There are many options for event marketing. A roundtable with seven to ten people, partnering with another company, sponsoring a 5K or organizing an exhibit at a large trade show can all be done. You can also host one online.

Multi-day events can be organized that attract thousands of speakers, sponsors, and participants. Inbound hosted many sessions each year online, attracting a large audience from all over the globe.

The platform size doesn’t matter, as long as you are providing value to your clients and potential clients.

Why event marketing is important for a business?

One-on-one customer relationships

Software and e-commerce companies rarely need to meet clients face-to-face. This is where event marketing comes in.

A Bizzabo study found that 93% marketers believe that face-to-face events are a valuable way to make connections in an increasingly digital environment.

Personal interactions are key to attracting clients and potential clients to your events. Personal, one-on-1 connections are a great way to build brand loyalty and allow your clients to humanize your company. Events also provide a break from everyday distractions, so you can grab your customer’s attention more effectively than by calling or in-office PR. You have the opportunity to sell your products and services.

Encourage product and industry education

Whatever type of event your brand organizes or participates in there will be an education component. Event marketing is not about a product or brand.

They are able to educate and engage a specific demographic or industry, and then market their products and services.

Increase brand awareness

Brands can establish and grow their brand by hosting or attending events. 64% of event marketers stated that their main motivation for organizing events was brand awareness for the company or products they represent.

Event marketing allows you to blend a physical brand and aesthetic with a digital one. With pop-up shops, for instance events offer a truly immersive experience where customers can get a feel for your company as well as what it looks like in real life.

What is the best thing about using events to increase brand awareness? People discuss events. Customers, media, influencers and bystanders all discuss events in person, via social networks, in print, or in the press. Events are a great way to share your brand with others and get their attention.

Create businesses

Event marketing is a popular investment by brands because it creates new business opportunities and generates revenue. Events in person can make a significant impact on reaching the company’s main goals.

Registering for an event can help you reach people who are interested in your industry, product, or even your target audience. You can build a list of leads by joining or sponsoring an event.

8 Types Of Event Marketing

You should use both offline and online events to build a comprehensive event marketing strategy.

In-person events

It’s the best way to meet clients and leads. In-person events are a smart way to connect with customers and extend your digital presence.

Eventbrite research shows that 69% believe that attending live events and experiences helps them connect with others, their community, and the rest of the world. You can build a community that allows people to meet face-to-face and increase brand awareness by creating a place for them to do so.

You can host live events in many formats, but conferences, trade shows and meetups are the most popular.

1. Shows for trade

Trade shows are events that bring together people and brands from a particular industry or profession. They can be used to generate leads and increase brand awareness.

Trade shows are packed with companies, so it is important to think about how you can make your brand stand out. Sponsors with booths should think about layout and location.

2. Conferences

These events make up a large portion of the events industry. Many conferences feature a variety of speakers and educational workshops. They also offer useful networking opportunities. Conferences that combine a professional environment with a lively, social atmosphere are more successful.

The Apple’s World Wide Developer Conference 2019, which is large-scale, is an example of such a conference. Based on product users’ concerns and interests, the keynote, content and product updates are created. Customers were shown how to get the most out of their products by highly-respected speakers.

Sponsoring a conference can increase your brand recognition. Participants who are looking for innovative solutions will be able to find you by simply seeing your logo on promotional materials and being present at your booth on the floor.

3. Appreciation events

Hosting an event to show appreciation can increase customer satisfaction, referrals and retention, testimonials, sales, and even sales.

4. Meetups

Sponsorship of a local meetup can help increase brand awareness and engagement. These events offer brands the chance to meet locals and build relationships. Meetups can be a great way to offer exclusive deals and promotions to new customers if you are a local business owner.

5. Launch parties and celebrations

Launch parties are private, small events that take place to celebrate the launch of a company or other significant milestones. Many brands host an annual party to entertain their customers. These types of events should not be focused on products or brands, but a simple speech or presentation could connect the event to a brand and remind attendees why they are there.

6. Workshops

Workshops can be compared to roundtables and seminars, where brands share their insights and educate participants. They are usually open to the public, which is different from roundtables and seminars. Workshops can be held online or offline. They discuss a topic that is relevant to the company, making it more credible and trustworthy in their field.

