Event Marketing and Event Promotions

Event Marketing Research - Know Your Target Market!

Every aspect of your event marketing needs to start with a comprehensive understanding of your target market. In the case of events, your target market is represented by your ideal event attendee. I cannot stress this enough - Target market research is a big deal! People won’t buy tickets for an event (or attend a free event) that doesn’t hold their interest. A lack of interest is one of the biggest reasons that events fail. If you want to pack your event, the best place to start is with a hungry market!

You can find a hungry market by doing a little online research. If you have a new event, target market research needs to be your first planning step. Start by asking yourself, “What are my target market’s wants, needs, and fears as they pertain to my event?” When asking the question it’s really important to take your ego out of the equation. Focus on the market’s ego.

Use the Net to Do Free Research
There are a plethora of tools you can use to research your target market. Most of the tools are free. Start with a Google search that’s topically related to your event. Consider segmenting your search in Google by look at the blog, news, web, and video results. Look for the hot topics or trends. Pay particular attention to online user content such as comments or reviews. What are people saying? A hotbed for user content can be found in topical forums and blogs.

Don't Reinvent the Wheel
When it comes to events, there is little need to constantly "reinvent the wheel." Take a look at similar and competing events. Try to contact the organizer. Tell them who you are and what you're thinking of doing. It’s amazing how willing other event organizers are to share information.  One telephone call could make your event more financially successful or save you heartache.

Go Back to Your Customer List
If you have a recurring event, go back to your customer list. Consider surveying your customers. Find out what people thought of your previous event and what they expect from your next event. You can have a simple online survey setup in minutes with a service like SurveyMonkey. Don’t be afraid to ask tough questions like “What didn’t you like about our last event?” The idea is to give find out what people expect from your event.

Build a Profile
Use your target market research to compile a demographic and psychographic profile of your event attendee.  That profile represents your ideal prospect and should drive everything you do with your event web site and your event. The profile should also drive your advertising and marketing decisions.

I realize that target market research isn’t the most exciting activity, but its importance is paramount. There is zero benefit in planning or creating an event if people aren’t going to attend. Doing a little homework can upfront can save you a ton of money and agony down the road.

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

Simple Event Advertising Tracking with Google Analytics

Ask most event organizers - “what’s your most effective form of advertising?” Nine times out of ten the response will be, “we have no idea!” Your event advertising needs to be an investment, not a blind expense. Every event organizer should know their most effective form of advertising. It's imperative that your track your advertising effectiveness. Thanks to technology, it’s getting significantly easier to track advertising effectiveness. One free tool every event organizer should insist on having on their event web site is Google Analytics. You can leverage Google Analytics' comprehensive statistics to help you track the effectiveness of your event advertising. Back in December, Google introduced the Annotation feature to their Analytics suite. Annotations allow you to add short notes to your Analytics data.

Use Google Analytics Annotations to Track Your Advertising
Here is what you can do . . . Use annotations to note television, radio, email marketing, or billboard campaigns. Ideally you'll want to track any form of advertising that drives traffic to your web site. You can annotate on a daily basis. Individual annotations can be up to 140 characters long and you can have multiple annotations on a single day. Below is an annotation example from a press conference to announce a local air show.

In the example above - annotations were created to note the date of the press conference to announce our local air show.  When you dig into the stats, you see the different types of advertising and publicity that drove various forms of online traffic. In the example from above, the press conference triggered various news outlets to feature news stories about the event. Almost every television station, radio station,
and new paper picked up on the event announcement.

Digging into the Data
A closer look at Google Analytics showed that 84% of all the daily traffic on March 16th was Referral Traffic (traffic from other web sites). Of that 84% referral traffic, 694 visitors came from one article on a local television news web site. The main reason for this is that the news web site prominently feature a back link to the event web site. (You need to strongly encourage you media partners to back link to your event web site - or else they won't do it.)

Fair Warning
Mining your Analytics data can be both a virtue and a vice. It’s important to be able to track traffic to your event advertising efforts, but don’t get too carried away. You can get easily lost in the countless data-points you have available to you.

Even though you can only annotate on a daily basis, there is a tremendous amount of information that can be analyzed. Here is one certainty - Using annotations is far better than the random guessing technique many event organizers use to track their advertising effectiveness.

