You have spent time, money, resources, and man hours putting together a custom event for your company-now what? In order to up your chances of great attendance either in person, or on the webinar, below are a few things you can do to promote properly.
1. Make sure all event marketing materials are correct: It sounds silly, but outside of event venue, date, and time sometimes the rest of the materials aren't always in sync to promote your brand best. We have found that by creating a custom Landing Page for each event using a custom form submission, followed by a series of tailored emails both before and after the event to prospects ups the chances of engagement and attendance. Don't be afraid to offer additional resources to prospects and attendees as opportunity present it self. The more helpful you are to them, the shorter the buying cycle can be.
2. Get yourself a Cheerleader (or two): Using your immediate network of employees, friends, and colleagues is a great way to "grassroots" spread the word about your event, but how do you target new prospects? Through a strong social media marketing campaign, and a combination of traditional, SEO, and email marketing methods, you can target your desired audience and capture their attention. Depending on the type of event (networking, webinar, trade show, seminar, etc) you'll want to fine tune your mix to ensure you are targeting your prospects in many ways. You'll also have to be mindful of the Call to Action messaging-make sure it's compelling so they have the feeling of MUST GO!
3. Event Follow Up: This is the next most important step after flawless execution of the event. Even if your attendance wasn't as high as you wanted, by following up with both those who were able to attend, and those who did not, can only help your brand. Event follow up also helps lay the ground work for future events. Word of mouth is powerful-if your event was helpful, full of knowledge, and was executed professionally-people will tell others this. The more people that are impacted positively means the higher the attendance for next time around. By making those who DID attend feel extra special with tailored emails, and marketing materials helpful to their needs, it will reap long term benefits for your company and revenue bottom line. The more you continue engagement, the less chance of leads and prospects falling though the cracks.
Events marketing execution can be tough, but it's well worth the reward if done correctly. There are many moving parts, and strategy & planning are crucial for everything to flow just right come event time. if you have questions, or need help in this area, we'd love to hear from you. Also, any favorite best practices we missed, please share below in the comments!
