...Or why you need a campaign until the last day of your event.
by Andrea Paycheva, Kenes Group Marketing Manager.
The way you market your event might determine its success. A well-thought, structured strategy can get you far without a big budget. A messy and disorganised advertising approach can fail even if you invest a more substantial amount of money.
Timing is another very important point when structuring your event marketing strategy. Ideally, the marketing efforts begin a couple of months before the event and should continue throughout the event itself and even after that.
Let's take a deeper look at why you need a marketing campaign right up to the last day of your event. The Importance of Onsite Marketing
Conducting marketing activities onsite is vital as this is the culmination of your marketing efforts. The community is brought together, the site is all set and showing that your event has come to life is very important because:
Lately, I went to a sports event (a world championship) which I noticed at first, didn’t attract this much audience. The event’s marketing team, however, was very active and professional over their social media channels presenting everything that was happening in an attractive and engaging way. I saw it with my own eyes how the sports hall went from almost zero attendees to a full hall of 5,000 people – all thanks to good marketing.
Onsite marketing is important also in less emotional terms, so to say – it’s proven that follower umbers grow on social media, the impressions of the posts and hashtags grow a couple of times than their usual reach, and overall it's great for your stats.
Last but not least, the person who reports live can turn into someone who unites the community – practice has shown that attendees sometimes reach out to marketer themselves, offer to be interviewed, to provide their pictures for publication and so on. This is great for keeping the community together and makes people feel noticed and appreciated.
Onsite marketing wouldn’t be that powerful without a good marketing campaign prior to the event. You need it to gain enough exposure, advertise, spark the flame, and of course, sell registrations.
Make sure you have a well-planned and organised strategy before you begin the actual activities. Decide who, how and when you are going to contact and ask for help; create a timeline with your paid advertising; create a social media calendar clearly stating the topics you’d like to advertise.
Avoid last minute ideas or ideas “on the go”. They are usually not very effective as there is rarely any time to organise them properly and, most likely, they won’t be consistent but more of a one-time thing. And consistency in marketing is everything.
Marketing professionals nowadays are lucky to be living in a technological age which allows them to reach hundreds of people worldwide quickly and easily. We should all take advantage of these opportunities and make the most out of them.
Supported by the Union of International Associations (UIA), the International Association of Professional Congress Organisers (IAPCO) and the Interel Group, the global public affairs and association management consultancy, Headquarters Magazines serve the needs of international associations organising worldwide congresses.