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

• An Important Event Web Site Statistic for Promoters and Event Planners
• Measuring Advertising Effectiveness
• Did You Buy a Snickers Bar Yet?
• Hold Your Event Marketing Accountable!
• Web User Traffic Trends to Your Event Web Site
• The Timing of Your Event Promotion

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

The Danger of Not Having Your Event

Two weeks ago, I found out that a client decided to “take a year off” from their event. The event had been successfully taking place for the last 14 years. What started as a small event - ballooned into a truly great event. When I heard that the event wasn’t taking place this year, my first reaction was “What? Are you kidding me?!?!” The event was loved attendees and most importantly – making money for the event organizer. I fully understand that it’s the event organizers decision to take the year off.  It’s their event, their pocketbook, thus ultimately their decision. But I’m not quite sure if the event organizer fully understands the ramifications of their decision.

If you don’t have your recurring event, you affect the future viability of your event and ultimately your pocketbook. If you’re thinking not to have your recurring event, ask yourself, “What do I stand to lose?”

People Look Elsewhere
Here is the biggest danger of deciding to “take a year off” (or time off) from your event . . . Your patrons will find something else to do. You should NEVER expect your patrons to patiently wait around for your next event. New competing events are constantly popping up and vying for your target market’s attention. When you take time off from your event your target market WILL find something else to fill their time.

Eroding Resources
Another danger of taking time off is your customer resources take a tremendous hit. Your most important resource is your customer database or list. Every event organizer NEEDS to have a house list of prospects and customers.  With each day that passes - you lose people from your house list. People change their email addresses, move, or otherwise move on.  Don’t be surprised if you take a year off from your event and lose 75% of your house list. It’s important to remember - the person most likely to attend your next event is the person who just attended your event.

Advertising Spend
If you mothball your event, expect to do more advertising the next time you have your event. Regardless of economic times, there is no shortage of advertising. When’s the last time you watched your favorite television program without commercials? People are being flooded with new advertising every day. If you’ve taken time off from your event, expect to spend more to reintroduce your event.

There is Hope!
Is it impossible to resurrect a recurring event that’s take some time off? No! You can start up your event again. People have done so successfully in the past and so can you. Here is one thing that can make a big difference in restarting your event . . . If you have an event web site keep it running, especially if you’ve been online for some time. Don’t take your web site down! You’ll lose position in search engines. You can counter the loss of your customer database by collecting emails from your event web site. Even in off years your event web site will get visitors. Be sure to keep in touch with your list during off years. Let your list know what's going on with your event and what to expect.

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

• Keeping Your Event List Engaged
• Don't Neglect Your Email List
• Event Marketing: Multiple Ways to Engage Your List
• Simple Customer List Building Suggestions
• Late Event Promotion - Big List Growth

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

Do I Need to Redesign My Event Web Site?

One comment I hear often is “we want to redesign our event web site.” Before you start of thinking of a redesign, ask yourself, “Do I really need to redesign my event web site?” There seems to be this common belief that if you redesign a web site your fortune will instantly improve. Unfortunately that simply isn’t the case. Companies have spent countless dollars on web site redesigns with little ROI. Let me share a few event web site redesign stories for your consideration . . .

The Importance of Looking at Your Past
Recently a friend of mine insisted on redesigning their event web site. A driving factor was the desire to “re-brand” their online identity. As part of the initiative an in house hosting solution was setup and they built a custom content management system for the web site. Thousands of dollars were invested. Here’s the kicker . . . the previous four years of web statistics were for the site were never referenced during any part of the redesign. You should NEVER build a web site without carefully considering your existing web statistics.

“It Looks Like an Infomercial!” – Change it!
Here’s another story. Last year, a different event organizer insisted on redesigning their event web site. It had been a few years since anything was done with the design. Their reasoning was that the previous layout and copy “looked like an infomercial.” Looking good was the emphasis of the new design. The event organizer brought in a different web developer to redesign the site.  Almost every single sales (infomercial) element of the previous site was stripped away in the redesign. The end result . . . The “better looking” web site took a 69% drop in online ticket sales from year to year.

Great Web Site Fundamentals
A great event web site has little to do with design, layout, or graphics. People don’t visit your event web site because it’s “beautiful” or “looks cool.” (Sorry graphic designer people.) Visitors are coming to your event web site because the information you have for them is relevant to their needs. Take a look at Google, Craigslist, Wikipedia, etc. Their success is driven by text based content that’s useful to the user. Is a professional looking web site important? Yes, absolutely!  I’m not suggesting you should have an ugly looking web site.  I’d say that a highly informative web site is far more lucrative.

Here’s the bottom line . . . before you even think about redesigning your event web site, spend some time focusing on the simple things. Some of my most successful event promotion endeavors have been with web sites that were a few years old. Look at your web stats or consider improving your existing web site copy. The most cost effective upgrade you can do on ANY web site is providing your target audience with better information. Upgrading the information on your web site could be done for next to nothing, if anything at all.

