Event Marketing Ideas and Event Promotions

The "Event Promotion System" . . .

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• Recently the Event Promotion System was used by a single client to generate $61,645.00 of advance online ticket sales in just 7 Days for a FREE Air Show. $21,270.00 of Advance sale tickets were sold online in just 60 minutes. Within 24 Hours, the client had sold $43,793.00 of advance sale tickets to an event that anyone could attend for FREE!

You want proven, not "pie in the sky." The previous numbers are not being shared to brag, but merely to impress upon you what can be done when you use a proven marketing system to promote your event.

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Did You Buy a Snickers Bar Yet?

Are you looking for advertising ideas for your business or event? Do yourself a favor and DON’T follow Super Bowl commercials as an advertising template. It’s my opinion that most companies advertising during the Super Bowl are wasting a tremendous amount of money.  Ask yourself the following question - Can you actually remember what the most entertaining ads were selling? If you ask most people the previous question - they’ll go all fuzzy on you.  The most entertaining Super Bowl ads are usually total flops for getting people to buy.

Focus on Selling – Not Entertaining
When it comes to advertising it’s important not to confuse advertising that entertains with advertising that actually sells.  This belief comes from spending way too much time (in a good way) with some of the best direct response marketers on planet Earth.  If you look, most Super Bowl ads are almost entirely judged on entertainment value. Yeah there were entertaining ads that made me laugh.  Honestly, did Abe Bogota and Betty White actually get you to buy a Snickers bar? Probably not. The reason that huge companies like Coke and Anheuser-Busch can get away with funny commercials is because they have hundreds of millions of dollars to spend on advertising.  Most event organizers don’t enjoy such a luxury.

Great Advice From an Advertising Master
David Ogilvy, The Pope of Modern Advertising, is famous for saying "I do not regard advertising as entertainment or an art form, but as a medium of information.” The purpose of advertising is to sell. Ogilvy believed that “Ninety-nine percent of advertising doesn't sell much of anything."  With Ogilvy, advertising was tied to bottom line results. The thing that constantly cracks me up is all the advertising agencies that revere David Ogilvy, yet completely ignore his most basic tenants.

Halfway Decent Ads
Looking back, the best ads were from Denny’s and Google. In my opinion, the previously mentioned companies created ads with a result in mind. Denny’s gives away free food as a loss leader. Last year, Denny’s Grand Slam Giveaway packed their restaurants. Do you think all those people are going to Denny’s and ONLY getting a FREE?  Consider this . . . “Every $2 coffee translates into something like $1.70 profit. If 1.5 million of the freeloaders spring for coffee, the revenues will hover around $2.5 million. Experts estimate that 2009’s giveaway generated roughly $50 million through free advertising.” (Source: “Denny's Free Grand Slam Breakfasts, and the Cost of Free Publicity by Bruce Watson - Daily Finance.com)  Google slyly featured all the neat little things their search engine can do for you. The Google commercial was clean and brutally simple – type something in, hit search, and get results.  Search results come up with advertising worth billions of dollars to Google.

Bottom Line Results
When advertising your event, regardless of medium, focus on selling your event.  Don’t make entertainment a goal of your advertising. Tie every ad for your event into bottom line result. Make your event advertising and investment, not an entertainment expense.

Want to get more great info? Check out the articles below:

• David Ogilvy on Direct Response Marketing
• Measuring Advertising Effectiveness
• Advertising and Marketing that Sells
• Providing Massive Value in Your Marketing and Advertising

Using Twitter for Your Event Marketing . . .

Last month I attended the International Council of Air Show's annual convention in Las Vegas. The convention is the air show industry's annual get together to share ideas and plan for the upcoming air show season. During the convention's marketing seminars there was significant discussion regarding social media. Seminar participants and presenters were jumping up and down expounding the marketing virtues of using social media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter. Here's my rub . . . when pressed, not one Twitter proponent in the could cite a bottom line result for all their efforts. Perhaps it's that I've been spending way too much time in the direct response world, or maybe I'm just getting jaded on all the social media hoopla . . .   But before you jump on the social media crazy train, take a moment to find out if social media is actually helping your event marketing efforts.

The Twitter Case Study
As a case study, here is my own Twitter experience.  WARNING: Shameless Self Promotion Ahead! Recently I broke the 1,000 Follower mark on Twitter. According to the UK Guardian, the average Twitter user has 126 followers. Source: Arthur, Charles, 29 June 2009, Guardian.co.uk. Since March of 2009, I spent about 10 minutes a day following people and posting updates and event marketing links to articles on my blog. A recent look at my Google Analytics account revealed that my all Twitter efforts drove a whopping 61 visitors to my web site. The only silver lining, if any, was that each visitor driven by a Twitter link spent over two and a half minutes on my site. Sorry Twitter Pundits . . . 30+ hours of effort for 61 visitors is a horrendous ROI. I'm not going to sit here and proclaim to be an Twitter Jedi Master, but I integrated expert advice and followed it consistently. I cringe to think what other people are getting in terms of their results.

