Planning and hosting an auto show is not a walk in the park; going full throttle with marketing is the only way to promote an auto show. If you’re hosting an upcoming auto show, you must get everyone excited about attending your event.
You can spread the word about your upcoming show in many ways, but which ones suit you best? If you’re confused about what to do, gear up and read on to find ways to market your auto show.
Leverage social media
Social media is a powerful connectivity tool that allows people to spend a lot of time every day. When done right, social media marketing can help you gain the much-needed attention and buzz—all you need to do is develop an SMM strategy that is catered to your event.
Use Instagram to promote your event. Use footage and pictures from past shows or of the participants to get everyone excited. If you’ve had an interaction with a celebrity or if one is planning to attend your event, use it to your advantage.
Instagram reels help drive engagement and traffic, so consider creating a buzz by creating dedicated and focused reels—car model sneak peeks, event details, participant interviews, etc. If you can drive engagement, you can leverage your SMM strategy tremendously. Holding Q&As, countdowns, and polls are many clever ways to engage with the crowd and build the hype.
Having desirable and new models in the market on your roster can help you create pre-event hype. The more reels you create on trending audios and show high-quality footage of the cars, the better for building anticipation for the big day. You can even generate carousel posts or focus on the interior of the vehicles, helping to keep the hype up.
Collaborate with influencers
Influencers are more of a strategic digital asset today than mere entertainers. The world credits influencers for their work, and finding the right ones for your promotions can produce unexpected benefits.
Opting for industry-specific (automotive) influencers can be a game changer for your marketing team. Begin by shortlisting the influencers you want to work with and whether you wish to work on a single platform or operate through various networks (multi-platform marketing).
From there onwards, consider partnering with automotive influencers by inviting them to your event. You can even strike a promotion deal with them by offering them something in return for attending your event—free passes, test drives, rides in various vehicles, exclusive passes, etc.
Leverage their reach by inviting them to experience the preparations, interview participants, and the event itself in exchange for exclusive content they can post on their accounts. You could even host live Q&As with your selected individuals and gain traffic from there.
Promote with print marketing
Focusing all your efforts on promoting your auto show digitally may sound appealing, cost-effective, and efficient, but print media is still as impactful as it was a decade ago. With print media, you can target specific audiences in specific locations which may be your target audience. Let us explain how to do this.
Consider selecting high-traffic areas with an audience you wish to attract—car enthusiasts, bloggers, and men. Opt for flashy, appealing, and rugged designs for traditional print media. Flyers and posters may be a good option, and you can place them at gas stations, auto repair shops, dealerships, gyms, etc.
Work on your design language and emulate a design taste relevant to the event’s theme—opt for sleek designs if your focus is luxury cars and bold and vibrant if it’s sports cars. If you still struggle with translating your theme into graphics, head over to PosterMyWall, which has eye-catching car poster templates that can help you achieve the look you’re going for.
Run an email campaign
With the rise of social media and messaging apps, many believe that emails are now an outdated tool for communication. If you’re one of such people, you’re misunderstanding the power of email marketing. With social media, you may have to hack the algorithm, understand how it works, follow trends, use trending audio, and whatnot—but emails go straight to one’s inbox.
An email campaign will require more work but will be worth the effort. Start by creating a segmented mailing list that targets different types of attendees, such as car enthusiasts, previous attendees, influencers, VIPs, etc. Keep personalization in mind and alter messages for each group, depending on their reasons for interest in your show.
One way to ensure high footfall is to throw discounts in your emails. Dedicate a few discount codes just for your email recipients and use them to pique interest and force action. Use early bird email discounts to encourage your audiences to sign up for the event ASAP or bring a friend to the event (referral codes). Just add something specific in your emails that will make readers happy.
And remember, when it comes to promoting your auto show, it’s all about speed and precision. Just like trying to parallel park in front of a crowd, you want to make it look easy—without any dents! So buckle up, follow these tips, and prepare to shift your marketing into high gear. After all, nothing stalls a good auto show like forgetting to put your foot on the gas!
