Event Marketing Articles and Event Promotion

Connecting with Your Event Audience Online

When it comes to your event web site content it is imperative to be very conscientious that the information is overwhelmingly user focused.  I go well beyond “beating a dead horse” on this particular topic.  People always ask, why do you constantly bring this point up?  Not staying people focused is the single biggest liability to a business' or event's web presence. Most companies struggle online because they’re not connecting with their audience in a language that the audience understands.

“I want it done this way!”
In the past, I’ve had clients insist on updating their web site with information they believed to be very important.  The challenge is showing event organizers and business owners that the people aren’t interested in the particular information they want to share. Worst of all it cost event organizers and businesses their own time, effort, and money. At the very basic level you need to separate what you think is best form the audience and what they want. I'm not sure who's quote it is, but "Get yourself out of your ego and into the prospect's ego."

How to Avoid Costly Mistakes
You can avoid the costly mistake of not connecting with your audience in several ways.  Start with your data. What data (emails, follow up surveys, telephone calls, etc.) can you reference to better understand the people using your web site?  Are there any specific trends that give you insight into what information prospective attendees want? Do your web stats indicate something important?

Another way to get in the right frame of mind is to ask yourself, “If I was going to an event web site, what would be most important to me?” When it comes to event web site information what's important can change depending on the time frame. As an example, people are going to be much more interested in directions to your event as the event date approaches. The safest thing to do is ask your target market, “What do you want to know about the event and when do you want to know about it?”

Below I’ve included some articles that might prove helpful in getting in better touch with you audience.

• Are You Listening To Your Users?
• Are You Interacting with Your Target Market?
• Ask Your Patrons What They Want
• Create a Better Event with Patron Feedback

Using Mystery and Your Event Promotion

Have you ever used a little mystery or intrigue to promote your event? We humans tend to be a very curious bunch.  Once we’re teased with something of interest, it's usually followed by an insatiable itch to find out more.

The Sneak Peak
A great example of using mystery to tease something bigger is a movie trailer. What is a movie trailer? A movie trailer is a short two minute vignette to get people interested in going to see the full movie. Have you every thought of using the trailer idea to promote your event? With inexpensive video recording and free services like YouTube, it's never been easier to create your own videos.

Delivering the Goods
One caveat of mystery is not letting your audience down. If you’re building up a promotion using mystery make sure that you deliver something big. You want your audience to say, “Wow, that’s amazing!” You never want them underwhelmed by the experience. How many times have you seen something built up so big that it can’t possibility meet someone’s expectations? It's like seeing a great movie trailer and then being let down by the feature length version of the film. If you're going to tease, make sure you deliver the goods!

Below, I’ve included a video presentation by J.J. Abrams, the creator of Lost and number of Hollywood movies.  In the video, J.J. talks about Mystery Boxes and how they get integrated into various stories.  Take a few minutes and watch the video. It might give you an idea that can be integrated into you next event or promotion.

The Magic Box

Additional Resources:

• Magic Marketing Sales Technique

Event Marketing Idea: Blocking Your Tickets

There is one really simple strategy you can use to drive the “right” amount of advance sale tickets.  Why the “right” amount of advance sale tickets? Because many event organizers are hesitant to offer ticket discounts. They worry that they’re going to lose too much money.  “What if everyone buys the tickets at 50% off?” There is a very easy way to mitigate the possibility of giving up too much and still drive advance ticket sales.

Ticket Blocking
If you’re offering discounted tickets to your event, especially deeply discounted tickets, limiting the amount of tickets sold can be used to your advantage.  I refer to the process as discount ticket blocking. By ticket blocking you only offer a certain amount of tickets at a discounted price.  Just by limiting the number of discounted tickets you give additional incentive for people to buy early.  It’s important to find the right combination of blocking and price to drive ticket prices.  Each event is going to have a unique combination. Doing a little intuitive math should give you a decent idea of how much and how many tickets to discount.

Offer Huge Ticket Discounts
Did you ever think of offering a 50% discount on your event ticket price? A few months ago I meet Kevin Walsh from Wingman Events.  Kevin provides consulting services for the air show industry.  He came up with a great ticket and blocking schedule that helped sell a significant portion of tickets of advance sale tickets to an air show. Did he give up profit margin? Absolutely! He discounted some event tickets by over 50%. But would you give up significant margin if you could pay for your entire event before a single person walked in the gate? Remember there are only a certain amount of people who will buy early.

Ticket blocking is a simple way to make sure you don’t lose when discounting ticket prices and still drive advance sale tickets.  Make sure you give it some consideration for your next event.

Additional Resources:

• Online Ticket Sales
• Leveraging Advance Event Sale Tickets
• Counter Intuitive Event Results

Ask Your Patrons What They Want

When is the last time you asked your target market for feedback or input on your event? It is very easy to assume you know the needs and desires of your target market.  The dilemma of assuming what a target market's needs and desires are, plagues the business world daily. It's the classic "I know what they want!" Businesses then proceed to spend a ton of money and time developing the perfect product or service that nobody needs or cares about.  Unfortunately the same dilemma carries over into the event world. Event organizers build events that don’t match up with the expectations or desires of their target market. If you can meet your target market’s needs and desires you’re much more likely to be successful with your event.  Put simply, would you rather go to an event that interests you or an event that holds no interest for you? One of the easiest ways to meet your target market's wants and desires is by asking them simple questions.

A Real Life Feedback Example
The example that follows isn't directly from the event marketing world, but the same idea could be applied to almost any event.

A few days ago a friend of mine conducted a very interesting feedback experiment. My friend’s company sells unique t-shirts.  On a whim he decided to post a short two minute video to his web site.  The purpose of the video was to request questions from his target market relating to his business and products.  After the video was posted online, he emailed all the people on his email list. The response to the video was tremendous.  Hundreds of people viewed the video and then submitted a bunch of great questions and comments.  My friend is now going to use the feedback to help him develop products that are very focused on the customer. It also help him drive home the biggest sales month he's ever had in his business.