Disclaimer: You should know that I'm not an anti social media guy. Yet, I am staunchly against smart people wasting time and money on "amazing" Internet technology that doesn't add one cent to their bottom line or help to promote an event. People get so focused on the technology, they forget about the fundamentals. 150 years ago, P.T. Barnum figured out a simple model promote almost any event. Since then, we've found a million different ways to screw it up. Regardless of the technology, never abandon sound marketing fundamentals. Check out "The Danger of Too Much Event Marketing Technology" for more insight.

Adopt Your Twitter Event Marketing Efforts Very Cautiously
It's important to remember that Twitter is still being adopted by the masses. Yes, a ton of people are joining Twitter, but it tends to be fairly young demographic. I'd argue less than 10% of your potential target is using Twitter, probably less than 5% on a regular basis. The air show industry is a prime example of only a tiny segment of your total target market using Twitter. What are you doing to engage the rest of your target market?

Think Before You Jump
Before you even setup a Twitter account, ask yourself . . . "Is enough of my target marketing using Twitter to warrant my investment in time, money, and effort?" If you are investing your efforts in to Twitter, make sure it's delivering you positive and measurable results. Keep your Tweets interesting and relevant to your event or business goals. Always make sure to use Google Analytics to see if your efforts are making a positive impact on your marketing efforts.

I'm still willing to find ways to leverage social media to better promote events and businesses. But at the moment I'm unwilling to say that using Twitter to market your event is a worthwhile investment. If you have a suggestion or great examples of using Twitter, please leave a comment to this post. I'm always open to insight and suggestions.

Want to get more great info? Check out the articles below:

• How Long Before Social Media Advertising Gets Too Noisy?
• Event Marketing with Social Media and Email
• Social Media, Social Networking, and Event Promotion
• Web 2.0, Social Media, and Event Promotion
• Event Marketing: Do You have an Online Champion for Your Event?
• Online Comments About Your Event

• The Event Promotion System
  Get Free Event Promotion & Marketing Video Training

“There's a Sucker Born Every Minute”

Do you know who said, “There's a sucker born every minute”? Most people respond with, “It was P.T. Barnum” Yet if you do some historical digging, you’ll find out that Barnum never said the infamous quote most attributed to him. It wasn’t until I read “There’s a Customer Born Every Minute: P.T. Barnum's Secrets to Business Success” by Joe Vitale that I was set straight.  Vitale points out that nobody has been able to directly attribute the “sucker” quote to Barnum. You won’t find the quote in any of Barnum’s writing or speeches.  It was also pointed out that the “sucker” quote was out of character with Barnum’s personal and business beliefs. So where did the quote come from? The quote most likely came from one of Barnum’s competitors. Read more about the “There's a sucker born every minute” misquote over at HistoryBuff.com.

Staged Fights!
Yes, Barnum did believe in hyping the heck out of his events. He even went so far as to stage fights during live performances. But Barnum also realized that the customer was always in charge.  If the customer felt that Barnum wasn’t able to deliver on his fantastic promises, they wouldn’t pay up or find something else to do. No event can afford to treat their attendees like suckers.

150 Years Later – You Have Just One Shot
One hundred fifty years later, not much has changed in marketing or promoting events. Today you mostly likely have just one shot to impress your customer with your event.  Delivering an extraordinary experience is especially crucial to recurring events.  If you don’t deliver a great event experience, people will find other things to do.  Don't forget the competition! Talented people are creating new events to compete with your event all the time. Don’t count on the competition slowing down (even during times of economic hardship).  Certain segments of the event industry have actually flourished during economic crisis. It is in your best interest to focus intently on creating events that leave your attendees satiated beyond belief.  You want your attendees leaving your event saying “That was amazing – I want to do it again.”

Focus on the Customer, Not the Sucker
The title of Joe Vitale's book "There’s a Customer Born Every Minute" sums up the mindset of the most successful event promoters and marketers. There are new customers coming into your marketplace all the time. In order for your event to thrive, you must find more effective ways to market and promote your even, plus execute a truly great event.

Want to get more great info? Check out the articles below:

• P.T. Barnum on Advertising
• Barnum & Hyping Up Your Event
• Curiosity Advertising P.T. Barnum Style
• Your Event, Stories, and P.T. Barnum
• The World’s Best Event Promoter Is . . .
• Turn Your Event Into an Experience
• Online Marketing Like P.T. Barnum
• More Marketing Like P.T. Barnum (Part II)

• The Event Promotion System
  Get Your Free Event Promotion & Marketing Video Training

The Media and Making Your Web Address Count

Is getting your company or event featured in an article enough to drive traffic to your web site? Probably not. Too many business people jump up and down with unbridled enthusiasm because they were featured in their local media. I call it the “Hey, look at us!” syndrome. Don’t get me wrong, publicity is great – especially free publicity. But you need to leverage publicity the right way. Let me put it to you this way . . . The end result of publicity is more important than the actual publicity itself.  You should constantly ask yourself, "What is this publicity going to do for us?"

Getting Featured Online and Off
Last week a client was featured in both the online and offline versions of our local newspaper. The feature article was very positive and included the client’s web address (but not as an active link online). According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations the local newspaper has a daily circulation of 124,987. Online the paper’s web site has an estimated 230,000 visitors per month according to Quantcast.com. With the previous numbers one would think having your web address included in a positive article would generate a decent web traffic burst. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. According to Google Analytics the client’s web site received just 10 extra visitors per day when the article was featured. Getting your name in the paper these days simply isn’t enough. You need to think about how your publicity is going to benefit you.

