While the game pieces themselves have always represented a chance at winning a variety of prizes, recent years have unveiled a new dimension to the game — interactive Monopoly, where consumers can win even more prizes by registering their game pieces online.
Event marketing is a promotional strategy that involves face-to-face contact between companies and their customers at special events like concerts, fairs, and sporting events. Brands use event marketing entertainment like shows, contests, or parties to reach consumers through direct hand-to-hand sampling or interactive displays.
See also Field Marketing. A successful event marketing campaign provides value to attendees beyond information about a product or service. A discount, free sample, charity alignment, or fun event will make customers feel like they are receiving a benefit and not just attending a live-action commercial. In contrast to traditional advertising, which blasts millions of consumers with the same general television, radio or billboard message, event marketing targets specific individuals or groups at gathering spots, in hopes of making quality individual impressions.
By finding an opportunity to interact with the right demographic of people — both current customers and prospective buyers — a brand can build favorable impressions and long-lasting relationships.
The best, most creative events create interactions that not only reflect positively on the brand at the time, but generate a buzz long after the event is over. See also Buzz Marketing. As long as a business is able to track and identify their target audience, they can find a way to appeal directly to them.
For example, if a company sells sporting products, they can market at a sporting event. If they sell technology products, they can offer demonstrations of the latest and greatest technologies at a convention event.
See also Product Marketing. For example, a company that manufactures a medication for high blood pressure could set up a machine that takes blood pressure readings next to a booth supplying literature on their drug. See also Community Marketing.
Additionally, many other companies now participate in the event, with branded mascot balloons joining the annual parade. By approaching each event as a separate chance to make an impression, a brand can tailor their efforts to best impact each audience.
Still, teams must consider three aspects when developing an event marketing plan. First, the company should consider the personality that their brand is trying to convey. Next, figure out where and when your event will take place. These will likely be the most-asked questions by attendees. Define your target audience. Who would benefit most from attending your event? What kinds of people would enjoy your workshops, learn from your speakers, and engage your sponsors?
Establishing your audience will help you target and invest in the proper marketing channels. If your event is local, consider print advertisements. Consider adding your event to an event listing website like Eventful , Hey Event , and 10times to reach more people.
Email is another popular and effective way to promote events. Email information is easy to collect at registration, and attendees check email, so they'll easily notice updates and confirmations. Often times, companies will create separate email addresses and newsletters for their events as a way to keep communication and promotion separate from it others marketing efforts.
Promoting your event involves a lot of information — what, when, where, why, who, and how, for starters. To properly manage all this information, you must establish a viable plan to create and control it. Will you do this via newsletter? Who will be in charge of making sure the website is up-to-date? Will you invest in an event app so attendees have this information in their pocket at all times? It helps to outline a promotion timeline so you know when and what to release.
A timeline like this also helps pique your attendees' curiosity as you release new names or information at different times. Include a variety i. Most companies use social media to engage people while their event is happening. But is that the best way to evaluate whether your event was a success? Probably not.
Not everyone who registers for your event will attend. Take a look at your registration data to see when the most and fewest tickets were purchased and what kinds of tickets were purchased, if you offered a variety of ticket packages or options. How much money did your event bring in? If your event required a paid ticket, gross revenue is an important measure of success.
How does that amount compare to what you spent on the event? This comparison will help you better understand the value of your event and the resources offered. Did your attendees enjoy your event? What did they participate in and enjoy the most?
Consider building a survey to ask your attendees about their experience, takeaways, and to calculate a Net Promoter Score NPS for your event. Measure attendee engagement , rather than simply counting who registered and who showed up, as this is a great proxy for the effectiveness of the event.
How often was your event discussed on social media? What was the general consensus around the event? Did your attendees share content that engaged non-attendees?
Take a look at your event mentions on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and more. Consider using a hashtag so you can easily track posts.
Make note of how many qualified leads you gain from your event, and then track how many of those leads are converted into paying customers. This can help reveal the direct ROI of your event and see which tactics worked for lead collection and conversion. Organizing and implementing an event is a daunting task.
Editor's note: This post was originally published in April and has been updated for comprehensiveness. Originally published Jan 25, AM, updated January 25 Logo - Full Color. Contact Sales. Another important reason businesses choose to participate in an event is to generate leads. One of the best ways to do this is to become part of an event that will attract your target demographic.
Choosing the right event allows your company to interact with a group of prospects that already have an interest in who you are and what you do. The engagement provided by events is uniquely powerful, providing an invaluable opportunity for positive personal interaction that builds loyalty. At events, you experience the chance to upsell customers to a captive audience by introducing them to products and services that they may not know about—or may not realize could address their needs.
Most people attend events to network and be educated. Both are powerful draws in their own ways. No matter what type of event you are at, it is critical to impart knowledge that the audience will value—and that sets your company apart.
By securing quality, high-profile speakers, you can draw a crowd. By sharing unique insights that are relevant to the audience, you can advance your reputation as a thought leader in the industry and establish a critical connection between your brand and prospective buyers. To crunch those numbers, you need to connect your event metrics with your company and sales goals beforehand. To create a holistic event marketing program, be sure to include both offline and online events to reach as many potential customers as possible.
Online events. Online events connect presenters and participants through a web-based interface. Common types of online events include webinars, virtual events, and livestreaming events. Online events are often less costly than in-person events and can enable you to easily reach a geographically dispersed audience. Webinars revolve around presentations, discussions, or workshops that are delivered via the web. They can happen in real time or on demand, and typically last from 30 to 60 minutes.
Real-time webinars enable interaction among participants, providing the opportunity to receive and discuss information on a topic that is presented through web-based conferencing tools. Real-time webinars can be interactive on many levels, and typically allow attendees to ask questions directly to the presenters. Virtual events. Virtual events enable individuals in different locations to participate in a virtual environment that has the look and feel of an offline event by combining education, networking, and interactive features.
Participants visit a virtual booth where they can collect materials, meet the staff, ask questions, and even pick up some virtual swag. These programs tend to happen in real-time for all participants. Livestreaming events. These are live events that you can stream to your viewers. You can conduct these with a simple webcam or employ a full production crew for higher quality broadcasting.
Applications such as Livestream and Ustream, as well as Google Hangouts, offer a live service that allows you to fully stream, record, and engage your audience with chat and social media functionality. Physical events. Offline events require physical attendance, and interactions take place in person. While they often require more investment than virtual events, offline events allow face-to-face relationship building.
Trade shows. A trade show is a physical gathering of individuals in a particular industry or profession in a forum that typically features numerous companies in a specific market. A business may sponsor or participate in a trade show to show off a product or simply to network and strengthen its presence in a market. Conferences are often company-specific marketing events that gather attendees for the purpose of delivering information such as a user summit.
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