Event marketing is quickly becoming an essential part of the ways companies market themselves. Companies realise that they cannot just rely on traditional advertising mediums to get their message across, but they must engage with potential clients directly to meet their marketing objectives.
With this in mind, event marketing has become one of the most effective tools for emerging brands, successful local businesses, and global conglomerates alike. Event Marketing provides a best-in-class solution by taking advantage of the existing customer base while also reaching out to new leads via an event.
This article will look at what event marketing entails, along with some of the reasons why you might want your company to engage in this method of attracting new customers or ties with old ones.
What is Event Marketing?
Event marketing is when your brand hosts some activity that draws people in either online or offline. This could be as simple as holding a contest on social media platforms or as complex as hosting an actual convention where potential clients have the opportunity to interact with products before they purchase them.
There are several reasons why companies might decide to engage in an event marketing strategy. One reason is that it helps you acquire new leads, especially if you are hosting a convention where people are encouraged to sign up for additional company information.
Another reason is that it helps increase awareness of your brand among existing clients and prospects by getting your message out there in several different places at once. Finally, events provide excellent opportunities for engaging with your target market through hands-on activities, which can help build brand loyalty among current clients.
Why Event Marketing?
Now that we have explained what event marketing entails let’s look at why companies may pursue this particular strategy over other methods.
Awareness: Event marketing can be used as a tool to spread awareness of your brand and the product or service that you offer. This is particularly effective if companies choose a multi-channel marketing approach, utilising digital and offline initiatives together.
Engagement: As we mentioned previously, an aspect of event marketing is allowing people to interact with your company’s products (or employees) in real-time, which can increase engagement rates among existing clientele or leads.
This type of interaction helps close the gap between people looking to purchase something and businesses willing to sell them what they need.
Another way event marketing creates engagement with customers and clients is by encouraging participants (whether via social media or offline) to share pictures and experiences about their convention experience through various social networking platforms.
Sales: Not only does event marketing help businesses grow brand awareness, but it can also increase sales with consumers who are already interested in your product or service. By hosting a convention where people have the opportunity to interact with a sample of what you provide, sales tend to go up for companies.
For example, if you held an event at a local park and offered food samples from various local downtown Cincinnati restaurants, you would be able to draw larger crowds since they would have something tangible that they could experience before committing to trying out a new place.
In addition, selling products that tie into the event’s theme is always a great idea because it helps customers feel like they’re getting more value from your company and their time spent at the event.
Building Relationships: A final reason why event marketing is an excellent strategy for any business to pursue is that it allows your team and clientele to connect on a more personal level, which can help strengthen relationships within the company culture.
By inviting participants to an activity-focused convention, businesses can connect with people who may not have had the opportunity before.
The Problems Event Marketing Can Solve
As we just mentioned, several benefits come with hosting an event where your existing and potential clients can interact with both each other and your products. However, some challenges may prevent companies from even considering this particular strategy.
A significant issue when companies use event marketing to reach their target market is that it can be difficult to measure the ROI. It’s hard for businesses to quantify how many leads they are acquiring through offline events because it’s impossible to know which participants are already loyal customers and which ones are newcomers.
In addition, most consumers who attend conventions or activities do not go home and immediately purchase a product or service from a business. Instead, they take some time to contemplate before actually deciding on whether they will buy something from your company in the future.
In addition to measuring ROIs, companies run into another issue when using event marketing: there tends to be a disconnect between people who create content (i.e., photos, blog posts, videos) about an event and those who manage a business’ social media channels.
When a consumer posts a picture from a convention they attended, it increases brand awareness. However, the company still needs to find a way to turn this type of content into engaging posts that can attract more customers.
This requires adjusting your marketing strategy so that you’re able to generate interest among consumers with photos instead of just relying on them making their posts for you to share later.
The Solutions to Event Marketing Problems
To address the issues discussed previously, there are several strategies companies can use when planning their conferences or conventions to increase participation from attendees and turn them into loyal consumers and long-term customers:
Create a Strong Online Presence: When you initially plan your event, ensure that your business has established strong online marketing campaigns by utilising social media platforms.
If people are searching for information about what you offer or how they can get involved with your business, there needs to be an easy way to learn more, so having an active presence on multiple outlets is critical.
Offer Exclusive Content: One of the best ways companies can encourage participation at their conventions is by offering exclusive content that illustrates why interacting with their team in person is beneficial.
For example, if you’re planning an event where people can learn more about web design and graphic design, have all of the marketing material ready beforehand so that attendees have the tools necessary to promote the company’s services after returning home.
Give Customers Control: When people decide whether or not they want to stay loyal to a brand, one of the most critical factors is controlling their purchasing process.
By allowing attendees at your convention to have complete freedom with what they do and how they interact with the team, you’re creating an opportunity for them to feel more comfortable about being open with your business’ employees.
Invite Influencers: If possible, try inviting some well-known figures in your industry who are popular on social media platforms so that they can promote your event through word-of-mouth. Having influential people endorsing your brand can go a long way because regular consumers are likely to trust the opinions of influential figures.
Conclusion
Now that you know event marketing is becoming increasingly popular and how it can be used to increase your business’ exposure online, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t take full advantage of this type of strategy!
Whether you’re trying to reach more customers or looking for new talent, events are an effective way for companies to achieve their goals through offline strategies.
By using some of these tips when planning your next convention, there’s no doubt that attendees will feel more comfortable engaging with the team and ultimately realise just how beneficial interacting in person can be.
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