Realty – Most Web Users are Getting Lazier
It’s important to remember that the online attention span of the typical web users is getting shorter and shorter. If a web site doesn’t load in a few second or it isn’t easy to understand and navigate, the user usually bolts to a competitor’s web site. It's important to always keep in mind the User Attention Span. Just because your web address is included in an article, online or off, doesn’t mean people will visit your site. Remember that your consumers are bombarded with way too much advertising, yet still want instant gratification. You can't expect them to do something like copy and paste a web address from an article into the address bar. Focus on leading the user down a given path.

Make It Easy to Click on Your Address
There are two simple things you can do to get more way more leverage from your web address in the media. First, make sure any online reference to your web address includes an actual HTML link to your site. If you find an article online about your event or company that doesn’t include an actual link, get in contact with the publication immediately. A friendly telephone call can go a long way. For sake of immediacy, don't try to rely on email. Correcting media references offline is a little more difficult. Print is near impossible to change after the ink dries. Be proactive with print publications. Your best bet is to ask the publication to finish the article with “For more information about XYZ, please visit the XYZ web site: XYZ.com.” That one sentence can go a long way to driving tons of free traffic to your web site. In order to get publicity to work, you need to make it easy and compelling for people to find out more about you. A well positioned web address helps tremendously.

Check out the articles below for additional information on getting the most from free publicity.

• Press Releases and Your Event Marketing
• The Press Conference Lesson on Event Marketing
• Be Vigilant About Your Event Details and the Media
• The User Attention Span

Want to get more great info? Check out the articles below:

• Event Promotions and Shortening Your Domain Name
  
• Your Domain Name and Television Advertising
• Your Domain Name and Radio Advertising
  
  
• Why Well Planned Events Fail
• How to Get Them To Your Event
  
• Turn Your Event Into an Experience

• The Event Promotion System
  Get Your Free Event Promotion & Marketing Video Training

Event Marketing: Your Email List - Quality versus Quantity

It’s slightly aggravating when I hear people bragging about email their email list size. You've probably heard the same from some local advertising or marketing firm. Here in Rochester, NY, we have a local advertising company that tries to impress everyone with their ridiculously large email list. Don’t be fooled by big email lists! The size of an email list is rarely related to your return on investment from that list. In many cases email lists are haphazardly thrown together. Internet marketing dude Frank Kern said it best, “It's not about the size of the list. It's about the quality of the relationship you build with the list.” You should strongly consider Frank's advice, he make over $150,000 in 20 minutes with an email list of less than 800 people.

If you’re using an email list to market your event, focus on building a high quality list that you can engage in meaningful conversion. The relationship you have with your list is huge factor in determining how many people actually buy. It’s also imperative that you vet any partner lists that you might use to market or promote your event. Below a a few ideas you need to consider . . .

Lessons from the Battlefield
My own client projects have helped to drive home the quality versus quantity ideology. Recently, one client sold $61,450 worth of event tickets in 6 just days with a house list of 3,100 people. Their list of 3,100 people was grown from zero, all online, in less than 2 months with organic traffic. Another client who focuses on establishing an online relationship with his list is doing amazing at quickly converting new list prospects into buyers. He’s able to convert over 40% of new subscribers to his list into buying customers in less than 30 days. The previous examples are not meant to brag, but merely to impress what one can accomplish.

• Ask yourself, “What can I start doing today to have a better relationship with my list?”

Joint Ventures/Cross promoting
If you’re considering a joint venture or cross promotion for your event, check some of the most basic metrics of your partner’s email list. Here are some simple questions you need to ask when marketing your event to another list:

• Where the names and email address collected online or offline?
• Is the list segmented? (leads versus customers) 
• Is the list single or double opt-in? (double opt-ins are better)
• What is the average open rate? (look for a minimum of 20%)
• What are the click through rate?
• How often is the list emailed?
• What are the average subscribe and unsubscribe rates?
• When an offer is made what are the conversion rates?

There are other important questions you should ask, but most people neglect to find out the basics. If you find out the answers to the above questions, you’ll be well ahead of the pack.

You Need Your Own List!
At the end of the day a high quality house list is the single best list for promoting and marketing your event.  I’ve seen a house email list of 3,100 people completely crush a partner list of 23,000. Both lists had very similar demographics and psychographic profiles. Another client promoted their event using a partner list almost twice the size of their house list. The client’s own house list generated 98% of total revenue. If you haven’t started your list for marketing and promoting your event, start one today! Check out the helpful resources below to get you started.

