Why market your event
One of the most important steps in hosting a successful event is proper marketing. Event marketing is essential because without making people aware of your event and what you are offering, you will not get attendees and achieve the goals you have set out for your event and, ultimately, your business.
If you have sponsors involved in your event, they will most likely want to know that you will be generating exposure for them in addition to promoting the upcoming event.
Having a sponsor – and attracting one with the promise of event marketing – is a great way to save on costs and to create further brand visibility for yourself and your sponsors, which will ultimately increase the return on investment of your event.
Marketing before the event (Awareness phase)
Before you host your event, you need to create awareness of your event. A social media marketing campaign is a great way to generate awareness among potential attendees. But be strategic in your online marketing efforts to ensure to get the best results because simply blasting information across all platforms is unlikely to get the desired results.
Another tool that can be used to make people aware of your event is an event landing page. The landing page should have all the relevant information that attendees may need to register for your event.
Every point of contact that you have with your event attendees should be seen as a marketing opportunity. From the first announcement of the event to the invitations, the RSVP process, to through to the event itself there are ample opportunities to engage your attendees.
To ensure you are making the most of your event and points of contact with your attendees make sure you have a well-planned event communication plan in place.
Marketing during the event (Consideration phase)
Your communication during the event allows attendees to become familiar with your brand, its offering and to consider whether they want an ongoing relationship with your company. This is why branding is a such a significant component of event marketing.
There are plenty of branding opportunities available to elevate your brand and that of your sponsors during your event. Branding on the event presentations and using branding on virtual backdrops as examples, that creates familiarity in the minds of attendees. Ensure you use all the engagement tools at your disposal to provide attendees with a positive experience so that they associate positive emotions with your brand and event.
Swag bags are another way to create a positive experience as people love receiving free goodies and if you give them something memorable, it will create a lasting impression.
Marketing after the event
Just because your event is over, it doesn’t mean your marketing is too. There are always opportunities to gather post-event feedback and therein lies another chance to market your brand and your sponsors’ brands.
There are plenty of effective tools that can be used to create a lasting impression among attendees after an event. It can be as simple as a post event thank you email or as complex as a landing page where attendees can sign up to receive additional post event information such as survey results, a summary of the event topics or an ebook.
Benefits of marketing an event
The first, and most obvious, benefit of marketing your event is that the more people know about it, the more attendees you are likely to have.
However, it doesn’t end there. Hosting an event is in itself a fantastic marketing opportunity which offers multiple brand-building touchpoints along the way. Using all these touchpoints will ensure that your business gets optimal exposure. It is also a key selling point for any sponsors that may be involved in your event and in future events.
A sound and well-structured event marketing plan will ensure a strong connection between your brand and your attendees.
Simplify marketing with an all-in-one event planning tool
Feeling a little overwhelmed with all the moving parts involved in hosting and marketing an event effectively?
The Flock Eventing platform is the all-in-one event planning tool that will make your next event a breeze to plan and organize.
Flock will help you create a well-marketed and professionally branded event. The app also takes care of the logistics from sending out professional event invitations, managing RSVPs, managing the actual event and gathering post-event feedback – Flock does it all.
Interested? Book a FREE demo today and see what Flock about and how we can help with your next event.