15 of the best event marketing tools

As businesses navigate the ever-changing landscape of audience engagement, the search for tools and automation becomes increasingly important. Events provide the perfect setting to build authentic connections with your audience, which is why this marketing strategy continues to create great results. 

In the world of event marketing, the plethora of tools available serves as a solid foundation for success, offering pathways to strengthen your target market experiences. Plus, with around 61% of marketers using events as one of their most important marketing tools, be sure not to get left behind. 

Whether you're a seasoned event marketer or a newcomer to the field, mastering these tools is pivotal in unlocking the full potential of your event marketing efforts. In this guide, we will take you through an array of event marketing tools, each tailored to streamline processes and magnify impact.

• What are event marketing tools?
• Why are event marketing tools important?
• The different types of event marketing tools
• The best event marketing tools
• The best CRM marketing tools
• The best social media management tools
• The best collaborative communication tools
• The best project management tools
• The best design tools
• The best analytic tools
• The best integration and automation tools

What are event marketing tools?

Before we dive into some of the top event marketing tools, let’s first uncover what they are. 

Event marketing tools usually consist of online resources that assist event planners in the organisation and promotion of their events. They can be used for various purposes, whether you’re looking to create compelling graphics, sell more tickets or simply make people aware of your event. 

Most of these tools are relatively easy to use, allowing event marketers to ease their workload and even automate some of their tasks. Those looking to learn more about some of the best tools available will find everything they need to know in this article. 

Why are event marketing tools important? 

If you’re looking for some of the best ways to market your next event, you’ll want to consider using tools to help with this process. These resources are vital for success, allowing you to get ahead of competitors by automating tasks and creating easier strategies. 

Knowing the different types of event marketing tools will also help you determine the importance of them for your business. For example, if you’re looking to sell more tickets, you’ll want to consider using a platform that will help you boost your brand and attract a wider audience. Those aiming to track the metrics from the event should consider analytic tools to understand behaviours, trends and more for future strategy planning. 

With around 20% of marketers stating that technology is one of the areas that is currently holding them back, event marketing tools provide a solution for those struggling to boost their tactics. You can learn more about the different event marketing tools below alongside what makes them important. 

The different types of event marketing tools 

When looking for event marketing solutions, you’ll discover plenty of tools out there to take advantage of. Many of these resources serve different purposes, making them perfect for all types of event marketing strategies.

CRM (customer relationships management tools)

CRM software is a must-have tool for event marketers as it allows you to manage customers and prospects systematically. This tool also provides an excellent way of keeping track of where the customer or candidate is in their journey. From interactions to engagement, sales and more, event marketers can use these exchanges with ease when utilising customer relationship management tools.

Social media management tools

With so much to do in event marketing, an automated process will only help ease the workload and there are some great social media management resources to do just that. From prepping and scheduling posts to tracking engagement, event marketers should certainly look at using these tools to their advantage. 

Collaborative communication tools 

There are often at least several people involved in event marketing projects, making effective communication key. With this in mind, collaborative communication tools help to discuss events or responsibilities with ease. These tools also offer some great features such as 1 to 1 calls and instant messaging. 

Project management tools

Meeting deadlines is often a big part of running a successful event, which is where project management tools come in handy. From keeping track of your event to managing speakers, developing event content and more, you’ll be able to easily organise and plan your event marketing campaigns. 

Design tools

One of the best ways to draw people into your event is by creating eye-catching designs. Plus, whether you’re a skilled designer or have no idea where to start, there are some excellent tools for a range of abilities. These will assist you in creating great advertisements, landing pages, promotional material and more. 

Analytic tools

There’s no way of knowing whether your event was a success unless you track the data. With this in mind, analytic tools provide an excellent way to monitor metrics, improve weaknesses and understand attendee behaviour for next time. 

Integration and automation tools 

Integration tools keep all of your other resources together creating a smooth process for your event marketing plans. You can connect all of your other tools so that they pull and feed data to each other, without you having to jump from one place to another. This creates a streamlined process across a variety of teams and systems. 

The best event marketing tools

Now you know a bit more about what event marketing tools are, why they are important and the different types for your business, we’ll next dive into some of the best platforms on the market. 

The best CRM marketing tools 

• Salesforce

Those looking to combine their CRM and event marketing will love Salesforce. This is a leading platform that helps keep users organised and on track to achieve their marketing goals. 

From managing attendees to tracking interactions and gathering contact information, you can find everything you need in one place when using Salesforce. Event marketers will also love the reporting feature, which is a great way to learn more about how the event performed so that these metrics can be used for future event marketing campaigns.

• Zoho CRM

If you’re fairly new to event marketing or are a small business, Zoho is a great customer relationship management platform. Here you can track your clients and contacts, sales forecasting and marketing automation in one place. Zoho is also a great tool for those looking for an easy resource as there are some excellent guides to help take you through the process. 

Discover detailed information about your clients and prospects in Zoho alongside contact details and other relevant data. This is great for event marketing as it allows you to use this information again in the future when looking to market for other events. Plus, Zoho also offers excellent integration options, meaning you can connect some of your other tools with this platform, making it easier than ever. 

• TryBooking

From small gatherings to large festivals, Try Booking provides an easy way to sell event tickets online. The software offers multiple integrations through widgets and APIs, allowing users to automate the way your booking pages are found on your website and social media channels (or automate booking communication to external sources, such as your CRM).