Want to get more great info? Check out the articles below:

• Event Marketing: Start Building Your List Early
• Automatically Generate Leads for Your Event Year Round
• Keeping Your Event List Engaged
• Don't Neglect Your Email List
• Event Marketing: Multiple Ways to Engage Your List
• Simple Customer List Building Suggestions
• Start Building Your List Early
• Late Event Promotion - Big List Growth
• Building Your List Above the Fold
• Are You Opting-In Above the Fold?
• Form Placement and Growing Your List
• Turn Your Event Into an Experience

• The Event Promotion System
  Get Your Free Event Promotion & Marketing Video Training

A Simple Formula to Pack Your Event

Over the last few years I've looked long and hard at killer tactics that sell out events. As an event planner or organizer, it's in your best interest to methodically look around your own industry and outside your industry for successful event marketing strategies that you can adopt. A casual look will show you that the simple things usually work better than the complex. Some of my best event marketing strategies (ideas that have made clients hundreds of thousands of dollars) have come from unrelated marketplaces. Through all my observations and experiences I've formulated a very simple formula that any event organizer can use to pack their event. Here is the formula:

Hype + Massive Value = Monstrous Demand

The formula above might seem overly simplistic, but it works when you put into practice.

Hype
Yes, it's extremely important to hype up your event!  Hype is a strategy right out of P.T. Barnum's playbook. Barnum was a master at using the right amount of hype to pack his events. Unfortunately, most event organizers, planners, and marketers completely screw up how they leverage hype. In most cases events are under hyped. Don't be afraid to be loud and proud trumpeting the benefits of your event! Let people know what's in it for them. This next part is really important . . . if you're going to hype your event, you damn well better make sure you exceed your patron's expectations. Yes, it is possible to over hype, but only if you don't deliver on the promises you make to the consumer in your advertising.

+ Massive Value
Your hype needs to be followed up with massive value. If you hype your event and then fall short of the consumers expectations, your dooming your event. Focus on delivering massive value with your event by exceeding your customer's expectations. You know you've nailed it when most of your customers leave your event saying "That was amazing!" Don't forget that you can also create value for your event before it even begins. Can you think of ways to let people experience your event before they've even attended? For more info on delivering value beforehand, check out "Front Loading Value for Your Next Event." The Internet has made "front loading value" easy and inexpensive. Value is such a powerful factor in your event marketing and promotion that it can create it's own demand. If you do nothing more than focus on providing massive value for your event, it's hard to go wrong.

= Monstrous Demand
Here is formula's payoff . . . When you couple hype for your event with massive value, you create monstrous demand. My favorite example of monstrous demand is the World's Largest Disco in Buffalo New York. In 2009, the "Disco" sold out over three months before the event takes place.  That's 7000+ tickets selling between $50-$150 that nobody can purchase anymore. You know you've hit it when people are lining up to attend your event like a pack of ravenously hungry wolves. Do everything you ethically can to stoke demand. Ridiculously high demand is the key doing really well with advance ticket sales.

Recurring Events
A big key to seeing success with the formula above is having a recurring event. I understand for some people having a recurring event isn't possible. If you aren't going to have a recurring event, it's even more important to deliver value on the front end. If you have a recurring event, make sure you're collecting feedback from attendees. Here is a counter intuitive way to collect feedback, World's Largest Disco style. Give it a shot and let me know how it turns out.

Want to get more great info? Check out the articles below:

• Being a World Class Event Promoter (the P.T. Barnum Way)
• Front Loading Value for Your Next Event
• Event Promotion: Using Video to Front Load Event Value
• Why Well Planned Events Fail
• How to Get Them To Your Event
  
• Getting Them to Buy Tickets Early
• Turn Your Event Into an Experience
• Leveraging Your Sponsor's Digital Resources
  

• The Event Promotion System - Get 'FREE' Event Promotion & Marketing Video

Event Planning: The Customer Avatar and Your Event

I’m going to present a great marketing concept from two of my mentors, Eben Pagan and John Carlton.  A few years ago Eben Pagan came up with the concept of a customer Avatar.  An Avatar is the personification or manifestation of your ideal customer.  In the event marketing world your Avatar is the ideal prospect for your event.  You use your customer Avatar to better plan and market your event.

Your Ego = a Surefire Way to Sink Your Event
A cardinal sin committed by many event planners, organizers, and marketers is planning an event around their ego.  When planning your event keep in mind that people attend your event to satiate their wants, needs, and desires. I’ve seen far too many events fail miserably because an event planner or marketer thought they were smarter the people they were trying to serve. You can avoid the “ego” mistake by utilizing a customer Avatar.

Simple Questions to Build Your Event Avatar
Below are some quick questions that will help you in creating your customer Avatar for your event.  The questions below are derived from John Carlton’s Simple Writing System.

• Who is your ideal customer? (Demographics & Psychographics)
• What are your customer’s wants, needs, or desires regarding your event?
  (Do they have an irrational fear or desire?)
• What message can you give your customer that?

By answering the questions above you will put yourself into a position to better understand what someone attending your event wants and how best to serve them.

Do a Survey
It has never been so easy to find out what your customer or prospect wants. The Internet gives you the ability to quickly collect information from your target market.  With a few hours of work you can quickly find out critical information about your customer and your event. Minus the details, here is what you can do . . . find online search phrases related to your event, start a PPC campaign, drive traffic to a landing/survey page, collect the data, and then compile the results.  If you have a recurring event, do a follow up survey before you start to plan your next event. 

An Already Done Avatar
If your market or industry has survey data on potential customers be sure to reference it.  You can build a very good Avatar from industry data. Most of the research might have already been done for you.

