Are you wondering how to get word out on LinkedIn about an event that you are hosting? LinkedIn Events – Have you heard about them?
This article will show you how to use LinkedIn for your next online workshop, product launch or in-person event promotion.
What is the LinkedIn Events Feature?
This feature allows you create an event on LinkedIn and share it with your network. LinkedIn Events can be used for both in-person events and online events. LinkedIn recommends that you grow your network by attending or hosting LinkedIn events, and meeting your connections face-to-face.
This feature is great for professional events. This feature allows you to share the event with your network and to link to an external ticketing website. This feature has also been a great way to encourage my network members to sign up to online paid workshops.
These are some examples of LinkedIn events that you might create.
- Events for networking to bring people together
- Workshops – either in person or online
- Product launches
- Alumni meetups
- Summits and conferences
LinkedIn promotes Events as a professional event tool, so why not set up a LinkedIn event to host an offline gathering? LinkedIn events have been a great way to host both a regular breakfast in person and a past pupil’s business breakfast.
A LinkedIn event can be created from either your company page or personal profile. These are some things to remember when creating an event on your page.
- An event can be created by any page administrator.
- You can invite only your first-degree connections as a page administrator. Each person can invite their connections if you have multiple admins.
- If they are not connected to an admin of the page via their profile, you can’t invite them to your page.
You can invite a third party to your event by creating it on your page. To have someone else manage your event, you can invite them to be page admin. This option is great if you are hosting a large event and partner with outside teams.
Sponsor a post by creating an event on your company profile or sharing it to your company account.
Once you have a better understanding of how LinkedIn events work, let’s now show you how to create your own LinkedIn event.
#1: Create your LinkedIn Event
You will find the Events section on your homepage in the left-hand columns. This section will contain all events that you have been invited to and any you host or have hosted. All of your events are listed under this heading at the time of writing. Filtering by past, new, or existing events is not possible.
Click on the + sign to create a LinkedIn Event from your Personal Profile.
Click the Admin tab of your page to create the event.
Tip: LinkedIn events don’t have a “draft” option. You can either complete or abandon your event once you have started creating it. Before you start creating your event, make sure you have all the graphics, copy, as well as your ticketing link.
Provide Event Details
Type in your event name, and choose your organizer from the Create Event window. You can’t modify the organizer or host role once an event is created.
Please fill in all details regarding your event, including the date, time, location, venue, and date. Even if you are hosting an event online, the Location field must be filled in. When hosting an online workshop, the location was India.
You can upload a banner image (175 x 444 pixels) or a logo (405 x 400 pixels). However, the logo will not appear in your Event listing.
To appeal to your target audience, write the event description. The main topic of the event should be highlighted. If you are planning to have speakers, detail the schedule. Include @mentione any speakers.
You can enter up to 5,000 characters in the description, but it won’t automatically expand as you type. To expand the description box manually, drag the icon to the lower-right corner.
Link to an external ticketing site
LinkedIn allows you to add a link from another website for ticketing. Add a link to your tickets if you are selling tickets for your event. Tickets are not an automatic integration, unlike Facebook events.
Make it clear that you are inviting someone to your event if they have to pay a ticket. Invitees might accept an invitation but not know that they must purchase a ticket.
There will be many attendees who have accepted your invitation, but not yet purchased tickets. Contact attendees to inform them how to buy their place if you are hosting a webinar.
Change the privacy settings for LinkedIn events
LinkedIn events can be set up as private or public. Anyone can attend a public event. If the event is private, only invited guests can view it. Before they are allowed to attend, uninvited guests must be approved. If you have a private event, you will be notified if anyone is marked as pending to be admitted to your event.
Please note that once an event is set, it cannot be modified.
Once you are done filling in the details for your event click the Create button.
#2: Promote your LinkedIn Event to Your LinkedIn Network
What’s the next step after you have created your event? You’ll need to work hard to make your event discoverable on LinkedIn.
You will not be able to see the posts you make in the event feed. For maximum visibility, share content about the event on both your company and personal pages. Consider asking people to share the event to their networks if you send confirmation emails to those who have signed up.
You’ll find two additional ways to invite people to your event on your event page:
- Invite your friends.
- Inform your networks about the event.
Invite your connections to the event
Clicking on the Invite button will bring up a pop-up with all your network connections. LinkedIn does not offer an “Invite All” option. You will need to choose individuals.
There are several ways to reduce the size of your network if you have many people.
- You can search the search box to locate specific members of your network.
- Filter your connections by company, school, or industry.
You can either choose from the list of options under Industries, or create your own industry to create a specific group.
After you have selected the connections that you wish to invite, click Invite to send out the invitations. You cannot add a note or message to your invitation at the moment.
After someone accepts your invitation they will be able see all the other attendees. Before the event, attendees can network and connect with one another.
Please share the event with your network
Click the Share button located next to Let Your Network know About This Event to share the event with LinkedIn connections. A pop-up box with a draft message will open. It should include your event name. This message can be customized to suit your audience.
Include information about your event if you are ticketing it. Include three relevant hashtags to your target audience on LinkedIn.
Tip: To promote your event beyond a single post, click the Share button. There are options to email the event link to your network, share the link in your newsletter, online or on Twitter.
#3: Connect with your LinkedIn Event Attendees and Engage them
Engage with attendees in the event feed to keep your LinkedIn event top-of-mind and encourage them to attend.
Send connection requests to attendees who aren’t part of your LinkedIn Network
After people accept your invitations, you will see a list on your event page. The right-hand side of your event page will show attendees. Click on See All to communicate and manage attendees.
Next, you will see details about each attendee at your event. You can also send messages to people you know. Send a message to attendees who have registered for the event but are not yet connected.
Add a post to the LinkedIn Event Feed
Your LinkedIn event has its own stream so that your LinkedIn network doesn’t see any conversations inside the event. Only those who have accepted the invitation will be able to see the posts in the event feed. The LinkedIn algorithm determines which attendees will see the post you make in the event feed.
To build interest, create content for the event. Describe the event and tag speakers.
Invite attendees to ask questions and introduce themselves via the event feed. You can also add video and documents to your event posts, just like you can with your personal LinkedIn feed.
Tip: Encourage guest speakers to post in your event feed if they are attending.
You, the event organizer, will be notified when someone posts to your event feed.
#4: Edit or Modify Event Details
After you have created your LinkedIn event you can edit, cancel or delete it. Click the Edit button beneath your banner image to see all of these options.
You can edit the location, date and time by selecting Edit Event from the dropdown menu.
LinkedIn will still list your event if you cancel it.
Conclusion
LinkedIn Events was launched for the first time in 2011. It was then taken down by LinkedIn in 2012. The new version was launched by LinkedIn in late 2019. The Events feature is a great addition to other event management tools if you host regular events on- or offline.
Share the event on LinkedIn, your other social media platforms, and invite others from your LinkedIn network to sign up. To increase interest, make sure you create engaging posts within your event.