Core Marketing Strategy: Events
As the number of sales and marketing tactics grow year-over-year, deciding how to allocate your marketing budget is becoming more complex. Which marketing channels will be the most effective? Which platforms should you utilize to reach your target audiences? According to Bizzabo, “41% of marketers believe that events are the single-most effective marketing channel over digital advertising, email marketing, and content marketing.”
It is well understood that a diverse marketing mix helps brands grow and gain industry dominance. Adding events to the mix as a brand building tool to enhance your overall marketing strategy is a smart growth hacking tactic. It’s time for your organization to begin utilizing experiential engagements as a part of your overall marketing strategy.
The Power of Face-To-Face Experiences
It’s clear that conventional TV advertising is missing the mark with consumers as they fast-forward through ads or stream their content via NetFlix. It’s obvious the best way to reach your audience emotionally and engagingly is to deliver an experience. We see it on their faces as they move from one break out to the next. We have collected enough post-event surveys to demonstrate the positive impact a well-done event can have. If you’re not currently planning company events, you might not fully understand the power these interactions can be for your employees and target audiences. When we speak about B2B and B2C events we include but are not limited to:
- Tradeshows / Expos
- Conferences
- Seminars
- Annual Meetings
- Award Ceremonies
- Incentive Trips
- Internal Engagement Events
- Brand Activations
- Product Launches
- Galas
Experiential marketing creates deeper connections with customers. Your goal is to transition from telling people your brand values to actually letting them live them.
Experiences That Connect, Sell Better
Experiential marketing has the power to change your organization’s marketing strategy in a positive way. Here are several reasons for creating a brand experience that focuses on creating an emotional connection with consumers.
Create Engaging Assets for Content Marketing
It’s time to use events to build your content database for the year. Maintaining an online presence is essential and creating ongoing content can be difficult.Create an experience that allows you to develop enough material for the year. Delivering a sharable experience makes it super easy for attendees to post about their experience, which increases your consumer base and strengthens your brand loyalty. User-generated content is the best type of content.
Brand Awareness and Engagement
Sales funnel are very dynamic and filled with many touchpoints, and consumers need to connect with a brand before making a purchase. Consumers want a memorable, interactive and authentic experience. Delivering face-to-face touch points are part of your new plan. Building your brand throughout an event (pre, during, and post) helps to close the sale. Event branding delivers value to your attendees that will stick with them until the next touch point they receive with your brand.
Lead Generation and Results Driven ROI
Connecting with partners, consumers, and employees creates brand empowerment, trust, and continued commitment.
As the world goes digital, events are the marketing avenue that will reach your target audiences in a unique and powerful way to drive ROI. Having strong social media impressions and click through rates on your website are good lead generation tactics that can lead to face-to-face interactions. Putting the face-to-face interaction first will lead to stronger lead conversions and drive ROI results that can easily be tracked.
Your competitors understand that marketing budgets go farther with experiential marketing in the mix. As they increase their budgets for face-to-face events, where does that leave you? Take the first step!
Delanie Olsen – Marketing Specialist
You want to have a lasting impact on a customer that compels them to buy and create brand loyalty. Invest parts of your marketing budget into brand building events that deliver where digital and traditional strategies are falling short.
The Event Marketing 2019: Benchmarks and Trends report found that “roughly 84% of senior leadership believe in-person events are a fundamental contributor to their company’s success.”
Connect with your consumers by providing personalized conversations and stretch your marketing dollars. Face-to-face experiences must be done well to get the most bang for your buck. Together we will help you improve your marketing mix ROI!