When you build your event around your customer’s wants, needs, and desires, you can’t go wrong. Having a customer Avatar to reference for your event planning and marketing is a huge step in the right direction.

Want to get more great info? Check out the articles below:

• A Negative Question to Create a Better Event
• Turn Your Event Into an Experience
• How to Get Them To Your Event
• Why Well Planned Events Fail
• Getting Them to Buy Tickets Early
• Leveraging Your Sponsor's Digital Resources

• The Event Promotion System
  Get Your Free Event Promotion & Marketing Video Training

When to Start Selling Tickets for Your Event

Here is a classic question almost every event planner asks him or herself: “When should I start selling tickets for my event?” At first thought, one might think starting your ticket sales early is always better. In my experience longer ticket sale cycles almost never translate into bigger total ticket sales.  The biggest factor in determining when you should start selling tickets for your event is based on the level of ticket demand.

Low Ticket Demand
If the ticket demand for your event is very low, it doesn’t matter how early you start ticket sales – people won’t buy.  In contrast, you can start selling tickets for your event (depending on the type of event) a few days before and sell the event out if the demand level is high enough. One good indicator for ticket demand is how many people contact your via telephone or email to inquire about tickets for your event.  If people are contacting you regarding tickets with the fervor of a hungry wolf pack that hasn’t eaten in a week, you’re in good shape.

Start Your Ticket Sales for Your Event When You Have High Demand
Ticket sales for your event should start when you’ve created enough sufficient demand to sell most of your tickets in a short period of time.  You might want to wait until you have created a sufficient level of demand before putting tickets for your event on sale.

As an example, one client recently ran a discounted advance ticket campaign that generated $15,890.00 of advance ticket revenue 58 days before their event.  The reason they were able to sell $15K+ of tickets almost two months before their event is because they made a great offer that was coupled with high ticket demand. Part of the offer included a limited number of premium level tickets to their event. The client’s total advance ticket sales paid for their event before a single person walked through the admission gate.

How would you feel if your entire event was paid for before a single person walked up to attend your event? When it comes to ticket sales, your focus needs to be on creating a high level of demand for your event.  Check out “How to Sell Out Your Event“ for a simple way to crank up to demand for almost any event.  If the demand is high enough for your ticket, then it doesn’t matter when you start to sell tickets.

Want to get more great info? Check out the articles below:

• Event Marketing: Do You have an Online Champion for Your Event?
• Online Comments About Your Event
• Advertising and Marketing that Sells
• Providing Massive Value in Your Marketing and Advertising
• P.T. Barnum on Advertising
• Why Well Planned Events Fail
• Turn Your Event Into an Experience

• The Event Promotion System
  Get Your Free Event Promotion & Marketing Video Training

How to Sell Out Your Event

If you want to sell out your event, you need to set the demand level for your event higher than your supply of tickets. The previous suggestion might seem like it’s straight out of the book “Thank You Very Much, Dr. Obvious!" But, very few event organizers and planners ever focus on creating a high level of demand for their event. When it comes time to sell tickets for their event, the ticket sales fall miserably sort of expectations. You need to find ways to set the demand level for your event as high as ethically possible.

The P.T. Barnum Way
One of the easiest ways to set the demand level for your event higher is by hyping your event.  The suggestion is straight from the playbook of P.T. Barnum. You’re event marketing should never be humdrum. You need to inject excitement and intrigue into all your event marketing and promotion. Get the target market so excited for your event that they're running to get their wallets and buy from you.

Let me give you a quick example from the air show industry. Which of the following event headlines is more likely to catch an air show prospect’s attention?

Example #1: “Come Out and Enjoy the 2009 XYZ International Air Show.”

- OR -

Example #2: “Experience Flight in a Way That Will Leave You in Awe! Come out and Enjoy 4 Hours of Aerial Spectacle & Heart Pounding Excitement, featuring the Best Pilots in the World.”

Don’t Make Your Event Sound Boring
How excited would you be to attend a BORING event? Too many event organizers promote and market their events in a boring manner. Don’t make the same mistake. Whenever you market or advertise your event, make it sound intriguing and exciting to your target market. I can’t remember who said it, but “the greatest sin in advertising is being boring.” Get your prospect to say to themselves “I want to do that!” If you're event organizer or planner, focus on your target market's wants and desires.

Balancing Event Marketing Hype & Delivering on the Promise!
If you’re really going to hype your event, the level of hype can’t be greater than your patron’s expectations or the level of service you can deliver. Over hyping your event and under delivering is a guaranteed recipe for disaster. It is very important that you do everything possible to under promise and over deliver.

Hype & Exceeding the Patron’s Expectations
If you exceed your event attendee’s expectations, regardless of the level of hype, the demand level for your event can go through the roof.  Just one happy event attendee will tell a number of other people about their great experience at your event. It's word of mouth advertising and it costs you nothing!