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

• How Big Should My Event Web Site Be?
• Your Event Promotion and Marketing Strategy - Start Point
• Save Money and Time with an FAQ
• An Event VIP Experience Done Right - Red Bull Style
• Automatically Generate Leads for Your Event Year Round
• Getting Detailed Feedback To Improve Your Event

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

How to Use Words on Your Event Web Site . . .

Your event web site is the one place where your writing needs to be at its’ most compelling. In the case of event marketing and promotion you’re using words (copy) to persuade people to purchase a ticket and/or attend your event. Best selling author Neil Strauss summed it up like this "The highest goal of writing is NOT to have good grammar; it's to have meaning and impact!" For today I’m going to give you some simple suggestions to improve the impact of the writing you use to promote and market your event.

It’s Not About You!
One colossal mistake made on most web sites is too much writing in the first person. Stay away from using  “I , We, & Our” too often.  To illustrate the point, I encourage you to take a look at a few business web sites. You'll see a whole bunch of first person narrative. Here's the problem with too much writing in first person  . . . People aren’t visiting your web site so you can pontificate about yourself.  They are their to satiate their personal wants and needs. Thus you should concentrate on writing in second person. In second person you’re going to use “You” and “Your” in your writing. Does this mean you should never write in first person? No! You can still write in first person, but do so sparingly. It's hard to go wrong when you write to the ego of the reader and their interest.

Think In Terms of Value & Use a Conversational Tone
It’s hard to go wrong if you write in terms of value for the reader. When it comes to online information it's often said that “content is king.” In this case your writing is your content. Your copy should be written in a way that is valuable to your reader.  Write your copy in a way that gets the reader to say, "Wow, I want to do that!"  Your writing tone also has effect on the reader. Try to write in a conversational manner. Don't try and stuff high end vocabulary into your writing. Writing in a corporate-slick manner makes you come off as a stiff board. Add a little spice to your writing that's appropriate to your audience.

Below is text from an air show ticketing page that exemplifies the two suggestions from above . . .

"Get VIP Tickets and Experience the Air Show in an Extraordinary Way!"

As a VIP Ticket Holder you get:

• Access to the Exclusive VIP Guest Enclosure
• The chance to meet, get your picture taken with, or get an autograph from some of the best pilots in the world
• 4 solid hours of heart-stopping aviation excitement with two amazing jet teams!

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

• The Content King of the Internet
• Advertising and Marketing that Sells
• Does Your Headline Grab Their Undivided Attention?
• Get Your Audience Involved Through Their Emotions
• Words with Pizzazz and Razzle Dazzle
• Web Copy Argument: Short or Long?
• Promotional Headlines for Your Event
• Keep Your Text Columns Narrow
• Is Your Text the Right Color?
• Proofing your Work On Paper

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

What to Do After You’ve Sold a Ticket to Your Event . . .

Many event organizers think of their attendee’s event experience occurring entirely at the event. An event attendee’s opinion of your event starts the moment they purchase a ticket from you.  They just gave you their hard earned money and have become your customer. What you do between the time someone purchases a ticket for your event and when they actually attend your event significantly impacts the opinion people have of your event. For today we'll focus on simple things you can do before your event to elevate the customer's overall experience.

Think About Them
Here is a simple question every event organizer or planner should ask . . . “What can we do to make our patron’s entire experience (from ticket purchase, until after the event) as enjoyable as possible?” Event attendee opinions are still in play after your event, but to a far lesser extent. Pretend you just purchased at ticket as an event attendee to your own event.  What are all the questions you’d have regarding the event?  Think in terms of being a helpful guide or great information resource to event attendees. Nobody is going to give you grief for providing them with great information.

Below are some simple examples you can easily integrate into delivering a tremendous event experience outside your actual event . . .

Leverage Your Customer Contact Information
Leverage your attendee (customer) list and their email addresses. Your customer list is one of your most powerful resources. Consider putting together a simple event guide (PDF) that event attendees can download and print from home before your event.  A few years ago I made the previous suggestion to a beer festival organizer. The event organizer quickly put together a simple downloadable map indicating where each brewery was located.  The downloadable map looked very unprofessional, but nobody cared! Attendees were hungry for the information. Anyone could download the map from the beer festival web site.  The map turned out to be not only an informational tool, but also a marketing piece. Anyone could download the map for free. As long as the information is relevant and timely, people will always give you a pass on how it looks . . . just look at Google's simplicity. It's all about the information.

