Event Marketing Strategies

Make Your Events Last Longer

Okay, so the title of this post is a bit misleading.  You have probably heard the sarcastic phrase, “Take a picture, it’ll last longer.” Well this is exactly what I am advising you to do with your events, sans the sarcasm.

Often event planners get so wrapped up in the logistics and elements of their event that they forget to think about how they will capture or remember special moments that occur during their event.  It is a good idea to put a plan in place for photographing, or even filming (videotaping), your event while you are in the planning stage.  There are several reasons to do this.

One reason is so that you have a visual record of the event for future event planning.  What worked well and what could be improved upon?

Another reason is to take great shots of your attendees having a good time at your event, so that you can send them their photos as a takeaway from the event.  To take that a step further, you could use those photos as another touch-point or excuse to communicate with them.  You could even incorporate the photography into your event by creating a photo station where fun, posed pictures are taken of your attendees.  The theme of your event could easily be tied into the photos by props or digitally enhanced backdrops (green screen).   

A third reason for taking pictures of your event is to provide a visual story to supplement any publicity efforts such as press releases or media coverage.  A picture is worth a thousand words.  You will be able to select the best pictures to submit to media groups or to publish on websites. 

Just remember to treat the photography element of your event like any other, by thinking through step-by-step what you want to capture and how.  Happy shooting!

Vital Sign #2 of Event Marketing

The concept that "past success is indicative of future success" no longer holds true in this age of rapidly evolving technology and not to mention event marketing techniques.

The #2 Vital Sign of Event Marketing is to realize your event’s FULL potential. Too often as event marketers, our planning can become routine. If “it worked last time” seems to roll off your tongue far too easy, then you may want to reconsider how you are marketing your events. Just like the old peanut butter and jelly on Wonder Bread that mom served up in your lunch box, you need to evolve your thinking and seek out new methodologies that will help you push the event envelope. Sure, a well executed event should be your goal, but look beyond that to the opportunities that lie in the rough – introducing your brand and event in the invitation with flare, leverage cross-promotional opportunities with partners, give first-class customer service only you as event staff can deliver, building your brand through every touch point with your customers and prospects in a way that makes your brand truly memorable. Say goodbye to what is expected (think hotel ballroom and chewy chicken) and get creative!

If your event’s goal is to generate leads, think of fun and exciting ways to make that happen. Perhaps it is through partnerships, non-traditional venues that drive attendance, and unique content that goes beyond PowerPoint. If you can dream it, execute it! Next time to have an event on the docket, create a strategy that will make you think outside the box, maybe even make you uncomfortable but one that will help realize the full potential of an event. Then and only then, will you have enough skin in the game to reap the rewards of full potential.

Ruth Stevens puts it best:

“The business event serves business goals. Don't neglect the forest for the trees. Managing events is an extremely complicated activity, what with the glamorous exhibit and the fun hospitality on the one hand, and the rigors of the logistics and the myriad details on the other. But these activities are simply the trees—they are a means to an end. The forest lies in the business result and the planning that drives it. If you are paying attention to the trees alone, you miss the true power event marketing. “

Ten Secrets of Success in Business Event Marketing
by Ruth P. Stevens
December 13, 2005

Annual Meetings with out Travel?

David Gammel from Acronym has an interesting take on the latest terrorist plot against the airlines and what it will do the annual meeting as we know it.  Could heavy restrictions on laptops and carry-ons lead to the demise of large numbers of attendees traveling to annual meetings nationally and internationally?  Gammel suggests new ways to deliver content locally that are interesting and could work in multiple situations.  We have had many clients take advantage our of satellite broadcast technology to deliver interactive content from one central point to local audiences nationwide.  By utilizing sales representatives or local subject matter experts it has become an extremely efficient way to communicate with large audiences - without air travel.  Will business travel end, no, but we should all start investigating new technology and communication strategies in times when event travel becomes an issue.

Marketing Sherpas Best & Worst Lead Generation Offers for 2006

Once again Marketing Sherpa has produced great data on how to be effective with your lead generation campaigns.  This report highlights some of the new marketing channels available, but the over-arching theme is quality content.  The same holds true for successful events, content fills seats.  Check out this new report at Marketing Sherpa:  Best & Worst Lead Generation Offers for 2006.  All of the revelations here will directly relate to how you develop content and market your next event.

