Event promotion mistakes? Oh the disaster!
Have you ever planned an event that flopped or attended a much-anticipated event which at the end of the day you concluded was overhyped or a total waste of time? Well, I have, in my own case, planned a dinner party and I kid you not, it was so chaotic, disorganization was the order of the day. I didn’t know what I was doing, not to talk of coordinating my team. To top it all, the food was terrible. I blamed myself for trusting a friend’s mother to handle the cooking.
You wouldn’t blame me, I was trying to save cost. I even forgot the carton of juice I hid to take home with me. The whole situation is what they call “Yam Pepper Scatter Scatter” no better words to describe this.
The event ended, I went home feeling like a failure with just a pillow to console me. I mean, if I hadn’t forgotten the juice, I’d be sipping it with my tears, at least some sweetness at the end of the day. I eventually got over it, but not without schooling myself on things that went wrong and how I could have done better. Although I haven’t planned any other dinner events, I have done a series of other events and if I were asked about common mistakes any event organizer is making and how to fix or avoid them, these are what I’ll say.
1. The “Just Plan It, They Will Come” Delulu
This is probably the biggest, most expensive event promotion mistakes you can make as an organizer. It’s like baking the most delicious Devil’s food cake, but keeping it hidden in your kitchen and expecting people to magically know about it and place orders. Like, no one actually knows you have a Devil’s food cake for sale. No promotion/marketing of any sort. Even the best event won’t promote itself.
Here’s why you think like this:
Overconfident in the wrong way
You believe that because your event is awesome (and of course, it is), word will just spread organically. You’ve poured all your energy into the content, the speakers, the décor, but forget that promotion is the engine that actually drives event success. Your event page is up and then… wait. Low registration, low attendance, wasted effort, you are just there, sitting in your office clicking your pen over and over, pondering why your amazing idea didn’t attract the crowd it deserved. In all honesty, it wouldn’t have.
Here’s how you can do better:
Make event promotion a core pillar from Day One. Dedicate a significant portion of your time and budget. Think of promotion not as marketing, but as storytelling, telling the right people why your event is their next must-attend experience. It requires a proactive and strategic push across all your channels, not just a whisper among your team. Event marketing is the real deal.
2. Forgetting “Why” You Organized: Not Selling a Value
If an attendee spends money to get your event ticket, what value are they getting from the money spent? Every event needs a purpose. If your only “why” is to sell tickets or gather data, attendees will smell it a mile away. People crave value, connection, or a unique experience. Is your event going to give them that?
One of the biggest event promotion mistakes is not defining a clear purpose for your event. If your attendees don’t immediately understand why they should care, what problem it solves, what experience they’ll gain, or how it adds value—they’ll simply scroll past. A vague or uninspiring message is a fast track to low engagement and ticket sales. Your “why” needs to be loud, clear, and compelling.
Here’s how you can do better:
Define your event’s core value proposition before you even start promoting. Trust me it doesn’t
have to be too serious. Ask yourself from the perspective of an attendee: What’s the unique experience I will gain from this event? Is it knowledge, powerful networking, inspiration, or pure vibes? Spell out this “why” into every piece of your event promotion campaign. Once attendees understand the “why,” they’ll be your unofficial event marketers. Sell the experience, not just tickets.
3. The Post-Event Silence
You spent so much effort getting people to attend your event, some even brought friends but once it ended, you went silent — no thank-you messages, no follow-ups… just ghosted.
This is one of the most common yet costly event promotion mistakes organizers make. When you stop communicating after the event, you miss golden opportunities to collect feedback, build loyalty, gather testimonials, and stay top of mind. Without this post-event engagement, your attendees forget about you and your next promotion starts from scratch.
Here’s how you can do better:
As you plan for your big day, always plan a post-event strategy. Extend your event promotion campaign beyond the event day.
- Send personalised thank-you emails with highlights
- Show you value their opinion by sending out feedback surveys
- Share recordings, key takeaways, excerpts, and photo galleries on your social media channels and blog.
- Keep the conversation alive in dedicated online groups, especially if you worked with volunteers
4. Underestimating Logistics and Tech (Especially for Virtual Events)
You can have the best speakers and content, but if attendees struggle to register, can’t hear clearly, or get confused during the event, it’s a setup for disaster and one of the biggest event promotion mistakes you can make. For virtual events, unreliable streaming, clunky sign-ups, or vague instructions will cause drop-offs. At physical events, poor signage, long queues, and bad sound systems frustrate guests and kill the vibe. Even the best MC may not be able to save the experience if logistics are overlooked.
Don’t promote a smooth experience and deliver bumpy ones. Your attendees surely didn’t subscribe to a “what I ordered” vs “what I got” show.
Here’s how you can do better:
For every event, regardless of location (virtual/physical), always prioritize seamless logistics and technology as much as you do promotion. Test everything repeatedly (there’s never too much testing), especially for virtual events. Make sure you partner with a reliable hosting platform.
For instance, Taron Events App handles everything from event registration and live streaming to push notifications and community networking, making it easy for attendees. When you promise a smooth experience, ensure your platform delivers it and Taron Events App can definitely do that for you.
5. Not Learning From Your Wins and Losses
One of the most overlooked event promotion mistakes is wrapping up an event and jumping straight to the next without a proper review. Failing to analyze your promotion timeline, top-performing content, best-converting ads, or most effective channels means you miss out on key lessons. Without comparing actual attendance to your goals, you risk repeating the same mistakes again.
Do you know what is better than the previous planning? The use of data!
Here’s how you can do better:
To start planning a new event, don’t just say the opening speech and dish out tasks. Analysing data from previous events is a mandatory part of your event cycle. Look at your registration numbers, website traffic, social media engagement rates, email open rates, and conversion rates for each part of your event promotion campaign.
Ask questions:
- What did we do well?
- What fell short?
- And why?
Use tools that provide insightful analytics (like the data you can gather through Taron Events platform). This isn’t about blaming yourself for past event promotion mistakes; it’s about learning from them to plan smarter, stronger events next time. Learn, adapt, and improve with every event.
Taking a Breather
When you stay ahead by doing all this and even more, you’re not just promoting or marketing events; you’re setting the stage for a truly successful and memorable experience.
Implement these solutions, empower your team, and let the Taron Events app handle the heavy lifting, ensuring your next event in Africa shines brighter than ever.
To avoid a “Yam Pepper Scatter Scatter” situation, download the Taron Events App now, avoid common event promotion mistakes and make your next event your best one yet.
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