8 TikTok Marketing Strategies to Promote Your Next Event

Promoting events can be tricky. You want to stand apart from the competition and increase visibility, but you don’t want to appear pushy or spammy.

TikTok is an excellent marketing channel to achieve those goals, but you must first learn how to create the right content.

We’ll take you through eight TikTok marketing strategies to promote your next event below. We’ll use plenty of examples across industries, from tiny companies to large brands.

We’ll also discuss best practices and actionable insights for all these strategies, so keep reading below:

__________________

1. Raise Curiosity

Your run-of-the-mill TikTok post can be a good strategy to put your event in front of your followers. But you should still respect some best practices to make sure people actually show up:

• Your post should outline an essential problem for your audience that the event solves.
• Keep the event post in line with your other content.
• Attract your followers’ attention with a hook to prevent them from scrolling away.
• Give clear indications of where this event is taking place.
• Use relevant hashtags and keywords so that people who don’t follow you yet can find your event easier.
• Align your TikTok strategy with other marketing activities like podcast advertising or email newsletters.

This tactic works well for smaller companies and individual practitioners with limited advertising budgets. Here’s an example:

This post is very simple; you can see that it hasn’t been edited a lot or filmed with professional tools. Still, it gets the point across nicely.

The hook is in the question, “Are there natural options to root canals?” and the event data is clear. You can also notice the array of hashtags that this holistic doctor uses:

• Some hashtags are very specific, like #rootcanalssuck: Using them for your brand qualifies your prospects because people looking for them know what they want.
• Other hashtags are more generic, such as #naturaldentist: These will get you a larger scale awareness across different segments of your sales funnel. Some segments may know much about natural dentistry, while others may just be looking into it. Either way, all audiences are interested in this topic, so the hashtag ensures you get them to your event page.

2. Offer Previews

Another neat strategy you can use is to offer previews of what your event will be like. Is it dedicated to opening a small business? Or is it a networking event? Maybe a product launch? This tactic creates desire and gives people a good enough reason to enroll.

Best practices include:

• Offer genuine benefits to showcase your event.
• Tell your audience what they can expect.
• Include real pictures from the event.

This GTA online event below is a good example. The TikTok video outlines the main items GTA players can expect to see if they participate.

Side note: This event creates a sense of community, especially because GTA has a nostalgic aura. Having been around for so long, the game connects old and new players around the brand.

3. Brag About Your Past Events

One neat strategy to promote your next event is to create desire and social proof by posting about past events. People who didn’t participate can get a feel of what you have to offer.

This tactic raises curiosity and interest but also some degree of FOMO.

To reap these advantages, follow the tips below:

• Keep your event presentation fast-paced to maintain people’s attention.
• Showcase behind-the-scenes moments or inside jokes. These moments create a community of insiders (people who participated in your event), but more importantly, they define the outsiders.
• Keep your TikTok video short and sweet.

Below is Andrew Huberman, the famous American neuroscientist from Standford, promoting his two upcoming live events in Los Angeles and New York.

He starts with images from two past events to show off his large participation and talking points. This tactic creates desire:

Pro tip: Notice that Huberman gives all the details about his next events with relevant hashtags so people can find them easier.

Sephora Scandinavia also ticks all these boxes in the clip below, which shows scenes from their r.e.m. event launch in Paris:

Sephora isn’t planning a new event soon. However, seeing these scenes entices beauty and fashion influencers to participate in the next one. Especially if it’ll also be in Paris.

Pro tip: Organize your next event in Paris.

No, scratch that.

Pro tip: Don’t forget to thank the event participants – it will ensure more such people will come to your future gatherings.

Here’s an example of how you can do that from the Oh So Yum sweets brand in the UK:

Notice the fast-paced rhythm and the slew of participants that help define the bubbly atmosphere at the event. But also notice the well-written description where the company thanks the customers and other attendees.

You can also use content creators for this:

4. Create Native Content

Native content is raw and relatable. The glimpses of humanity we see in others catch our attention better than any marketing hook.

That’s why many small brands and online businesses promote themselves so well on TikTok and manage to become viral. Some tips include:

• Grab your smartphone and tap into your emotions.
• Don’t over-edit the content, but keep the video short.
• Share your feelings to connect with your audience.
• Use this connection as a bridge transitioning into how your event will benefit them.

This clip above shows dancer Faridaa Sheriff promoting her Walk of Cairo event.

And probably the first thing you’ll notice is that she doesn’t speak English. But that’s precisely the point:

The energy that Faridaa conveys goes past the screen and keeps you hooked to watch the entire clip.

The words she’s saying are less important than this energy. Notice the ample gestures, her full-face smile, and the laidback atmosphere – these make people feel like you’re speaking to them directly.
​​​​​​​__________________

5. Leverage the GRWM Trend

GRWM stands for “Get Ready With Me,” and it shows people getting ready for specific events in their personal or professional lives. That’s why this TikTok format can also be a good strategy for your event.

Here’s some advice before starting:

• Keep people interested by being natural, but also discuss your event.
• Try to create desire or FOMO by showcasing your event’s unique selling proposition.
• Use this format to create a personal connection with your audience. The GRWM format invites people into your personal space, so they will feel like you’re having a 1-on-1 discussion with them.

