Managing events is not easy. It is difficult and takes up a lot of effort.
If you are into managing events, then you must also know that, to have a great and successful event, you should have some good event marketing skills.
In today’s post, we are going to discuss some really important ways to boost your event marketing skills and how you can make it a grand success.
Keep reading to find out more!
What is Event Marketing?
Event marketing is described as a promotional strategy where different companies and their customers meet and communicate with each other. This is generally done through fairs, concerts as well as sporting events.
Most brands use important marketing events to meet more customers with the help of interaction.
Generally, this practice works really well because customers engage with each other in a participatory manner.
Those who are into successful event marketing, tend to give their attendees value and not just information regarding any service.
Types of Event Marketing:
Seminars and workshops:
Seminars and workshops are considered the most appropriate. In such events, you are expected to invite prospective customers, tell them how you can use their services and how they can benefit by availing your services.
You can also give them some tips and ideas on how they can improve their business by using your help.
Sponsored events:
Sponsored events have recently been established for awareness, for building a better brand as well as corporate image. There are two main activities that come with sponsored events.
The first is an exchange between the sponsee and the sponsor where the first gets a fee from the second and also gets the right to be associated with the activity and the associations marketing.
Sponsors use their excitement, energy and the right emotion that is generated by allowing their customers to feel, touch as well as utilize the product.
Another thing you should know about is commercial sponsorship which includes exploiting and buying things associated with marketing purposes.
Grand business openings:
In case you are launching your first ever business, this is something you can do. You should invite more people from the community for touring the business.
Most employees give you great ideas on what can be offered as they can also be from the same area.
Such a kind of business will give you a new business offers and you can use that during events.
In case this is a web-based business, you can use this email campaign on the virtual grand opening.
User conference:
User conferences are where participants are customers and are training on how they can use the product to meet the objectives of their business.
Once you have won your audience, you can make them engage in some serious face to face conversation. Loyalty is also something that will help you build customers.
Some of the best ways to engage them are to engage customers, educate them and learn from the customers.
Webinars:
Webinars are described as virtual events where people interact with each other, share a common environment instead of meeting them physically.
Virtual events may not be very interactive, do feel like several physical counterparts.
Ways to Promote an Event:
Now that we are done defining the different types of marketing events, let’s get down to some of the best ways you can promote an event.
Crowdsource the marketing material:
In case you have done events before, you can ask the current customer base to post videos and pictures of the event. This will definitely be a credible thing to do. If this is the first event, don’t worry at all.
You can easily get a competition running where several guests can come and post videos and pictures on any topic that is connected to the event and tag them with the help of an event hashtag.
This could be a good way to make the event popular everywhere. Let the winners get some tickets, grab vouchers and land freebies.
Sell some tickets:
If you would like to boost your sales, try to mix stuff up a bit.
The best way to get this done is by selling early bird tickets. Early bird tickets generally come with a discount and they are generally for people who are keen on saving money.
You can also sell some group tickets. This will help your guests stay interested in you.
People who have more motivation to spread the word and this will help you get more interested.
Bundle tickers are also a good idea. This will help you get a good idea of how many people are keen on it.
Merchandise and food are also helpful that way. VIP tickets also work.
Use social media to your fullest potential:
Social media is something you can use to your fullest potential. This is one place where everyone spends time and yes, you can use it to make the best of it.
You can limit yourself to some channels instead of trying to be in all places. The audience probably has a preferred social channel and that is a fine place to begin.
- Facebook is beneficial for you in so many ways. You can share detailed updates about the event and speak to your target audience.
- Twitter is for those who want to give their audience live updates.
- LinkedIn is for those who want to stay focused on having a professional audience.
- Instagram and Pinterest are for people who want to give people exclusivity and behind the scenes shots.
Follow the audience:
Pulling a certain type of crowd to social media channels is a great idea but you must always meet guests who are potential.
Join people in ongoing conversations on the web and mention the event if you think it makes sense.
You can also take a look at the previous events on Facebook and then post by announcing yours.
Please remember that you should ask for the organizer’s permission. Check if they are also willing to post on behalf of the admin.
