The root of what makes a business strive in any industry is how well their marketing strategy is being implemented. In the events industry, event marketing strategies contain several moving parts that can make or break the success of an event or the brand itself. That’s why companies seek outside professional assistance to organize their events, especially when launching a new product/service.
Decision makers lean towards hiring event marketing companies to plan their corporate affairs because they depend on their knowhow. So it is crucial that event planners who also offer marketing services stay ahead of the game in terms of trends and strategies that will produce the best results for their clients.
Yes, part of staying ahead means attending event planning expos, partaking in workshops at events industry conferences, networking, and through good old fashioned experience. But when you have insight on what the future of event marketing holds…you’re golden. Our team at The Event Planner Expo wants to afford you a sneak peek as to what that will encompass.
Insight on the Future of Event Marketing
If you’re working off of your trusty event marketing template for each event you plan, it means you’ve pretty much developed a copy and paste system and while that does work, there is always room for innovation and growth. Growth hacking has played a part in the success of events in recent times in addition to content marketing, live streaming events, and remarketing. As exciting as the various mediums have been, what’s next? Read on!
Community Management
Human connection and community management isn’t a new concept, and as a matter of fact it’s probably the oldest method of event marketing. Event planners and marketers have to set aside time for engaging with the communities they’re serving. In this evolving world of content, it’s vital that you plan ahead with strategies like:
- Joining Facebook and LinkedIn groups to look for opportunities to mention upcoming events without spamming the page by pasting links (most group administrators frown upon that and will remove you from the group if you’re caught).
- Regularly comment on industry influencer posts because their engaged followers will ultimately click on your name and follow you too.
- Share out high-quality content and engaging captions on your social media profiles. Then add your personal opinion on the topic you’re posting about to invite conversation with your target audience and make a human connection with them.
Design the User Journey
How well you design your user experience is a critical factor in any good app or web design. You want to make your user’s journey as seamless as possible. That rings true for any touch point in event marketing. Apply that rule to your tweets, podcasts, and every other form of the marketing puzzle you use to promote your brand and events.
Audiences frown upon a website that isn’t responsive or social media posts that are hyperlinked to some sort of generic landing page. Your goal is to produce content that offers solutions and makes people’s lives easier.
Micro-influencer Marketing
It’s 2019, so the word “influencer” is not new to anyone in event marketing. But, do you know who the influencers are in the events industry?
Some event marketing companies know how to attract celebrities who have mass appeal in the specific target niche they’re working with. You want to shoot for influencers who may not be so obvious but do have an impressive following in the arena you’re trying to reach. Strategizing on a peer-to-peer connection will have a significant positive impact on your registration/attendance numbers for your event. You can leverage influencers by:
- Investing some of your marketing budget into paying an influencer to market your event.
- Performing research within the community for your event and find out who the people of that community mostly engage with. Find their bloggers and collaborate with them.
- Opening more communication channels to understand an influencer’s area of interests and invite them to speak on the topic at your upcoming event.
- Inviting an influencer to take over your entire event (this usually has a price tag attached to it) and make them the center stage in your promotional efforts.
The bottom line is to work strongly with influencers who will provide your target audience with what they want and need.
If you’re an event planner or event marketer (or both) who wants to learn how you can work together with events industry influencers to improve your event marketing strategies and strengthen your network, contact us today so we can help.
