LinkedIn Events: how to create one, promote it, and turn the attendee list into conversations.

What are LinkedIn Events?

LinkedIn Events are event pages on LinkedIn that a member or a company Page creates to promote and host a professional gathering. Each event has its own Event Page with the title, date, time, description, speakers and agenda, and members join it with one click.

An event can be a virtual event online or an in-person event. Online events either stream on LinkedIn through LinkedIn Live, or link to a webinar or stream hosted somewhere else. LinkedIn Events are free to create; paid promotion through Event Ads is optional.

For B2B sales and marketing teams, the value is less the event itself, or the engagement it gets in the feed, than what comes with it: a list of attendees who raised their hand on a topic you chose, on the platform where you can see their role and company.

LinkedIn event types and formats

When you create an event, you choose its type and format. Neither can be changed after the event is posted, so decide before you publish.

LinkedIn recommends LinkedIn Live where possible, because attendees drop off when they have to switch platforms. Streaming requires access to LinkedIn Live, which only qualifying members and Pages have, plus a third-party streaming tool.

Organizers, speakers and attendees

The organizer is the member or Page that creates the event. The organizer sets the details, invites people, adds speakers, posts updates and manages attendees. The organizer cannot be changed after the event is created.

A Page can organize an event when the person creating it is a super or content admin of that Page. Any super or content admin of the Page can then manage the event.

Speakers are added by name and are invited automatically; a speaker appears only if they are one of your connections. Attendees are members who accepted an invitation or joined. After joining, attendees can see the list of other LinkedIn members attending.

How to create a LinkedIn Event, step by step

1. Open Events and click Create an event

   On desktop, click Events in the left pane of the home page. On mobile, go to My Network, then Manage my network, then Events, and tap Create.

2. Choose the organizer

   Select your profile or a Page you administer. Pick the Page for company events: only Page events can use a LinkedIn registration form.

3. Set the type and format

   Online or in person, then LinkedIn Live or an external event link. These choices are permanent once the event is posted.

4. Upload the cover image

   Use a 16:9 image at least 480 pixels wide, such as 1280x720, and add alt text for screen readers.

5. Name the event and set the time

   Write a name that says what attendees will learn, choose the time zone, start date and time, and add an end time if needed.

6. Decide on registration

   For a Page event, tick Use a LinkedIn registration form and add your privacy policy link. Leave it unticked to keep the event ungated.

7. Write the description and add speakers

   Say who the event is for, what they will leave with, and the agenda. Add speakers so they are invited and shown on the Event Page.

8. Post the event

   Write a short post to announce it and choose who sees it. The event is not created until you post.

Create events within a year of their date. LinkedIn notes that events created more than a year in advance may not send notifications to attendees. Page admins can use the built-in test event option instead of creating test Pages.

Registration or no registration

This is the choice that decides whether an event is a brand play or a lead generation play. LinkedIn describes both sides:

A practical rule: gate the event when the sales team will follow up with every registrant within days. Keep it ungated when the goal is audience and the follow-up will be content, not calls.

How to promote a LinkedIn Event

An event without promotion reaches the organizer's network and little else. The promotion routes, from free to paid:

• Invitations to 1st-degree connections. Organizers, Page admins and attendees can invite connections, filtered by location, current company, school or industry.
• The announcement post and updates. Post before, during and after the event from the Event Page and the organizer's profile or Page.
• Speakers' networks. Speakers who share the event reach their own followers, which is often the largest audience.
• The Page's followers. A Page cannot invite followers who are not connected to an admin, but sharing the event on the Page shows it to followers.
• Relevant groups and conversations. Share the event URL where the topic is already being discussed.
• Event Ads and Thought Leader Ads. Paid formats that put the event in front of a defined audience before, during and after it.

Event Ads campaigns

Event Ads promote an event to a defined audience in LinkedIn Campaign Manager, before, during and after it. During a LinkedIn Live stream they can deliver the livestream to the target audience's feed in real time, and afterward they can drive replay views.

