How to Build an Event Marketing Strategy
You can organize the most incredible event imaginable, but it will all count for nothing if you don’t market it effectively. After all, it’s the marketing that ensures that people actually show up to the venue. That’s why failing to allocate sufficient time, energy, and resources to the marketing campaign often proves to be a fatal mistake.
Successfully marketing an event is all about developing a sound strategy. You need a master plan that will maximize interest and increase attendance. Here’s what you should keep in mind while building the event marketing strategy for your upcoming event.
Get A Handle On Your Overall Marketing Budget
Before getting caught up in the nuts and bolts of your marketing strategy, you need to determine what type of a budget you’ll be working with. While some digital techniques are relatively inexpensive, others can be pricey. Only after determining your budget can you make important decisions about what strategies are optimal for your event.
Push Speakers, Sponsors, And Partners To Promote The Event
Marketing a large-scale event is a massive endeavor. Luckily, you shouldn’t have to do it on your own. The many speakers, sponsors, and partners all have as much of a stake in the event’s success as you do. They want a large enough crowd to make their involvement worthwhile. You can take advantage of this confluence of interests by encouraging these outside parties to promote the event. With minimal effort, they can raise awareness in their own circles.
Analyze Data From Past Events’ Marketing Campaigns
If you’ve ever marketed a similar event before, then you should take advantage of the data produced by that prior experience. Analyze data from digital sources to see what types of advertising brought the best results. You can use this information to tweak your current campaign. The best markets build on their past experience to perfect their overall strategy.
Use Social Media To Your Advantage
Social media campaigns are perfect for event marketing because they’re cheap, easy, and effective. You should create accounts for the event on all major social media platforms. Then, post regularly to raise awareness and keep the event on the minds of potential attendees. Plan to create as much content as possible, even if it doesn’t all relate directly to the event itself. The goal is to provide valuable information that will get consumers to support your brand. This will ultimately translate into higher attendance for the event.
Try Personalized Marketing
The best way to make an impact on consumers and potential attendees is by appealing to them directly. With email and social media marketing, you can greet people with remarkable levels of personalization. The wealth of data available online makes this process all the easier. By appealing to individuals with personalized greetings and earnest messaging, you’ll win their trust and increase the likelihood of them attending your event.
Pre-Plan Last Minute Marketing Strategies
The end of your marketing campaign should not look anything like the beginning. In the early stages, you’re simply trying to raise awareness and put the potential of attending the event in the mind of consumers. In the final weeks and days, you’ll be targeting people who have long since heard of the event but still aren’t sure whether or not they’ll attend. This different dynamic requires a major shift in messaging. You should plan for each and every stage of your marketing campaign from the start. That way, the messaging will remain consistent while shifting in tone to correspond with the relative timing.