Morgan DeBaun is an entrepreneur and TikTok nano-influencer with 15,100 followers at the time of this writing. In the video below, Morgan promotes the launch event for her Home and Texture e-commerce brand.

This clip works because:

• Morgan creates an intimate atmosphere from the get-go.
• Her content is raw and natural.
• Morgan discusses important values in her life, such as diversity and inclusion.

6. Make a TikTok Ad

Advertising on TikTok is a good strategy to promote your event to a larger audience. Ads cost more than regular posts, but you can reach a large-scale audience if you set the targeting options correctly.

You must also choose the right ad format for your marketing goals and budget.

• In-feed ads: These appear like regular posts in your audience’s feed.
• Hashtag challenge ads: These ads are the most expensive, reaching $150,000 for six days. However, you have 5 million guaranteed impressions, so your content can go viral.
• TopView ads: The main advantage is that these ads take up your followers’ screens, so they are bound to see your message. This tactic increases visibility considerably.
• Branded effects: Allow your audience to use effects your company created. If the results are funny, useful, or insightful, more people will use them. That leads to increased organic reach, traffic to your event page, and a massive library of user-generated content at your fingertips.
• Spark ads: Repurpose TikTok posts and turn them into advertisements for your upcoming event.
• Brand takeover: These ads also take up the entire screen but do so immediately after TikTok users open the app. Besides, brand takeover ads also appear on the For You Page (FYP), which increases their visibility.

Below is a typical ad example from Girlguiding North East England. The organization has 56,000 members and offers multiple opportunities to girls and young women.

The ad promotes their Peer Education event:

This ad lacks marketing glam, but it shows potential participants exactly what they can get from it.

Pro tip: Notice the uplifting music in the background – choosing the right tune is essential to keep people interested through longer ads.
​​​​​​​__________________

7. Partner with Content Creators

There are several ways in which content creators can promote your event. But before we get into that, it’s essential to pick the right influencers.

• Don’t focus on large-scale influencers unless you are a large-scale brand, too: Instead, look at metrics such as engagement rate. This is a much better indicator of the tight-knit relationship between the creators and their audience.
• Use a fake follower checker: You want to steer clear of creators who buy their followers to inflate their numbers artificially.
• Ensure you share the same audience: Look at these creators’ previous content, values, and audience profile. Pick influencers that match your own style, personality, and mindset.

Once you've partnered with the right influencers, the next step is to make sure they have all the information they need to create engaging content that truly captures the essence of your brand and event. But how do you do that without overwhelming them with a flood of emails and messages?

Enter knowledge base software. With this powerful tool, you can create a central hub of information and FAQs that content creators can access at any time, from anywhere. This ensures that they're always up-to-date on your event and brand guidelines, making it easy for them to deliver the right message to their audience.

By using a knowledge base, you empower influencers to create more compelling and informative content that truly resonates with their followers. And when their content is engaging and on point, you can be sure that your event will get the attention it deserves!

Now let’s delve into the strategies you can use:

• Let them create posts about your event to raise curiosity. Countdown posts, teasers, and previews work like a charm to create FOMO.
• Share behind-the-scenes images from your event preparations to create desire.
• Build quality TikTok content surrounding your industry and products. Introduce your event as a helpful tool for people to obtain more quality information.
• Promote your event even after it’s over so that more people will want to participate in your next one.

Here’s an example from CeraVe – a famous skincare brand that organizes regular events. The brand’s unique selling point is that it partners with many creators, from dermatologists to beauty and lifestyle influencers.

The clip below shows a teaser from one of their press tour events in Poland, featuring two of their largest influencers:

Giving credit to these creators increases CeraVe’s reach. Therefore, more people learn about their events and want to participate in future ones.
​​​​​​​__________________

8. Ask the Audience to Pitch In

One of the best TikTok marketing strategies to promote your next event is to have your audience create it. This strategy works well because:

• Brainstorming the right event idea requires research, time, and money. But asking your audience to do it saves you a lot of hassle.
• Your followers feel included, making them more likely to participate in something they helped create.

A neat way to do this is by organizing a contest:

• Set a clear challenge.
• Explain the requirements and deadline.
• Be specific about your prize.

Pro tip: If you run a TikTok UGC campaign to collect these event ideas, devise a hashtag and encourage people to use it. If people are supposed to send you their content another way, create TikTok UGC posts promoting your challenge.

Here’s an example from the UniTaskr app:

The brand helped college students organize the most-voted event on their campus through a neat contest. This strategy allows you to:

• Increase awareness
• Stay top-of-mind of your audience
• Get social clout by sponsoring the event

Which Strategy Will You Use?

The eight TikTok marketing strategies we have presented will help you promote your next event nicely. However, you need a solid plan that starts with your goals, the type of event you’re organizing, and audience segmentation.

Once you have those variables clear, you can pick the right strategies and channels to get more participants to your event.

If you use TikTok, keep your video fast-paced and start with a hook. Those tips will attract your audience’s attention whether you create a conventional-looking ad or raw content.And that’s how you get more attendees.