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The Other 97% ...

By now, you're probably familiar with my "3% rule" targeting rule.

If not, here is a brief overview:

Accepting that only 3% (or less) of your local population is predisposed to attend your event is a good thing.

How so?

Because if you and your event team focus on those most interested in attending your event, you will significantly boost the effectiveness of all your advertising. Think of the 3% rule as a precision targeting method.

One question that rarely gets asked, "what about the other 97%?" or more precisely, "shouldn't I try to target outside the 3%?" Yes, but please understand that the amount of ad spend is prohibitive for practically every event.

It is not a matter of spending thousands of additional ad dollars; it's more like millions or tens of millions of advertising dollars.

Most event organizers simply don't have that kind of money to invest in advertising. If you decide to target outside the 3%, you must carefully track advertising effectiveness!

In 2016, two clients ran carefully targeted and tracked online marketing campaigns. Both campaigns showed that the cost of capturing people's attention outside of 3% becomes astronomical.

The same ads (design and copy) were served to two different local audiences in the advertising test, the 3% audience and the general population. The advertisement presented to the general population was displayed three times more, at four times the cost, while generating 86% less revenue than the 3% campaign.

Thus, targeting outside of your 3% can be astronomically expensive.

Here are some additional articles on planning a successful event:

Posted at 21:20 in Event Planning, Event Promotion and Marketing |

A logical event website misconception

Recently, I had a brief telephone conversation with a potential client. Overall, it was a positive call. Yet, there was a common question that kept being asked.

After a bit of hindsight, I thought, “well-meaning event organizers think THIS is a silver bullet for their event.”

Unfortunately, it’s a logical misconception. And it wastes a lot of money.

What’s THIS?

It’s the belief that …

“We just need a new website!”

It’s true. A smartly designed website can propel your event to a whole new level if used strategically.

To the best of my recollection and experience, I have yet to see a single “new website” deliver extraordinary results for any event organizers.

Why is that?

Because a website is a single marketing tool in your tool kit. On its own, a website can’t do much. You need to leverage your website with a series of well-aligned marketing actions.

One of those marketing actions is highly targeted paid advertising. When paid advertising is coupled with a well-designed website, that’s a difference-maker!

So next time someone tells you, “we need a new website!” Take a step back and dig a little deeper. Ask simple questions:

How many people visited our website? (And when did they visit?)

Of the people who visited our website, how many purchased tickets or attended our event?

Where is the traffic to our website coming from?

The questions and answers above helped one client build a well-thought-out three-page website. Yes, just three pages. That three-page website sold over 500,000 USD of event tickets in less than 24 hours.

Thus, I can tell you with unwavering confidence that most events don’t need a new website. Instead, they need a well-thought-out set of marketing tools and strategies to maximize the effectiveness of their current site.

Here are some additional articles to boost your event web site:

 

Posted at 21:33 in Event Planning, Event Promotion and Marketing |

My number one rule of event content

Most client campaigns are composed of anywhere between 100 to 150 pieces of advertising and marketing content. This content is distributed via both traditional and online mediums. Content can be anything from marketing emails, website updates, social media posts to press releases.

And in case you’re wondering, every client to date started with very light content campaigns. So that means if they’re at 100 pieces of advertising and marketing content now, they were less than 20 pieces of content before we started working together.

Why am I telling you this?

Because I’d like to share with you my single strongest event promotion recommendation as it applies to content creation, specifically in the areas of marketing, advertising, and public relations.

When sending out promotional content for your event, never send something just because it’s on your marketing calendar. Every piece of content needs to be well thought out.

Here are just a few content evaluation questions for you and your team to consider:

What’s the ultimate purpose of this single piece of content? And how does this content integrate with our overall advertising and marketing campaign?

Is this piece of content going to sell tickets? Or, will this content generate more interest and leads to our event?

Is the content specifically structured and delivered to meet some of the objectives above (leads and tickets sales)?

The overall objective of the recommendation above is to make sure that your target audience treats you as a welcome guest. That includes everything from their email inbox to their social media feeds.