Stick with Simple
You don’t have to do something as elaborate as a video post to engage your target market.  Email is a super efficient and inexpensive way to collect feedback. Send an email and ask a few very simple questions that help you better understand your target market’s wants and desires.  It could be as straightforward as “What do you want to see at the event?” You’ll be amazed at what you can learn when you ask questions. Ideas you might never have thought of manifest themselves with great audience feedback. Another great thing about asking for feedback on your event is that it builds a tremendous amount of trust and credibility with your target market.   

After Your Event
After you event is over think about sending a follow up survey. Find out what attendees liked and disliked. You could use the data you collect for planning future events.

If you want a super successful event ask your target market what they want and then do your best to deliver it to them.  It all starts with a question. If you can focus primarily your target market's needs, you'll have a much easier time reaching your event goals, guaranteed!

Additional Resources:

• Multiple Ways to Engage Your List
• Learn from the Past before Spending on the Future
• Are You Interacting with Your Target Market?

Event Marketing Idea: Leveraging Your Voicemail

Do you have an information hot line line setup for your event or a number you encourage people to call for additional event inquires? If you have a voice mail message setup does it include mention of your web site? If aren’t including a web address in your voice mail you’re missing a great opportunity to drive people to your web site.

I originally wrote about this idea in Marketing Via Voicemail. I figured it might be benefical to reframe the same strategy for event marketers.  This is one of those small things that can make a big difference.  You could potentially save yourself countless hours of returning telephone calls if people can find the answers to their questions on your web site. How much does it cost you to change your voice mail message? The idea seems like a “Thank you Doctor Obvious” suggestion, yet it’s so simple that most people never implement the idea. Of the numerous companies I mentioned this idea to none of them have included their web site in their voice mail message. The irony was that every company I suggested the idea to thought it was a great idea.

Additional Suggestions:

• If your web address is difficult to spell or interpret over the telephone, spell it out in the voice mail message.
  
• Be sure you include a call to action with your web address. It isn’t enough to mention just your event web site. A good call to action gives people a compelling reason to visit your web site.  It can be anything from discount online tickets to a cool video you want them to watch.

Additional Resources:

• Saving Money and Time with an FAQ

A Big Bucks Idea for Your Next Event

Do you have a certain segment of your event attendees who are willing to pay more for a very unique experience? Almost every event has a group of people looking for the ultimate experience. Consider the following:

Most air shows have an attendance of a few thousand to tens of thousands of people. The general admission ticket price we’ll use for this example is $10 USD. There is always going to be a small percentage of air show fans that are looking for the ultimate experience. You can offer those looking for the ultimate air show experience a “Top Gun Club” ticket for $100 per day per person. The $100 ticket gets you VIP Parking, access to a tented area right on the flight line, all you can eat food and drinks, and visits from the air show performers though out the day.

Let’s assume that the air show in this example gets 25,000 attendees for the weekend.  Could you sell 100 “Top Gun Club” tickets for $100 each? That’s an extra $10,000 in revenue per day for your event. Some might say "There is no way people are willing to pay that much!" I’ve spoken to air show organizers that have successfully implemented a very similar program to the one given above. They never seem to have problems selling our their “Top Gun” packages well in advance.

Customize the Idea for Your Event
You can use the idea above and customize it for your event. The pricing and structure is entirely at your discretion. What can you offer your event attendees as the ultimate experience? Maybe it’s backstage passes, or an exclusive VIP engagement with one of your performers or speakers. Find out what people really want and offer them a high end version.

The Caveat - You Must Deliver Massive Value
One very important part that you don’t want to neglect is delivering massive value to your premium buyer. That’s probably the quickest way close the door on any high end specialty packages in the future. Your focus should be delivering an experience that far exceeds expectations.  If you have a VIP package that cost $100, make the purchaser feel like they receiving $500 in value. Spend some time thinking about the simple things to deliver massive value. It can be a series of low cost ideas that when combined become very impressive.

There are always a small percentage of people that are willing to pay big bucks for something unique.
Think of ways to offer a truly unique experience for a small segment of your attendees. It can be a great way to raise some big bucks at your next event.

Technology versus Just Event Marketing

Technology and its’ impact on people can be ironic at times. Too many people think technology is an instant fix to their business challenges. In my humble opinion, technology can enhance and drive good ideas, but it can’t manifest or replace well thought and well executed plans.

Two Choices
I have a friend who is trying to sell consulting services to a group of event organizers.  The two services my friend is proposing are a comprehensive marketing strategy package and ticketing technology that allows at home on-demand ticket printing. The ticketing technology is impressive to say the least. You can instantly and securely place an order for a ticket to an event and then print your ticket from the comfort of home. When you get to the event a scanner checks your home printed ticket and you’re in the event.

One Over the Other
The irony of the situation is that the event organizers want the ticketing technology but not the marketing strategy.  I ask the question of what’s more important, “The ability to buy tickets online or great event marketing to drive people to your event?” In the above case I believe that just event marketing is far more valuable than the cool technology.  I would think that it doesn’t matter how many tickets can be bought online if you can’t give people a good reason to show up to your event.

Yes, I’m a big technology guy. But I’m also rooted in the firm belief that technology enhances the work of hard working humans. Technology works best with a well thought out plan and forward thinking humans. Technology should be used to increase efficiency, not as a magic bullet. 

Quality First Example
One of the distance marketing programs I’m involved with relies heavily on technology for content delivery. The program uses live interactive video seminars (webinars) and high tech telephone conferencing.  Yet, for all the “bells and whistles” the strongest part of the entire marketing program is the content. Without great content the technology doesn’t matter.