Event marketing can also include networking sessions, customer-only conferences and job fairs.

Online marketing events

Digital marketing events are a cost-effective option to attending or hosting physical events. These events allow businesses to reach the global audience and create events on timely and trending topics.

7. Seminars

Seminars are often held in intimate settings and mainly focus on education. A smaller group of participants will allow for deeper discussions and valuable knowledge sharing. Seminars are likely to last between a few hours and one day.

The ABM Leadership Alliance hosted the first seminar in Boston called ABM By the Numbers. B2B marketers specializing in the growth of event strategies using key metrics were attracted to the event. It also provided professionals with a platform to discuss key lessons and share case studies.

Live webinars should be interactive. Allow attendees to ask questions and take polls. This increases customer engagement and gives the audience a sense of value for their time during your webinar. You can also use polling to gather important data for your marketing and sales teams.

To keep your attendees interested, be creative in the topics and format of your webinars. You don’t have to show slides or run for hours.

8. Live streaming

Live streaming allows people who are unable to attend in person to view presentations and interact via social media with your brand. You can use it to give viewers a glimpse behind-the scenes of your event. This will allow you to generate more transparency and give your company a human face.

Starbucks used live streaming to broadcast their event, which highlighted the importance of voting. To increase engagement at the event, the speakers spoke about the importance of voting. Viewers were encouraged to submit questions to the speakers.

Live streaming can be done via Facebook Live, and you can also hire a crew to broadcast better quality events.

Ask viewers questions and encourage them to answer via social media. This will get viewers engaged. This will increase engagement and create a sense of community among viewers, as they can see and interact with others’ responses.

How to succeed in event marketing?

The elevator pitch for an event 

A short summary of your event is called an event elevator pitch. It can be used to explain the event to people who don’t know much about it. This is your chance to get someone’s attention and understand the event. Think about how to best convey the benefits and vision of your event in a few sentences or one minute.

Social media gives you the opportunity to measure and evaluate the success of your message in order to determine what resonates best. This growth hacking technique can be used on social media. There is no risk and an economic opportunity.

It is important to perfect your event pitch. It should be focused on all key stakeholders so everyone gets the same message. You should not miss the chance to communicate the information in a concise manner and act as an ambassador.

Comprehend your stakeholders

Your events will be more successful if you get to know your investors and participants. It will also make it easier to adjust your messages. Your organization can improve communications by creating five personas. These are your key stakeholders and attendees.

Personas are fictional characters that represent your most important clients and partners. You can create each persona and get their personal information, struggles, and background. This helps you to communicate with them and adjust your messaging. Personas allow you to choose the most relevant trends or tools to deploy. You may create personas for:

• A person just starting in the industry and looking to find out if it would be worthwhile joining the event.

• It is possible that the CEO of an older organization will sponsor the event.

• A brand’s marketing manager contemplates attending the event for the very first time.

• The founder of a fast-growing start-up decides whether or not to participate in this event.

Consider the motivations of each character to participate in the event, their hopes, fears, goals, pain points and the value that your event could bring.

These are some examples of questions that you might ask for personal profiles.

• How does one absorb content?
• Which technology and social media are they using?
• What amount of time and income are they able to spend? 
• Who are their biggest influencers?
• What time and where are they most likely to interact?

You should build your characters from a mix of educated guesses as well as data. The personas will become more accurate as you gather more data. This includes offline analytics like NFC, Google Analytics and beacons.

Personalization

You can create an elevator pitch that will attract every persona you have created. To personalize your communications, create a consistent message about how to sell your event.

Let’s look at each piece of content or social media post from the viewpoint of the receiver. Consider the outcome you desire and why the receiver should be concerned. Then, think about what actions you can expect. It is very difficult to connect with people if you send a weak message.

The participant journey

You have many touch points during your attendee journey with attendees and stakeholders prior, during, and after the event. These touchpoints are key to understanding the event’s life cycle and gaining insight into your marketing opportunities. You can also increase satisfaction.

Consider all possible ways stakeholders might reach out to you. It is important to consider all possible scenarios and the steps they take. What is the entry point and where does it begin? Keep track of offline and online actions from pre-registration and marketing to the follow-ups and surveys after the event.