Thus, my strongest content recommendation to you is never to send a single piece of content that isn’t helping to build and strengthen your relationship with your target market.

Ultimately, every piece of content is leveraged to build a digital relationship with your target audience. And in a world of too much digital noise, a good relationship is a difference-maker!

Want to get more event promotion tips? Check out the links below:

Posted at 09:58 in Event Promotion and Marketing |

Extraordinary intel on some US events

Here's a little nugget on gathering intel on events in the United States. Specifically, not-for-profit events.

Because I'm US-based, this recommendation is focused on US-based non-profits/events. That said, I'm sure similar tools exist elsewhere in the world. Please let me know if you're aware of such tools and willing to share.

In the United States, non-profit organizations are required to make their tax returns available to the public. And not for profit tax organizations, with gross revenues over $50,000 USD, file their taxes using Form 990.

In the words of the US Internal Revenue Service:

"Form 990 is the IRS' primary tool for gathering information about tax-exempt organizations, educating organizations about tax law requirements, and promoting compliance. Organizations also use the Form 990 to share information with the public about their programs." Source: IRS.gov

Anyone with an Internet connection can access a US non-profit's tax returns. Just do an Internet search on "Tax Exempt Organization Search." You will need the non-profit organization's legal name and state of Incorporation or Employer Identification Number (EIN). Most of the previous information can be gathered with a few minutes of online searching.

Will an organization's tax return tell you everything about its event operations? No.

But it can tell you a lot, especially regarding advertising, marketing, ticketing revenues, sponsorship, and event-related expenses.

I've even used the process above for negotiating contracts.

When asked, "how did you know that?!"

My reply, "it's public information."

As the adage goes, "knowledge is power." Do some digging and let me know what you discover. You will be amazed!

Here are some additional articles on planning a successful event:

 

Posted at 17:11 in Event Promotion and Marketing |

How to Deal with "LOTS" of Event Complaints

In 2021, a client raised the "a bunch of people are complaining" flag regarding an email marketing campaign.

When I asked for further details, the response was, "people didn't know there was a link in the email" The "complainers" suggested we put 'click here' next to the email link.

The client sends the next email with "click here" next to the link, and the results aren't that great.

Ironically enough, when tested, "click here" has made a noticeable difference in marketing campaign response. Primarily when used sparingly!

Am I suggesting you slap "click here" next to every link in an email or on your website? Negative.

It would be best to be careful using "click here" on your promotional emails. Because there is a chance (based on several combined factors), your email could be flagged as SPAM.

With the client example from above, there are a couple of shall we say, conveniently omitted details. If ever you receive a complaint, always dig deeper!

When pressed on complaints, use this initial question, "exactly how many people are complaining?"

Consider the following complainer's scenario:

Client: "A lot of people are complaining!"

Eugene: "Exactly how many people are complaining?"

Client: "A lot!"

Eugene: "What's a lot?"

(Client gets slightly annoyed and then finally answers.)

Client: "Two"

Eugene: "Two out of 30,000+ sent emails?!?!" (Yes, 30K emails sent and two complaints.)

Follow-up question: "Who is the person complaining?" (Are they a customer or event attendee?)

Here's the icing on the cake regarding the example above. The two complainers were client vendors who fancied themselves marketers.

In the next email, I recommended that the client remove "click here" from their email and write more persuasive copy. They accepted the advice and implemented the suggestions. The result was a 71% increase in email click-through-rate.

Yes, customer experience is paramount. But at the same time, focusing your limited time and resources on a wild goose chase is a waste.

Next time you receive complaints, find out exactly how many and if the people complaining are even your customers. You'll be surprised what you find!

Want to get more info on event customer service? Check out the articles below:

Posted at 14:41 in Event Planning, Event Promotion and Marketing |

Overly Obvious Domain Registration Advice

Back in 2006, I only had a few event clients. During that time, most of my income resulted from working with small to medium businesses. There were numerous clients spread across multiple industries and many great lessons learned! Including what follows here.

When it came to new clients, almost every business needed to register a domain name and build a new website from scratch.