The best social media management tools

• Hootsuite

Whether you’re looking to create content or schedule posts, Hootsuite makes for a fantastic social media management tool for event marketing. It also covers most social media platforms, so you’ll be able to connect your socials with this tool. 

Hootsuite is also a great option for event marketers posting to multiple social media platforms as it allows you to schedule and create content on different social channels simultaneously. There are also some great integration options on Hootsuite, meaning you can sync some of your other trustworthy apps with this tool. 

• Sprout Social

Sprout Social is another amazing social media management tool that also provides a great user experience. It is super easy to use, meaning event marketers can navigate social media event data and other aspects of the platform with ease. 

You can also stage and publish content easily with Sprout Social, so you’ll never need to worry about missing another social post when delivering event marketing. 

The best collaborative communication tools 

• Slack

Event marketing is often a collaborative effort, so communication between you and your team is key. Approximately 54% of project managers state that they lack effective collaboration technology, making these tools increasingly important. 

Slack is an excellent tool for those looking to chat with other team members, delegate tasks or work on a project together. It also has some great features including video calls, group meetings, open channels and direct messaging. You can also send voice notes and instant messages when using this tool, making communicating with your team quicker and easier than ever. 

• Google Workspace Chat

Like Slack, Google Chat is another excellent tool for those looking to easily navigate event-planning communications. Take advantage of real-time conversations with team members, alongside instant messaging and more. 

There are also options to create group chats to ensure that everyone has visibility on team discussions. You can even store information on Google Chat, meaning you can refer back to this at any time. 

The best project management tools

• Touch Stay

Touch Stay’s event organisation and guidebooks help take the headache out of event planning. With this tool, you can provide attendees with the right information at the right time, delivering a seamless process. 

You can also take advantage of the affordable digital event app that allows the management of last-minute projects and attendee questions. This is an excellent resource for those looking to take the stress out of event planning as it allows you to manage the whole process at your fingertips. 

• Notion

With so many marketing tools available, it's essential not to overlook the importance of project management and organisation. Platforms like Notion are one of the best ways to keep everything in one place, whilst making information accessible for multiple team members. 

There are also options to use templates on Notion, making event project management even easier. You can set deadlines, track the progress of your event and even collaborate with team members when using this fantastic tool for event marketing. 

The best design tools

• Adobe Creative Cloud

Unleash the full potential of your creativity with Adobe Creative Cloud—an unparalleled design tool that will help transform your boldest concepts into visually captivating designs.

For instance, with Photoshop at your fingertips, you can seamlessly retouch images and craft surreal designs allowing for exceptional visuals. Similarly, Illustrator's robust toolkit is great for creating striking and scalable designs, perfect for event marketing.  

You will also find seamless integration among applications when using Adobe Creative Cloud. This is perfect for the effortless transfer of assets and projects across different software.

• Canva

Canva is undoubtedly one of the best event marketing tools, especially for those who have little to no design knowledge. Featuring a vast library of pre-built templates, even novices can craft professional-grade promotional materials with ease, ranging from social media ads to event flyers, posters, banners, mobile apps, and more.

Users will also get access to an extensive library of audio files, videos and stock images alongside excellent integration with some of your other brand elements and apps.

The best analytic tools

• Google Analytics

Understanding your audience is paramount in executing a successful marketing campaign, and Google Analytics serves as an invaluable tool to track metrics and understand your audience better. 

From tracking page views on event registration pages to uncovering detailed demographics of website visitors, Google Analytics provides a wealth of data to inform your marketing strategy. Additionally, you can gauge the efficacy of email campaigns, monitor conversions for registrations, and pinpoint areas of drop-off in the sales funnel.

• Eventbrite

You're probably familiar with Eventbrite's seamless ticket-selling and customer management features, but the site also has an excellent toolkit. Plus, Eventbrite Boost also allows you to harness powerful tools to elevate your event marketing efforts.

Craft precise paid social ads and email campaigns, while also building email lists to enhance the promotion of your future events when using Eventbrite Boost. This tool also offers real-time optimisations and user-friendly analytics, empowering you to gauge campaign performance effectively and ensure a favourable return on ad spend.

The best integration and automation tools

• Zapier

No event marketing automation is complete without a great integration tool. Zapier provides a comprehensive suite that helps to bridge the gap between your various platforms, apps and other resources. 

Zapier can integrate apps making it more efficient than individual tools, you’ll also find additional functionality covered through advanced querying and filtering options available in the pro version. The platform automates different tasks, making it perfect for event marketing management. 

• Calendly

Calendly works as an automation tool for meeting booking and management, great for those working collaboratively on events. It’s super easy to use and is perfect for those looking to save time. This suite also allows you to track your conversions from email to lead which can then be synced with your CRM. 

Summary

We hope that after reading this article you now know a little more about some of the best event marketing tools. With so many to choose from, it can appear overwhelming at first. However, we recommend narrowing down your options depending on the type of role and industry you work in as this will help determine the right types of tools for your event marketing efforts. 

At Touch Stay, our digital guidebooks can be used as a resource for event organisation, helping you get to grips with the planning process and delivery. Take the hassle out of your approach and get ready to share details quickly, precisely and repeatedly with your digital event guidebook. 

Start your free trial now to see how to make event planning a stress-free and easy process for an array of occasions.