One Man = $17,500.00 in Advance Ticket Sales
Last weekend a Toronto businessman paid $175.00 to get access to an exclusive VIP Chalet at a FREE air show. The $175 dollars he and others paid got him access to a very nice chalet with open bar and all you can eat catered food. Before the air show finished the businessman was so satisfied with his experience that he inquired about purchasing 100 VIP tickets (at $175 each) for next year’s air show. That's $17,500 of advance ticket sales! The business man wasn't the only person to inquire about tickets for next year's air show. Since the show ended, more attendees have already offered to buy tickets for next year's air show and it's still a year away. If you can get people to your event and show them an amazing time, they'll line up in droves to come again. 

Below you will find a small collection P.T. Barnum posts that will help you with hyping your event. There is at least one good idea waiting for you to use with your event. Please take the time to read through a few posts:

• P.T. Barnum on Advertising
• Barnum & Hyping Up Your Event
• Curiosity Advertising P.T. Barnum Style
• Your Event, Stories, and P.T. Barnum
• The World’s Best Event Promoter Is . . .
• Turn Your Event Into an Experience
• Online Marketing Like P.T. Barnum
• More Marketing Like P.T. Barnum (Part II)

Want to get more great info? Check out the articles below:

• Turn Your Event Into an Experience
• How to Get Them To Your Event
• Why Well Planned Events Fail
• Getting Them to Buy Tickets Early
• Leveraging Your Sponsor's Digital Resources

• The Event Promotion System
  Get Your Free Event Promotion & Marketing Video Training
  

>> Leave a Comment About This Post <<

Getting Detailed Feedback To Improve Your Event

If you want to truly improve your event, you need to identify what people disliked about your event. At first thought the previous suggestion might seem a bit counter intuitive, if not scary. Too many event organizers and planners are apt to only be interested in positive feedback. Don’t be lured into the same trap! A few months ago I wrote a post “A Negative Question to Create a Better Event.” The post suggested a counterintuitive way of getting feedback for one’s event. You should honestly consider the advice outlined in the post. It came from a guy who sells out his event of 7,000+ people more than 30 days in advance. Last month, I had an opportunity to put into practice the advice from “A Negative Question to Create a Better Event.” Below is a brief synopsis of the surprising results.

The Negative Feedback Case Study – Not Expected
During the last weekend of May a local client held their annual air show. Immediately after the event, people started sending in their unsolicited feedback.  About 35 people sent in email feedback over a three day span. For the most part, the patron feedback was very positive and general in nature.

Four days after the event, I sent out a thank you email with a survey link.  The email included a link that brought visitors to a page with one simple survey question . . . “What DIDN’T you like about the event?” Below the survey question was a simple text box form.  In a little over a week’s time 375 people sent in their feedback. The survey results identified very specific issues people had with the event. That wasn’t the case with the unsolicited feedback. Here is something really interesting . . .  Even though the survey asked people what they didn’t like about the event, people still sent in a ton of positive feedback.  Because the event is recurring, all of the collected feedback can now be used to improve the event.

You Must Ask for Feedback
Here is one of the most important lessons I learned over the years regarding event marketing and promotion . . . you have to actively engage your patrons to send event feedback.  Never expect patrons to just email you feedback.  It never works that way. After two months only about 40 people sent in their unsolicited feedback. Compare that with the almost 400 people who sent into detailed feedback when prompted. If you’re truly dedicated to creating a great event (especially if it’s a recurring event) don’t be afraid to collect negative feedback.

Want to get more great info? Check out the articles below:

• A Negative Question to Create a Better Event
• Turn Your Event Into an Experience
• How to Get Them To Your Event
• Why Well Planned Events Fail
• Getting Them to Buy Tickets Early
• Leveraging Your Sponsor's Digital Resources

• The Event Promotion System
  Get Your Free Event Promotion & Marketing Video Training

Getting More Opt-ins & Making More Money Online

A few weeks ago I was listening to an audio interview with Tim Ash.  Tim wrote an excellent book on Landing Page Optimization.  He’s an expert on getting people to take specific actions after they get to a web site.  During the interview, Tim gave one piece of very simple (yet highly effective) advice. His advice was especially important from a list building perspective.  Here is Tim's advice - "When you’re collecting information online, collect the minimum amount of information to complete the transaction." It’s important to think of Tim’s advice from the user’s perspective . . .

Remember – Upfront - They Don’t Know or Trust You!
Would you give a complete stranger personal information about yourself?  I’m guessing probably not. The previous question is directly applicable to collecting information online. A big mistake made when trying to collect personal information online is asking for too much information on the first visit. In most cases you have zero rapport with a prospect that just arrived at your web site. The more information you ask from a first time web visitor, the more difficult it is to collect information.  I’ve seen web sites that ask from full mailing addresses, fax number, and cell phone (all as required fields) up front.  As a result, less people are going to sign up.

The bigger and better quality list you have . . . the more money you make online!

Gain Some Trust
Your initial focus needs to be on establishing trust and credibility with your web site user. You can start to establish trust by offering your prospect something they perceive as valuable. It could be a free report, video, or audio.  You might offer some great articles for free or insider information. It is crucial to focus on the prospect’s wants and needs, NOT what you think is important to them.  The better you know your market, the better you can position information for them. The same advice rings true when planning an event . . . The best events are those built specifically for the target market – not for the event organizer’s ego.