Driving and Parking at Your Event
Another issue that challenges many events, especially big events, is parking. Are there parking or traffic conditions that event attendee’s should be aware of regarding your event? Last year a client received a few nasty-grams from unhappy event patrons that didn’t realize how difficult it would be to get to their event. Is it the responsibility of the event organizer to event attendees to plan for traffic? Some people might say yes, others might say no. Your focus should be on making it as easy as possible for people to get to your event.

Remember, the customer has just spent their hard earned money to buy a ticket for your event. You can’t afford to rest on your laurels. You need to expand your customer service experience. Use your event web site and other resources to further enhance the experience of ticket holders. It’s never been easier and so inexpensive to deliver information digitally. Focus on getting people information that will help them to really enjoy your event.

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

• Save Money and Time with an FAQ
• When Do I Start Promoting My Event?
• A Simple Formula to Pack Your Event
• Automatically Generate Leads for Your Event Year Round
• Getting Detailed Feedback To Improve Your Event

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

 

An Event VIP Experience Done Right – Red Bull Style

If you want a killer model on how to run super successful outdoor events, you need not look any further than Red Bull.  Red Bull events attract millions of people across the globe.  They do everything from the winter Butter Cup (snowboarding) events to adrenaline packed heart-skipping air races.  In 2008, I was fortunate enough to participate in the Detroit Red Bull Air Races. It was an eye opening lesson in selling event exclusivity to the public. Red Bull events run the gamut from FREE admission to a super pricey experience. Today I’m going to dive into Red Bull’s high end model . . .

The Ultimate VIP Experience
Red Bull offers something called the High Flyer’s Lounge at their air races.  It is a high end experience that gets you up close to the action and pampers participants all day long. In the high flyer’s lounge you get to eat scrumptious food prepared by European chefs and access to a top self open bar. It’s also a great chance to mingle with the occasional celebrity who might be in attendance. My purpose for telling your all of this isn’t to sell you anything. It’s all about the idea of offering high end exclusivity at your next event. The High Flyer’s Lounge is a great model for anyone thinking of creating a VIP experience at their event.

The Red Bull High Flyer's Lounge (Video)

Watch the short video above to get an overview of the Red Bull’s High Flyer’s Lounge. There are plenty of ideas for almost any event planner or organizer to borrow.  Pay particular attention to third party endorsements (testimonials) in from people in the High Flyer’s Lounge. Red Bull is leveraging their customers to sell people on the exclusive experience.  

Collecting Big Bucks for a FREE Event
Keep in mind that Red Bull is selling premium exclusivity to an event that people can attendee for FREE! They don’t let the economy slow them down.  There are always going to be event attendees looking for the ultimate experience. You need to offer exclusivity at your event. Check this out . . . To purchase a two day High Flyer’s Lounge pass for the 2010 Air Race in Detroit, Saturday and Sunday, will cost you $1547.00 USD. In contrast a one day High Flyer’s Lounge pass (Sunday Only) costs $1158.00 USD. The High Flyer’s Lounge can accommodate a couple hundred people per day . . . 200 people a day (times) $1158.00 USD = $231,600. Even if it costs $100K a day to support, you’re still up $130K per day.

And Here's the Real Kicker
As part of my 2008 Air Race experience, I witness the most amazing thing . . .  A business man from Detroit paid big bucks to get into the High Flyer’s lounge. Because of high winds on Saturday the Air Race was canceled. In spite of no air races the business man was elated by his experience.  Here is what he told me . . . “It doesn’t matter that they didn’t race today. This total worth every dollar I paid. I was treated like a King and made a few great contacts that are going to be worth a mint to my company.” Any event organizer who can have their event cancelled and pull off a comment like that is a rock star in my book.

Take a careful look at how Red Bull Sells a high end experience.  There are plethora of ideas that you can borrow for your event.

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

• Exciting Red Bull Video
• Turn Your Event Into an Experience
• P.T. Barnum on Advertising
• Why Well Planned Events Fail
• How to Get Them To Your Event
  
• Getting Them to Buy Tickets Early

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

Your Outdoor Event and the Weather

Potentially bad weather combined with an outdoor event can take any cool/confident event organizer and turn them into a nervous wreck. All it takes is one bad weather forecast to completely ruin an outdoor event.  Months of planning and massive amounts of money can come down to a weather forecast (accurate or not). Below are a few simple suggestions that you can use into dealing with weather and your outdoor event.

