There’s nothing quite like an event to boost enthusiasm and excitement around your brand. Virtual and in-person events each serve a unique purpose for connecting with your target audience. While events are effective, they can also consume a lot of staff time and financial resources.
Effective event marketing strategies can help you get the best return on your investment. Using our experience as professional marketers and event planners, our team at Green Apple Strategy has put together a list of practical tips to ensure your next event is successful.
The Do’s
Do Set Goals (and a Budget!)
When it comes to strategic event planning, always begin with the end in mind. Before you set a date, reserve a venue, or book entertainment, you must determine the goal of the event. Is it to position your brand as a stakeholder in the community? Is it to tell a story about your brand? Or is it to generate leads and make sales?
Once you set your goal, be sure to set your budget. Your event will look very different if you have a $5,000 budget versus a $50,000 one.
Knowing the answer to these questions—and staying true to them—will guide you when making choices about venue, food, entertainment, marketing, and more. It will set you down the path of pulling off a successful, cohesive event that meets your strategic goals.
Do Amplify Partnerships
Most events require partnerships with third-party vendors and sponsors such as entertainment, catering, AV equipment, corporations, and more. Capitalize on these partnerships by highlighting them on social media or in a company email newsletter. Showcasing your business as a collaborative brand is great PR because it demonstrates your involvement and investment in your local community. Additionally, tagging these vendors in your social media posts can expose you to new audiences.
Do Use Text and Email
In today’s multi-channel, digital world, you have to meet your audience where they are. This means connecting with them on their phone and in their email inboxes through personalized, well-thought-out, and well-timed text messages and emails. Text messages are a great way to send key event information that doesn’t require a lot of copy. At the same time, an email drip campaign can spark interest and move your target audience to attend.
The Don’ts
Don’t Limit Your Focus to Ticket Sales
Yes, you want to sell tickets to your event. Besides, you can’t have an event if no one comes! However, be careful not to focus your messaging only on ticket sales. Your audience needs to know where to buy tickets, but they also may be interested in what to wear, nearby hotels, or participating vendors. The purpose of all of your event-related content will be to drive ticket sales, even if some of it takes a more subtle approach.
Don’t Set It and Forget It
We love strategy so much that we included the word in the name of our business! But just because you have a strategy doesn’t mean you can’t be flexible if needed. When marketing your event, be sure to pay attention to all the analytics you have access to. Some numbers to look at are email open rates and click-through rates, social media impressions, and engagement levels. If you aren’t getting the desired results, adjust your approach to capture greater interest from your target audience.
Don’t Forget to Follow Up
Congratulations! Your event is over, and your work is done! Well, almost. Post-event follow-up offers another opportunity to connect with your target audience. In fact, it’s so important that we consider it one of our best practices for event planning! After the event wraps, send out surveys to gather meaningful feedback that can be used to assess the event’s success and plan future gatherings. You can also use this time to connect with new leads and thank vendors and sponsors to further deepen your working relationships.
Get Started on Your Next Event
Ninety-five percent of marketers believe that in-person events can have a positive impact on achieving their company’s goals. Green Apple Strategy understands that events can boost awareness, community connections, and revenue. But we also know they can take time, resources, and staff to pull off.
Our team is here to help! Reach out to us today, and let’s talk about the benefits that the right special event can bring to your business.