Event Planning vs. Event Marketing: What’s Your Strategy?
Event Planning vs. Event Marketing: What’s Your Strategy?
The sands of time are beginning to fall, and your big event is coming up. Right now, your event planning wheels should be turning – and its best to start early. Event planning can be a rather expensive form of marketing if not budgeted and planned properly.
Firstly let’s define the key differences between Event Planning and Event Marketing.
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Events Planning is for weddings to sales conferences where the goals are simply to entertain guests.
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Events Marketing is for businesses that are seeking to create new business exposure, sales and opportunity. The type of events that require more than simple planning are: fashion shows to consumer expos, festivals to networking events.
As an agency that has planned over 100 events coast-to-coast from Las Vegas to Miami, Into the Blue’s blog series is dedicated to Events Marketing.
The ultimate event experience in Las Vegas.
Why Events are a Smart Investment
Sponsoring or hosting events is a more interpersonal method for people to get to know your brand and break down the barrier of a computer screen or iPhone. During events, you can show off how impressive your product or service really is all while actually interacting with existing and new potential customers. Events are held daily, coast-to-coast. How will you choose which are the right for your business? The selection process is imperative, bigger events aren’t always better, often target marketing regionally or categorically is king.
Events Marketing Part 1:
Creating Your Events Calendar
This ranges from sponsoring and participating in events to hosting one of your own. How do you choose the best events for your yearly calendar? Firstly, evaluate your overall marketing goals and budget. Do you have new product releases, grand openings or corporate expansions planned? Are you seeking to introduce your company to new audiences? Events create that “five-senses†experience that, when planned well, are more memorable and provide a return on investment in the immediate and long term.
Creating your events calendar requires strategy – your calendar should support your overall company goals and promotional schedule.
Here are a few key elements to consider:
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Geography – 1) Is the event being held in a region that is key to your growth? 2) Is it an event that draws attendance from long distance
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Attendees – Do the attendees match your target audience or an audience you wish to expand into? What have they said about the event in past years?
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Bigger isn’t always Better – Analyze the quality of the attendees as well as the sponsors and other exhibitors. Do they complement your brand’s goals and image?
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Check the event and event promoter’s reputation. Events are like humans, they have a life as well as personality. It’s best to participate in events that have a positive image and are stable or growing vs. events that have received negative press and are declining.
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Evaluate your competition. Whenever you’re considering events, analyze your competitors and how they’ve exhibited. This will give you valuable insight on the attendees’ expectations and the minimum budget you’ll need to be competitive, or better, to be sure to stand out.
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B2B & B2C events. For businesses with a single customer base, you can skip to the next on this list. However, if your business relies on both consumer sales and retail sales, creating a calendar with the proper balance of events is just as important as how you participate in blended B2B/B2C events is key.
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Hosting your own event – If your business is in a crowded category, don’t be afraid to create and host events of your own. With a bit of ingenuity as well as the right mix of strategic partners, you can create a stand out event that’ll create brand awareness.
Some skills that Into the Blue’s event planning team has earned awards for are:
Finding Your Purpose
There’s a larger purpose behind your event – it’s not just a social gathering. Events are time consuming and can be expensive, especially if you don’t have a solid plan to monetize on your event investment. Therein lies the difference between “Event Planning†and “Events Marketingâ€.
Events should be planned, executed as well as marketed to fulfill your goals, not blindly built. It’s best to set primary, secondary and tertiary goals.
Below are some examples of goals to consider and rank for importance:
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Onsite Sales
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Membership / Subscription Growth
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Brand Affinity as well as Awareness
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New Product / Brand Launch
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Customer Research as well as Interaction
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Education as well as Certification
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Viral Marketing, Social Media & Email Marketing
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Product Demos as well as Sampling
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Strategic Networking