Having an effective strategy behind branding and promotion for your event is critical to its success. Branding is the creation of a unique identity for your event whereas promotion is the marketing of it - they are two sides to the same coin. Being thoughtful about both helps position your event as attractive, impactful, and memorable for the audience, ultimately increasing registration and engagement.
Below we'll explore the do's and don'ts of event branding and promotion to help you build a strategy that will set you up for monumental success.
One of the first steps in building the strategy is to define your target audience. Who are you trying to attract to your event? What are their interests? What are their pain points? What are their preferred communication channels? By asking yourself these types of questions you can create a branding and promotion strategy that intently reaches and resonates with your target personas.
Before you can start promoting your event, you need to clearly define your event brand identity. This should be different (but coordinated) from your company’s general branding. Allow your event brand to become its own entity with its own personality by developing a unique logo, color palette, font styling, tagline, and website. By doing this your event will stand out amidst all the other content your team is promoting which will increase engagement and ultimately, registration.
Social media is a powerful platform for promoting your event. Maximize your reach through a social media strategy that includes:
By incorporating these items in your social media promotion strategy you will reach a wider audience and build credibility.
Pro Tip! Leverage your industry’s influencers to further expand your reach. These influencers have clout and a following among your customers and prospects.
People are consuming more media than ever before, you don’t want to get lost in the shuffle. In addition to an expert social media strategy, use a combination of marketing channels, including email, digital, and direct mail. Having a multi-prong approach to promotion will help you reach a wider audience and increase traction. However, don’t just blindly cross-post your copy and content, be sure to differentiate your messaging and cater every touchpoint to the specific audience that you aim to reach within each channel.
Pro Tip! Don't forget about the magic of word-of-mouth! It is still one of the most powerful forms of marketing. For tips on how to create buzz-worthy events that get your attendees talking - click here!
Tracking and analyzing your marketing efforts is crucial in understanding what's working and what's not. By using analytic tools to measure engagement and conversion by channel, you will clearly see which marketing efforts are motivating attendees to sign up and which aren't. With a careful eye on things like unique pageviews and ticket sales, email opens and clicks, and likes and shares of your social posts, you can use data to guide any strategy pivots necessary to maximize success.
The right venue will bring your event brand to life and make promotion more appealing to the audience, so it is important to make this decision wisely. In addition to selecting a venue that can adequately accommodate your event size and agenda, you should heavily consider the aesthetic and flexibility of the space. The aesthetic must match your event brand and the space must allow for your team to add signage, marketing activations, and other touches that will activate your brand in the minds of the attendees.
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