Dave Kadavy of Chicago, Ill. writes:
“I run a roommate-meeting event called Flatmate Meetup. It’s kind of like speed-dating, but for roommates. I started it in San Francisco and expanded it to Chicago. We now have almost 1,400 members between the two cities.
“We currently promote the event by posting on Craigslist where people look for roommates, but we need more brand recognition to be successful, and that audience has proven difficult to reach. What tips do your readers have for getting the word out—to the right people—about these events?
“The target audience is mostly people in their mid-20’s to early 30’s, college grads. I currently have the events at bars.”
Dave,
You can usually post events on Yelp & metromix, but you’ll need to be a registered user first. Both of those sites target your demographic and I’ve gotten media interest for events that I’ve posted for clients there. Good luck!
Hi Dave,
You might want to get in touch with the folks Mommy Mixer (www.mommymixer.com. They have a similar concept but they connect moms and nannies. I’ve seen them to events and high-end stores that moms are likely to shop at.
Perhaps if you held your events at stores like American Eagle, they could help you get the word out. It’s a win for them because people would come in to shop.
Anyway, I think the Mommy Mixer ladies could probably give you some good tips.
Good luck… it’s a great concept!
Kristen
@keenan, thanks for the tip. I have been using Yelp & Metromix, and the results have been okay. The challenge is getting those people who are actively searching for roommates – they don’t think to look for an event!
@Kristen, I didn’t know about Mommy Mixer! Certainly they will have some good tips. Also, I hadn’t thought about having the events at retail stores – but that could be a good partnership. Thanks for the tips!
Dave, how about experimenting by buying an ad on Facebook?
You can target geographically as well as buy age. Since you’re only trying to market the event in Chicago, you can probably reach a lot of Facebook users in your demographic for a reasonable rate.
Click on the “Ads and Pages” icon in the lower left corner of the screen, next to “Applications.”