Event Marketing

Event Marketing Campaign: 7 Steps to a Successful Event

Eventually Learning Team
04 November 2021
Read time  10 min 15 sec

Entrepreneurs are keen to expand their consumer base and brand visibility to ensure their contribution towards the global market size. However, in the modern business world, staying at the competitive edge is not at all simple. Consumers tend to make-shift their interest because of the mammoth options they get to explore, which are constantly floating at different forums via digital marketing.

The traditional advertising and marketing tactics are not sufficient to reach out to the right ears, neither are they sufficient to provide optimum recognition to a business. Therefore, entrepreneurs are gradually moving towards a more versatile and agile technique such as an event marketing campaign to optimize their reachability to the consumers. According to a survey by Bizzabo, 64% of event marketers reveal that the prime reason for hosting events is brand awareness for their business or products.

Nowadays, several marketers are promoting via event campaigns, which is simply a platform that allows others to host their events. Event campaigns for marketing purpose can be planned with a streamlined effort comprising the pulse-check of the target audience, detailed planning, strategic goal setting and expert execution with vigilant monitoring. To optimize the performance of the campaign, integration of technology for e.g. launching websites and apps, social media promotions and email marketing is also significant.

1.1 What is Event Marketing?

Event Marketing is an advanced marketing strategy used by entrepreneurs to promote their brand, products and services with an in-person, virtual or hybrid engagement. It is the direct way to reach out to the existing consumers or build new prospects by demonstrating business activities/skills to the target audience via interesting and engaging activities. These events can be online/virtual, in-person and hybrid (an integration of online and in-person campaigns), and entrepreneurs can participate as hosts, members or sponsors.

A few of the popular event marketing techniques are:

  • Conferences
  • Trade shows
  • Seminars/Webinars (when hosted online/virtually)
  • Popup shops
  • Launch parties
  • Networking get-togethers
  • Community events
  • Workshops
  • VIP Events
  • Awards and Recognition

Some entrepreneurs prefer traditional marketing campaigns for their event such as in-person conferences, networking get-togethers, community events and so on. While others may go for virtual activations such as webinars, online workshops etc. But in whichever way, it is planned, an event marketing campaign is considered as few amongst the sustainable ways to promote the businesses and boost ROI.

Bizzabo says that 97% of entrepreneurs show an inclination towards in-person events before the pandemic. However, their post-Covid-19 Event Outlook Report reveals, 93% of marketers plan to invest in virtual events henceforth.

1.2 Why Do Entrepreneurs Use Event Marketing?

Entrepreneurs from all strata can benefit from event marketing. Industry giants like Google, Oracle, CNET, and Apple hosted several events in the past, which were wildly successful. Google hosted their annual developer conference (Google I/O) in Mountain View, California, in the year 2019. While they cancelled the event in the year 2020, due to the pandemic but preparing to go completely virtual this year. Likewise, a 5K run event hosted by any mid-size entrepreneur offers a chance to reach the participants organically, and create a way for brand awareness for them. 

Thus, every event marketing campaign has a common agenda for the entrepreneurs: to build brand awareness, increases customer engagement, educate the target audience and customers, generate leads and upsell customers.

2 7 Steps for A Successful Event Marketing Campaign

So, what are the vital facets to be considered for an effective marketing campaign for the event? Here comes a list of seven points that will help in optimizing event marketing campaign

2.1 Exhaustive Research

Inevitably, the most successful marketing campaigns need exhaustive market research. Without thorough research, the campaign will be misdirected and will not reach the target audience. Thus, researching the target audience is critical for the success of the event campaign.  Understanding the ecosystem of the target audience will give a better insight into their demands as a consumer and will help to tailor a design and strategy of the campaign.

Ideally, the research should be able to answer the following questions:

  • Who will be interested in this event?
  • Why are they interested in this event?
  • Is the event unique for the consumers?
  • Who is the competitor for the same target audience?
  • What will the audience gain by attending the event?

2.2 Set a SMART Goal and Budget

Design the marketing campaign by clearly outlining the demand of the target audience and setting a SMART goal and fixing a budget. SMART is a mnemonic acronym, which stands for – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Result-Oriented and Timely.

By identifying the specific goals of the event campaign, it will be easier to communicate with the team and get everyone on the same page. It will help to derive ideas to accomplish the targets. Moreover, the goals must be measurable in order to properly assess the campaign performance. It is necessary to keep goals achievable so that the target seems easy to accomplish. It will also add motivation to stay consistent in achieving the target. Being results-oriented is vital to emphasize how each objective will affect the result. Finally, being timely with the goals and setting tough deadlines will ensure that the targets are accomplished and the campaign is accurately progressing.

2.3 Strategize With Suitable ROI Metrics

Once the goals for the event marketing campaign are established and agreed upon, it is vital to decide the metrics with which the goals are to be measured. Fixing a budget for the campaign plays an important part. Event ROI indicates the net value an organizer gets from an event against the investment made. It could be the revenue generated from registrations, sponsorships and partnerships, lead generated for the sales, and more. For example, for building brand awareness the ROI metrics can be the number of registrations in the event, number of social media impressions, number of website visits and number of website visits for the event page. Hence, it is mandatory to select the right metrics to accurately analyze the ROI of the campaign.

