You don’t have to be the head of marketing at Coca-Cola to come up with some amazing marketing campaigns. Especially one that the local community, and the world, is going to notice. In fact, as a small business owner, you need to think of those effective and affordable ways to maximize your digital presence. You also want to engage as many people in your community as possible using smart brand-building tactics. One of these is, of course, event marketing, but it’s important to note that smart brands use this marketing method quite differently than the rest.

Five interesting ways that smart brands leverage event marketing to grow and achieve their goals. Here’s what you should implement.

5 Interesting Ways Smart Brands Use Marketing Events to Grow

Organizing and conducting an online or physical event is an art and a science. It takes careful planning and consideration. But if you do it right, it can skyrocket your brand in the eyes of your customers. Maybe even the media. So, today we’ll be taking a look at five interesting ways that smart brands leverage event marketing to grow and achieve their goals. Here’s what you should implement in your own event marketing plan.

Defining the goals of the event

First and foremost, smart brands never throw an event on a whim or without a clear set of KPIs (key performance indicators) in mind. Instead, experienced marketers and business leaders make it a priority to come up with a set of goals or an overarching goal that gives purpose to the event, provides clarity for the organizational team and streamlines the whole process. Without a clear set of goals, you don’t have anything to shoot towards. This is a great way to waste resources.

With that in mind, it’s important to define your goals during the inception phase, and these can be:

  • Building brand presence and awareness.
  • Improving visibility on social media.
  • Generating qualified leads.
  • Converting attendees into customers.
  • Building your mailing list.
  • Getting more media coverage.
  • Networking with other industry professionals for strategic partnerships.

You can have a single goal or several. It shouldn’t matter so long as you’re able to set them in a smart way. Then work your way back to create strategies and tactics to achieve them.

Speaking to the right audience

Five interesting ways that smart brands leverage event marketing to grow and achieve their goals. Here’s what you should implement.
Next up, it’s important to note that experienced marketers never make a move without analyzing the audience for which the campaign is intended. You need to know your demographic and identify the people whom you are trying to connect with through your event marketing and the event itself. After all, this is the only way to optimize the look and feel of your event. All while creating a structure that will inspire people to sign up months in advance.

Your event marketing needs to be personalized and as specific as possible – it needs to address a specific audience and a specific set of pain points. This will give relevance to the event and attract only strong leads to your brand. The last thing you want is for the wrong people to attend. Only to drop out the moment they realize what you’re talking about is not relevant to their needs. Conduct thorough audience research to optimize your event for maximum impact and retention.

Production value makes all the difference

One of the most important factors that set amazing events apart from the rest is the production value. Whether you’re organizing online or live events, you need to invest heavily in professional production to ensure the quality of the lighting, the sound, the visual, the scenery, the presenters, as well as the overall look and feel.

This is what gets the attention of the audience and the media, and it is why smart brands will often engage the Media Powerhouse rental and installation event solutions and other popular companies to deliver the level of production that the audience expects. This can include professional presenters and backstage staff, scene building and installation, and a production suite. This is to ensure your event is streamed the right way across the globe without any interference.

Smart brands stay in constant communication with attendees

Five interesting ways that smart brands leverage event marketing to grow and achieve their goals. Here’s what you should implement.

In the months and weeks leading up to the event, experienced business leaders make sure to stay in touch with attendees and those who have not yet decided if they want to attend. Maintaining communication is one of the best ways to incentivize people to book their seats and buy a ticket to your event. It’s especially important for keeping anyone from dropping out in the meantime, which is one of the ways to avoid failure.

Be sure to send out email reminders and interesting news relating to the event every week, craft personalized copy to inspire people to opt-in, and incentivize them to share the news of your event with their friends and colleagues.

Winning people over with post-event marketing

Lastly, keep in mind that the most successful brands always have a post-event strategy in place. If you want to improve your brand perception over the long term, then you need to stay in touch with your attendees and have a strong follow-up approach that will keep them engaged with your company, inspire them to reach out and to boost word of mouth.

You can send post-event emails, digital goodie bags, or physical promo materials and personalized gifts, and send regular messages to check up on your attendees and guide them to your website or store.

Wrapping up

Launching an online or live event is a great way to market your business nowadays. However, you have to do it right in order to make a positive impact. Use these tips to give structure to your event-planning process and execute an event that people will remember.