Event Marketing Articles and Event Promotion

Top Articles of 2007 . . .

All the Best
Below you will find a series of top articles from 2007 selected by my blog readers. Thank you to all the readers, reviewers, and the people good enough to give their time for interviews. I trust that the information below and on the other sections of this blog will be helpful to you in the coming year. I'm looking forward to sharing some great information with everyone in the New Year. Here's wishing everyone "All the Best" in 2008!

Top Reader Selected Articles

• Beach Running Tips
• The Shift in Internet Demographics
• Ego: How to Destory Your Own Web Site
• Watch Out, People are Googling You!
• Graphic Design versus Web Design
• How NOT to make a Submarine Sandwich
• The Internet and User Demographics
• Does Your Web Site Stick?
• What is the Perceived Value?
• You Can Be Successful Online Without Programming Skills

Consider Your Sponsors Digital Resources . . .

Events organizers choose their sponsors for a variety of reasons.  The reasons an event might choose a sponsor could range from giving the event additional credibility, to cash, trade, or other reasons. One important consideration is a potential sponsor's digital resource base and how you might be able to leverage it for online marketing purposes. Take the time to carefully assess a potential sponsor's digital resource base when considering any event sponsor. A few hours of brainstorming could save an event organizers thousands of dollars in traditional advertising. Emphasis should be placed on creating a mutually beneficial relationship for both your event and your sponsor's organization.

Some Important Questions to Ask Yourself Regarding Potential Sponsors:

• How does your sponsor's demographic match up against your event's demographics?
• Does your sponsor have a high quality email list you can leverage?
• How much traffic does your sponsor's web site generate?
• Is there room on your sponsor's web site to promote your event? (Banners and Links)
• Does your sponsor send a digital newsletter? Can you insert information about your event?
• Is your sponsor part of an online advertising network? (Co-branded Ads)

All of the questions above can be summarized in one simple question to ask yourself:
"What can a potential sponsor do to contribute to my event's online marketing endeavors?"

Leverage Your Sponsor's Email List
If a potential sponsor has a high quality email list, discuss the possibilities of sending out a series co-branded emails to build awareness for your event. Email campaigns are an inexpensive way to get the word out about your event. You might consider starting an email marketing campaign before your traditional advertising starts. Perhaps the sponsor might be able to include a coupon targeted for people on their own mailing list somehow tied into your event. Always be thinking how you can use a marketing resource over time and in tandem with other resources. One of the biggest advantages of online marketing is that almost everything can be tracked and measured for effectiveness. Be sure to setup some measurable metrics for success. Regardless of some of the online advantages, consider using traditional means like traditional mail.

There are a multiply ways to leverage the resource base a potential sponsor can offer. Always strive to get to a win-win situation with your sponsors.

Your Domain Name and Television Advertising

For today's post I'm going to concentrate on getting the most out of your web site with television advertising.  The premise hinges on the core concept of web centric marketing. How many details can you remember about a commercial you just viewed? Chances are not very many. Getting the viewer to remember your domain name should be one of the main objectives of any form of advertising. A domain name is far easier to remember compared to numerous other details. One of the fundamentals behind web centric marketing is to get people back to your web site where they can digest the information at their own pace.

Starting Point
I'm writing from the premise that your commercial already has a unique selling proposition for the viewer and that it doesn't drown anyone with too much information. Make sure your messaging connects with the viewer in a meaningful way.

Use a Letter Box
Using a letterbox allows you to chisel out an area of the television frame to display a message. If you aren't sure what a letter box is check out the Wikipedia Letterbox article for an example. There is a matte at the top and the bottom of the screen.  You are going to use the bottom matte to insert a brief call to action and your domain name.  It is your discretion if you wish to keep the top matte. The call to action and domain name should be constant throughout the length of the commercial. By using the bottom matte you also insure that your domain name doesn't get lost due to audio or video.

