event planning & promotion

Event Marketing Planning and Promotion

Planning and promotion strategies for highly successful Event Marketing.

1Copyright © 2011 Constant Contact, Inc.

Agenda

Plan■ Setting Objectives■ Using Objectives

Promote & Communicate■ Those you know and new attendees■ Invites & Reminders■ Homepages & Social Media

Bonus■ Event Marketing Checklist


Plan- Setting Objectives

As the host, what do you want to accomplish?

Determine the ultimate purpose of the event and why are you hosting. Type of event Right contentRight people to attend and What action do you want from themHow to measure success What will participants take away?

■ Learn to save Money■ How to get the best ROI■ Effective strategies to fundraise

Return on Investment You want a return so you must calculate how much to invest and create a

budget. Free event vs. Free admission

– avoid last moment discounts to attend. Will attendees be a referral engine if they leave satisfied?



For the attendee, what do they want?

What is in it for me?-The tangible benefit for spending my time/money.What motivates for participation?

What do they learn? Networking Money making/Saving

Create a Top 3 attendee take-away listWhat are the different messages and “hot button issues” for discussion?

Copyright © 2011 Constant Contact, Inc. 4


My Sales Tactics Event

Companies goalsGet attendees to sign up for one or series of paid classes for business/marketing coaching. Seen as thought leader. Increase revenue. Market private coaching services. Create referral network to gain new attendees and validate value claims.

What do attendees want? Learn the proven techniques to grow business and improve sales from a proven expert. Then take those leanings and apply directly to their business. They expect to see some direct return on their investment of attending event.


Plan- Using Objectives

For a successful event, identify your audience’s goals, as well as your own

Scheduling: Time of Day■ Age 55+ prefer mornings■ Parents prefer lunch ■ Singles prefer eveningsLocation■ Traffic■ Public transportation■ Parking■ Wheelchair access

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Audience Goal Your GoalSize of Event Participate, but not faceless attendee Increase attendance

Networking Aspect

Make connections and learn Organizing and Loyalty

Content Focus Learn from experts Correctly set level of intensity and delivery of content

Copyright © 2011 Constant Contact, Inc.

Other community events■ Can you piggy-back off something else?■ Be sure your event is not scheduled at the same time as

anotherEvent execution■ Assign a back-up person and have contingency plans■ Prepare staff in case of questions or issues (Fire Drill)■ Include enough breaks in the agenda■ Provide WIFI if not already available


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Are you not sure what to plan? Ask!

Use the Event Planning & Feedback section of the Survey tool to gather data. From a two-minute survey you learn:

■ The type of event■ How to promote■ If the event should be public■ The right audience for the right

events (matching objectives)■ What the audiences considers a

success/valuable


Ask the uncomfortable question about a previous event:“What didn’t you like about our last event?”


Understanding Attendee Objectives:

Looking for specifics? Don’t guess-ASK!

Two minute survey, promoted in their regular email newsletter, in which they learned from responses:

What kind of events are of interest to attendees.How do attendees want to hear about the event.What is considered a success for an event by the attendee. What topics do the attendees want to cover.



Sample Questions to try

■ How much do you expect to pay for an event?■ Which types of our events have you attended in the past?■ What is your primary reason for attending an event?■ What is the most convenient time to have an event?■ What types of events would you be interested in attending?■ Which generation are you? (Gen Y, Gen X, Baby Boomer, etc.)

-Actual questions from Downtown Woman’s Club


Promote & Communicate

Who do you want to come?

Where do they spend time?■ Online: Social media, industry blogs, websites, virtual trade-shows, etc.■ Offline: Social groups, cafes, Meet up, Chamber meetings, etc.■ Print: Newspapers, trade publications, magazines

Where do they look for information about events?■ Local calendar listings, local media outlets (wickedlocal.com, craigslist.org)■ List in your own event calendar on your site■ Get included in radio or tv listings■ “Forward to a Friend” Invites

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Sources:1 Harvard Business Review2 Bain and Company

New Relationships Current RelationshipsIt’s 6-7 times more expensive to gain a customer than to retain a customer1

Repeat customers spend 67 percent more2

After 10 purchases, a customer has already referred up to 7 people2

Consider building an “Ideal” attendee profile using:•Demographic•Psychographic•Other (Industry, Educational background, Geography)


Creating Invitation Emails

Include:■ When and where?■ How do I get there?■ Is there a cost?■ Who do they contact for

more information or to ask questions?