Consider how web sites evolved over the years. Remember when a huge amount of businesses wanted Flash based web sites? Of all the businesses I know that changed their company web sites to flash, every single one returned to HTML based design.

Of everything that I’ve seen to date, there is no technology that can replace a well planned or well marketed event. If you’re going to use any technology in your event, make sure it enhances the great work you’re already doing.

Wanted: A Simple One Page Event Web Site

Yesterday I attended a local event with some clients and friends. A client of mine was good enough to offer me some complementary tickets for myself and friends to a fundraising event.  In the days leading up to the event I was trying to coordinate a meeting time with friends. The challenge was that I couldn’t find any information on the event, most importantly a definitive start time, anywhere.  I had honestly spent at least 30 minutes of my time searching the web and making phone calls to various parties involved with the event. Of the people I spoke with over the telephone, I was given three different start times. In the end, I was able to find out a definitive time about two hours before the event started.

It Happens More Often Than Not
There have been times where I’ve experienced similar scenarios of not being able to find critical information with other big events. If I’m a web guy and pride myself on the ability to find almost anything online in short order, what about all the other people? I can only imagine the frustration level that others had in trying to find information for an event they paid good money to attend. One of the best things you can do is keep your event attendees and prospective attendees well informed.

Just One Page
The example above illustrates the need for having something as simple as a one page event web site that’s easy to find in search engines. This can be accomplished for as little as $75-$100 USD a year.  All you need is the domain name registered and a simple hosting plan. The sooner you post a web site the better your chances for getting properly listed in the search engines. I’ve included additional information to help event organizers get started with a simple and inexpensive web presence.

Additional Resources:

• Having a Separate Web Site for Your Event
• Domain Registration Guidelines
• Search Engine Optimization and Your Event Marketing
• The Simplest SEO Technique
• Putting Directions Online and Your Event
• The Most Powerful Form of Online Advertising (Part I)
• The Most Powerful Form of Online Advertising (Part II)

Promotion Timing and Your Event

Have you ever wondered “when should I start advertising for my event?” Over the years I’ve seen a number of examples that help formulate a possible answer to previous question. At the same time, it’s difficult to pinpoint an exact time frame to start advertising for your event.  The time frame for advertising depends on a number of variables unique to your event. Factors include type of event, weather conditions, competing events, the economy, etc.

The Danger of Starting Too Late
A few years ago there was a summer event that I consulted for that illustrates the danger of waiting too long to promote an event.  The event was well known in the community and took place every few years during the summer. Event organizers didn’t start to promote the event with traditional media until about 10 days prior to the event taking place.  Because of the late start in advertising there were some very noticeable impacts in ticket sales. Online ticket sales decreased by over 60% and regular ticket sales were down significantly from previous years. It’s my firm belief that had the advertising started earlier that the ticket sales would have been much higher.

Consider the Variables
The adverting time frame is going to be determined by a number of unique factors. Consider the following. If you’re in the Northern part of the United States and you have an outdoor event there are only so many nice weather days granted by Mother Nature.  People tend to make long term weekend plans during the summer. If you have a summer event you’re going to want to advertise at least 30 days in advance. You should always be thinking of the variables that impact your advertising schedule.

Always Start Early, as Opposed to Late
There is one fundamental that can be applied to almost every event. You can get to a point then it is too late to advertise your event. Regardless of how big your advertising budget, there comes a time when it isn’t enough to sway a target audience. How many times have you heard the infamous line “I wish I would have known earlier.” If you’re advertising for your next big event start advertising early as opposed to later.

Sponsorship, Domain Name Branding, and Your Event

Below is a scenario that has come up once or twice in years past. Let me start by stating I fully realize the importance of sponsorship to events.  Some events might not be able to take place without the support of sponsors.  Recently a particular case study prompted me to carefully examine the relationship between domain name branding and sponsorship.

A Sponsor Wanting to Rebrand the Domain Name
In the case study the title sponsor for an event wanted to rebrand the domain name used for the event’s web site to be sponsor centric. The domain name would include the sponsor’s name and the type of event. Some might think it’s an easy position to logically justify.  If a title sponsor is giving a large donation to help support the event, why not rebrand the domain name?  Consider this; the event already had a well established domain name that had been used for almost 8 years. Additionally, over $350,000 USD was spent on advertising for the event over 8 years with the previous domain name featured prominently.

When to Rebrand Your Domain Name
The one instance where you might want to consider rebranding your domain name to be sponsor centric is when you lock a title sponsor into a long term sponsorship agreement.

Local and Out of Town Domains
If you get event attendees from outside the local area and your title sponsor is only known locally you might run into additional branding challenges. You might want to consider using one domain name locally and another that resonates with out of town people

When Changing Your Domain Name, Keep your old Domain Name Alive
If you do decide to rebrand your event’s domain name, keep your previous domain names active and pointing to your new domain.  People who have an affinity for your previous domain name use it to get to your web site. From a search engine perspective, it can take several months or years to properly re-index a new domain name. Don’t forget to consider older links associated with the previous domain name.

Ultimately the decision to use a new domain name or stay with an existing one is the decision of the event organizers.  Make sure you choose wisely. If you’re event attendees are accustomed to using one domain name, a change might not be in your best interest.

What is Event Marketing?

A quick lookup on your favorite search engine will show that various companies have very different perspectives on the definition of event marketing. A number of search queries to this very web site support the notion that there is confusion as to one concrete definition.

What is the Definition of Event Marketing?
After some research, both online and offline, I’ve been able to boil down event marketing into the two definitions below.

Event Marketing - Definition #1
The use of traditional or new media to promote, market, or advertise an event. Various forms of marketing and advertising are used to entice people to attend an event. Event types could include anything from not for profit fundraisers to sporting events, conventions, fundraisers, seminars, festivals, workshops, air shows, and many more.

