What goes into an event marketing toolkit
Think of the toolkit as the answer to every "can you send me…" email you would otherwise get in the weeks before an event. A complete one usually contains the following.
- Share graphics per role. Images speakers, sponsors, exhibitors and attendees can post, ideally personalized with their own photo rather than one generic banner for everyone.
- Suggested posts. Two or three captions per role, with the event name, date, hashtag and link, plus a nudge to add a personal first line.
- Email and newsletter copy. A short and a long event description partners can paste into their newsletters, invitations or internal announcements.
- Key facts in one place. Date, venue, registration link, hashtag, the event's company page and any discount code partners may share.
- Logos and brand rules. The event logo in light and dark versions, with a line on how to use it.
- Extras. Email signature banners, a slide for speakers' decks, a press note for media partners and one contact person for questions.
One toolkit, a section for each audience
Different people promote your event for different reasons, so a single generic pack rarely fits. The toolkits that get used are split by audience, with each section short enough to act on immediately.
Speakers want to promote their own session, so their section leads with a speaker graphic showing their photo, name and talk title. The I'm speaking graphics page shows what that looks like, and the free speaker card generator makes a single card if you only need one or two.
Sponsors and exhibitors want visibility for their brand and booth, so their section gets a sponsor social media kit with company and staff graphics. Media and community partners mostly need newsletter copy and a banner. Attendees need the simplest thing of all: an I'm attending graphic and a caption, linked from their confirmation email.
Do not forget your own team. Colleagues are often the first people asked "what is this event you keep talking about?" and they deserve the same ready-made posts as everyone else.
Folder, page or link: choosing the format
The classic toolkit is a shared folder or a zip file. It is easy to make and hard to use: people download files, forget which one is current and post an outdated version. A simple web page with sections per audience is better, because it has one address and you can update it.
Personal graphics need something more than a folder. If you want every speaker or attendee to post an image with their own photo, they need a way to create it without design software. That can be a share link where people add their photo and download or post the result, which also saves you from making each image by hand.
Whatever the format, keep a single link to the toolkit and use it everywhere: speaker onboarding, sponsor emails, partner agreements and the attendee confirmation. One link is easy to remember and easy to resend.
When to hand it out
Hand out each section when that group has a reason to post, not all at once on a launch day. Your team gets it when the date is announced. Speakers get theirs when their session is confirmed. Sponsors get theirs when the contract is signed. Attendees get theirs right after registration, when they are most excited.
Then come back with reminders tied to moments: the agenda launch, the final weeks, event week and the day itself. A message like "here is the post for this week" with the exact graphic and caption works far better than "remember to check the toolkit".
After the event, add a recap section with photos, a thank-you graphic and a caption, so partners can close the loop with their own audiences.
Building a toolkit you can reuse
If you run the same event every year, or several events a year, the toolkit is worth treating as a template. Keep the structure, the caption patterns and the graphic layouts, and only swap what changes: dates, venue, speakers, booth numbers. The second edition then takes a fraction of the work.
Agencies that run events for several clients do the same at a larger scale: one proven toolkit structure, rebranded per client. In Go Spread, a finished campaign can be duplicated and adjusted for the next event or client; more on that on the agencies page.
Write down what worked after each event, for example which graphic got used most and which caption people kept unchanged. Those notes are the most valuable part of the template.
Common toolkit mistakes
Most toolkits are made with care and then barely used. The reasons are usually practical, not a lack of goodwill.
- Too much in one place. Forty files and a twelve-page brand guide scare people off. Lead with the two or three things each group should post.
- Only generic assets. A banner with just the event logo gives people nothing personal to say. Graphics with their own photo get posted far more willingly.
- Outdated versions in circulation. Dates move and speakers change. With a folder of downloads, old versions live on. A page or link you can update avoids that.
- Captions written like a press release. Nobody posts corporate copy from their own profile. Write in the first person and leave room for a personal line. The LinkedIn caption generator gives you role-specific drafts to start from.
How to tell if your toolkit works
Look at usage first. How many people opened the toolkit or the share link, how many downloaded or posted a graphic, and which role's assets were used most. Across Go Spread campaigns, 40–60% of people who open the link download the graphic, so the biggest lever is making sure the link reaches people at the right moments.
Then ask. A two-question message to speakers and sponsors after the event (what did you use, what was missing) improves next year's toolkit more than any metric. And keep it honest: reach on personal posts is usually not visible to the organizer, so present impressions as estimates with the assumptions stated.