Your upcoming event may be the Cadillac of the genre, but without strategy and marketing, it’s not going to go over as well as you think it is. Communication is one of the keys to planning successful events. Some call it marketing, but at the heart of things, you’re telling people a story as you approach the date of the event. How you strategize around marketing your event to derive maximum participation and thus, optimal results, is crucial. A lot of that concerns timing and your plan of attack (also known as strategy). Following is my template for success and why event strategy + marketing = better results!
You may not have finalized all the details yet, but that doesn’t matter. You need to start communicating about it long before it happens. Even before the venue is finalized, your goal is to spread the word to your market to share the news. Your pre-event page is where you start. Here you can gauge interest. You can also drive traffic to this site from key social media platforms and capture information for follow up. Offering people an “early interest” registration can be done here. If you’re blogging about your event, your blog should include a call to action which drives them here and describes the event’s purpose.
You’re ready to launch. Now’s the time for an effective, well-crafted email blast to your market, including early birds. This is when you should also be sending out a media release to relevant channels. Your media release should emphasize the features of the event, including benefits to target employees. Make them care about it and want to attend.
You’re chugging along, but you want to make sure you have as many people at your event as possible, so you keep at it. Your social media concerning the event needs to be regularly updated with relevant content that raises interest. Here’s where you can also send supplementary “reminder” emails to build excitement. Enthusiasm can be generated by releasing previously withheld information. You’ve strategically kept some of the specs under wraps for just this purpose.
Your event is coming at you full speed. You’re between two weeks to a week out. Now’s the time for a final push for registration. Employing all your channels (social media/blog/emails), you’re going to reach out one last time to ensure your event is at capacity. Write urgency into everything you put out there. Include registrations remaining to underline this. Employees who have already registered can help by responding to your social media efforts, urging their fellows to get in on your “must be there” event. Their influence can be what you need to get your event flush with the people you want there. Incentive Travel Group has been creating great events for businesses like yours for more than 20 years. We know that event marketing + strategy = better results. Make your event the success it deserves to be. Contact us.