Have a Strong Call to Action
Regardless of the length of your commercial, it is imperative to have a strong call to action. There are numerous commercials that list a web site but don't give people a good reason to visit the listed web site. What can you do with a few words to get your target market to your web site?  Below I've included some quick ideas:

• "Watch Exclusive Video ..."
• "Get a Free Report, Chapter, Information Packet ..."
• "Discounted Online Tickets ..."
• "Exclusive Interviews ..."
• "Get Insider Information ..."

Keep your call to action short and to the point. Consider reemphasizing your call to action at the end of the commercial.

An Excellent Example
Follow the link below for a great example of a 30 second commercial that embodies the suggestions from above. Notice the bottom static banner. The domain name is accompanied by a brief blurb "FOR TICKETS & INFO." It gives the viewer a reason to view the web site.  The domain name is constantly in front of the viewer and reemphasized at the end of the commercial. Production quality on the commercial is also excellent.

• Gathering of Mustangs and Legends 30 Second Spot (AirShowBuzz.com)

Don't Forget to Test
If you have the budget and a little extra time test your commercial with your target audience. The web and ease of digitizing has made testing quick and very affordable.  It can be as simple as posting your commercial online and emailing the link to a small group of people. The results might surprise you.

Press Releases and Your Event Marketing . . .

Press releases are a great place to create an early buzz for your event.  Press releases are also the starting point for future news articles on your event by the media. One piece of information you don't want to forget in any press release is mention of your event's web site.

Add Your Event Web Site to the Press Release
Adding your event web site to a press release seems like a perfectly obvious and logical thing to do. In fact it is so obvious that it usually gets forgotten.  Recently I had a client announce their event without including any information about their event's web site.  The event announcement was covered by several news outlets but only one news outlet mentioned the event's web site. Not including one simple sentence  about the event's web site probably cost my client a few hundred, possibly thousands of targeted visitors to their web site.

Each Time the Media Covers Your Event
Make the request to media outlets that every time they cover your event for a news story that the event web site also gets promoted. Having your web site included in a news articles or television feature is an excellent way to get free advertising and send qualified traffic to your web site. If the media outlet covering your event publishes an online article this can help boost your search engine rankings by virtue of back links. The more back links your web site receives from news articles the more targeted traffic you'll receive.

Have a Call to Action
It isn't enough just to list your web site in a press release. Try and give the reader additional incentive to visit or mention your event's web site.  One sentence should suffice. "You can get additional information at . . . " or "Purchase Tickets Online at . . ." are just a few ideas. You need to give the perspective user some reason to visit your web site beyond a passing mention.

Make Sure Your Site is Up to Date
Before you ask news services to mention your event web site make sure that your site is reasonably up to date.  There is little value in sending people to a web site that contains old and irrelevant information.  At a minimum update the home page of your event's web site. You don't need to do an entire overhaul of your web site immediately, but you should update the critical facts: who, what, when, where, and why.

All the information above seems simple and logical, but unfortunately gets forgotten on a regular basis. It is the small things that can really add up in the end. Getting news outlets to cover your event and mentioning your web site is one way of generating buzz for your event and getting great free advertising.

Leveraging People ‘Googling You’ to Your Advantage

Information Is Power
The above proverb is more applicable today than ever before. In a previous post, Watch Out: People Are ‘Googling’ You, I emphasized the common practice of other people and companies using search engines to find information about you. It is becoming increasing more difficult to keep your information private regardless of your own vigilance in the matter. Fortunately, if you choose, you can use the digital trend to your own advantage.  Consider this: “Information is more powerful when you can control it, especially when the information is about you.” Do you have a firm control of your online identity?

The Information Battle for You
Most people, including myself, are adamant about keeping personal privacy.  As the world becomes more digital so does your personal information. Some state agencies are working with search engine companies to make more records searchable within major search engines. You can read more on the subject at the following link, “Google to dig up more personal records - Software to index more state files such as school test scores.”

