Seasonal event planning is a huge part of most creators’ responsibilities and often dictates the way you plan your events all year long. There’s a lot of competition around the eight national public holidays recognised in every Australian state and territory, as well as holidays that are unique to specific places, which means it’s important for your event to stand out among the rest.
Festive party events are an excellent way to capitalise on the general festivities to reach and entertain your audience. So what does it take to plan and promote a truly magical seasonal event? In this guide, you’ll find everything you need to think outside of the box and hack the calendar by finding your seasonal niche. Along the way, you’ll discover how to help your event become a beloved annual tradition and thrive in a saturated marketplace.
This guide is for creators who want to master seasonal event planning
Learn how to make your seasonal event stand out against the competition by offering attendees an unforgettable way to celebrate.
You’ll learn how to:
- Pick the right festive events for your community
- Rethink the way you plan and promote your seasonal events
- Grow your business by growing your audience
Prepare for the upcoming festive season by planning unique events
Events during the summer holiday season are popular for a reason: No matter which specific days people celebrate, they are ready to party as the year winds down. From Christmas theatre events for creatives to the kinds of festive corporate events Christmas and New Year’s are known for, you’ll find the right occasion and format for your desired audience with the right unique offering. Christmas events for families and end-of-year parties are very popular, as are events centred around bringing in the New Year – especially when many people are unable to travel to see their families and are looking for local ways to celebrate and press reset.
Consider pivoting to a virtual seasonal party or office Christmas event to cater to potential attendees who are not yet comfortable with in-person events. This will also allow you to reach a larger audience than just those who are local. Make your event fun and interactive for all guests with virtual seasonal party games and prizes that make everyone feel like they’re part of the action.
After the summer holiday season, there’s a brand new year stretching out ahead of you that is ripe with possibility. Every month is an opportunity to host an amazing event, with major, minor, and obscure holidays and awareness days peppering most of them. Whether it’s kicking things off with a Valentine’s Day event geared towards proud singles, or welcoming the arrival of winter with a polar plunge, you’ve got choices. Putting together your event calendar before things ramp up can help you make strategic decisions and have the kind of year you want for your events, attendees, and business.
5 ways to prepare for your year of events:
- Refine your event marketing timeline by highlighting gaps in your marketing calendar, so you can eliminate channels with low ROI, for example.
- Plan ahead to get the venues for company seasonal parties, especially for events centred around big events like Christmas. Logistics take time, and the earlier you can sign a contract, the better chance you have of nailing down special rates.
- Reinforce who is responsible for what on your team. This makes it easier to ensure every detail has a point person.
- Firm up your communication plan by visually mapping out how and what you want to communicate, and when you’ll do so, up until the day of your event.
- Think about the year ahead and move up your planning schedule if need be, giving you a chance to workshop your plan for bigger events.
Pro tip
Learn how to write the perfect event invitation email to get potential attendees’ attention.
In the next section, you’ll discover how to choose the right seasonal events to highlight for your attendees, from more unusual or niche celebrations to the big-name events. See how options are one of the best things you can have when it comes to choosing the perfect moment to celebrate.
Decide which festive events to celebrate
When creating a new seasonal event, it helps to take stock of whether you’re celebrating the best occasion for your audience. If you’re unsure, think about your purpose and goals, and how different seasonal party events can benefit your bottom line. There are lots of other events to compete with when it comes to things like Christmas events for kids or ANZAC Day charity events, so consider if your event speaks to your audience and stands out enough in a saturated market.
There are two tactics you can take when picking which moments to plan events for in your city or town. Either you can find new ways to put a spin on traditional, big-name seasonal events like Easter weekend or New Year’s Eve or you can focus on a local occasion.
Below, you’ll find three tips for choosing the best occasion for your event’s focus. Already know which celebration you want to honour? Skip ahead to the next section, which breaks down strategies for breathing fresh air into more traditional events.
3 tips for choosing the right day to highlight
Take a different approach to help your event stand out. Here’s a list of tips to help you choose the right occasion to celebrate:
- Go local
Across all Australian states and territories, you’ll find plenty of moments that are unique to your location. Agricultural Show Days (think the EKKA in Queensland or the Royal Easter Show in NSW) are celebrated on different days around the country and are a great occasion to focus your event around, particularly if you’re hosting seasonal events kids love.
- Go niche
Another way to get around the most popular moments of the year is to think niche. If you’re part of a specific community, you can bet there’s demand for events that celebrate special occasions for that community. While not a traditional holiday in Australia, Halloween has become popular for parties targeted at younger audiences and kids. International Talk Like a Pirate Day (on a different day each year) has become a popular, light-hearted occasion in many workplaces and is a great opportunity to host a charity fundraising event.
- Know your community
Depending on the city or regional area you live in, there will be a different demand for niche events. So knowing your community, the kind of events that are most popular with attendees in your area, and population demographics are all key.
Another way to gauge interest in a possible niche event? Look at societies, fan groups, and religious organisations in your geographic location.
Pro tip
Learn more about planning your unique seasonal charity events in Nonprofit Events: 30 Powerful Seasonal Fundraisers to Plan This Year.
Get creative with your event formats
Just because your event celebrates a beloved event doesn’t mean it has to follow a traditional format. In fact, incorporating the unexpected is a great way to delight attendees and attract new people to your seasonal event. Here are two ways to help you think outside the box.
