reaperinvest Event Marketing Plan
When to Use This Skill
Use this skill when you need to:
- Create a marketing plan to promote an event and drive registrations
- Design multi-channel campaigns with email, social, and paid promotion
- Build early bird and urgency-based pricing strategies
- Forecast attendance based on marketing efforts and conversion rates
DO NOT use this skill for post-event marketing, general content marketing plans, or product launch campaigns. This is specifically for filling seats at an event.
Core Principle
EVENT MARKETING IS A COUNTDOWN — EVERY MESSAGE MUST CREATE URGENCY, DEMONSTRATE VALUE, AND MAKE THE COST OF MISSING OUT FEEL GREATER THAN THE COST OF ATTENDING.
Phase 1: Brief
Required Inputs
| Input | What to Ask | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Event name and date | "What is the event and when is it?" | No default — must be provided |
| Registration goal | "How many attendees do you need?" | No default — must be provided |
| Ticket price | "What is the pricing structure?" | Single tier, $97 |
| Target audience | "Who are you trying to attract?" | No default — must be provided |
| Existing audience | "What is your email list size and social following?" | Email: 1,000, Social: 2,000 |
| Marketing budget | "Budget for paid promotion?" | $500 |
| Marketing timeline | "How many weeks until the event?" | 8 weeks |
GATE: Confirm the brief before building the plan.
Phase 2: Strategy
Pricing Strategy
## Tiered Pricing (Urgency-Based)
| Tier | Price | Deadline | Savings | Target Sales |
|------|-------|----------|---------|-------------|
| Super early bird | $[X] | [Date — 6 weeks out] | [X]% off | [Y] tickets |
| Early bird | $[X] | [Date — 3 weeks out] | [X]% off | [Y] tickets |
| Regular | $[X] | [Date — 1 week out] | Full price | [Y] tickets |
| Last chance | $[X] | [Event date] | Full or +$X | [Y] tickets |
Channel Strategy
| Channel | Role | Frequency | Content Type |
|---------|------|-----------|-------------|
| Email list | Primary driver | 8-12 emails over campaign | Announcements, speakers, urgency |
| Social media | Awareness + social proof | 3-5 posts/week | Speaker reveals, testimonials, countdown |
| Paid ads | Reach new audiences | Continuous (adjust budget weekly) | Retargeting + cold traffic |
| Partners | Audience expansion | 2-3 sends per partner | Co-promotion emails, social shares |
| Community | Grassroots buzz | Ongoing | Forum posts, group mentions, word of mouth |
Attendance Forecast
## Registration Forecast
Email list: [X] subscribers × [2-5%] conversion = [Y] registrations
Social: [X] followers × [0.5-1%] conversion = [Y] registrations
Paid ads: $[X] budget ÷ $[Y] cost per registration = [Z] registrations
Partners: [X] partner audience × [1-3%] conversion = [Y] registrations
Walk-ups/direct: [X] estimated
**Total projected registrations: [Sum]**
**Target: [Goal]**
**Gap to fill: [Difference]**
GATE: Present the strategy for approval.
Phase 3: Build
Email Campaign Sequence
## Email Campaign (8-Week Timeline)
**Week 8:** Announcement — "Save the date" + super early bird pricing
**Week 7:** Value — Speaker or agenda reveal #1
**Week 6:** Deadline — "Super early bird ends [date]"
**Week 5:** Value — Speaker reveal #2 or attendee testimonial
**Week 4:** Social proof — "[X] people registered, here's why"
**Week 3:** Deadline — "Early bird ends [date]"
**Week 2:** Value — Full agenda + "what you'll walk away with"
**Week 1:** Urgency — "Last week to register" + countdown
**Day before:** Final reminder — "Tomorrow is the day"
**Day of:** "Join us NOW" (for virtual events)
Social Media Content Calendar
## Weekly Social Template
**Monday:** Speaker spotlight or session teaser
**Wednesday:** Testimonial or social proof ("X people already registered")
**Friday:** Behind-the-scenes or countdown post
**Add for deadline weeks:**
- Countdown graphics (3 days, 2 days, 1 day, LAST CHANCE)
- Instagram/LinkedIn stories with urgency
Key Marketing Assets
Create or request:
- Event landing page with all details, speakers, agenda, and registration
- Speaker announcement graphics (one per speaker)
- Countdown graphics for deadline promotions
- Email templates for partner promotion
- Attendee testimonial graphics (from previous events)
- Social proof banners ("Join 200+ attendees")
Phase 4: Polish
1. Conversion Optimization
## Landing Page Checklist
- [ ] Headline communicates the #1 benefit of attending
- [ ] Speaker names and photos are visible above the fold
- [ ] Agenda is scannable (not a wall of text)
- [ ] Pricing is clear with urgency (deadline or limited seats)
- [ ] Registration button is prominent and repeated
- [ ] Mobile experience is seamless
- [ ] FAQ addresses top objections (cost, time, value)
- [ ] Social proof is visible (attendee count, testimonials, logos)
2. Tracking Dashboard
## Daily Tracking
| Date | Email Sent | Opens | Clicks | Registrations | Revenue | Cumulative |
|------|-----------|-------|--------|--------------|---------|-----------|
3. Contingency Plays
## If registrations are below target at each milestone:
**50% mark (4 weeks out):** Under 40% of goal → increase paid spend, add partner outreach, create flash sale
**75% mark (2 weeks out):** Under 60% of goal → add bonus incentive, personal outreach to warm leads, extend early bird
**90% mark (1 week out):** Under 75% of goal → final push email, social blitz, consider scaling down logistics to protect margins
Example 1: 200-Person Business Conference
Timeline: 10 weeks
Channels: Email (primary), LinkedIn (secondary), Facebook ads (paid)
Pricing: $197 early bird → $297 regular → $347 last minute
Email sequence: 12 emails over 10 weeks
Budget: $2,000 paid ads, $500 design assets
Forecast: 80 from email, 30 from social, 40 from ads, 50 from partners = 200
Example 2: Free Virtual Summit (500 Registrations)
Timeline: 6 weeks
Channels: Email, Instagram, partner promotion (speakers promote to their lists)
Pricing: Free with VIP upgrade ($47 for replays and bonuses)
Email sequence: 8 emails
Budget: $200 for social ads
Forecast: 150 from email, 100 from social, 250 from speaker promotion = 500
Anti-Patterns
- Starting promotion too late — 2 weeks is not enough time. Start 6-8 weeks before for paid events.
- No urgency mechanism — without deadlines or scarcity, people "plan to register later" and forget.
- Sending the same message everywhere — each channel needs adapted content. A LinkedIn post is not a tweet is not an email.
- Ignoring partners — speakers, sponsors, and community members have audiences. Make it easy for them to promote.
- All promotion, no value — every email and post cannot be "register now." Mix value content with promotional content.
- No tracking — if you do not know which channel drives registrations, you cannot optimize spend.
Recovery
- Registrations far below target 2 weeks out: Launch a flash sale (48-hour discount), add a bonus for immediate registration, have speakers personally promote.
- No email list to market to: Focus on partner promotion and paid ads. Offer speakers and sponsors a registration tracking link and incentive to promote.
- Budget is $0: Lean entirely on email, organic social, and partner cross-promotion. Create shareable graphics that make it easy for others to spread the word.
- First-time event with no social proof: Use speaker credibility as proof. Feature speaker bios, past talk recordings, and endorsements instead of attendee testimonials.