LinkedIn is a great platform for promoting events and inviting people from your professional network to attend. With over 722 million users, LinkedIn provides access to a large audience of engaged professionals who are interested in industry events, conferences, seminars, and other networking opportunities. Using LinkedIn’s features correctly can help maximize event attendance and connect with the right people.
Create an Event Page
The first step is to create an Event page on LinkedIn. This serves as a central location containing all the key details about your event. To create an event page:
- Go to your LinkedIn homepage and click on “Interests” at the top
- Select “Events” from the dropdown menu
- Click the blue “Create event” button in the top right
- Fill in all the necessary event details like name, date/time, location, description, image, website, organizers, hashtags, etc.
- Click “Publish” to make the event page live on LinkedIn
Your customizable event page will now be visible to others searching for events on LinkedIn. The more comprehensive you make the page, the better, as this contains all the info people need to decide whether to attend.
Invite Connections
Once your event page is live, you can start inviting people. The easiest way is to invite your 1st degree LinkedIn connections:
- Go to your event page and click “Invite” in the top right
- Select “Connections” to invite your 1st degree connections
- Choose which connections to invite from the list
- Customize the invitation message if desired
- Click “Send” to deliver the invites
This will send a notification to your connections inviting them to the event page. They can view the event details and respond right from the notification whether they are “Interested” or “Going” so you can track attendee numbers.
Invite Groups
Another great way to promote an event is by inviting relevant LinkedIn Groups. Here’s how:
- Go to your event page and click “Invite”
- Select “Groups” to invite groups instead of individual connections
- Search for and select the groups you want to target based on profession, industry, interests, etc.
- Customize the message to the group if desired
- Click “Send” to notify group members
Targeting the right niche groups allows you to reach engaged audiences who will likely be interested in your event. Group members will be notified and can respond to your invite directly.
Share With Your Network
In addition to sending direct invitations, you can expand your reach by sharing the event post with your wider network:
- Go to your LinkedIn page and click “Share an article, photo, video or idea”
- Paste the URL of your LinkedIn event page
- Write a compelling message explaining why people should attend
- Click the “Post” button to share it out publicly
This will publish the event post on your profile and activity feed. Your connections can like, share, and comment on the post to help promote the event virally.
Promote on Company Page
If you manage a Company Page on LinkedIn, you can also post event details and invites on your company page:
- Go to your Company Page and click “Share an article, photo, video or idea”
- Paste the URL of your LinkedIn event page
- Write an engaging post tailored to your company followers and audience
- Click “Post” to publish it on your Company Page
This allows you to tap into your company’s audience base and connections. Followers who see the post on your page can help spread the word about your event.
Use Sponsored InMail
For more targeted outreach, LinkedIn’s Sponsored InMail tool allows you to directly engage people who fit your target demographic:
- From the LinkedIn Campaign Manager, select “Sponsored InMail”
- Define your audience by location, industry, job role, interests, etc.
- Upload your mailing list or skip to have LinkedIn recommend recipients
- Customize your message by adding event details
- Set your budget and duration, then launch campaign
This sends your customizedinvite directly to the inbox of targeted prospects. It’s a great way to get invites in front of more niche, relevant audiences.
Retarget Website Visitors
You can also remind people who have visited your event website to register by retargeting them through LinkedIn:
- Install the LinkedIn Insight Tag on your event website to track visitors
- Create a LinkedIn campaign and select “Website Retargeting”
- Define your target audience as people who visited specific pages
- Customize ads with event details and a registration link
- Set budget and duration, then launch retargeting campaign
Serving ads to users who already showed interest by visiting your site makes them more likely to register and attend. Retargeting boosts conversions from your existing site traffic.
Analyze and Refine
LinkedIn provides robust analytics so you can see which promotion strategies are working best:
- Track member responses to gauge interest level
- See which invites and posts are getting the most visibility
- Monitor event registration numbers from different channels
- Measure overall event attendance vs. marketing costs
Use these insights to double down on the highest converting platforms and refine your approach for future events.
Conclusion
Creating an eye-catching event page and spreading the word across LinkedIn unlocks huge promotion potential. By combining LinkedIn’s built-in event tools with content sharing, targeted invitations, company pages, and paid advertising, you can maximize your reach and get more qualified attendees.
Analyze the data to see what worked and keep improving your LinkedIn event promotion strategy over time. With the right techniques, you can make LinkedIn your go-to platform for boosting event turnout.