During a project, the business owner wanted me to register a couple of domain names. I asked the owner to email me which domains he wanted registered. After receiving the email, I copied and pasted the domain names into the domain registration search tool. Both domain names were available, so I proceeded to register the requested domains.

A few months went by before we started to build the client’s website. At that time, all websites were built on a dedicated development server. Once the client’s website was built and tested, we were ready to go live.

After we went live, the client had an issue accessing their site. In their own words, “I’m typing in my domain name, and the website is not coming up.”
Was the issue technical?

As I dug back through my project notes and emails, my heart skipped a beat and sunk into my stomach.

What happened?

The domain names were copied and pasted directly from the client’s email. And one of the domain names was misspelled.

Regardless of the unique spelling, the lesson learned was shame on me for not spell checking the domain name.

Since the domain registration lesson learned in 2006, every domain name that gets registered is triple checked for spelling. The process is straightforward.

If you’re going to register a new domain, break the domain name you want to be registered and spell-check each word.

superduperbeerfest.com … Super Duper Beer Fest (Spell check each word)

After your domain spelling checks out, then register you domain. Hopefully, it spares you the embarrassment and frustration above.

Additionally, if your domain name is difficult to spell, you might want to consider registering misspelled domains.

What seems like overly simplistic advice has saved my clients and myself multiple times since 2006.

Additional Resources:

Posted at 13:15 in Event Planning, Event Promotion and Marketing |

Minimize the hoop jumping

Last week, my car needed maintenance. As result, I found myself in a small auto repair shop. "Calcio" loving Italians run this cozy auto repair shop. Serie A and Serie B, to be precise.

In the repair shop waiting room is a community board. There, you will find numerous business cards and a poster or two promoting local events.

During my visit, there was one event poster being displayed.

Side note: If it's not already a habit, make sure to take the time to review any event poster that you might see. There's always something to be discovered!

Most of the important information elements were well covered when it came to the event poster. Yet, there was one significant issue. And it’s something I’ve seen on a regular basis.

The event poster recommended visiting the ticketing company’s website to "Purchase Tickets".

Why is that an issue?

Because visiting a ticketing website makes a prospective ticket buyer jump through several hoops to purchase an event ticket.

Case and point. You must go to the ticketing website and click on a tiny "Find your next event" button. After you click the button, you need to enter a location. Then, you're presented with numerous events. As you scroll down through the events, more events populate.

Ultimately, after a bit of diligent searching, I never found where to purchase tickets for the event advertised on the poster. And my guess is that I’m not the only one.

A more straightforward solution to the above is to have your event website and sell tickets directly from your website.

As the direct response people say, "Make it easy for them to buy, right now!"

If you have your own ticket sales start, please share it in the comment section below.

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

Posted at 21:52 in Event Promotion and Marketing |

Cracking Creativity with Tommy Edison

I'm going to take a slightly different tack on this one. It will focus a little more on personal development. So, bear with me.

One of the world's most creative minds kept extensive handwritten notes. Over 3,500 notebooks were discovered after Thomas Edison's death in 1931. Those notebooks contained a litany of ideas, sketches, and observations. Edison used his notebooks continually to cross-pollinate ideas.

Some of Edison's most significant accomplishments were a result of noting his own massive failures. In Edison's own words, "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."

For most humans, forgetting is a regular occurrence (this guy included!). In today's digital overload world, our minds are bombarded with thousands of stimuli daily. To remember a quick idea can be a daunting task.

If you aren't already, my suggestion to you is to become a voracious note taker! And don't worry, you won't need 3,500 notebooks. It's the process and strategy that's essential.

Start by finding a pen and a small notepad. Make sure both are compact enough to carry along with you daily. For those that want to go digital, I recommend an Evernote Premium subscription.

Moving forward, keep a pen and notepad (or your digital notebook) with you at all times. When you have an idea, please write it down. If you wake up in the middle of the night with an idea, write it down.

