I spent one incredibly busy holiday working as an event planner. And over and over, my boss hammered in the phrase: “Planning is good, promising is better.” I lived in fear of that phrase, but she was right. My boss knew that the secret to a good event was marketing, promising, and operating.
Any event, from the corporate board room to the mega music hall, requires guests. We need people to attend, to talk about our brand, to be impressed with our beautiful canapés or products. This demand for event guests, be it corporate or social, has spawned the industry of event marketing.
Marketing for events begins with a vision.
You know what you want your event to achieve. Do you want to build brand loyalty? Bring your image or brand associations to life? Reward loyal patrons or customers? When you have an aim, you need to develop a concept around it and display your brand to fit this aim. This branding and image is where event marketing comes in. When patrons arrive and mill, what are they seeing? Are you a stand-out booth in a trade show using data to target customers?
Are you memorable?
Technology and event experiences have come a long way. There are now VR experiences in shopping malls; Kia two-story slides ending in their new car, and the average CMO in 2018 allocated 24% of their total annual budget to live events. It can feel overwhelming to compete with, which is why unique and niche event marketing is the real key to event success. To help inspire and direct you budding event planners, we have listed ways to promote and dazzle potential guests below.
Corporate Event Tips and Tricks
Events like workshops, conferences, networking parties, and product launches are incredible ways to build brand loyalty and trust. Additionally, never underestimate the power of a booth or presence at pre-existing trade shows. Using events to market your image is a powerful way to build a customer base and brand recognition.
Bizzaboo Marketing found in a survey of 1000 brand marketers that 41% of them considered event marketing to be their top marketing channel, a percentage with which we agree. We cannot overstate the value of building a public image and connecting with clients on a face-to-face level. Studies back up this value. Endless Events in 2018, who found that 78% of US marketers generate sales using event marketing.
What are the benefits of marketing for events?
The benefits of event marketing are clear, but the question here is how best to reach your audience. We have a few suggestions (backed by actual facts) to attract customers and build brand loyalty.
1. Go to the customers!
The epically successful Facebook Iq Live 2018 event packed up booths, staff, and ideas and took them across America. The effect was resounding. While a portable house (see examples here), isn’t always accessible for a smaller business, this isn’t the only way to engage and travel with your brand.
Gazebos, Wind Cheater Banners, Counter Stands, and Free Standing Units offer you brilliant frontage in trade shows and pop-up stores. The average ‘pop-up’ store, as found by a study of 2 billion pop-ups, averaged at a 9.28% conversion rate. This percentage means that of every 100 customers drifting past your stall, you will average around ten new customers. And that’s without the science of banners and displays adding further value and reach to your brand.
Related: Banners – Everything You Need For Your Large-Format Advertising
2. Think Zen!
‘Zen creation’ is a very on-trend approach to marketing through events. In an age where mindfulness and yoga are the bread and butter of the middle class, it pays to incorporate this into your event.
Incorporation can be as simple as setting up comfy spots in your pop-up store or booth, or taking it a step further, and promoting your event through branded notebooks and calendars with mindful messages. Studies show that relaxed customers are 34% more likely to purchase in a store, so show your customer you care about their minds and reap the benefits!
3. But first, let me take a selfie!
Social media is both the best and worse thing to happen to event marketing and event planning in general. It provides easier access to a broad audience and allows a powerful reach through networking. It has also quadrupled the competition. You can use social media to your advantage though by starting a hashtag and encouraging selfies through a personalised ‘Selfie Frame.’ These are widely popular and mean that clients do half the marketing for you, sharing their images with friends and family and building brand recognition.
Related: Social Media Marketing: How To Effectively Combine it With Print Marketing?
Pack your booth full of products and giveaways! Everyone likes free stuff, and brand marketing walks hand in hand with events. These can be as simple as a ‘cool’ sticker with your brand on it, car magnets, desk pad calendars, or branded notebooks. These small tokens go a long way — 85 % of people within the US report conducting business with an advertiser after receiving a promotional item.
Armed with your unique vision and these tips and tricks, we are sure your event will be a resounding success.
If you’d like to get a feel for our materials first, you can order your paper booklet here.