2.4 Select an Event Marketing Campaign Attribution Model

Concurrently with event ROI, the question about event marketing attribution arises. Event marketing attribution is the bridge between the event and additional revenue. For instance, whether a participant turns around as a potential customer is easy to track down, But, what if someone leaves the event without conversion?   For verifying the event ROI, tracking the lead becomes important till the final conversion. Additionally, it is noteworthy to know what other marketing activities contributed to that final conversion. Here comes, the role of the event marketing attribution model which helps to determine the event ROI in a better way.

One of the examples of an event marketing campaign attribution model is the W-shaped model. This model is considered as the most appropriate representation of event ROI and also the toughest to implement. It analyzes all the different marketing initiatives that finally led to the conversion. For example, let us presume a potential customer visits a website event page, attends a webinar, attends the event, and then finally gets converted as a customer. The W-model will keep track of all these parameters and diversify the credit accordingly.

2.5 Prepare a Timeline and Book a Venue

Once the event goals and metrics are all set, it is time to prepare the timeline to achieve the targets. While outlining the timeline, it is imperative to focus on setting strict deadlines against the task list. A process timeline will provide a detailed view of the tasks that are on priority and make necessary modifications as the process progresses.

A timeline helps to plan a promotion that gives a clear picture about what to be released and when. It also helps to analyze the interest of the target audiences and release the information accordingly to boost the goals of the event campaign.

Booking a venue for in-person events is also a significant step. An ideal venue that compliments the intent of the event boosts the outcome. Although, it is a relaxed option for marketing campaigns for virtual events.

2.6 Promote the Event Marketing Campaign

Once the campaign is ready to go live, working on its promotion is crucial so that people get to know about the event. Further, promoting an ongoing event also should not stop to a aattracting the attention of the participants. It will help them to learn about the products or services, offers, and increase the chances of registrations.

Social Media strategy, email marketing, paid advertising, content marketing and creating an event microsite are a few of the ideas that entrepreneurs utilize for promoting an event. According to Event MB, 74% of the marketers listed social media as the most effective tool for event marketing followed by email marketing almost 66%, and websites almost 60%.

2.7 Stay Relevant

Staying relevant to the dynamic needs of the event campaign is crucial for entrepreneurs. Hence, to meet the needs, technological involvements are necessary. Selecting the right event campaign management software is one of the few requirements. The ideal platform should help to collect valuable event data and extract valuable insights from it. Typically, the platform must monitor event registration in real-time, it should be customizable to allow updates, or even has an app for event networking. Platforms like these will help to align with event goals and objectives.

Further, if multiple software is used to manage the event campaign such as a marketing automation platform or a customer relationship management system (CRM), integrating all the software will provide a robust, high-level synopsis of the event data. Integrations significantly enable efficiency, productivity, and provide organized insights.

3 Utilizing the Event Data After the Campaign is Over

After a successful event, utilizing the data in a significant way should be the prime goal of the entrepreneurs. It has to be a well-planned approach to derive the maximum benefit of all the hustle-bustle.

3.1 Track down the Leads with an Email Campaign

Email follow-ups with a ‘Thank You’ note can be one of the effective ways to convert the leads. It should be drafted beforehand with the help event summary, session descriptions and blog posts. Emails should be personalized, on-time with some discount offers to attract the attention of potential customers.

3.2 Use Event Data for Repurposing Content

To maximize the content churn from the event marketing campaign, there has to be a pre-planning. A content timeline will help to utilize the event data appropriately. A blog with the event synopsis, video coverage of the speakers, an industry report based on a survey during the event, or a case study with the happy customers- will help extract the utilities of the campaign.

3.3 Evaluate The Goals and Budget

After the closure of the event, entrepreneurs need to evaluate the goals to verify the performance of the campaign and find the areas of improvement for the forthcoming event. The data captured from all the promotion platforms needs to be compared to the lead generation, customer engagement, or brand awareness objectives. Budget evaluation is another crucial aspect so that the distribution of investment can be managed properly.

FAQs

1 How do I create a marketing campaign for an event?

A marketing campaign for an event can be created by certain steps such as researching the target audience and their demand, exhaustive planning to set up SMART goals and budget, implementing ROI metrics to analyze the investment return, selecting a campaign attribution model, preparing an achievable timeline, promoting the campaign via social media, email and other platforms and finally, utilize event management software to streamline the marketing efforts.

2 What is Event campaign?

Event Campaigns are the platforms that allow to organize and create an event hosting framework. Marketers understand the demand for promotional activities for a business and how important is to host an event campaign. Entrepreneurs generate leads, reach out to the existing customers and achieve the business targets by hosting an event.

3 How do you campaign an event?

To campaign an event following are the steps to be followed.:

  • Researching on the consumer demand,
  • Setting up SMART goals and budget,
  • Implementing ROI metrics
  • Utilize event management software
  • Selecting a campaign attribution model
  • Book a venue
  • Timeline preparation
  • Planning promotional activities

Conclusion

Managing the process of event marketing may feel hectic at times considering the countless methods and strategies involved. It becomes more manageable as it progresses, though. The aforementioned steps may turn to be helpful to identify and organize the scope of the campaign. However, experimenting according to the organizational ecosystem will gradually lead to success.

Finally, hiring expert event marketing strategists can turn to be the ultimate game-changer.

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