Event Marketing - Definition #2
Using an event, like those listed above, to engage perspective consumers, build awareness, or market a company’s products and services. One of the simplest examples is trade show marketing.  Your business purchases booth space and presents your company’s products or services to trade show attendees. Some companies rephrase this definition of event marketing as event-based marketing. The second definition of event marketing is best embodied in Ruth Stevens' book “Trade Show & Event Marketing: Plan, Promote & Profit.”

For the purpose of this web page I present ideas and strategies for the kind of event marketing found above in Definition #1. Hopefully the information above helps clear up some of the apparent confusion.

Hold Your Event Advertising Accountable!

Last year I discover a book by Victor Cheng titled, “Escaping the Self Employment Trap.” Victor writes about an important concept every event marketer should embrace called “Accountable Marketing.” The ideology has been used by direct marketers for years. There was something about how he presented the concept that got me thinking in terms of event promotion. He sums up accountable marketing in his own words below.

“When your marketing is accountable, it provides you with an enormous advantage in the marketplace. You have great clarity on what marketing activities are making you money and what activities are not.”
Escaping the Self Employment Trap, Cheng. p.66.

Tracking Your Return On Investment
If you spend $”X” Dollars in Advertising you Get “Y” in return. For event marketers “Y” could be ticket sales, leads, or people going to their event web site.  Victor also point out that you should think of your advertising as a form of investment. If your advertising isn’t bring you a return on investment then it’s expense.

There are numerous events that have a wide range in advertising budgets. There is a good chance if you asked an event organizer, “do you know what the return on investment is for your advertising?”  Most wouldn’t be able to give you a quantified response. There are some event organizers who spend tens of thousands of dollars, even hundreds of thousands, without knowing their return on investment. Always be looking for ways to track your advertising effectiveness. Your web stats can be a great and inexpensive tracking device. 

The Advertising Question to Ask
Every event marketer needs to ask “What am I getting in return for my advertising and marketing?”
Your numbers might not be perfect, and not all advertising can be tracked directly. But, if you at least put your frame of mind around the concept you’ll probably never look at advertising the same.

Additional Resources:

• Tracking The Effectiveness of Traditional Marketing with The Internet
• Are You Taking the Time to Analyze Your Web Statistics?

 

Search Engine Optimization and Your Event Marketing

More lessons keep streaming in from the last week’s press conference to announce a client’s big event. For today I’ll take a look at how search engines can help your event marketing. One of my biggest performance references has been web stats. For this post I’m using the simple and unrefined metric of visitors to an event web site. There are more advanced metrics that you want to eventually focus on, but for simplicity sake I decided to go with visitors.

Search Terms Bring Relevant Traffic
After last week’s press conference search engine traffic accounted for the largest portion of web site visitors. What’s more important is that the visitors prequalified themselves as being at least interested in the event because of the search terms they used.  How many people are going to search for an event that they have no curiosity or interest in attending?

How Most People Search for Events
Based on years of web stat analysis one can deduce that people have fairly specific search phrases that they use to look up a given event of interest. The search phrases are a combination of the type of event “Festival, Workshop, Seminar” or the actual name of the event “Lilac Festival, Flour City Brew Fest, Park Ave Fest” and the location “Rochester, Buffalo, Toronto.”

When trying to optimize your event web site for search engines, focus keywords on the TYPE of EVENT, the NAME OF EVENT, and EVENT LOCATION.

Actual Top Search Phrases:

• "rochester air show"
• "rochester international airshow"
• "rochester airshow"

Where do the Keywords Go?
You’re going to optimize for those search phrases in the title tag of each page on your web site. The title tag is comprised of the words you see in the bar at the very top of your browser. Your keywords are some of the most important words on your web site pertaining to search engine optimization. Keywords in the actual body text and navigation are also important. I’ve included a link to the resource section below for additional insight.

Why Not Go for More Popular Search Terms
Some people have asked if it’s worth trying to go after the more general keywords like “Summer Events Rochester” or “Festivals in New York State." You could if you so choose and there is some benefit, but there are also counterpoints. One of the biggest caveats is time and competition. You’re going to have a harder time getting listed with more competition for the same keywords. Ask yourself “Do I want to try and lure people who might be interested in my event or those who have basically qualified themselves as interested?”

When users go looking for your event in search engines they’ve already prequalified themselves. Search engine marketing and optimization is the easiest way to capture your targeted prospects. Use the information above to get some great free advertising.

Additional Resources:

• The Simplest SEO Technique
• The Importance of Organic Search
• Are You Targeting The Correct Search Keywords?

The Press Conference Lesson on Event Marketing

Last week one of my local clients held a large press conference for their event. A few months ago, I posted an article on “Press Releases and Your Event Marketing” and passed along a copy to my client.  As in the article, I made it known to the client how important it was to include the web site in all possible media references to the event. The client wholeheartedly agreed and did their part to ensure the web site was featured. In fact, the last portion of the official press releases included mentioning the event web site and listing the web address. The press conference came and went. A few hours later news outlets started to feature information about the event.  It was great that the local news services were featuring information on the event, but unfortunately none of the outlets were including the web address.

The Opportunity Cost
Why be emphatic about something as simple as list a web site?  The opportunity cost was at least 500-750 target market visitors to the web site. I figured 500-750 possible visitors because after getting the web site listed with just one news outlet 120+ people visited the event web site.  In Rochester we have at least 5 major news outlets.  Because of an insatiable thirst for the latest and greatest, news stories become old news quickly. There is a very limited window of opportunity to get visitors via links with news features. Once the news stories fade away so do the web site links.