Your Digital Choice
You need to decide how you wish to proceed in the digital age.  Some people choose to stay as anonymous as possible when it comes to the Internet.  People are going to look you up online regardless of your best privacy efforts. The information people find online about you could be good or bad and it only takes a few minutes to find something.  If you can’t beat the system you can at least use the situation to your advantage.  The easiest and most powerful way to control your online information is by having your own web site.  When you have your own web site you decide what information is public and what is kept private.  If you are interested in a few preliminary suggestions for creating your own web site please read on. An entire book could be written on this subject, so I’m going to stay to the very basic of recommendations. There are some additional links at the end of the article that might be useful.

Controlling the Information
It has never been easier or as inexpensive to have your own web site. You don’t need an elaborate web site.  In most cases a one page web site should suffice.  By having your own web site you put yourself in the position of being your own information manager.  In many cases you can register a domain and get minimal hosting, including persona email, for less than $75 USD annual. Is it worth $75 to have control of your online information?

Having your own web site is like being in charge of your own television station. You decide what's important for other people to know.  I cannot think of any other medium that offers that sort of broadcasting power for such a minimal cost. You can use your own web site to get business or personal ideas out to the entire world almost instantly. You might consider using your web site to promote your own products or services.

Registering Your Own Domain Name
Start by registering your own domain name, first name and last name, with a dot com. You might want to consider doing the same for family members.  For a few extra dollars you can keep your domain name registration private. Everyone registering a domain should take the time to consider private registration.

In some cases your name might not be available. Consider using a middle initial or other combination. Think of a few different combinations and run it by family and friends.  Ultimately the name you choose has to be readily identified with you.

Some Quick Search Engine Considerations
When you have a name registered and have selected a hosting provider make your web site live. Your web site might just be a picture of you and some contact information.  The reason to post your own web site quickly is because search engines give weight to the age of a web site.  It also helps to have some links coming to your web site. Your goal should be to get the number one listing for you name. Most people only look at the first few search results. Few people get past the first page of search results.

The Most Important Piece of Advice
Regardless of having your own personal web site or not, be cognizant of everything you do both online and off. Each time you leave a comment on a blog or web site guest book consider what others might think. This is especially true with social networking web sites like Facebook, MySpace, and Multiply. A level of caution also applies for photographs and video.  Almost anyone can post a picture or a video to the Internet from their cell phone.  My recommendation is if you’re in public consider yourself on camera.

Ask Others To Help Assess Your Online Information
Consider having family or friends review any information you about you online.  Have family and friends search the most popular search engines (Yahoo, Google, MSN, AOL) and see if they can find any information on you.

Food for Thought …

“Some 71% of 2,000 14 to 21-year-olds said they would not want colleges or employers to do a web search on them before they had removed some material.”
Source: BBC.CO.UK - 'Young warned over social websites'

You can turn people ‘Googling You’ into your own advantage by having your own web site. When you control the information you get to paint your online picture. If you choose not to setup your own web site be careful of what you post online. Ultimately it’s up to you to control your online identity.

Get Additional Information:

• Watch Out: People are Googling You!
• Domain Name Guidelines
• The Simplest SEO Technique
• Moving Forward with Your Ideas

Getting Your Marketing Message Across

Last week I listened in to a teleconference presented by Eben Pagan. Some people might know Eben by his pen name David DeAngelo. One of Eben's most successful web sites can be found at doubleyourdating.com.  If you visit the doubleyourdating web site and cringe, hold off judging "a book by its' cover." The model used for doubleyourdating.com generated over $20 Million USD in revenue for Eben last year. Some of the core marketing concepts he used to generate his $20 Million in revenue were presented in his teleconference. For today’s post I’m going to share my notes from Eben’s teleconference. The crux of Eben's information focused on marketing, listening, and testing.

What is Marketing?
There are a plethora of different definitions for marketing. One really useful definition brought up during the call was that marketing is “letting people know about something they already need.”  Marketing isn’t about being manipulative.  Marketing is about identifying and meeting your customer’s needs with the products and services you offer. Most companies approach marketing and product/service creation by assuming the wants and needs of their target market.  Making assumptions about your target market is a recipe for disaster. During my own business journey I’ve been witness to several businesses create marketing campaigns built upon dangerous assumption. I cannot think of one marketing campaign that was ultimately successful. Focusing on your end user is also crucial for any successful web venture. Put the user before your company, product, or service.

