So you have your event planned out. Now to get the word out!

Word of Mouth

This is the most effective type of marketing for any event.

 

Visitations
Go to other clubs that relate to anime and manga (ex: Japanese Club, Art Club) and tell their members about the event. Make sure to hand out fliers.

 

Also visit classes and make an event announcement. Sometimes, depending on the event, you can ask the teacher if they can give their students extra points to attend the event. If you ask for extra points, make sure the event is something worthwhile and educational, like Japanese history or culture. In other cases, using food or a door prize is bribe enough to get people to show up.

 

Walk-Ups

Going up to a stranger and asking them if they know what anime or manga is can be daunting, but it is very effective in getting an anime or manga fan to show up. The best way to find these people is to look around your campus and see who’s reading what. Fantasy? Science fiction? They might be anime fans. Comic books? Manga? Hello!

 

Other Club Websites
Send emails to other clubs and organizations in your area for advertising your event. Include a link and event information in your email.

 

TV

If your school has a TV program, get your event announced on it.

 

Radio

If you’re a university or community club, contact a local radio DJ and asked them if they can give a shout-out about an event.

 

Social Networking Sites
Facebook
Create your club’s Facebook page and make sure to link it with your club’s website. It’s an easy way to create events and invite members. Also, messaging members through Facebook is possible and it’s better to use for connecting with members more personally. But beware; don’t flood your members’ message inboxes with a million messages about events! They’ll unlike your club’s page really fast!

Twitter
Create your club’s Twitter account and use the 140-character messages to advertise events, the club’s website, and announcements. Just a few rules of thumb: try to keep your messages shorter so that it can be retweeted, or tweeted again, properly. Twitter really sticks to the 140 characters it proposes, so if it’s even one character more, you can’t tweet the message. Make sure to link Twitter with your Facebook account as well as your club’s website.

 

Blogs
Blogs are a good way to write freely without knowing any web design. If you want to use a blogging site instead of a regular website, make sure to advertise the blogging site as your club’s website. Many times, clubs forget that they have a club website already set aside for them for free. Before you check into getting a whole new blog, check with your Information Technology department or your school’s website about getting a free club website.
Blogger – http://www.blogger.com
Blogspot – http://www.blogspot.com
Wordpress – http://www.wordpress.com (I would recommend WordPress because it’s very advance in marketing and designing options.)

 

Paper Materials
Posters, handouts, cards, and fliers are all great marketing materials–if you know where to put them and when to put them up. All paper materials should have color in it. Black and white posters don’t catch the eye and are harder to read from faraway. Even if the paper is colored, that’s fine. For marketing big events, plaster the school and surrounding areas with paper materials. Make sure posters are easy to read and easy to see by posting them at eye level. If you’re marketing a niche event, like a science anime mixer, concentrate most of your marketing in the science department(s) and the most high-traffic parts of the area.

 

Media
Using media and networking outlets is the most professional way to market any event, so be on your game when using this type of marketing.

Press releases
This should be written at a professional level, with no grammatical mistakes and easy-to-understand language. Once a press release is made, send it to your local newspapers, readers, and online sources.

Newspapers and Readers
A press release should be sent to newspapers and readers. Some newspapers and readers allow you to post events on their websites for free. Use the press release here as well.

E-zines and online outlets
Some e-zines, blogs, and other online media outlets allow you to post events on their websites for free. Email or post the press release here as well.
Try http://upcoming.yahoo.com for posting general events.