The Lesson
By the end of the day I was left scratching my head.  I decided to call up a friend that has been in the local media for over 30 years. He had some pretty insightful information as it pertains to my press conference lesson, “news agencies tend to truncate a lot of information.” I’m going to interview some additional media people to find out if there is something that can be done to ensure there is a better chance of getting your web site reference included. I’ll pass along the information when my research is complete.

The Recommendation
My friend suggested listing the web site in the first paragraph of any official press release. You should also include a really strong call to action for the web address.  Second, kindly ask the news media correspondents, “Can you please make sure to include the web site in any stories you feature?” A simple direct request like that can make a huge difference.

A web site listing is an easy to thing to add to any news feature, because of this, it is also very easy to forget.  Make sure you do what it takes to get your event web site listed in any news references.  As they say, “Good publicity is the best free advertising in the world.”

Using Video to Front Load Event Value

Have you ever considered using video to add value upfront for your next event?

One web service I’ve been leveraging for event marketing over the last few months has been YouTube. YouTube gives you a great way of integrating video to front load the value of your event and with no associated cost. With YouTube's embed function you had seamlessly integrate video into your web site. There are a number of videos in almost any category imaginable.

Current Application
The integration of YouTube videos is being used with one of my clients the Rochester International Air Show.  Air Shows are all about the sights and sounds. Thus video is a great way to get people excited about the upcoming air show.  As part of my attempt to front load event value, there is a newsletter that goes out on a regular basis announcing new performers and attractions. A few of the newsletters have included a relevant video link featuring a performer or videos related to the show.

A YouTube Search and Tips
You can start the process by going to YouTube and doing a search for relevant content as it applies to your event. Below are some quick suggestions on what to look for in potential videos.

• Choose clips that are closely related to your event.
• Always ask yourself the question “What will the target user think of this?” Remember it’s about delivering value to the user. You want them to say, “That’s cool!”
• Review all clips for content appropriateness.
• Shorter clips are usually better.
• Check the comments for every video you want to use and make sure there isn’t anything inappropriate or offensive.

One thing you have to be conscious of is checking to make sure any videos you use are still active on YouTube. One of the videos that we were using as part of an email campaign was removed from YouTube for some unknown reason. Even if you sent an email a few weeks ago, some people might check out the video again or forward it to a friend. 

Always ask yourself what other ways can I leverage free content to increase the value of my event marketing? If you’re going to integrate video, make sure that it is going to add value to your event.

Drowning Your Event Prospects with Advertising Details

It is very easy to lose your event prospect in advertising minutia. In today’s world of more outrageous marketing there is a constant battle for the hearts and minds of your target market. Take for example print advertising. How many print advertisements for an event have you seen that are crammed full of every possible detail? They give you dates, location, parking, sponsors, ticket prices, web sites, etc. More information isn’t necessarily better. You run the risk of drowning your prospect in so many details that they ignore what you’re trying to get them to do in the first place; which is to hopefully show up to your event.

Consider putting yourself in the prospect’s shoes. Which of the following are you more likely to notice?

1. An advertisement crammed with a ton of details. (Similar to every other ad.)
2. An advertisement that is clean, simple, and to the point. (Contrasts every other ad.)

For print advertising of your event consider using a simple direct marketing formula. Focus on advertising to your prospect with strong Headlines, Benefits, and a Calls to Action.

Headline
Catch the prospect’s attention with a powerful headline.  The headline should speak in simple and empathetic terms that your prospect can easily understand. Ask them a question or make a bold statement that directly relates to their desires.

Benefits
Tell your prospect what they’ll get out of attending your event. Benefits fulfill the desires or solve a problem prospect is experiencing. Event benefits can be as simple as offering your prospect a little excitement, insight, intrigue, or laughter at your event. Remember to frame the benefits in terms of what’s important to your prospect and fulfills their needs.

Call to Action
Listing your web address in the details isn’t enough. You need to give them a good reason to visit your web site. It might be discount tickets, exclusive offers, or insider information.  Your web site is the best opportunity that you have at delivering additional high quality information about your event and capturing leads.

If you’re thinking of doing any print advertising be different by being simple and really giving your target market a reason to listen. Use some of the above suggestions to distinguish yourself in the type of print advertising you do for your event.

Reverse Engineering Online Marketing for Your Event

If you’re doing any electronic marketing for your event, I urge you to dedicate some time studying the process and methodology of high end Internet Marketers.  You can visit your local library and check out some books on the subject. I recommend books by Joe Vitale, Seth Godin, and Dan Kennedy. My other recommendation is to sign up for additional information on a web site for a product or service that captures your interest.  When you start to get emails from the business, ask yourself the questions “What can I learn from this?”, “How can I reverse engineer the process to present my information better to my target market?”, and "What do you find annoying?" Asking the previous questions can help you refine and streamline your own marketing process.

Most Internet Marketers utilize a number of universal strategies to connect with their target market. Some of universal strategies include:

• Strong Copywriting
• Compelling Subject Lines
• High Quality Content
• Building Trust and Credibility over Time

A Marketing Guru to Study
One person I’ve spent extensive time studying is Eben Pagan. Some people might know him by this dating guru alter ego, David DeAngelo.  Eben’s ideology of Marketing embraces the notion of “front loading value.” His latest project is the Guru Mastermind program. In the program he gives away oodles of high quality information on developing your own information products for FREE. Why give stuff away for free? If you give away high quality useful information you can make it difficult to for your target market not to take a desired action. Almost every event marketer or promoter can adopt a similar ideology and apply it to their event.

Respect Copyrights
I would be remiss in my duties if I didn’t remind others to respect the copyrights of other people.  Make sure you’re not borrowing someone else’s work and then taking credit for it. If you pay attention to the strategy used you shouldn’t have problems.

There is no need to reinvent the online marketing “wheel.” If you can incorporate some of the techniques top marketers employ, you’ll be saving yourself time and money.

