Planning an event is exciting and thinking about all your attendees is just as thrilling! But first you have to get them there. You generally want people from all ages to attend and one of the most elusive audiences can be young professionals (ages 23-29). This audience is growing in importance because they are your next industry leaders!

 

But the question is… how do you get young professionals to WANT to attend your event? 

 

Never fear! We have 3 tips to help YOUR event stand out as refreshing and worthwhile to the younger generations:

 

  • Social Media is Your Best Friend

 

As you probably know, we live in a digital age nowadays. The internet and social media are everywhere and young professionals spend a lot of time online: both for professional and personal reasons. Use this to your advantage! Millennials and Gen Z’ers tend to spend the most time on Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat, so use these mediums in particular to promote your event! Create a Facebook event, a Snapchat filter or a post on Instagram about some of the amazing opportunities available at your event.

 

Social media can seem daunting, but use it to interact with your audience AND show them what they’ll be missing out on if they don’t attend!

 

  • Make the Event Interactive

 

Most young professionals enjoy collaboration and interactivity. This can easily be seen by their social media use. Social media provides endless opportunities to interact with content and different users online and in person, this group’s preferences are no different. They don’t like to just be talked at in a lecture format; they want to interact with the speaker. They want to have a real conversation that is meaningful and also helps the information sink in. 

 

Consider including opportunities for discussion and different ways to engage your attendees. This can be done by putting on a roundtable discussion, a networking activity or even simple opportunities to interact on social media, like a hashtag, Q&A or a giveaway! The possibilities are endless!

  • Show Them the Tangible Benefits of Attending

 

Young professionals, as a whole, are extremely busy. They put a LOT of their time into work, along with trying to set time aside for family, friends and other hobbies. Their time is limited, so you have to SHOW them what is the tangible benefit of coming to your event?

 

Why is it worth their time?

 

Millennials and Gen Z’ers will no longer just trust someone’s word that an event is worth going to – they need to see real examples of why. So, show them! Include networking opportunities so they can meet more people in their field. Have a training session where they can learn a new skill relevant to their industry. Facilitate seminars that discuss up & coming industry topics. These are all great ways to entice YPs to your event – but they need to know about what opportunities are available through your event marketing. 

With that said, event marketing is critical to the success of your event. Next time you’re promoting your event to the younger generation, keep these tips in mind. Still wanting more ideas on how to market your next event? Check out our free guide below to learn more about different promotional tactics to use!