■ Simple step-by-step easy registration or RSVP

-How do I say yes or no.■ Add list of upcoming events■ “Forward to a Friend”

(Public Event)■ Share button for posting

social media




Use the “Attend My Events” Insert to share upcoming event details to let them know!

Sharing the details is easy: “Attend My Events” button appears in the Insert menuClicking this option will feature:

Event NameStart/End date and timeEvent Description (if given)Location

Event names link to Event Homepage/Registration page



Use Simple Share to promote the event on Facebook and Twitter at the same time

■ Customize the message for each site

■ Include an image (optional)

■ Easily share to all your Facebook and Twitter profiles

Expand the reach of your invitation through social media



Use text marketing to promote

EZ Texting – Constant Contact partner – send group texts

To attendees Promote your event Take registration Send event reminders

Staff & volunteers Communication the day of your event Send out real-time info: schedules, questions, staffing needs


Doing Invites the Right Way: Fresh Eyes

Brand is important-79% of respondents said they hit the "report spam" button when they don't know who the sender is.-Email Sender and Provider Coalition (2007)

Subject Lines get you opened or ignoredWrite a headline that captures and keeps attentionShow your personalityPersonalize message to recipient How do they know you? Use this to make the invite relevant

-56% of consumers consider marketing messages from known senders to be Spam if the message is “just not interesting to me.” - Q Interactive, 2007

Segment the content of the message-No rule the same invite needs to go to everyone on your list.

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How many days/hours of notice and registration time do they need?

■ 5-6 weeks before the event: Send the personalized invite “announcement”

■ 3 weeks before: Send email “reminder”-Include new offer/special discounts-Feature any special guests who are

attending■ 2 days before: Send final “don’t miss” email

with date/time/location

Tips: ■ One announcement and two

reminders■ Create messages and schedule sends

before the event ■ Include the event info in your

newsletter■ Send a follow up to those that did register

and also to those that did not register

Sending Invites and Reminders



Business to Consumer Invite

Goals:■ Increase revenue■ Increase brand awareness■ Build customer trust or customer

experience

Types of events:■ Customer appreciation■ Festival■ Party/Social Mixer■ New product demo

What else could you do?



Business to Business Invite

Goals:■ Increase attendance and revenue ■ Impact outreach and awareness■ Drive people to the booth■ Build reputation of industry expertise

Types of Events:■ Networking■ Sales/Business Seminar■ Class/Workshop■ Conference/Seminar/Forum■ Convention/Trade Show



Non-Profit Invite

Goals:■ Increase awareness■ Improve activism/volunteerism■ Improve performance of donor base■ Strengthen community relationship

Types of events:■ Fundraiser■ Banquet■ Award/Recognition■ Reunion■ Seminar/Forum




Reminder communications

■ Reminder emails to registrants to increase % that show

■ Include a link to a pre-event survey or poll, then near event start date or at start of event review results

■ Show count down until event■ Provide hints to guess secret guest

speaker/feature■ Tweet event information and include

event #hashtag in the tweet■ Share event details on your Facebook

wall■ Make it easy to share with “Forward to

friend” link and Social Share button



Confirmation Message

■ Keep it short and concise■ Include link to pre-event survey to

understand expectations■ Provide contact information for the

individual who can answer questions

■ Feature quotes from attendees in the past to similar events

■ Reference the “Add to my Calendar” feature

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Confirmation Email

Confirmation Landing Page



Complimentary marketing

Use homepage for more promotional details and drive desire to attend.

Match the branding and colors of your website to your event homepage.