Additional Resources:

• DoubleYourDating.com (David DeAngelo Site)
• Worried About People Not Showing Up to Your Next Big Event?

Why Well Planned Events Fail . . .

Last week I spent some time with a good friend of mine who does a lot of volunteer work. He was telling me about the fund raising his organization does to raise money for charities.  Anyone would appreciate the time and energy that is involved in planning events. One of his biggest frustrations was all the effort put forth to organize and execute an event with little or no return on investment. To the best of his knowledge, he and his associates spent about 55 hours collectively planning the event and 5 hours executing the event, all to break even.

The point above illustrates an example numerous event organizers experience. They invest dozens or hundreds of hours of time with little return on investment.  If you’re looking critically at events that didn’t succeed, one might surmise “They didn’t do a very good job of planning or the event wasn’t very good.” Yet, I know a number of people, including myself that have spent countless hours meticulously planning events that failed to meet their financial objectives. Of the numerous event case studies I’ve examined the problem in almost every case doesn’t appear to be in the planning or execution phase. Ironically the problem seems to be more often than not the marketing of the event itself.

More Money Means Better Marketing, Right?
I personally don’t equate the level of marketing an organization can accomplish with the size of a marketing budget. Because an organization has a respectable marketing budget doesn’t mean that they’ll be successful marketing their event. Some of the most successful events I’ve been involved with engaged in simple grass roots marketing. They only used event posters and word of mouth. Those events did tremendously well on a marketing budget of a few hundred dollars.

Where to Invest for Your Event
If you want your event to have the greatest chance for success invest in better marketing. Event organizers don’t do enough of the right marketing to get people to their event. I’ve seen great events financially fail and poor events rake in the bucks. The same ideology applies in the business world. Regardless of how good the product or service, if there is no market, a lack of marketing, or the target market isn’t moved to act, the business will fail. I’m not sure who said it but here is sage advice, “Market or Die!”

Event Marketing: Persistence versus Pestering

Last year I was involved in an event marketing project that utilized a series of emails to promote an event. The permission based list was a little over a thousand people.  Toward the end of the promotion the client started to question if too many emails were being sent to potential attendees.  In the end, not one of the email list subscribers complained about getting too many emails or being inundated with information.   On the flip side, I’ve seen other businesses sales pitch their prospective customers into oblivion and get plenty of unhappy emails in return. If you’re going to email market your event, it is always important to respect the fine line between being persistence and pestering.

Don’t Pester, But Be Persistent
Each event will have a different threshold for where potential pestering begins.   The most important point to be made is that as long as you’re working with a permission based list, your potential attendee’s will give you an impressive degree of latitude. That latitude is afforded to you only if you send them information of value.

The Key
The key to stay persistent without being pestering is in delivering information that will be valued by your potential attendee.  If you’re doing email marketing for your event and send four “sales pitch” emails with no information value, chances are you’re going to annoy your potential attendees.  There is always the possibility that a few people might complain. It’s important that you can’t keep everyone happy. If there are several people that are complaining, you’ve crossed the line.

Be Persistent, Especially as Your Event Approaches
Try sending a event oriented email a week before your event and then one last blast a few days prior.  We’re all human. You would be surprised how many times interested attendees for your event simply forget that your event is happening. A friendly reminder, in almost every instance, can only help you get more people to your event.

News Updates on Your Event Web Site

One thing almost every event web site encounters is a varying percentage of users who are return visitors. Users want the latest and greatest information regarding your event and return over time. As your event draws closer, the number of updates you make on your web site will most likely increase.  Have you considered dedicating a section of your home page to news and event updates?

Consider News Web Sites
If you’re looking to emulate information update ideas look no further than your favorite news service.  It can be CNN.com, Reuters.com, Yahoo.com, etc.  Don’t try and reinvent the wheel. It is important to remember news companies have invested a lot of money into the functionality of their web sites.  How they deliver time sensitive information is critical to their business models, especially the latest news.  Ask yourself, “Are there any ideas I can borrow from some of the top news web sites?”

Some Basics
If you update a number of pages on your web site include the date and time of the most recent update.  Consider sectioning out an area of your home page specifically for news updates. In the update area included links to pages that contain new information. One idea that you can borrow from news web sites is the “one-liner” link. An example of a one-liner, “Girl Scout Saves the Day.” You can then link the text to the related page or article.

News Archives
Unlike other news sites, I don’t really think an archive of updates is necessary for event web sites. You might want to keep your own records, but I can’t imagine people would take interest. Plus, your return on investment for time and expenditures might not be a good return on investment. Ultimately you need to determine what is most important to your group of users.

Having an easy to understand and navigate “News Section” on your web site home page will save your user time and effort.  Keep your focus on making the information easy to access for the user.

Adding Value to Your Event with Stories

If you ask event organizers and patrons why someone might show up to an event, you’ll probably get two very different answers.  One simple, yet important, thing you can do is to tap into the interests of your perspective customer. It’s imperative to get people excited about your event. Ask yourself the question almost every perspective buyer subconsciously asks about your event “Why should I care?” Having a worthy charitable cause is no longer enough to drive event attendance. There are so many events that it's easy for the consumer to suffer from information overload. One way to beat the competition is by tapping into the subconscious mind of the consumer.

Tell Them A Great Story
I’m a big history buff.  The one thing that makes history really interesting is a great story.  It’s the “Did you know . . .“ line that can take something from being mundane to extraordinary. 
You should include story telling into various aspects of your event. Can you tell people a good story about some aspect of your event that will capture interest and attention? Get people to say "I wanna see that!" Relevant stories can instantly add value and credibility to your event. The best part is that words are fairly inexpensive.