Get people excited about your event:
An interesting thing you can do is get people super excited and passionate about the event.
If you know people who have liked your event and would like to show some support, go ahead and convince them to make your event more popular.
You can also encourage other friends and family to use their hashtags more wisely and talk about it more openly.
The more people show interest, the more eyeballs and presentation you can expect.
Another smart thing you can do is, record a few teaser videos and announce their performance.
Get your marketing level high up:
Don’t stop when it comes to improving your marketing level. Do you know how well social media is doing these days?
However, there is no need to limit yourself to social media. You can create a great mailing list.
As a matter of fact, this happens to be a great and effective digital channel for everyone.
In case, you have already created a list of people who will attend the event, email them immediately. Also, ask them to sign up to all updates so that they get details of all announcements.
How to use the power of mailing to get your internet marketing going?
Announce special tickets, early bird tickets to them. Give them the special ‘tell a friend offer‘ and remind them about all the current competitions and give away’s on various channels.
You can also send people previews, performers and activities. Ask for some feedback about surveys and quizzes.
However, do remember that emailing is one of the most powerful direct marketing tools you can use. It always works wonders.
Importance of Event Marketing:
Here are a few reasons why event marketing is important in today’s generation.
Low cost:
Events are low in cost when it comes to introducing a new service. You should showcase your business in front of a live audience so that you can sell at a faster pace and at a lower cost than another traditional media.
Build brand recognition:
Events also help in building brand recognition. Approximately 8 out of 10 people who are into experimental marketing tend to pass on the experience to others.
So you must make sure that the brand is an essential part of the memory.
Get quick feedback:
Events also make sure that there is enough feedback regarding the service and product. Customers should not always wait for feedback.
You must give them a chance to look at the product immediately and let you know what they feel about it.
Event Marketing Ideas:
Use event discovery websites:
Most researches have shown that several urban event goers go for neighborhood guides. This attracts a lot of people of specific types.
There are many event goers who like to discover the event which is actually a great piece of news.
Approximately 20% of these ticket sales occur with the help of social media
A YouTube Channel:
A Youtube channel is helpful for those as it is the second biggest search engine in the world.
Here, you can broadcast live videos to your audience and create promotion ideas for introductions, sneak peeks, speakers and sponsors. This is for practical tips that can help you make the most for every event.
Infographics:
An infographic is an effective way to get more content over the web. You can use alluring infographics to combine entertainment and information.
If you share more content, more people will show interest in your event. This is actually helpful because approximately 20% of ticket sales appear through social media.
Event Marketing Strategies:
Know your goals and budget:
Knowing your goals and the budget is effective when it comes to executing the perfect marketing plan.
You should have a tangible goal in mind. This could include 700 attendees who help you strengthen their relationships.
Also, make sure that the team is on the same page when it comes to pursuing the goals. Whether they are big or small goals, you can allocate them to the marketing effort.
A collaboration strategy is useful:
Your sponsors and you should have the same goals when it comes to attracting more people to the event. This will boost more brand visibility.
Increase the number of speakers and their visibility through various event websites. A few ad banners, as well as company profiles, can help you go a long way.
Evaluation metrics is a good idea:
While creating a marketing plan, you must create a list of exact metrics that you will need to evaluate your performance.
This could include the number of attendees, networking activities as well as posts on social media. Several systems will be present to help you collect data.
How to Promote an Event Successfully?
Know your audience:
This is one tip that can help you come far. Know who your audience is. This could be a great way to build a decent relationship with people.
A couple of minutes spent on research allows you to answer the questions. Make sure to take some time, sit down and know what your people like and who you are targeting.
Keep the message simple:
People are always busy. Make things easy for them to understand. Your message should be clear enough. And try to stay as consistent as possible.
You should utilize your social media campaign for this reason. Creating a slogan or a phrase will get you good results.
If you have liked reading our article and would like to ask some questions, do put down in the comment section below. Also, don’t forget to share some questions if you have any in mind.
We will take care of all of them. On that note, good luck and let’s hope your next event is a grand success.