It is important to keep track of both the main and secondary touchpoints. Every step and every decision can have an impact on participants or partners. Post-it notes are a great way to plan the route and make adjustments at the end.

The main touch points

• Website for the event
• Register process
• Exhibitor brochure
• Direct invitation
• Suggestions from an influencer
• It is possible to find out which smart badges will be used at the event
• Program and content for the event
• Sponsorship pitch
• Metrics that are specific to how participants were engaged

Touchpoints at subsidiaries

• Response time to a query sent via email
• It was discovered that a competitor exhibits at the event
• Social networks allow for interaction
• At the event, greeting
• It is amazing how quickly the follow-up takes place after an event

The tipping point

Take a look at how people decide whether to attend an event, and you will be able to understand their motivations and behavior. What are the key factors? These are only a few of the elements that make up a part.

• Suggestions
• Search the web
• Review
• Investigating other options
• Comparing with other events
• Price
• Acquiring a professional or certificate

There could be several factors that balance out the decision to attend. However, understanding these triggers will help you improve your marketing strategy.

You can identify gaps and strengths and weaknesses in your marketing and communication strategies by paying attention to each touchpoint. This may help you speed up and streamline the process. It makes it easier for potential participants to become confirmed or encourages them to participate more.

Planning the process

Once you have drawn the stakeholder journey or participant, you can identify the key elements and crossroads of the process. The process planning will help you to define how to influence specific outcomes and grow the strategy that leads to what you want.

This will help you identify the best tools and their purpose. Different channels should be used in different ways and efficiently, rather than broadcasting the same message on all platforms. You can also change the purpose and identity of each channel.

Efficient frequency

It is impossible to imagine that someone will act as soon as they hear of your event. The frequency at which a message is heard enough times to make it effective before someone acts. This could mean purchasing tickets or asking to exhibit at the event.

Many studies have been done on what this magic number is and many marketers agree with the rule of 7. However, entertainment industry touchpoints are required on average 9 and not for profit. This average rises to 16.3.

You can increase your chances of a sale or engagement by planning different touchpoints that stakeholders will encounter in your event marketing. While the outcome is unlikely, it is wise to plan for more touchpoints to encourage action from stakeholders.

You can build trust and familiarity by sharing a powerful message with potential sponsors, attendees, or exhibitors. You can ensure that potential partners and participants can find you.

You will need enough information to convince people that it is a paid event. You need to encourage and reassure people who are still on the fence.

You may need to make it more difficult to get your message across in advance if you are setting up an event that has a high attendance rate. Your guests might view this as a low priority. You will need to think about how you can attract attention, prompt thoughts, or take action prior to the event.

Both cases can benefit from being current and using new tools. You can attract people to your events by being an innovator, leading the way, and inspiring them. Let’s be clear that this isn’t a repeat of previous events and will require our full attention for the next journey.

It’s possible to combine them

Stakeholder journeys should take into account the experience and process of participants and other partners during, after, and before the event. This is a complex route map that goes beyond when an attendee buys a ticket or agrees to participate in the event. Many factors can have an impact on the experience. Event planners often want to convince people to register touch points throughout the event process. This can increase synergy and excitement as well as engagement and loyalty.

Enhancing the experience and interaction will increase the likelihood of exhibitors, sponsors, and attendees suggesting that they attend your event again. This will help to build a long-lasting relationship.

Recognize the ROI of your event’s stakeholders

Marketers and event planners are responsible for attracting and persuading partners and participants to return again and again. They can use an integrated dashboard and tools to link data from multiple sources to show the attendee’s journey.

They can identify possible touchpoints and opportunities to reach them, and other stakeholders, via different channels. They can develop and tailor their messaging by identifying realistic personas. This can be done via growth hacking techniques.

It’s much more cost-effective to encourage someone to return to your event than to seek and recruit a new attendee, headline sponsor or other sponsor every time. It is smart to keep the conversations going throughout the year and create a sense of community around shared interests and the vision of your participants.

Last Thoughts

It is not an easy task to organize and run an event. But if you use the right method and adapt it to your needs, you can easily set up your first event.

Event marketing could be the right idea, whether you want to attract new customers, build your list or raise funds for your non-profit.

Please leave a comment if you have any knowledge or experience in event marketing. We would love to hear from you.