Run them like any other campaign: target by job function, seniority, company and industry, keep the audience close to the buyers the event is for, and judge the campaign by registrants who fit, not by impressions.

LinkedIn event invitation limits

You can invite only your 1st-degree connections to an event. Organizers, Page admins and attendees can each send up to 1,000 event invitations per week.

The limit applies across all the events you organize and does not increase with more events. Every invitation sent counts against the weekly allowance, and LinkedIn shows an error once you reach it.

Page followers who are not connected to any admin cannot be invited directly. The way to reach them is sharing the event on the Page, sponsoring that post, or running Event Ads.

Using LinkedIn Events for B2B lead generation

An event is one of the few moments when a prospect tells you, publicly, which topic matters to them. That turns an attendee list into a warm prospect list, if the event was chosen to attract buyers rather than peers.

1. Pick a topic buyers have, not one sellers like. The title should name a problem your ideal customer is working on this quarter.
2. Put a customer or practitioner on the panel. Buyers come for peers; a panel of your own staff reads as a demo.
3. Invite by role. Use the invitation filters to reach connections at target companies and industries, and ask speakers and colleagues to invite theirs.
4. Qualify the list before anyone writes. Check each registrant or attendee against your ideal customer profile; most lists are a mix of buyers, peers, vendors and students.
5. Follow up while the event is fresh. A message within a few days, about something said at the event, is a continuation. The same message three weeks later is a cold message.
6. Record the source. Tag every lead with the event in the CRM so the pipeline it creates can be counted.

How to follow up with event attendees

After the event, LinkedIn lets you message attendees who are your connections and reach attendees who are not your connections through InMail. The attendee list is on the Event Page.

Connections get a normal message. For everyone else, a connection request with a note that names the event usually works better than spending InMail credits first; see what InMail on LinkedIn is for when InMail is worth it.

Keep the follow-up about the attendee, not the product:

• Reference one point from the session that fits their role.
• Offer the recording, the slides or a resource mentioned by a speaker.
• Ask one question they can answer in a line.
• Move to email or a call only after they reply, and connect the conversation to the tools or process they described.

For registrants who did not attend, send the recording with a short note. They showed interest in the topic, and many register intending to watch later.

LinkedIn post examples for an event

These examples were written for this page. Replace the placeholders and write the details in your own voice.

Before the event

On {{date}}, {{speaker1}} and {{speaker2}} are joining us to talk about {{problem}}.

What you will leave with:
{{takeaway1}}
{{takeaway2}}
{{takeaway3}}

It is a {{duration}} session, free, and the recording goes to everyone who registers.

Details and registration: {{eventLink}}

After the event

Thank you to the {{attendeeCount}} people who joined {{eventName}} yesterday, and to {{speaker1}} and {{speaker2}}.

Three things I wrote down:
{{insight1}}
{{insight2}}
{{insight3}}

The recording is on the event page if you missed it: {{eventLink}}

What would you want us to cover next?

A recap post keeps the event page active after the date, and the question at the end gives attendees a reason to comment, which shows the post to their networks.

How to measure a LinkedIn Event

Common LinkedIn Events mistakes

• Choosing the wrong format and discovering it cannot be changed after posting.
• Creating the event from a personal profile when the team needs a registration form, which only Page events have.
• Sending all 1,000 weekly invitations to a mixed network instead of the roles the event is for.
• A title about the company instead of the attendee's problem.
• No follow-up plan, so the attendee list goes cold before anyone writes.
• Pitching in the first follow-up message.
• Counting attendees as success without checking how many fit the customer profile.

The message to an attendee

The template below is the first follow-up to an attendee who is a connection. It names the session, gives something useful from it, and asks one question.

Hi {{firstName}}, thanks for joining {{eventName}} on {{day}}.

{{speaker}}'s point about {{point}} stayed with me, especially for {{role}} teams like yours at {{companyName}}. Here is the {{resource}} that came up in the session: {{link}}

Is {{problem}} something your team is working on this quarter?

{{senderName}}

Frequently asked questions