The Vital Signs of Event Marketing

My first post...how daunting, but when compared to the event marketing, it seems so like a walk in the park. Event marketing is a beast that can be tamed if you understand how to interpret the vital signs that keep it alive and thriving. I will be posting the vital signs of event marketing as a series, so stay tuned as I share ways to ensure your event marketing machine is breathing.

Working for an organization that has mastered event planning, I often see the bulk of the attention paid to event execution. The importance of marketing your event is often overlooked, and can be the fault of an event's lackluster ROI. Investing in your marketing efforts will provide you with great payoff if they are strategically targeted, which between you and I, is no easy feat. The first vital sign is to focus on your event’s GOAL - generating leads, creating awareness, etc., and creating a positive brand experience for your attendees to enjoy.

"Awareness and trust are it for the real world small business and unless you've got oodles of cash lying around to buy that through heart warming TV spots, you better get down in the trenches and figure out how to educate, give and build trust" to quote John Jantsch, Duct Tape Marketing.

Get into the trenches and stay true to your focus, your event’s success will follow.

Event Security

Okay, I guess I'll succumb to peer pressure and publish my first post.  While doing some research I ran accross this entertaining post: Gate Crashers Beware. It highlights some of the event security concerns that I think most of us have encountered in some form or another.  Here's a snippet from the post:

GET YOUR HANDS OFF MY BAGEL!!!
Meeting planners have to be so many things to so many people and so many aspects of a meeting. But there’s one area we don’t talk about too much. That’s the part when we’re security guards protecting the material at the registration desk, the coffee breaks, even the lunches, receptions and dinners. People who are not part of the meeting think nothing of coming up to the desk, reading (and taking) material that does not belong to them.

The post focuses on hotel meetings and the theft of food and beverage by other hotel guests, but I think there is a much larger concern for some event planners.  For example, what if your meeting was covering some very sensitive information that could jeopardize your business if it were to be leaked to the public?  Or perhaps there are liability risks, such as the serving of alcohol.  For these cases it would wise for the planner to have a security plan in place.  Maybe it's as simple as the attendees having identification or the presence of a security guard.  At movie theatre events we can provide security and in some cases actually require it.  We hold many meetings in the morning before the theatre opens to the general public to avoid "non-event traffic."  Time and location, both venue and within venue, should be considerations during event security planning.

www.misoapbox.com  has other great posts related to the meetings industry.  Check them out.

Including Employees in your Event Planning

Ok, here I go! My first post and I am a little nervous.  Many of my marketing counterparts have been in this game for a while, but staring at this empty white space is intimidating.  A really great idea came out of an account review strategy yesterday that has been lingering with me.  One of our clients is launching a multi-city consumer product launch and they are including a movie as an attendance driver.  The really interesting piece is that they recently added a new location for an employee event.  Brilliant!  Not only are they getting all of their internal stakeholders up to speed on the new products, they are also gaining a effective employee appreciation event.  Everyone wins.  Marketing is the hero for taking all the employees to the movies and HR just got a free boost in employee morale.  Keep this in mind when you are planning your next large event series, the additional cost is minimal and the rewards could be enormous.

Welcome to the Event Marketing Strategies blog, authored by CineMeetings & Events

I am pleased to be the first author of our Event Marketing Strategies blog.  This blog is intended to be an educational dialogue about corporate meeting and event planning, marketing, and execution.  We look forward to sharing ideas and tips on event marketing best practices, return-on-investment ideas, and more.  Our company is deeply immersed in event planning, as we host more than 6,500 in-theatre meetings and events for our corporate customers.  Despite this number, it seems that we learn more and more every time we execute an event, and I know we're not alone!

It seems more important than ever to excel at event planning and marketing.  Eric Eden over at Cvent, one of strategic partners, recently forwarded a survey statistic to me indicating that 62% of all business-to-business marketers believe that meetings and events are an effective way of generating leads.  In fact, the survey respondents said in-person events provide the most reliable way of generating leads compared to other marketing methods.  Great news for meeting planners, marketing and sales professionals, and anyone responsible for planning and executing events.  Now let's start the dialogue to make our meetings and events sing!!