Getting ready to launch your Next Big Thing? Of course you are, superstar! You’ve sunk time, money, and creativity into What’s Next, but if you want people to show up for your party, you’ll need to plan ahead with a content plan that gives customers enough time to jump on board. Don’t let your product drop or sales event creep without the support it deserves; let’s dive into how to content plan for events and time-sensitive campaigns, and grab our free content planning worksheet below!
How early should I start promoting my campaign?
Before we get into the fun of dreaming up social posts and landing page content, we need to establish an event timeline. Working backwards from the starting date of your event or promotion will help establish when to start posting about your event and how frequently to post as the date approaches.
You should start content planning for your event about 90 days out, giving you enough time to establish awareness and build hype without making customers feel like the date is too far away and therefore irrelevant (people do have the attention spans of goldfish, after all).
This will also give you and your team a generous schedule to create a variety of content assets to be shared across platforms.
What types of content should I use to promote my campaign?
First and foremost, you’ll need to build a custom landing page for your website that communicates anything and everything about your upcoming promotion, event, or product launch. This page will act as the hub for all your marketing efforts, with every social post, digad, and email pointing back to this very spot.
Your event landing page should clearly define:
- Who is this campaign for? Speak directly to your target audience.
- What is the deal? Spell out the terms of your sale, product, or event.
- Where can people take part? Online, in-person, both?
- When is this happening? Define when everything starts and ends.
- Why is this important? Shout out why this is a special and fleeting moment in time.
Once you’ve got that up and rolling, there’s no limit to the types of content you can create to promote your campaign! Here are some general content planning ideas that can be used across platforms:
- Testimonials or reviews
- Event/sale schedule
- Product/event descriptions and teasers
- Cross promotional posts (e.g. influencer campaigns)
- Mission statements
- Tutorials
- Promotional codes
- Behind-the-scenes videos
- Repurposing content from last year’s campaign (if it’s an annual event)
How often should I post about my event?
You want to inform customers about your promotion without bombarding them constantly (“we get it, you’re doing a thing!”), giving them appropriate time to engage with your event.
If you’re promoting a ticketed event, you’ll want to start posting farther out in advance, in the 60-90 days out range, to allow guests to schedule travel and accommodations if necessary.
If you’re launching a new product or hosting a seasonal sale, your posts should start closer to the actual event, creating a sense of urgency. (Don’t miss out!)
No matter what you’re promoting, you should utilize all your platforms to the fullest, ensuring you’re sending out messaging via email, social, paid search, blogs, etc. to capture customers wherever they hang out digitally.
While you may start out posting about your event only a few days a week when it’s far out, you should increase post frequency the closer you get, shooting for a once-a-day post by the end.
Plan Your Content Strategy
Need help with your event content planning? Download our free campaign content planning worksheet to help you visualize your timeline and brainstorm content ideas across digital channels! Once you have your needs on paper, kick your campaign into high gear with Launch Digital Marketing, your award-winning Chicagoland marketing agency. We’ll help you get the most out of your agency experience, by combining killer creative with data-driven solutions to make your event a total success. Contact us to get started!