Get Into Their Ego
In order to create better marketing you need to separate you and/or your company’s ego from providing your customers with the best possible product or service.  Egocentrism and idealism end up costing companies dearly.  Instead of approaching your marketing message from the “we know best” angle, as most companies do, concentrate your messaging on your customer’s wants and needs. Use words like “you and your” in your messaging.

It is far easier to get your marketing message across when you establish trust and credibility with your prospect.  Don’t try to change your customer’s mind, because they won’t let you.  You can’t use logic to talk someone into doing something they don’t want to do.  Tie your customer’s wants and needs into their emotions and feelings, “we understand your pain and here is a solution we think might help.” If people don’t have the sense of being understood they aren’t likely to feel trust or take action.

Listen to Your Market
If you want a better understanding of your market you need to listen to them.  Start with asking insightful questions and don’t make assumptions. Something as simple as an email survey can give you valuable information to help identify your target market’s wants and needs.  Drill down deep to get the best information possible.  Here are some questions to consider . . .

• What’s most important to my prospect?
• Is the prospect unhappy about something?
• Am I overlooking a want or need?

Don’t Forget to Test
Eben passes along the advice to “test everything and never get too attached to anything.”  You can test everything from your marketing messages to your products and services.  You can’t afford to approach your marketing with the “there is only one best way to do this” mindset. Think about how many different ways you can do something without overextending your time or resources.  When testing it is important not to set your expectations too high. Businesses should expect an 80% failure rate. Each failure is an opportunity to learn something new. You can only fail so many times before you figure it out. If you’re not testing you’re setting yourself up for failure. You need to repeat the cycle of testing and reimplementing on a continual basis. Approach everything you do in terms of marketing as a test.

Marketing is by far one of the most important factors in determining the success of your product or service. The most effective way to get your marketing message across is by listening and constantly testing. Take a few minutes to consider how you might be able to integrate some of the concepts presented above.

Additional Resources:

• Ego: How to Destroy Your Web Site
• On Failure: Thomas Edison and the Internet

Do You Test Your Web Site Often Enough?

If you bring up the subject of testing your marketing, most people let out a groan of exasperation.  Most companies don't like to test their marketing or their web site. The process to develop a web side is arduous enough, then to go and test can be even more work. The honest truth is that testing your marketing message and your web site is one place that will make a world of difference in terms of your online success.  You should constantly be asking yourself if your marketing and web site are connecting with your end user.

The Right Kind of Testing
One problem companies have with testing their marketing or web site is the potential hit to their ego. Companies put a great deal of pride into their work.  In the case of the company web site, it's the company's version of a digital presentation.  Difficulties arise when companies can't separate themselves from their own pride. The company's ego is getting in the way of its' online success. The best kind of testing is accomplished when a company can separate itself from its' ego. Putting the user as your focal point will put more dollars into the bank, guaranteed!

What to Test
When it comes to web site testing the possibilities are nearly endless. There are a few core areas where you should definitely focus your efforts.

Key Areas to Test

• Headlines
• Web Site Copy
• Checkout Process
• Forms

How to Test
One of the easiest ways to test is with an A/B Split Test. You have one version of a web page and test it against a similar version. Some of the differences can included different headlines or body copy.  The bottom line is that you want to test which message or web page better connects with your user.

Test on a Regular Basis
There is no best time frame for testing. My personal recommendation is test your web site on a quarterly basis. The more testing you can do the better.

Usability and Marketing Intersection
The realm of testing is one crucial area where web usability and internet marketing intersect. If you test to ensure your marketing is effective and that your web site is easy to use, it's difficult not to make money online.

The web was built for versatility. It is fairly easy to update and change almost any web site. Use that versatility to your advantage.