Look for unusual pairings
Events that bring together disparate experiences are often super popular with attendees because unexpected pairings are irresistible and exciting – the main ingredients of FOMO, or “fear of missing out”. Don’t give your attendees the same old Christmas event ideas or a tired company Christmas party. Shake things up with interactive activities, innovative venues, and new ideas.
The best place to start is to identify your target audience. Who are they? What do they like to do in their spare time? What attracts them to the events? Answering these questions and building a profile of your target audience can help you find the fresh perspective your event needs.
5 examples of unexpected seasonal pairings:
- Mothers’ Day 5K Race
- Queens’ Birthday Food Truck Festival
- New Year’s Eve Obstacle Course
- St. Patrick’s Day Pop-up Pub
- Die Hard-themed Christmas Escape Room
Pro tip
Plan an unforgettable end-of-the-year event with our ultimate guide to successful New Year’s Eve events.
Find your niche in the market
Knowing your audience is key to finding your niche in the seasonal events landscape. But your event is just one of many in a crowded marketplace, so it’s important to understand how the experience you offer fits in with the competition’s during these wonderful times of the year.
This means taking to the Internet and conducting some market research. You can choose how detailed you want to get, but the idea is to survey what’s already available in your area and find ways to differentiate your seasonal event from the rest of the offerings out there. Think about the values your audience has and focus on incorporating consumer trends they care about, like sustainability or caring for one’s mental health.
If you’ve never done market research before, here are a few pointers to get you started:
- Start a spreadsheet to track all of your data
- Identify 5-10 events that are similar to yours in your area
- Collect information on their theme, positioning, and target audience
- Look at each ticketing page and note if they use multiple tickets and what the pricing is
- Use the information you gather to see how your event compares
Pro tip
Kickstart your marketing with 8 Event Marketing Tips from the Experts at Eventbrite Boost.
How to promote festive events
Now comes the fun part – finding your audience and marketing your seasonal event, so you can help attendees get into the spirit and enjoy a special celebration. Marketing can be overwhelming at the best of times, but with the pressure to stand out during specific calendar moments, it’s important to stay focused on what works best for your event. Here’s a quick overview of popular promotional channels and tools to help you choose the right ones for your event, whether you’re planning a company Christmas party or free festive events for families.
The most common event marketing channels
Social media
One of the best ways to spread the buzz about an upcoming event is by using social media. With several platforms to leverage, you can get the word out to various segments of your audience where they live online.
Typically, if you can do some promotion on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn, you should be well covered. Here’s a quick overview:
- Facebook: Share event updates, engage followers, and create event pages. Target your messaging to specific groups using paid promotion.
- Instagram: Share pictures and videos at all stages of event promotion, with Instagram Stories and live streaming to engage your audience.
- LinkedIn: Use this professional platform for B2B and industry networking, and to post company news and event announcements.
SEO (search engine optimisation)
For some events, search engines can drive a fair number of ticket purchases or registrations. But those sales aren’t automatic – it takes dedicated effort to make your event rank in Google search results. The key is search engine optimisation (SEO).
Here are three basic principles you can follow to get your event to rank on Google:
- Keywords: Search engines know that events are timely and location-based, so they will use your event’s date and location to determine its ranking. You increase your chances of ranking even more if you include your city or state in the title of your event.
- Domain authority: The higher your partner’s domain authority, the better your event will rank. Eventbrite is one of Google’s top 100 most trusted sites – the only ticketing or registration page with a high enough domain authority to rank alongside sites like Yelp.
- Mobile search: More than half of Google searches happen on mobile where it becomes an Accelerated Mobile Page (AMP) search result. Eventbrite is the only ticketing company using AMP for all event pages.
To sell out your event, you’re going to need a good email marketing strategy. Email is a direct line to potential attendees and an optimal channel to build your audience. To make the most of it, you need to pay attention to three key metrics: open, click-through, and unsubscribe rates.
On average:
- 26% of recipients open their event emails
- 4.95% of recipients click links in their event emails
- 0.8% of recipients unsubscribe to their event emails
Pro tip
Discover how to stand out in an event-goer’s noisy inbox with these Event Email Tips from the Experts at MailChimp.
Craft a stellar event description
When you sell tickets to any event, you’re asking attendees for two of the most precious things they have to give: their money and time. So you need to capture what makes your Metal Christmas Sing-Along or Long Weekend Beer Festival unique in as little space as possible.
3 steps to an amazing event description
Make it easy to read
You might feel pressured to capture everything awesome about your event in your description, but don’t fall into the trap of giving the whole backstory. Instead, organise your writing and make sure it’s skimmable by using headers and bullets.
Paint a distinctive picture
Pictures let people visualise what it would be like to attend your seasonal event, which is why they’re a powerful way to keep people interested and persuade them to buy tickets. Choose strong visuals that allow people to imagine themselves at your event.
Add an FAQ
If your seasonal event needs a little extra explaining, that’s where a solid FAQ section comes into play. If you don’t answer people’s most pressing questions upfront, they might not register or buy tickets. So be sure to include the most important details.
Pro tip
Discover more tips for writing a great description with our Top Tips to Write Great Event Descriptions.
Give attendees a new annual tradition with creative seasonal event planning
There’s a reason why most seasonal events, like mid-winter dinner events or shopping events for Christmas, follow tried and true formats. They’re recognisable, comfortable, and easy to create. But these types of events can’t hold a candle to unique and inspiring experiences that help develop new traditions.
Now that you’ve got a heap of helpful tips and tricks up your sleeve to create a memorable event experience, it’s time to put them into practice. Sign up today to create your next event on Eventbrite.