Collecting Info Online - Where to Start
I suggest starting with the bare minimum for online data collection, first name and email address. Have any easy way for people to opt out of your list and have sound privacy policies in place. You can collect more information as you grow rapport with your prospect over time.  The best way to grow rapport over time is to give additional information that the prospect deems as valuable.

Seeing too many information can fields makes user apprehensive, regardless of those fields being required.  When collecting personal information online . . . Start with first name and email address, build trust, then go from there.

Want to get more great info? Check out the articles below:

• Simple Customer List Building Suggestions
• Start Building Your List Early
• Late Event Promotion - Big List Growth
• Building Your List Above the Fold
• Are You Opting-In Above the Fold?
• Form Placement and Growing Your List
• Turn Your Event Into an Experience

• The Event Promotion System
  Get Your Free Event Promotion & Marketing Video Training

Event Search Marketing and Your Description Tag

When it comes to search engine optimization and event promotion, simple things can have big impact. Search Engine Marketing is critical in your event marketing and promotion efforts. Check out "Leveraging Your Event Promotion with SEO." One easy SEO improvement, with a high level of impact, is crafting a compelling description tag. The description tag is used to tell an internet searcher what a particular page is all about. Each page on your event web site should have its’ own unique description tag. 

An Example
Below is a shameless self-promotion example. The section highlighted in Red is the description tag.

If They’re Searching - They’re at Least Curious About Your Event
Keep this in mind when writing a description tag . . . Most people searching for your event web site are at least curious about your event.  When is the last time you used a search engine to look up something of no interest to you?  If a searcher finds a search listing for your web site in the search engine you want them to click on your link, not the competitions. A strong description tags helps in getting people to click on your web site link.

Make Your Description Tags Compelling to Click
Description tags shouldn’t be boring or mundane.  Think of your description tag as a way to get people to click on your link on the search engine results page.  Does your description tag give someone a compelling reason to click? The best description tags give internet searchers a compelling reason to click.

A Bad Example
Here is an example of a bad or inaccurate description tag for an event or business. It gives the reader almost no incentive to click. Be sure you're not making the same mistake.

Balance Click'ability and Search'ability
Some search marketing specialist might suggest that you try to include search relevant keywords in your description tag.  I would argue that the best tag for search relevant keywords is your title tag. Description tags don't carry as much importance as the title tags in search engine placement. Therefore keep your description tag focused on getting people to click on the link.  Think of your description tag as the Unique Selling Proposition (USP) for individual web pages on your event site.

Want to get more great info? Check out the articles below:

• Event Marketing and Search Engines
• Search Engine Optimization and Your Event Marketing
• Free Qualified Traffic For Your Site
• The Simplest SEO Technique
• Are You Targeting The Correct Search Keywords?

• The Event Promotion System
  Get Your Free Event Promotion & Marketing Video Training

Be Vigilant About Your Event Details and the Media

Do you have an upcoming event that could benefit from media coverage?  If you’re preparing to release information about your event publicly, you need to be extra vigilant right after information is released to the public.  All it takes is one little piece of inaccurate information to create a maelstrom of headaches.

Real World Example
Let me give you an example . . . A few months ago a client held a press conference to announce their upcoming air show.  In conjunction with the press conference, there was an official press release issued and great coverage by the media.  The press release contained one small inaccuracy (an event detail carried over from last year’s press release) that was no longer accurate. As a result, the media started reporting about the event with inaccurate information.  The local newspaper reported that the U.S. Navy Blue Angels were performing at the air show. In fact, the Blue Angels were not attending.  (When it comes to air shows, the Blue Angels attending an air show can make it or break it for event organizers.) The next day, local radio stations started to report the inaccurate information from the newspaper story. The radio station’s mindset was most likely . . . “If the newspaper is reporting it, it must be accurate.” One small piece of information created a tremendous amount of unnecessary stress for the event organizer.

Be Vigilant
When really important information about your event is released to the public (major performers, dates, times, ticket details, etc.) you must be extra vigilant. Despite the best efforts of everyone involved, honest mistakes can be made and information can be reported inaccurately. In today’s world of social media one inaccurate piece of information can get to the other side of the world in a matter of seconds.  You don’t need to go overboard, but a little vigilance can prevent hours or days worth of necessary headache. 

Quick Suggestions
There are a few simple things you can do to prevent inaccurate information from spreading through media outlets. The first place to start is to triple check any press releases that go out to the media. Have other people you know review your press release.  If you’re really invested in a project your objectivity goes down the more you look at something. In the example above, it was one simple sentence that resulted in a bunch of unnecessary stress. Get more info on - Press Releases and Your Event Marketing.

Online Champions
Another suggestion is to get members of your team to monitor the local media (television, radio, and print).  You might want to consider making use of an online champion.  Have your online champion (trusted team member) monitor the local media.They can let you know if there are any discrepancies in information.

Setup a Google Alert
You should also consider setting up a Google Alert regarding your event. Google Alerts allow you to ability to automatically monitor what's going on with your event in cyberspace. Get more information about - Google Alerts and Your Event.

All it takes is one small piece of inaccurate information and you’ll be left with hours or days worth of headaches. By putting some simple controls in place and by being proactive in the process you can prevent a great deal of stress in your life.

