Promote Your Event Using LinkedIn Events Application

Many event professionals have found the benefits of using social media in their event marketing campaigns for the viral potential.  LinkedIn has an event application that works well to target your niche market while also building an engaged event community.

You must first download the LinkedIn Event Application, which can be found in the Applications Directory under the “More” tab at the top of the window.   Then you can opt to have the application appear on your profile page, so whenever you log-in, the event information is now a module on your page.

Adding Your Event To LinkedIn Events Application

Once you add an event the system will automatically promote it to your network (the people you are connected to in the first level on LinkedIn).  Each time someone says they are attending, their network will get a network update.  So, listing your event first alerts your entire network, then each subsequent RSVP spreads the word further adding to the viral effect.

1.  Go to the Events Application and click on the “Add An Event” tab.   From there you will add all the event details.

2. Be sure to click on “Add More Details” so you can include event description, keywords and who should attend your event.

Make your details keyword rich, as LinkedIn matches your event keywords to the keywords used in your network’s user profiles.  You want your event displayed to as many as possible.  Just remember the same SEO rules you use on your blog.  You want to sound natural, so don’t overdo it.

3.  If it is a virtual event you will want to check the box “This is a virtual event“.  This will take out the unnecessary details of filling in Venue, Location, etc.

4.  Before publishing your event, click on “Preview Event” to make sure everything looks right.  Go back and make any changes, spelling corrections, and add any additional information you may have left out.  You want it to look perfect and professional.

5.  Once you’re satisfied, hit “Publish Event“.  Your event is now active and searchable on LinkedIn as well as Google. (Another reason keywords are so important!)

Promoting Your Event On LinkedIn

Once you’ve added your event LinkedIn will automatically promote it to your network and will open a new window with several options to promote your event.  If you don’t already have a large network you may want to consider using one of LinkedIn’s other promotion opportunities to get your event in front of a larger audience.

You have two options from here:

1.  Share With Contacts – You can manually enter a contact (someone not in your network but who you have an email address for) to make aware of the event.

2.  Advertise on LinkedIn – You can purchase paid advertising options targeting a specific audience on LinkedIn.  This would be going outside your own network of connections using advertising methods such as CPC (cost-per-click), CPM (cost-per-impression), or  text ads.

LinkedIn will suggest relevant events to users based on keywords they have used in their profiles. (Industry, Job title, etc).  Events will show who is organizing event, who is speaking and who is attending. Browsing events defaults to industry and can be filtered to show more or less results.

This will allow members to network with others attending or make a better decision on attending based on who’s going or who’s speaking.  It will also allow attending members to make more detailed plans with others in their network  rather than running into them by chance at the event.

There are more tips on getting your event discovered on LinkedIn, such as forming Groups, Discussions and participating in LinkedIn Answers.  For the sake of time I will go over these in a separate post this week.  This deserves a more in depth look that I don’t want to skimp on here.  Be sure to check back later for the follow up post.

Have you used LinkedIn Events to promote your organized events?  What benefits do you see to using LinkedIn?  Have you found and/or attended an event by browsing the LinkedIn Events application or had events automatically suggested to you?  Please leave your comments in the section below.  We would love to hear your feedback.

To Your Success,