Michael Michalko, who wrote Cracking Creativity, offers some Edisonian ideas for organizing written notes:

Write your observations down from daily experiences. Observations can include ideas from meetings, information that you've gained through reading, and brainstorming.

Organize your notes thematically into a set group of categories and subjects. This is where Evernote shines, because you can tag, search, and categorize notes.

After you've established a series of notes, go back to glean additional insight into problems you may encounter.

You might be able to solve your problems by modifying or reinterpreting something you previously experienced. Plus, when you have your ideas written down, you don't need to take the time to remember what you forgot.

Source: Michalko, M. (2001). Cracking Creativity: The Secrets of Creative Genius (Revised ed.). Ten Speed Press. pp. 106-107.

If you're disappointed in the above suggestion, I'd ask you to reconsider. The most extraordinary client successes have come as a result of taking notes and cross-pollinating ideas.

If you can integrate the suggestions above into your daily routine, I promise you it will have a massive positive impact on your life and your pocketbook.

Posted at 14:01 in Event Planning, Event Promotion and Marketing |

A Powerful Key to Great Event Survey Results

Recently, clients have been doing a decent amount of surveying. Their survey types include everything from post-event surveys for 2021 to pre-event surveys for 2022.

Here's something of interest. For all the surveys conducted in previous years, there has been a significant delta in survey completion rates. These rates vary anywhere between 26% to 78%.

There are numerous factors influencing survey response rates. Including, everything from the quality of your list to the relationship an organization has with those being surveyed.

And in case you're wondering, list size is one of the least important factors.

It doesn't matter if your list is big or small. One would think that a small survey list would perform better. Nope! The worst performing client survey in 2020 had a total of 16 people on the list. How so? Nobody completed the survey.

Thankfully, there is a single universal element of survey success. Your key to success with surveys is well thought out process. That means treating your surveys like a marketing campaign.

Even the most straightforward marketing campaigns have clear objectives, a well thought out process, and measurement.

When analyzing poor survey results from the past, the first place I start is getting an overview of the process being used.

In every instance of lackluster results, the lack of a well-defined process was glaring.

Before doing another survey, make sure you have a well thought out process in place.

If you're not sure where to start, look at what others are doing and ethically borrow their ideas! There is no reason to reinvent the “wheel” if someone else has already figured it out.

Want to get more event survey advice? Check out the articles below:

 

 

Posted at 11:01 in Event Planning, Event Promotion and Marketing |

Does funny put money in your account?

This evening (US Time), companies are investing 6.5 million USD for a 30-second Super Bowl commercial, per ESPN.com. Come Monday morning, you'll hear a bunch of people pontificate about the "best" or "funniest" Super Bowl commercials. Let us not forget all the "viewer's choice" awards.

It's worth paying attention to all the noise! That said, I'm going to challenge you to dig a little deeper into Super Bowl commercials. At worst, it's an excellent edutainment (educational entertainment) opportunity.

My challenge to you is to cut through all the noise about "best, funniest, viewer's choice, etc."

I admit it, some of the commercials are hilarious and entertaining. But, if funny doesn't put money in your bank account, is it worth $6.5 million USD?

After all the "votes" have been tallied, keep an eye on those companies in the news. A great place to do this is by using the Google Search box, run a search on "Super Bowl commercials", and then select the "News" tab. This allows you to sort all the recent news stories.

In the coming days and weeks, keep an eye on the news stories regarding companies that advertised during the Super Bowl.

The question you need to ask, "did a given Super Bowl commercial drive revenue (or a measurable result) with their advertisement?"

Is the funniest or most entertaining commercial the most profitable?

Did those companies who advertised during the Super Bowl make their money back?

Google News can often provide you with the answers.

If history is any indicator, the most entertaining commercials are rarely the most profitable. Not to say that never happens.

You should keep an eye on what happens. Anyone can be a savvy marketer, by merely asking smart questions. More importantly, a little digging can give you a good indication of what might work in your advertising in the future.

Want to get more advertising and marketing advice for your event? Check out the articles below:

Posted at 15:57 in Event Promotion and Marketing |

More Event Promotion Ideas