Events Marketing is a great sales tool. When strategically planned and well-executed, events are an opportunity for a company to showcase its business and personality, educate customers, and engage an audience. Letting customers experience your brand in a unique setting or presentation can make a lasting impression and yields numerous benefits.
Through much of 2020 and 2021, most events were hosted online. As a result, people of all ages were complaining about Zoom Burnout. And while on-line meetings and events are not going away, there is good news: more and more people are getting excited to venture out and participate in in-person events. Thus, now is the perfect time to consider an event for your business. The benefits will continue to build for many seasons.
What is Event Marketing?
Event Marketing is a marketing tactic that involves gatherings, displays, or presentations that showcase a company’s product, services, or causes.
Events can be successfully live-streamed. However, real-life experiences are more engaging and more likely to create lasting memories. That’s because live events are deeply experiential by nature, creating lasting impressions and long-term benefits. Here are a few reasons why you should consider adding Event Marketing to your marketing toolbox.
Benefits of Event Marketing
1. Establish Yourself as an Expert
Clients like to work with the best. Thus, by hosting a corporate event, you demonstrate your expertise and elevate yourself to the status of a thought leader.
2. Reach New Audiences
If you want to reach a specific market, events are a great way to be seen and heard. Social Media Marketing makes it easy to target events at particular groups, with particular sets of interests. Therefore, running a Business Event can help you grab the attention of your target market.
3. Roll Out New Products
Events are a cost-effective way to roll out new products or services. That’s because everyone loves watching a cool demo, sampling a new product, and snagging a great deal. When hosting events, you have a captive audience that leads to quick buy-in for new products or services.
4. Elevate Customer Interaction and Engagement
Events offer a great opportunity to meet and interact with customers and get them engaged with your product or service. Further, a well-planned event will showcase your brand offering in an appropriate setting.
5. Generate New Business
The goal of marketing is to attract an audience to the company’s product or services. Participating in live events is a fantastic way to generate leads, who can be nurtured into customers. When you provide a quality event that engages people, the experience will ensure that they remember you.
6. Solicit Customer Insight and Feedback
Events are a great place to collect insight and feedback from potential and existing customers. In the casual setting, current customers may offer useful suggestions about existing processes, products, or service offerings. Further, questions may arise that shine a light on customer needs. Listening to your customers at events can make a real difference to your brand.
7. Generate News Mentions and Brand Exposure
A properly marketed event can attract a lot of media attention. It is useful to monitor other local events and see which media representatives are attending and promoting them. That way, you can get names and contact information for your own event. The bigger and more unusual the event, the better the media coverage will be. Your efforts towards the event will benefit your brand long after clean-up is done. That’s because even people who didn’t attend the event may remember your promotion and later stop in to check out your business.
8. Boost Your Local SEO with Valuable Citations
As you promote your event, you’ll list it on every local calendar that gets published, online and in print. Each time the event is listed, your business name, address, and phone number will also be listed, giving you valuable citations that will boost your rating with local search engines.
9. Social Media Benefits
Live events will have positive effects on your Social Media. You will leverage social media before, during, and after your event. To create a buzz, encourage attendees to check in at your event, take photos, and post them to Facebook, LinkedIn, Yelp, and GMB. Create a hashtag for your event and promote it in advance, then post it prominently on your big day so that customers will remember to use it for their social media posts.
10. Give Back
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, a corporate event is an excellent opportunity to show some gratitude for your clients, your partners, and your team. Celebrate your company’s achievements! Give awards to key performers on your team and to your favorite clients. Let your people know they matter to you.
Event Marketing Benefits Summary
Event Marketing has many benefits. It allows you to get the word out about your business and to engage an interested audience, yielding long-term benefits.
A few ideas for a Marketing Event Marketing include:
- Grand Opening (or Reopening)
- Product Launch
- Learning Event (to teach clients about your products or services)
- Fundraising Event (to support a great cause)
- Festivals or Parties (say “Welcome Back to In-Person!” or say “Thank you!”)
- Holiday Sale or Special
- Golf Outing
- Company Picnic
Think a marketing event could be just the ticket to generate enthusiasm for your staff and clients? We can help. Tell us your ideas–or ask us what kind of event could be great for your company. Our event experts can help you transform it into a fully engaging, memorable experience.