Audio and Video Storytelling
Another consideration is using audio and video to tell a story. Consider an exclusive audio interview with an event performer or event the event organizer. There are a plethora of interesting videos on YouTube that you can easily embed into you event marketing process. Always ask yourself the question “Why should I care?” Don’t try to let cool technology trump high quality content.

People love good stories. Even more than good stories they love to tell other people good stories. Use that simple process to your advantage when marketing your event.

Stop Reducing Your Event Ticket Price

Have you ever considered a decrease in the price of your event ticket to increase attendance?

The Price Drop Example
Lately I find myself telling event marketing clients and colleagues about a particular volunteer event where ticket price was a concern. Over four years, the volunteer event had an associated dinner banquet. The first year the banquet ticket price was 25.00 USD per person and over three hundred fifty people showed up. As the years progressed the dinner ticket prices were reduced because event organizers thought the ticket price was too high. The logic used was decrease price and you’ll get more people to attend. The dinner banquet prices went from 25.00 USD per person down to 15.00 USD. When the tickets reached the lowest price the banquet had the lowest attendance.  The above example illustrates the counter intuitive of what most people would think in terms of ticket pricing.   

Expensive = Good
Last week, I started reading a book by Robert Cialdini from his Influence series.  In the chapter titled, Weapons of Influence, Cialdini illustrates that if something is expensive that the consumer will perceive it as being good. One example he used was a jewelry shop owner clearing their inventory of a certain item by doubling the price of an item that nobody would buy. Cialdini infers from additional examples that consumers believe that “Expensive = Good.”  I believe the same methodology can be applied from ticket prices for an event to your products or services.

Doing the Counter-Intuitive
Instead of trying to reduce your ticket prices to compete with a given market consider increasing your price to redefine your position in a given market.   As a caveat, I don’t think you can raise ticket prices if you can’t deliver perceived value at your event. Take the time to think through the scenario and potential virtues or vices. I don't believe in raising prices and skimping on quality. The quality of the experience needs to exceed the actual ticket price in order for a price increase to work.

Additional Resources:

• The Psychology of Ticket Prices

Who Else is Visiting Your Event Web Site?

Your event patrons aren’t the only users that visit you web site. Your event web site is as much a resource for patrons as it is for other potential event participants. Other participants can include potential vendors or other partners legitimately interested in helping to improve your event. My longest tenured event web site is an air show web site. Year after year, even when there isn’t an air show scheduled, we’re inundated with requests from potential sponsors, vendors, and volunteers. 

Proactive Thinking
Is your web site setup to handle various requests beyond just your potential patrons? Make sure your focus is on making it as easy as possible for those who want to support your event to contact you. If you are looking for additional event sponsorship do you have a section of your web site that is dedicated to that purpose?  Think in the same frame of mind for your potential volunteers or vendors.

Call Them to Action
Sometimes all it takes is a few words to get people to engage. Make sure you call people to action. If you are offering corporate chalets at the event tell your prospective target marketing what is available, why they should care, and what to do in order to get involved. Never assume that someone will know any information about your event.

Are You Easy to Find?
A well established web presence, especially in search engines can be tremendously helpful in facilitating participation in your event. If people can’t readily remember your domain name they’ll turn to search engines in order to find additional information. In search engines people usually search for the name of the event, if it’s been well branded, or the type of event with an associated location. Use that information to better position your event in search engines. Have a family member or friend try to search for your event in the major search engines. What search phrases are they using? Web statistics are particularly helpful finding the search terms people are using.

Use your web site as a tool for generating additional event leads. It can be as simple as setting up an additional email address to collect requests. Some people will be proactive about involvement in your event.

Easily Discover Proven Event Marketing Secrets

Today I’m going to reveal where I get some of my best event marketing ideas. It all comes down to one simple technique. My big secret for getting extraordinary event marketing ideas is by picking up the phone and talking with other event marketers and organizers. Some people might be disappointed by that piece of information, but I encourage you to try it! I’m always impressed at how many people are willing to share powerful proven marketing information. During the course of the conversations people have passed along information worth thousands of dollars in time, savings, and revenue.

Where To Start
The best people to interview are those who have a proven track record with successful events. Try to make direct contact with event marketers or actual organizers. Those are the people that have a top-down perspective on any given event.

Make a Great First Impression
All my interviews start with me telling the person I’m interviewing who I am and why I’m calling. If they’re in front of a computer, I send them directly to my web site.  It is the quickest way to show others you’re not some telemarketer. People tend to open up after they see what you look like and what you do. This would probably work tremendously well in the sales world.

Go Make Some Calls
If you get a chance, pick up the phone and call people who’ve run successful events. If you get the right person on the phone, ask the right questions and apply the knowledge, it’s practically guaranteed to help your event. 

Get Event Volunteers Via Your Web Site

Have you ever struggled to get volunteer help at your event? Next time you have an event consider using your web site as a tool for finding the best volunteers.

A few years ago I was working on a project that involved finding hundreds of event volunteers. Over 90% of the volunteers who signed up did so through the event’s official web site.  The volunteers essentially told the event organizers “I want to help and here is where my skills are best utilized.” Countless hours were saved by virtue of potential volunteers selecting various capacities through an online form.  The most difficult part of the project was determining the variables for the online form. I encourage anyone who’s looking to sign up volunteers online to carefully consider all the variables. Up front it is a time consuming process, but delivers great return.

Prequalified Volunteers
Your web site automatically acts as a filter of interest. People who aren’t interested in your event aren’t going to spend time on your web site.  Those that do stay on your web site and return on a regular basis most likely have an affinity for your event. Those with an affinity for your event are far better volunteer candidates than the people who are coerced into volunteering or just not interested in supporting a cause.

