Have you ever thought of what separates a successful event from an unsuccessful one? We’ve done our research and got you covered. The most straightforward answer is a compelling event marketing strategy. But let’s get into detail about what the term stands for and review the event marketing best practices in 2021.
The Concept of Event Marketing
No matter how great your event is in concept, it cannot sell itself. That’s why you need an event marketing strategy.
The term refers to any practice, including various channels, tools, and techniques, to attract the target audience to attend your event.
B2B Event Marketing
Business-to-business event marketing is a narrower term. It refers to ‘selling’ the event to other businesses instead of individuals. There is not much difference in terms of promotional channels. However, we can spot a significant change in the tone of voice.
B2B event marketing requires more tangible results. You need to ‘promise’ an improved value, such as increased profits or leads, to attract this business audience. When it comes to consumers, it’s pretty much easier. All you need is to grasp their interests and grant an appropriate benefit.
Now that you are well aware of the concepts, let’s get into the best ways on how to market an event.
Event Marketing Best Practices in 2021
To start, you need to understand that each event is a story on its own. It happens at a specific date and time, with a different budget and target audience. So, the rule is, ‘No one size fits all.’
However, we can propose several universal marketing practices that have proven helpful for each type of event, along with a few event marketing tips.
Social Media Strategy
Social media can assist you at all stages of your event marketing strategy, including before, during, and after the event.
In 2015, there were 2.07 billion people actively using social media. This number increased to 3.48 billion in 2019 and an incredible 3.96 billion in 2020. Doing the maths, this equals an incremental growth rate of 10.9% year-on-year.
With such a remarkable user base, social media has created a significant potential for event marketing. Consequently, there are numerous tactics to incorporate on these platforms.
The key element in developing a social media strategy is choosing the right platform. More precisely, you need to focus on the one that hosts your target audience.
For instance, if you are going after business people, you need to focus your efforts on LinkedIn or Twitter. On the other hand, if you are promoting baby care products, you might as well find a mom influencer on YouTube or Instagram to promote your brand.
One important trend in this regard is TikTok. The platform currently has 689 million monthly active users worldwide. Out of the total, 62% are between 10 and 29 years. If this is your target market, look no more, and start developing your event social media strategy.
Effective Partnerships
When it comes to event marketing best practices, we cannot help but mention partner outreach. Event marketing partnerships have proven as a great way to attract a new audience, decrease your overall costs, and boost your brand reputation. Well, at least if you choose the right collaborator.
It’s best if you partner up with a complementary brand or a media partner early on in the creation of an event marketing strategy. This way, your partner can spread the word of your event, instantly increasing your reach to clients.
At this point, you need to ask the question, “How will this particular partner help me achieve my company goals”? Different partnerships will provide for various outcomes. You need to set out specific goals and find a person or a brand that aligns with your objectives.
One great tip is to start collaborating on smaller co-marketing initiatives. It will help you indicate if and how the collaboration will go on. If you are satisfied with the communication, teamwork, and outcome, you can then move on to more significant projects.
Email Marketing
Like social media, event email marketing allows you to reach the people where they already are – on their phones. More or less, all of us have installed the apps and enabled the email notifications on our mobile. And it’s for a reason! Email is an incredibly convenient way of communication.
The professionals recognize the potential of this campaign, as 40% of marketers have rated email as the single most effective channel for promoting an event. However, not all email marketing efforts lead to noticeable results or conversions.
The point is to adjust your email campaign so that your target audience opens the message, reads it, and acts upon it.
Here are three email campaign tips for a successful event marketing strategy.
Optimize Your Emails for Mobile
Over half of all web traffic is mobile, and we expect the trend to continue. So, more and more people check RSVPs to events on their mobile phones than on desktops.
If you don’t have the technical knowledge to use this potential, you can find an email service provider offering responsive templates to fit all screen sizes.
Avoid the Spam Folder
Currently, 36% of spam is advertising. People can instantly flag your email as spam if they didn’t subscribe to it. In addition to an engaging email marketing campaign with relevant content, you need a quality list of people who opted-in for your campaign.
When you target the right audience, they might even forward your content to their family and friends. This will further increase the engagement rates. In turn, the email provider can reduce the likelihood to wind up in spam for your future campaigns.
Include a CTA At the End of Each Email
Lastly, make sure to include a call-to-action at the end of each email. It can take the form of an event invitation, subscription or newsletter, or even a post-event survey.
One thing to keep in mind is that receivers never read every word of the email. So, it’s essential to create a CTA that stands out. For instance, you can include a button instead of a hyperlink or a 2-3 word text in a noticeable color.
Final Thought
An effective event marketing strategy in 2021 will help you reach your target audience, thus, ‘sell your event’ and achieve your organizational goals. Three of the best ways to do so are through a comprehensive social media strategy, developing partnerships, or a focused email campaign. One thing to keep in mind is that not all promotion is beneficial, so make sure to consider the valuable tips mentioned above.
