Using Google Ads to market your event: how to set your event up for success

Google Ads offer a range of ways to promote your event online.

The options available cover all sections of the sales funnel.

You can use:

• YouTube and display ads for top of funnel awareness of your event.
  These can be targeted to specific audiences based on what people are interested in, and their demographics, such as age and gender.

• Search ads for middle of the funnel web traffic.
  Search ads let your ad show up at the top of the Google search results when people are searching for relevant keywords.

• Brand ads once people are aware of the name of your event.
  When people search for your brand/event name in Google your ad shows at the top. You can include key details such as dates, ticket cost, location and if you have any special offers.

• Remarketing to bring visitors back to your website and remind them to book.
  This works by tagging your website visitors so that you can show them banner ads when they visit all the websites that host Google Ads as part of the Display Network.

3 key things for success using Google Ads to promote your event

Is your website well designed, and easy to use and navigate?

This is critical. Without an effective website you’re wasting your ad spend. The date/s of your event, ticket costs, location and other important information should be easy to see from every page. The website also needs to be fast to load and look good on all devices, including computers, laptops and mobile devices. It should have a HTTPS domain to show that it’s secure.

Does your website make it easy for visitors to take action?

Think about the key things that you want your website visitors to do, such as buy tickets, sign up for your newsletter, and follow your social media pages. Have you made that as easy as possible?

Test the ticket buying / registration process yourself to see if there are any obstacles that can be removed, such as making people sign up for an account or creating an overly complex password before they can complete the buying process.

How can you track the key actions taken via your website?

For events a big part of marketing is letting people know what’s on, when and where. But you also need to sell tickets (if it’s not a free event) and be able to track the value for your sponsors.

Both Google Ads and Google Analytics offer a number of different ways to track conversions from your website. Conversions are things like ticket sales, newsletter sign ups, and enquiries, and can also include people who engaged with your website by viewing a minimum number of pages or key important pages.

Many clients now use Google Tag Manager to set up conversion tracking. Ask your web developer or Google Ads agency for advice on setting this up.

This is only the beginning!

There are more steps to using Google Ads to successfully market your event. Watch our on-demand Master Class webinar on Using Google Ads to market your event: 9 steps for success on to discover the rest.

About the article author

Melinda Samson aka Mel is a Premier Google Partner, Google Ads and Analytics Consultant, Speaker, Trainer and co-owner of Google Ad management agency Click-Winning Content.

Mel has been managing Google Ads campaigns since 2006 and provides results-driven services to organisations around the world, including many clients in the events and tourism industries throughout Australia.

Mel will presented our Master Class on using Google Ads to promote events.