Organising an event is hard, but we’re here to kick-start your 2019 event marketing! Most marketers think that events are the single most important channel for accomplishing key business goals. In fact, most successful organisations aim to increase their event budgets in the future. But why?
Why you need an Event Marketing Guide
The first reason is that most engagement between people and organisations is online. Though digital marketing has helped us to reach more people, it’s also formed a bigger need for face-to-face interaction. Secondly, thanks to event management software, event organising has never been so easy!
Planning your Event
Planning is an essential part of any successful event. It sets the foundations in which the rest of the event will lie. Here, we shall look at how you can make the best plan possible.
Goals
First, determine why you want to organise this event. What are your goals? Is it to increase brand awareness or improve customer/client relationships? Once you have identified the reason, make sure that they are specific, measurable, achievable and results-oriented (SMART).
KPIs
The goals of your event will help you to determine how to measure your event. Just as with types of event goals, there are many KPIs to measure, from attendee satisfaction and engagement to sales leads and gross revenue.
Event Budget
The next thing is to determine the resources you have and what you will need and draft an event budget based on that. See what funds you have and compare it with what you need. List each item with a description, contact information, estimated costs, and the actual cost after you enquire. Will you need a social wall? What about the screens to project your social wall? This is just one example of what could be included in your list.
Tools
Event planning can be difficult, but the right tools could make it easier. Depending on your goals and KPIs, you may be interested in the following:
- Event registration software
- Event planning and analytics software
- Event marketing software
- Mobile event app for attendees
- All of the above in one piece of software
Event Branding
Finally, think about your brand. Everything, from the website to emails, and even the décor should be an extension of your brand. Your website is often the first thing your prospective attendees and stakeholders will see. Make sure it clearly demonstrates your mission, brand values and a clear call-to-action.
Event Hashtag
We highly suggest that you make a hashtag for your event. This can be used as a tool t get people talking about the event, your brand and your services. You can use this hashtag on your social wall too, so get people used to using it before the big day.
Partner, Speaker and Sponsor Outreach
To get more from your event, you will need support from partners, speakers and sponsors. The sooner you reach out, the easier it’ll be to spread the word. Create a list of potential partners or stakeholders. Include their name, the type of stakeholder they would be, why you are choosing them, a contact name, email address and status of the response.
Launching Event
Now it’s time to launch your event! Here is everything you will need to know for spreading the word..
Spreading the Word
Send out invites via email including event information and a clear call-to-action. You could also write a blog post about the event to be featured on other websites as well as your own! You should also consider publishing a press release to increase the chances of people hearing about your event. Focus on the ESP: Is it the speakers? The Mission? Topic? You may have to write a few press releases for separate industries.
Social Media and Co-Marketing
Now it’s time to think about social media. Create clever copy and images that will draw attention and schedule your posts! Focus on each different aspect of your event such as guest speakers, discounts and more. It will also help to send event sponsorship packages to partners that contain copy, images and promo codes for them to share on their own channels. Be sure to segment the materials by social media platform, newsletter and even blog content. Please be aware, however, that social media can only do so much, and you may want to consider paid advertising.
During the Event
Remember that when the big day hits, it’s still important to keep it well-promoted. By using a social wall, you can encourage user-generated content (UGC) throughout the day. This means that those who can’t make it to the event can still see what is happening, tempting them to buy a ticket for next year! Don’t forget, you can also moderate a social wall with Social Sticker to ensure that no bad content slips through the cracks.
Wrap things up
Now it’s time to tie up loose ends. Send out thank you emails, write a thank you note for you social media channels and start scheduling highlights of the event to go out over the upcoming months. A blog post will also be a wonderful day to summarise what a wonderful day you all had.
Then, you should look at the data from your event to measure its success. Look at your KPIs, ROI and feedback from the event to see what worked, what didn’t and what needs to be tweaked for next time.
There you have it
This is pretty much everything you should consider covering when it comes to your big event this year. We hope you found this guide useful and we wish you a successful event in 2019. To learn more about our social wall, get in touch with Social Sticker today or try out our demo!