Online Volunteer Signups
One of the first places to start is by creating a volunteer section or page on your event web site. Your method of capturing volunteer leads can be as simple as an email address or a little more involved such as utilizing an online form.  A simple form to collect volunteer information on your web site can be tremendously helpful. Try to keep the form as simple as possible. As stated above, if you’re going to use a form carefully think through all the options. It is very easy to give people too many options and confuse potential volunteers. Always consider the various consequences of the variables.

After They Sign Up
Make sure you keep volunteers informed with pertinent information.  This can be accomplished via email or a password protected section of your web site. One of the biggest frustrations for volunteers is not having timely and accurate information.

Better volunteers will most likely translate to a better event. Think of ways various ways that you can use your event web site to sign up passionate volunteers. It will save you time, money, and prevent needless frustration.

Event Marketing System Notes From NECAS

Over the weekend I gave a presentation at the North East Council of Air Shows conference. The presentation outlined some very important points found in the Event Marketing System.

A link is included below for the Adobe PDF version of my notes. There are additional article links included in the PDF for additional reference, just point and click.

You're about to learn:

• The single most powerful event marketing technique you can use to get great customers year to and still spent less on Print, Radio, or Television advertising. This concept is what almost every online multi-millionaire leverages to the hilt and it only costs $40 USD a month.
  
• Get more out of your Traditional advertising. Use the web to leverage and track your print, radio, and television advertising. The technology can be found for free and it’s pretty simple to install. It takes about 15 minutes to setup and doesn’t require a Computer Science degree.

Presentation Notes:
2008 NECAS - Event Marketing System Presentation - PDF Notes

Feel free to save a copy to your computer.

Counter-Intuitive Event Results

Have you ever not done something because of an unjustified fear? We all have examples of deciding not to do something because it didn’t seem like the right thing to do. By the same token how many times have you done something completely counterintuitive with great results?

Online Ticket Sales and Senior Surfers
One of my recent case studies involves advance online ticket sales. It is in almost every marketer’s best interest to sell as many advance sale tickets as possible for their event. With the Internet it has never been easier to buy tickets online. Most people would assume trying to sell advanced sale tickets online in one of the oldest median aged communities in the United States would turn out to be a disaster.

Here are some case study statistics for the Florida event:

• Total event attendance approximately 55,000 people.
• Advance online ticket sales approximately 10,000.
• Average Median Age of the county where the event is held 54 years old (US Census Data).

The event sold almost 20% of their total ticket sales, as advance sale tickets, online. I’m positive many marketing experts would agree that trying to sell online tickets in a community with a median age of 54 to be extremely difficult. Yet event organizers decided to take chance on something completely counterintuitive and found extraordinary results.

Doing the Counter-intuitive
Have you tried something counter intuitive for your event? If you have an opportunity to try something different with the marketing of your event and it costs you little or nothing, give it a shot. In many instances you might learn something new. I’ve found some of “the least likely to succeed” ideas did the best and those that were “sure to succeed” did the worst.

Do You have an Awe Inspiring Event?

Imagine this, you’re driving down the interstate and numerous cars start pulling off to the side of the road in unison. Upon parking their cars, people get out and start staring into the distance.  At this point your curiosity starts to take over. Finally in an attempt to figure out what’s happening, you pull over. After parking your car, you approach the first person you find and ask “What’s going on? Was there an accident or something?” And then you get the answer, “the Space Shuttle is blasting off in about 60 seconds.”

Spine Tingling
The story above was told to me by some people I recently met from Boston. Yesterday, I was fortunate enough to witness the Space Shuttle Atlantis blast off into space. It was literally one of those spine tingling events. Everyone around you is cheering and clamping enthusiastically. In all honesty watching a launch on television versus being there in person are two completely different things. If you’re in Florida during a scheduled launch try to make it to Space View Park in Titusville. It is worth driving for a few hours.

Are You Creating a Buzz?
There are some events that are so extraordinary that they don’t require any advertising. A space shuttle launch is one of those spectacle events. I understand most people don’t have a space shuttle at their beckon call. Yet there are things almost every event organizer can do to create a buzz about their event. Ask yourself “Is there some way to make your event so extraordinary that you don’t need to advertise to get people to show up?” Think beyond money or advertising. Focus on getting good publicity, which costs you almost nothing versus advertising. If you can create such a buzz for your event that people can't help but attend, it's going to be very difficult not to to be successful.

Additional Resources:

• Teasing Users with Event Details Before Your Event
• How to Get Them to Your Event

Do You have an Online Champion for Your Event?

Most organizations don’t have the resources or time to patrol cyberspace and see what comments people are posting. A simple forum or blog post with inaccurate information or disparaging comments can have a negative impact on your event. By the same token you might be able to find positive or useful information to improve your event. Check out “Your Event Web Site as a Customer Service Portal” for additional ideas on dealing with event marketing and social media.

Have you considered using an online champion for your event?
The idea for an online champion is to be your front line of customer service. The person should be someone who’s Internet savvy. Your online champion could be part of your organization or even a volunteer. The most important factor is finding someone you can trust.

Establish Your Champion's ROE (Rules of Engagement)
The easiest way to work with your online champion is to have them follow very specific rules of engagement.  My recommendation is find someone to simply report what people are posting about your event in forums or blogs. Have them report to you by email or phone both positive and negative comments. Ultimately you can decide if you want to address an online comment directly or do nothing.

Become the Credible Source for Information on Your Event
When some news worthy event happens, most people go directly to their favorite news web site. You should position your event web site as the official place for news regarding your event. If people are posting inaccurate information or negative comments, address their concern on your event web site. If you can reply to a negative forum or blog post on another site, reply with something along these lines, “This issue has been addressed on the official web site, YourEventSite.com.” Just make sure you have something on your web site that directly addresses the comment or concern.

It is important to be aware what people are saying about your event online. But be careful not to become over inundated with every comment. The focus of having an online champion is to ensure you have time to focus your energy on high priority tasks.