When planning an annual marketing strategy, businesses have plenty of options to choose from to share their message: digital ads, print ads, billboards, email campaigns, text campaigns, videos, etc. But what about events? Is event marketing effective? Is it worth it? Should small businesses even consider it?
Let’s backtrack for a second. The essence of marketing is communication. It is the ability to share a message effectively to the right people, at the right moment. With a live event, a business is able to convey a clear message, all while connecting directly with its audience and establishing a real, in-person relationship. The bottom line is: nothing has more impact than human interaction.
The essence of marketing is communication.
With that in mind, most marketers believe that event marketing is the single-most effective marketing channel for achieving business goals.
So, why might a business decide to host an event?
• TO PROMOTE a product or service, which in turn increases sales.
• TO EDUCATE people via conferences, seminars, workshops or retreats, which creates awareness and increases customer loyalty.
• TO PROVIDE team building experiences for employees and ultimately boost performances.
• TO CELEBRATE a holiday, or other special corporate milestones such as a company anniversary, reaching a revenue goal or sales achievement, a retirement party, etc. This shows appreciation, lifts team spirit and promotes loyalty.
• TO RAISE funds or generate awareness and visibility for an organization.
The benefits of an event go beyond the event itself, as any content generated, such as pictures, speeches, testimonials, interviews, can all be repurposed as content marketing (share a newsletter about the event; use pictures and videos taken at the event on your social media platforms; update them to your website; write a blog about it; gather testimonials, etc).
Something else to consider is creating an event survey to gather feedback and data. This is a great way to keep in touch with your audience and to strengthen your customer service and public relation.
The ROI for events varies, with big-budget brands claiming to see a return of 5 times the initial investment for live events, while the majority of businesses estimate their return to be between 2 and 5 times the initial investment. Everyone agrees however on the fact that the lead generation, sales, and customer loyalty that derives from event marketing make it absolutely worth it.
Ultimately, when you decide to add event marketing to your strategy, you open yourself to a real opportunity to build interest, generate leads, increase sales, and promote customer loyalty. In addition to all that, you give yourself the gift of tons of content ready to be repurposed. It clearly is a winning strategy.
Written by Mukta Cholette, Founder of Creative Marketing Ninja. As seen on Kivo Daily.