How to boost attendance through cross-promotion

Table of contents

1. Why cross-promotion is a powerful tool for events
2. How to find the right cross-promotion partners
3. Effective cross-promotion strategies for your event
4. Examples of successful cross-promotion campaigns
5. Conclusion: Make cross-promotion a core part of your strategy

Why cross-promotion is a powerful tool for events

As an event organizer, reaching your ideal customer and boosting attendance at your upcoming events can be tough—especially if you rely only on traditional advertising and miss out on the advantages of cross-promotion. The solution? Embrace a marketing approach that uses cross-promotion strategies to tap into new customer bases, build trust, and enhance your marketing mix in real time.

Cross-promotion means joining forces with other brands, local businesses, or influencers to promote your products and services. This helps you reach potential attendees who already trust your partners, broadening your exposure with authentic marketing messages on blog posts, social media platforms, and email campaigns. When a trusted voice shares your event or case studies from previous successes, you create a sense of community around your event and drive increasing sales among both existing customers and new prospects.

Ultimately, cross-promotion is about building customer relationships, providing value, and delivering measurable results. By making it a core part of your marketing mix, you position both your products and services—and your event—for greater success.

Cross-promotion is a marketing strategy where two or more businesses team up to promote each other's products or services. For event organizers, this means partnering with complementary brands, local businesses, or influencers to get your event in front of their followers. This approach not only expands your reach but also adds a layer of credibility. When a trusted brand recommends your festival or community fair, its audience is more likely to pay attention. This guide will explore how you can find the right partners and implement effective cross-promotion strategies to boost your event attendance.

How to find the right cross-promotion partners

The success of your cross-promotion efforts depends entirely on choosing the right partners. The goal is to find businesses or organizations that share your target audience but are not direct competitors. A partnership between two competing music festivals is unlikely to work, but a partnership between a music festival and a local craft brewery could be a perfect match.

Here’s how you can identify potential partners:

• Analyze your audience: Who are your attendees? What are their interests, hobbies, and buying habits? If you organize a fandom convention, your audience likely shops at comic book stores, follows specific artists, and engages with geek culture blogs. These are your potential partners.
• Look for complementary businesses: Think about what your attendees need or want before, during, and after your event. For a food festival, partners could include kitchen supply stores, local farms, or foodie bloggers. For an art fair, consider partnering with frame shops, art supply stores, or university art departments.
• Explore your local community:  Local businesses are often eager to connect with community events. Restaurants, cafes, hotels, and retail shops can be excellent partners. They benefit from the increased foot traffic your event brings, making a partnership mutually beneficial. For example, a local hotel could offer a special discount for your event attendees in exchange for being featured as the "Official Hotel Partner."
• Don't forget your own vendors and artists: Your vendors are small business owners with their own customer bases. Encourage them to promote their participation in your event. Provide them with a digital toolkit that includes graphics, sample social media posts, and a unique discount code to share with their followers.

Once you have a list of potential partners, approach them with a clear proposal that outlines what you can offer and what you expect in return. A successful partnership provides value to both sides.

Effective cross-promotion strategies for your event

With the right partners in place, you can start creating campaigns to boost event attendance. The key is to make the collaboration feel natural and valuable to both audiences. Here are some proven event marketing tips for cross-promotion.

Leverage social media and email marketing

• Content swaps: A simple and effective strategy is to swap content. You can write a guest blog post for your partner’s website, or they can take over your Instagram Stories for a day to promote a joint giveaway. This gives both of you fresh content and direct exposure to a new audience.
• Joint giveaways and contests: Contests are excellent for generating excitement and engagement. Partner with a brand to offer a prize package that includes tickets to your event and one of their products. A common tactic is to require participants to follow both accounts and tag a friend, which helps both partners grow their following.
• Shared email campaigns: Email marketing remains one of the most effective digital marketing channels. Coordinate with your partner to send a dedicated email to their subscriber list announcing the partnership and offering a special deal. According to some studies, emails with coupons can have higher open rates and drive significant conversions.

Collaborate with influencers and media

• Influencer marketing: Identify influencers whose followers align with your event’s target demographic. This doesn't always mean finding someone with millions of followers. Micro-influencers (those with 10,000 to 100,000 followers) often have higher engagement rates and a more dedicated community. Offer them free tickets in exchange for a series of posts or stories promoting the event.
• Media partnerships: Partner with local radio stations, newspapers, or TV channels. These outlets are often looking for community content and ticket giveaways to engage their audience. In exchange for media spots, you can offer them on-site branding and a presence at your event.

Create in-person experiences

• Point-of-sale promotions: Team up with a local retail partner to promote your event at their physical location. For instance, a coffee shop could put flyers in every coffee sleeve, or a bookstore could offer a discount on tickets with any purchase.
• Host a cobranded pre-event: Build momentum by hosting a smaller event with your partner before the main event. A music festival and a brewery could host a "tap takeover" featuring one of the festival's bands. This creates a tangible experience and gives people a taste of what to expect.

Examples of successful cross-promotion campaigns

To see how these strategies work in practice, let's look at a couple of examples.

Scenario 1: A community heritage festival. A heritage festival wants to attract more young families. They partner with a local children's museum.

• The campaign: The festival offers the museum a booth at the event to host a kids' craft activity. In return, the museum promotes the festival in its weekly newsletter and offers a "2-for-1 ticket" deal to its members.
• The result: The museum gets to engage with the community outside its walls, and the festival reaches hundreds of local families who are already interested in educational activities. This targeted promotion drives ticket sales and boosts family attendance.

Scenario 2: A large-scale music festival. A music festival aims to increase out-of-town visitors. They partner with a popular ride-sharing service.

• The campaign: The ride-sharing company offers a discount code for new users who are traveling to the festival. The code is promoted across the festival's social media and on its event website. In exchange, the festival designates the company as its "official ride-sharing partner" and gives them exclusive pick-up and drop-off zones.
• The result: The partnership solves a key logistical problem for attendees—how to get to and from the venue safely. This added convenience improves the overall event experience, while the ride-sharing service acquires new customers.

Conclusion: Make cross-promotion a core part of your strategy

Boosting event attendance requires a creative, multifaceted marketing approach. Cross-promotion offers a cost-effective way to expand your reach, build credibility, and sell more tickets. By identifying partners who share your audience and creating campaigns that offer mutual value, you can tap into new networks of potential attendees.

Start by analyzing your own audience and brainstorming a list of complementary businesses. Approach them with a clear vision for a partnership, and don't be afraid to start small. Whether it's a simple social media giveaway or a fully integrated media partnership, every cross-promotional effort helps you connect with a wider audience. Integrate these strategies into your event marketing plan, and you will be well on your way to a sold-out event.