Event marketing: Defining a strategy

Event marketing has taken on major importance in a number of sectors. There are a number of factors that can motivate a company to organize an event: a product launch, presentation of a brand ambassador, a new joint project, changes in company goals, etc. 

Events may be held for different reasons, but they all have one thing in common: the will to generate a unique experience for your attendees. Event marketing will help you create memorable experiences at promotional events.

What is event marketing and why is it important?

Event marketing consists of developing a number of strategies to reach your customers through a creative, memorable experience that strengthens their emotional ties with the brand:

“Events are brief. What lasts are emotions.”

Every event and trademark are unique. There is no one mathematical formula that can tell you how to design an event marketing strategy. Nevertheless, there are a number of questions you can ask that will help you start developing one. 

The first step in event marketing

To increase your brand recognition and establish close ties with your attendees, it’s important to define the basis of your event marketing strategy. To do so, there are a number of key questions you should answer: the site of the event, date, target, etc. All of them share a single focus: generate experience.

What is the purpose of your event?

This question is the starting point for any event, and you must answer it as clearly and specifically as possible. 

When it comes to event marketing, it’s important to have a clear goal from the beginning, because it is what determines how you build your strategy of defining what actions to take and how, or the way you want to be remembered.

Who are you targeting?

One of the key steps in event marketing will be defining which and how many guests will attend. This will also determine the logistics, format and dynamics of the act.  

It’s fundamental to know your audience well. To achieve this, you can ask yourself questions such as: 

• Who are they? 
• What is their motivation for attending the event? 
• What is their relationship with the brand? 

…and so on. The more information you have the better, as that way you’ll be able to create an experience that is more personalized, and better-adapted to their needs.

What resources do you have?

Budget is a key factor in event organization, since many later decisions are going to depend on it; decisions that are also part of your overall event marketing strategy. 

One of the most crucial resources is technical and audiovisual equipment. We recommend you set a maximum budget and get things going from there. It's necessary to avoid hiring services that are too expensive or unnecessary. Furthermore, you'll have to assess the need for and possible advantages of having sponsors.

What would your ideal venue be?

The number of attendees and type of event you want to hold will determine the event venue. You should choose one that enables you to meet the goals set out, while also covering all the logistics needs that have been defined. 

At this point, determine whether the venue can accommodate catering services, and consider the possibility of making an advance inspection visit.

What are your company’s values?

It’s important to be aware of them to convey them to the audience. Whether it’s a branding or any other kind of event, the most important factor in event marketing is the impression you make on your attendees, and what they perceive about your company.

How can you be memorable?

To answer this question, it’s best to use a little empathy: imagine how you would like to experience an event like yours. If you were sitting in the audience, what would you like to see? How would it make you feel? Would you recommend the experience to a friend? Start from those answers to come up with an effective activity plan and time-line within your event marketing strategy. 

In your planning, it’s important you include every last detail: decoration, dress code, presentations, gifts, communication or promotion activities, etc. Innovation is another factor to take into account, especially in being up to date on the latest event trends.

What resources do you have that make you different and innovative?

Today, audiovisual media are indispensable to generate atmosphere, give a presentation or offer your attendees a sensory experience. 

One of the greatest advantages of today’s event marketing are the possibilities it brings to use new technologies to create unique experiences. But for that to happen you must have a creative staff with technical knowledge or a solid audiovisual partner.

Make sure that the AV supplier you are considering offers all of the products and/or services you will need. These can include: 

• Lighting. 
• Sound. 
• Video. 
• Rigging 
• Scenography 
• Creation of audio-visual content 
• Mobile Internet service 
• Audience-speaker interaction tools 
• 3D rendering and rehearsals to ensure you and your provider are on the same page, or to support the quote
• etc.

Within these items, there are three key aspects to always remember before beginning any event marketing strategy: 

Lighting

Event lighting always plays a key role in directing the audience’s attention. It’s not just a matter of making them see, but making them feel, and guiding the audience’s eyes where you want them to go. 

There are a number of types of event lighting, which ultimately seek to evoke emotions, indicate what the attendee should be paying attention to, decorate the venue, etc. You can use general functional lighting to enable the attendees in the audience to see each other and the venue, or choose podium lighting, targeting the speakers on the stage. You can also choose lighting techniques that give you the power to catch and impact audience members’ attention:

• Uplighters: the LED lamps we use to create high impact and build an overall atmosphere. This could mean lighting the routes along which you want attendees to walk, columns, curtains, walls, entrances, exits or any other element you wish to highlight. 
• Corporate gobos: used to project logos or corporate visuals on any surface, creating special imagery. They can be moving or fixed images.

• Stage Wash: If you’d like to add an area to your event that clearly stands out, such as the stage, consider using “wash”-lights, also known as lights with a stage-wash effect. 

Sound

When it comes to communicating, having sound equipment that enables all attendees to correctly hear everything speakers say is fundamental. Some of the key aspects to bear in mind are:

• Clear sound pick-up with the right microphones.
• Ambient noise reduction in isolated spaces.
• Improved audio attention with other elements such as lighting, video projection, decoration, etc.
• Volume control.
• Working with professionals who know how to care for voices with the best-suited professional sound systems.
• etc.

If you want to learn to manage sound at events, we recommend the following video from our YouTube channel:

Video

Video equipment elements such as LED Screens, projectors, monitors, etc., are the most important elements for your content. What’s more, to generate impactful experiences, this equipment is becoming increasingly complex. For that reason, you must do the necessary pre-production tasks to work on content and image resolution effectively. 

When it comes to audiovisual media, making the right choice is fundamental. Projection screens and LED screens are currently the most popular options.

If you’d like to know the video terms most frequently used by audiovisual partners like us, you can consult the most common definitions in this article.

Ready to evaluate?

In event marketing, analysing results and the impact you’ve generated is key to determine whether or not you’ve met your goals. 

Evaluation is an important step in generating a habit of improvement and lifelong learning. The success of your future events can depend on precisely these evaluation activities. 

Now you have a basis on which to build an effective event marketing strategy. Consider each of these items with a calm and collected mentality, and bear them in mind when you’re preparing your strategy. If you need more assistance, request a quote from our team, or visit our blog and YouTube channel. 

This article was first published in Novelty Spain, you can read the original Spanish version here.