Every business leader loves it when a marketing event goes off without a hitch, but the momentum shouldn’t end when the last guest leaves. Statista reports that 79 percent of marketers in the United States use events to drive sales. Events give a brand’s personality a platform to resonate with attendees.
Take Bud Light’s 2015 “Up for Whatever” campaign. The Anheuser-Busch brand used a festival-like atmosphere — including performances by Snoop Dogg — to attract Millennial consumers and encourage them to share their experience on social media. As Bud Light’s vice president Alex Lambrecht put it, “We want to reach more than the 1,000 people that are here.”
But companies selling a physical product aren’t the only ones that can benefit from event marketing. The Detroit Lions, a client of ours, turned to event marketing earlier this year to make sure the launch of the team’s new jersey went off without a hitch. That meant a massive lion head presiding over the stage, players hosting, cheerleaders performing, fog machines filling the stage, three vertical screens showcasing the team’s legacy, and a full lights and pyrotechnic show to accompany the unveiling of the new jerseys.
Wow everyone the first time around.
Events don’t come with a rewind option — a successful first event means the hosting company and audience alike will be eager for the next event. When a first event falls flat, the team behind it is likely to pull back and either avoid investing entirely or — worse still — cut corners in an effort to save capital. For many companies, events are the biggest area of marketing spend. In its Event Marketing 2018 Benchmarks and Trends report, Bizzabo found that the majority of companies devote between 20 percent and 50 percent of their total budget to hosting events.
Ensuring this investment pays dividends is critical to future buy-in and success. That may be why 63 percent of the event marketers Bizzabo surveyed are putting more resources into hosting live events. Businesses following suit to maximize visibility and lead generation from the very first event should keep the following tips in mind:
1. Communicate every step of the way.
Whether sponsoring a bag drop at a trade show, sending an email to a customer or employee list, or filling social channels with chatter about the event, it’s crucial to do just that: Talk about the…