“The homepage flexibility provides a fantastic outlet for other complementary marketing strategies such as posting for social networking and affiliates websites.”-Shannon Beth Harrington, SB Cre8tive



On your event homepage

Talk About Content■ List the sessions offered/Agenda■ Link to guest speaker bios, websites, book

reviews ■ Showcase new products or services

Enable Interaction■ Provide event contact’s information for

questions■ Feature testimonials of former attendees ■ Create and update a “What’s New”

section■ Display pictures from past events or

featured speakers■ Join My Mailing List for future events

Include Fine Print■ Post items for sale for fundraiser■ State cancellation and refund policy (if

applicable) and make it fair and friendly

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It ‘s more seamless for people and easier for everyone. For people signing up for the events they don’t have to bounce from a newsletter, to our website, to PayPal and back-it’s so flawless and easy. What we were hoping for is what we got and so much more.-Leslie Sturgeon, Women Inspiring Woman Copyright © 2011 Constant Contact, Inc.

Tips:-Keep your branding consistent-Make the page easy to share and be found in Social Media



Promote events on your website with “Attend My Events” Widget.

Providing a list on your website:

■ Increases awareness of your upcoming events

■ Helps improve attendance or increase the number of volunteers


Using Interaction and Social Media

Make contacts feel wanted, personally invite them!

Face to Face? - Talk about the event when typically doing business

Your website?-Post your calendar for the regular visitor and let them know it is there.

Engage with them in social media■ Facebook■ LinkedIn■ Twitter■ Where else are they spending time?

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Note: During the event, be sure to blog, post on Twitter, take pictures and put them on Flickr


Get started in social media with Social Media Quickstarter:

http://www.socialquickstarter.com

http://www.socialquickstarter.com/



Built-in Promotions with Social Media and Search Engine Optimization

■ Help your event be found in online searches by using keywords

Topics, speakers, or theme■ Create an event hashtag to

encourage conversation about the event

■ The hashtag is automatically featured in event communications


Create buzz in Social Media about the event

Get more attendees by sharing the event on Facebook & Twitter…

The Facebook post can contain a custom message to encourage attendance and will include a link to register.

Establish a hashtag (e.g. #B2Bevent) to track buzz around the event.

Tweet your event and watch how your followers retweet the details.

Do not forget to ask them to retweet, asking and saying “Please” really does work.

Whether you send an invite or not, promote the event on Social Media! Here’s how:

Promote the event on a schedule:•Weekly •The day before•An hour before


Easy Social Media Promotion

Once registered, attendees can spread the word about the event by sharing on Facebook or Twitter they are attending.

…and then registrants share the event information.

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Tools Before During After1. Promote the event

by sharing the event details on your wall

1. Share updates on your wall and upload pictures from the event

1. On your wall, thank those who came to the event

2. Answer remaining questions from event and send email with link to your wall.

1. Create an unique event hashtag

2. Using bit.ly create short event URL for tweets

3. Customize your Twitter background with the event brand

4. Schedule tweets in advance to promote

1. Maximize the opportunity for a re-tweet by limiting your tweet to 120 characters

2. Encourage tweeting during the event

3. Create a Twitter List of your conference speakers for others to follow

4. List people’s Twitter username’s on their badges

1. Encourage people to continue discussion

2. Use tweets to promote next event

1. Have link to event homepage in your profile

2. Invite connections to attend

1. Encourage those that meet at the event to connect

1. Continue networking after the event


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Post event email and homepage

■ Thank attendees■ Include link to post-event

survey■ Give participants a way to stay

connected through the “Join Our Mailing List” link or social media sites

■ Post quotes from attendees■ Provide contact information for

the individual who can answer questions

Email Follow Up

Update sameHomepage for PostEvent Information


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FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA

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On Twitter:@ctctevent

Facebook:http://www.facebook.com/ctcteventmarketing

Follow Event Marketing on Social Media

Don’t forget the day of event:

Checklist

Payment collection: Online or At the Door?

Registration list hard copy Have sufficient Staff/Volunteers? Know the “Numbers” of all

attendees Post Agenda/Activities Have email Sign-up sheet for post-

event emails

What is the purpose of the event?

What’s in it for the attendee?

Scheduling: When? Where? What? Who? Event planning survey?Promotions:Let them Know Invite email Website calendar Homepage Social Media

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Make them ShowReminderConfirmation Teaser email Social Media Registration page Your own website “Attend my event” widgetCopyright © 2011 Constant Contact, Inc.

event planning & promotion

Business

social media

promote amp

minute survey

setting objectives

event survey

event homepage

invite

people