Want to get more great info? Check out the articles below:

• Simple Customer List Building Suggestions
• Start Building Your List Early
• Late Event Promotion - Big List Growth
• Building Your List Above the Fold
• Are You Opting-In Above the Fold?
• Form Placement and Growing Your List
• Turn Your Event Into an Experience

• The Event Promotion System
  Get Your Free Event Promotion & Marketing Video Training

Leveraging Your Event Promotion with SEO

Search engine optimization is a critical part of your event marketing and promotion, especially if you have a recurring event. A properly optimized web site can drive tons of free traffic to your event web site. The more qualified people you have coming to your site the higher the user’s attention level.  Let’s face it . . . someone searching for “underwater basket weaving” isn’t going to show up to an air show event web site. A proper search engine strategy can also allow you to leverage your traditional marketing campaigns.  What’s more interesting is the interaction of search engine marketing with traditional advertising and promotion.

Here is a real life case study to consider. The event organizer spent in excess of $100,000 USD to advertise their local event. Their traditional advertising efforts included television, print, radio, and billboards. The brunt of their campaign started 30 days before the event date. For all of the money spent on traditional advertising, almost 50% of the traffic came as a result of search engine traffic. You can see a break down of the information below.

The graph above illustrates the importance that search engine optimization plays in your event marketing strategy. What’s even more interesting is that only about 28% of the traffic was a result of people directly typing in the domain name into the address bar. The event organizer put a tremendous amount of focus on driving people to the web site with their traditional advertising.  Additionally, the domain name for the event web site was very easy to remember. Yet, a majority of the people used the search engines to find the web site.

Below are some short articles to help you with search engine optimization ideas for your event web site.

• Event Marketing and Search Engines
• Search Engine Optimization and Your Event Marketing
• Free Qualified Traffic For Your Site
• The Simplest SEO Technique
• Are You Targeting The Correct Search Keywords?

Lost Opportunity - Seemingly Irrelevant Search Keywords . . .
Your event prospects aren’t always using obvious search terms to get to your web site. Check your web stats and see if you’re missing a search engine optimization opportunity.  One event planner that I recently started work with discovered that a large number of people were searching on a significant keyword that the event planner considered irrelevant. Seemingly irrelevant keywords are a huge opportunity cost. Make sure you optimize your web site for some of the valuable, yet obvious terms.

Your search engine optimization strategy is a crucial part of your overall event marketing and promotion strategy. If done properly, a well thought out search marketing strategy can significantly increase the effectiveness of all your traditional marketing.

Want to get more great info? Check out the articles below:

• Event Promotions and Shortening Your Domain Name
  
• Your Domain Name and Television Advertising
• Your Domain Name and Radio Advertising
  
  
• Why Well Planned Events Fail
• How to Get Them To Your Event
  
• Turn Your Event Into an Experience

• The Event Promotion System
  Get Your Free Event Promotion & Marketing Video Training

Automatically Generate Leads for Your Event Year Round

You need to think of your event marketing and promotion as a year long process. This is especially true if you have a recurring event.  You don’t have to let the thought of year round event marketing scare you. There are simple things you can do to automate your event marketing. Let’s start by looking at the opportunity that most event planners are missing . . .

The Graph Above
Take a look at the graph above. The graph is a 12 month web site visitor graph from the air show in Rochester, New York.  As you can see, most of the traffic comes to the web site in a time frame of 15 days before and after the event. The trend above is consistent with almost every web site I’ve ever seen. It’s important to note that 33% of total web site traffic comes in the 6 months before and after the event. Most event planners and organizers miss the opportunity to capitalize on the traffic coming to their web site. You need to look at any traffic to your web site as a year round event promotion opportunity.

Have a Simple Opt-in
One simple way to automate your event marketing is to setup a simple opt-in box on your home page.  Think of target market focused ways to get people to sign up for your event email list. Make an offer to give anyone who opts into your email list exclusive content about your event or discount ticket prices. In order to get people to opt-in, you’ll going to have to make them an offer that’s enticing to them. When you have a compelling offer, you can automatically collect email addresses from your target market year round. Have an autoresponder setup that automatically sends information about your event to the people on your email list.

Market Your Event Before and After
As your event approaches, use your email list to market your event.  A home grown list allows you to directly interact with your target market. If a person is signing up to your event email list, they’ve prequalified themselves as interested. Ask yourself, how many people are going to sign up to your event email list if they’re not at least curious about your event? After the event, follow up with your list to get feedback on ways to improve your event.  Recurring events can use the ideas above to grow their list year after year.   

Remember that most people only visit your web site once. If you can collect someone’s email address – you have a pre-qualified list of people interested in your event.  Keep the focus of your marketing on delivering high quality content and establishing trust. Don’t sales pitch people as soon as you get their email address.

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Want to get more great info? Check out the articles below:

• Simple Customer List Building Suggestions
• Start Building Your List Early
• Late Event Promotion - Big List Growth
• Building Your List Above the Fold
• Are You Opting-In Above the Fold?
• Form Placement and Growing Your List
• Turn Your Event Into an Experience

• The Event Promotion System
  Get Your Free Event Promotion & Marketing Video Training