers and organizations each have their own audience, and their recommendation carries more trust than an ad.
Partnerships work both ways. You gain exposure, and your partners gain visibility, co-branding or direct contact with your audience.
How to build meaningful partnerships
- Find the right partners: Look for groups that fit your event’s theme or audience. A sustainability workshop suits local eco-friendly stores or environmental nonprofits.
- Offer value in return: Free tickets, a chance to showcase their products or co-marketing that features their brand.
- Collaborate creatively: Run a joint giveaway that requires event sign-up, swap flyers, or host a live Q&A together on social media.
Turn your speakers into promoters
Your speakers have audiences too. Give each one a pre-written post and a graphic, because if sharing takes more than 30 seconds they won’t do it.
And pitch them as guests on podcasts in your field before the event, so people find you in more places than your website.
Finally, drive more traffic and stay top of mind
Once you’ve fixed the issues above, you’re ready to drive more traffic with confidence. Paid ads scale fastest, but these free methods go a long way.
Remember, everyone is busy and distracted. One email and one post won’t reach most of your people, so plan to repeat yourself across channels for weeks.
Email your list, not just once, but in a series
Give people a reason to open each one: a useful tip, a new speaker or a performer announcement that builds excitement.
Plan three touches: announce the event a month or two out, send personal invitations in the weeks after, and confirm each registration right away. Cap promotional emails at two a week for any one segment.
Send personal messages and texts
Direct messages and texts get some of the best response rates of any channel, especially as real, personal invitations.
If you’ve collected phone numbers from people interested in this event, send a short series of texts that parallel your emails. Many email tools connect to your CRM, so each message can mention past events someone attended.
Add the Meta Pixel before you need it
Install the Meta Pixel on your event page before it goes live, even if you’re not running ads yet. Every visitor joins a warm audience you can reach later, and setup takes about 15 minutes.
Then, when you promote your next event, you can show ads to people who already viewed your pricing or watched your promo video. For B2B events, add LinkedIn’s Insight Tag too.
Post regularly on Facebook, in 5 different ways
Creating a Facebook event and clicking “invite” won’t bring people out in droves. You need to post often to get seen and give people content to share.
- Post on your business Page. These posts reach few people unless boosted, but you can reuse the content in the four places below.
- Post on your Event page. Everyone who clicked Interested or Going gets a notification.
- Post on your personal profile. Your friends still see personal posts.
- Post in your Facebook and Instagram Stories. They show above the feed and suit less polished content.
- Post in relevant Facebook Groups. There are groups for every city and interest.
For more channels, see our full guide on how to promote your event online.
Get listed on event calendars
Post your event in online event calendars and in local newspaper listings. Most are free.
Don’t forget good old postcards and flyers
Print shops like GotPrint offer low prices and recycled paper. Note that glossy paper usually can’t be recycled.
Free event marketing tools at a glance
| Marketing task | Free tool or channel | Best use |
|---|---|---|
| Collect video testimonials | VideoAsk (free plan), your phone at the event | Social proof for your event page and emails |
| Find why people drop off | Hotjar (free plan), a short survey | Heatmaps and recordings of your sign-up page |
| Answer questions live | Tawk.to live chat | Handle objections before people leave |
| Promote on social media | Facebook Events, Groups and Stories, LinkedIn Events | Reach your network and local groups |
| Build an ad audience for later | Meta Pixel, LinkedIn Insight Tag | Retarget page visitors when you promote the next event |
| Get listed | Online and local event calendars | Discovery by people searching nearby |
Frequently asked questions
How can I promote an event for free?
Email your list in a series, post in Facebook Groups and Stories, list the event on free calendars, partner with local organizations and give your speakers ready-made posts to share.
Why aren’t people signing up for my event?
Usually because of unanswered questions about cost, timing, who it’s for or what they’ll get. Ask interested people directly, then answer those objections on your event page.
What is the best free event marketing channel?
Your own email list, because the people on it already know you. Pair it with personal invitations and texts for the best response.
Get help filling your next event
We & Goliath runs event marketing as one connected campaign: strategy, copy, ads, landing pages and follow-up under one team. It’s the Marketing pillar of our SMART Event Method™.
For NP Digital’s summit, we grew registrations from 9,000 to nearly 20,000. Learn more about our online event consulting services.
