We are so inundated with advertising for programming at Bucknell that it is important to make sure that marketing for events gets out in every way possible. It can be hard to know how to disperse information and where to put it. While we may be pretty good at using our own networks like GroupMe and Instagram stories to spread information, getting outside of the people we are directly connected with can be hard. Consider this a guide on how to reach a lot of students on Bucknell’s campus from the point of view of a student leader on campus. 

First, an obvious and underused resource is the Message Center. We all get emails from the Message Center daily, some people read them and some don’t, but it’s worth getting information out to those who will see it. To post something on the Message Center, you can log into MyBucknell and click on the Message Center tab on the left-hand bar under your personal information. This will lead to you filling out the audience and description of your message and then you can pick a date to see it on the Message Center.

Another place where a lot of people will see a flyer is on the screens in the ELC. Making a quick flyer on Canva or something similar can go a long way by also having a visual component to your advertisement. By looking up “digital signs” on MyBucknell, there is a hyperlink to how to advertise on the different screens throughout the ELC and the campus as a whole. There are screens in the different academic buildings that can be advertised on as well. Thinking about whether there are certain areas on campus where your event would attract more students can help guide the screen locations on which you choose to show the flyer. 

Once you’ve identified a target audience, it can also be beneficial to email department chairs, heads of offices and any other faculty or staff that can push the information through email to interested students. Whether that is through organizations that they supervise or weekly email updates they are used to sending out, getting your information on those emails and to those networks can be really valuable. 

Digital advertising is not the only way to spread information. You can also print flyers and put them in common spaces like the library or ELC mall, or really any places where people might see them, like on bulletin boards in residence halls or bulletin boards in smaller areas on campus. It can be helpful to see a flyer physically or be able to pick it up from a table in the ELC mall. You can also physically hand the flyers out by tabling in the ELC mall. This is booked through the CAP Center and there are actually QR codes to reserve the tables right by the tables themselves. This personal interaction can go a long way when getting people to come to an event.

Along with having physical interaction with students, it can be helpful to have incentives. Some type of candy, food, sticker, really anything that people can take with them is helpful. Giving these out during advertising or promising them at events can help people come. But this might just help get people in the door; it is important to still have something interesting at the event. By having a purposeful event and advertising it to the right people, you are more likely to have a better turnout and get better results from an event. 

It can be really hard and quite daunting to market an event, especially for the first time. Hopefully, this quick guide can help you get started thinking about different ways to advertise events on campus. Don’t give up and try to learn from marketing mistakes over time because what works for one event might not work for another and there are a lot of external forces that can factor into if an event is successful or not. Knowing how to go about marketing is just one step you can take to make sure that when you are reflecting on what to improve for next time, it’s not a lack of trying to get people to come to the event in the first place.