Those Pesky Forecasters
How a weather forecast is presented has a direct impact on people showing up to your outdoor event. In the air show world if the weather forecaster says something like “It might rain this weekend” BANG!  The air show just lost tens of thousands of dollars . . . It could end up being perfectly sunny and people will still remember the forecast and not show up to the event. Here is an out of the box suggestion - Try and contact your local weather forecasters and let them know about your event. Ask them if they can stay away from depicting doom and gloom. I’m NOT suggesting you ask your local forecaster to be dishonest in their forecast.  But let’s be honest . . . How the forecast is presented could have a huge impact on your event turnout. Don’t let a editorial speculative forecast ruin all your planning and hard work.

Use a Damaging Admission
There is a marketing genius by the name of Dan Kennedy that coined the phrase “damaging admission.” A damaging admission is a brutally honest conceit regarding your product or service. In the case of an outdoor event, the weather could be your damaging admission. You’re far better off coming out and acknowledging the weather in relation to your event. "Yes, it might actually rain, so we've done this . . . " The best place to address any weather concerns is right on your event web site.  Below is an excerpt of a “damaging admission” related to the weather leveraged with a huge Canadian air show.  Feel free to borrow any concepts or ideas from below.

Weather
We cannot guarantee the weather . . .  Please don’t rely on the weather forecast to help you make up your mind. In our experience “the forecast is usually wrong” for both good weather and bad. Your safety and the public’s safety is the number one concern of any air show. It’s important for you to know each performer has a routine to accommodate for various weather conditions, including low cloud bases. Each routine will leave you awe-inspired.

Important Weather Note
Unfortunately we aren’t in a position where we can offer refunds for weather. The Air Show is a rain or shine event.

The above admission didn’t have any negative impact on advance ticket sales for the event. People still purchased tickets in droves. And, they were very appreciative that we acknowledged the weather right on the ticket page. If you have an outdoor event, always acknowledge what happens IF the weather turns sour.

Have a Weather Back Up Plan
Create a backup plan if bad weather has the potential to disrupt your event. Obviously the first priority is patron safety when it comes to weather. Too many event organizers and planners have no plan for when then weather craps out. Is there something else you can do, in spite of the weather, to ensure patrons have a positive experience at your event?

If you have some experience in countering bad weather at your event, please comment and leave a suggestion.

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

How Big Should My Event Web Site Be?

One question that always comes up when building or redesigning an event web site is, “How many pages should I make my event web site?” I’ve seen event planners and organizers agonize over the previous question far too many times.

When laying out your event web site, always keep in mind user attention span . . . People want to get information about your event and get out. Hence, I strongly recommend building an event web page of only 5-10 pages, 15 pages max. Five to ten pages might seem small, but it isn’t - consider the web stats below.

Some Event Web Site Stats to Consider
A quick look at your web stats should give you a good perspective on what people are doing on your web site. If you don’t have your own web statistics to reference, look below. The statistic below are averages collected from my own event projects over the last few years. The statistics were compiled from three different event web sites. The events had anywhere from a few thousand attendees all the way up to 1.35 million attendees over four days.

Here are the most pertinent statistics:

• 90% of web visitors are coming to your event web site three times or LESS!
• People look at an average of ONLY 3.41 pages on each event web site.
• 3:52 is the average time spent on a web site within 30 days of the event taking place.
  After the event the average time on site drops like a rock.

You'll Never Be Able to Answer 100% of Attendee's Questions
Here is something important to realize - no event web site can answer 100.0% of any attendee’s potential questions. Here is an important question to ask . . . Is it better to have a 10 page web site that answers 95% of your attendee’s questions, or a 50 page web site that answers 99% of attendee’s questions? I'd argue it's better to focus on a smaller more useful website as opposed to gigantic bear of a web site.

Leverage and Improve Your FAQ Page
One great way to reduce the size of your web site is by having a robust Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page. Use your FAQ page to address the lump sum of questions people ask regarding your event. When putting together an FAQ page, think of it as a constantly evolving document. Work on updating your FAQ page right through your event.

Event Website Outline
Below is a standard outline that I’ve used for every event web site over the last ten years. Yes, it’s overly simplistic, but it works like a charm. The web site outline was based around people's most common event questions. Feel free to use it the outline below for your event web site. You can add a page or two where necessary.

• Home Page
• Schedule
• Tickets
• Directions/Parking
• FAQ
• Sponsors
• Contact Us

There is no need for a monstrous event web site with hundreds of page. Keep things small and simple. If you use the page outline from above and create a comprehensive FAQ page, you should be well on your way to a really great event web site.

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

• Event Planning - The Customer Avatar and Your Event
• When to Start Selling Tickets to Your Event
• A Negative Question to Create a Better Event
• Automatically Generate Leads for Your Event Year Round
• How to Get Them To Your Event
• Why Well Planned Events Fail
• Getting Them to Buy Tickets Early

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