Marketing and Promotion
There are many different ways to advertise and market your event. How well you promote your event can definitely contribute to the success of the event. After all, if people don't know about it, they won’t come.
The key to successful event promotion is to understand the goals of your event, your target audience and follow the university advertising guidelines.
Advertising guidelines
Your event and venue must be approved and confirmed before you can begin advertising. If you plan to post signs and materials on campus to promote your event, they can only be posted two weeks before the event and must be removed after the event is over.
Review the Banners, Flyers, Chalking and Posters policy for more information.
Promotional resources
Email newsletters and social media
If you use email newsletters and social media accounts, they can be great tools for sharing your events with your followers. If not, try connecting with related communites of practice, cultural and community groups on campus to share your event. Depending on your audience you can try to reach out to them through these channels: Faculty/Staff, Students, Parents, and Alumni.
Events calendar
Adding your event to the Stanford Events Calendar is a great way to get the word out about your event.
KZSU
KZSU is the campus radio station 90.1FM. They have a few different options for promoting events including a concert calendar and public service announcements.
Printed marketing materials
Signs, banners, posters, flyers, handouts and mailings can also be used to promote your event. However, there are guidelines that you must adhere to if you plan to post or distribute these types of promotional materials. You should also consider sustainability by reducing the amount of printed materials for your event, or creating them in a way that they can be reused for multiple events.
Stanford Daily
Stanford Daily, a student-run news outlet, has many options to buy advertising for your event including a daily newspaper, several email news digests and a magazine.
University Communications
University Communications can help publicize your event. They manage the Stanford Report, a daily email newsletter sent to thousands of faculty, staff and other subscribers, where you can buy ads for your event. The News Service can also help with writing press releases and working with the news media.
Websites
If you are having a multi-day or larger event such as a symposuim or conference, you may want to create a specific website for the event. You should also share your event information not only on your own department website and calendar but also with any related departments, institutes, centers and schools sites.
Guidelines
- All materials must clearly identify the Stanford Event Organizer and include contact information for the organizing Stanford department.
- Alcohol may not be promoted as the focus
- It is advisable to include a statement about how to request accommodations.
- Only schools, departments and officially recognized student and alumni groups may use Stanford trademarks, such as the name or logos, and must follow all relevant policies and brand guidelines.
- Utilize sustainable practices whenever possible, such as digital advertising, minimizing printed materials and using reusable and recyclable signage and handouts.
- If you are posting signs, banners or flyers, you must comply with the policies on placement, posting, prohibited posting areas, and removal.