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How Name Branding Impacts Event Web Site Marketing

Event Web Site - Name Branding
If you are supporting your event with a web site, domain names are a crucial part of event branding.  When people think of your event do they know about the associated web site?  More importantly, can they easily recall the domain name? This is a core concept of web centric event marketing.  All points of advertising should lead to your web site. When people already know where to find information on your event it is far easier to focus your advertising campaigns on promoting event awareness. It costs far less money to promote awareness as opposed to trying to brand a new event and enticing people to attend.  Affinity and prior customer satisfaction make it significantly easier for event organizers to get patrons to their next event.

A Real World Example of Branding
Recently, I had a client make a last minute decision to change their existing domain name to a new domain name.  The scope of their event had changed and they wanted a domain name that better reflected the change. At first glance their decision appeared to be a smart idea. In actuality it might turn out to be a huge strategic mistake.  For years the client spent tens of thousands of dollars to brand the previous domain name. A few weeks before their event started they decided to change their domain name.  Their decision to change the domain name can have a negative impact on their branding efforts. They made the right decision in forwarding their domain to their new domain.  Always make sure your old domain forwards to the new one and never immediately stop using your old domain name.

It's Never Too Early to Establishing Event Awareness
One of my air show mentors who has participated in and organized hundreds of air shows keeps reminding me of the following: You can never get the message across too early.  Keep your event web site up and running between each year you have your event, even if there is a break of a two to three years.  For organizations it takes anywhere from six months to a year just to position their event web site in top search engines for certain keywords.

Search Engine Optimization Impact
Going back to the previous client example. The client's decision to change their domain name a few weeks before the event could have a very negative fallout for search engine optimization. For most organizations it takes months, if not years to get a proper search engine listing. If people are searching for the previous event they might not recognize the new branding.  In some cases the domain name might not even show up as a proper listing in search engines. If you are going to change your domain name or web site for your event, do so at least 6 months in advance.

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